Feint to the East, Attack in the West

Chapter 92 Feint to the East, Attack in the West

The Blackwater River lies beneath King's Landing, serving as both a formidable barrier and an obstacle.

From where the Shenyan River flows into the sea, there is not a single bridge along the hundreds of miles of river, and all travel between the two banks relies on ferries.

At this moment, the boats are moored side by side in the middle of the river, their anchors lowered, gently swaying with the current.

The boatmen used to push carts full of planks, creating a road that stretched forward between the boats.

"Sir, we need ten more ships." The person in charge of building the pontoon bridge ran over and looked up at the little devil standing on the wooden crate.

"The current spacing is too large and not stable enough. If a large army were to step on it, the middle section would definitely sink."

The little devil wiped the sweat from his forehead and squinted at the river.

The south bank was deserted; the people of Stormland had long since fled.

Seeing so many troops coming from the north bank, they had no intention of attacking them while they were crossing the river.

The scouts had been occasionally spotted a few days ago, riding around on horseback in the distance, but then they disappeared without a trace.

Before leaving, they made sure to burn down the ferry crossing on the south bank.

"Add, we can add anything." The little devil tried to make his voice sound confident. "As soon as the pontoon bridge is built, the remaining gold will be settled for you immediately."

The person in charge's eyes lit up, and he ran off excitedly.

Bronn stood to the side with his arms crossed, tilting his head to look it over from top to bottom, his gaze finally settling on the wooden box.

"No wonder that little dwarf insisted that I bring a box."

"That way, fools will think more highly of him and believe what he says."

The little devil rolled his eyes: "If you're just sitting here doing nothing, go down and carry a few planks."

"I'll pay more. But do you have any money left?"

He really didn't have any money; those excuses about paying the bill were just to fool idiots.

But we'll talk about the future later.

"Give it your all!" the little devil shouted.

He turned his head and looked westward.

Tens of thousands of tents were pitched on the plains outside King's Landing, creating an imposing sight from afar.

Patrolling cavalry galloped back and forth along the edge, raising clouds of dust.

But this is just a thin layer.

The vast majority of the owners have already gone to much farther places.

The horse's hooves sank into the river, splashing water that soaked the leather boots and quickly drenched the trousers, leaving them wet and cold against the body.

Joffrey tightened the reins.

Thousands of pioneers were wading through the water, struggling to walk in the thigh-deep current, stirring up turbid waves.

Upstream, hundreds of soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, using their bodies to block the rushing torrent.

Others took the sacks filled with stones and sank them one by one to the bottom of the river, then built wooden structures on top of them.

board.

One after another, large trucks loaded with supplies slowly drove across this even more rudimentary ferry bridge.

The border is just ahead.

The Riverlands, the Western Frontier, and the River Bend are where the borders of three kingdoms meet.

The Golden Avenue also meanders westward here, disappearing into the rolling hills.

The 70,000-strong army was scattered on the riverbank, slowly and silently crossing the river.

Crossing the river would take time, and Joffrey's thoughts inevitably drifted back to the battle meeting a few days earlier.

Feint to the east while attacking in the west.

"My lords, you all know Renly's character."

"greedy."

Eddard's finger traced an arc westward from King's Landing, finally landing at Casterly Rock.

"His high-profile actions are intended to force us to send reinforcements."

"At that time, he can take advantage of his home field and choose favorable terrain to fight us."

"At the same time, he also wanted to divide us."

"The royal family will never stand by and watch the Lannisters perish, but others may not be so sure."

James turned his head and looked around.

The various lords who were attending the war council all turned their heads away, especially the lords of the Hejian region, whose faces clearly showed their unease.

"But Storm's End is the same." Eddard's finger moved to the southern end of King's Landing.

"It was Renly's fiefdom, and it had great political symbolic significance, but the lords of the Reach did not care about it."

"It will take Renly some persuasion to convince them to abandon Casterly Rock and Lannister Port, which are about to be acquired, and to cross the entire continent to rescue a castle."

"If I divide my forces, he will also divide his forces."

"This way, we can wait in comfort and then wipe out his reinforcements."

Someone muttered under their breath, "What if he ignores Storm's End and attacks Casterly Rock directly after taking Deepholm?"

Ed's voice rang out firmly: "Then he's courting his own destruction!"

Joffrey didn't say anything at the time, but just pondered it silently in his heart.

In retrospect, Ed was right.

They truly perished.

But he was wrong too.

Deep Cave City was destroyed by its own people.

With the ravens cut off, Tywin Lannister, the ruthless old lion, had no idea when reinforcements would arrive.

They simply sold it off.

He emptied all the castles and villages along the line from Casterly Rock to Deepholm, leaving not a single grain of food, filling in all the wells, and even setting fire to the trees in the orchards.

It's hard to find another nation in the Seven Kingdoms that would go to such lengths as to implement a scorched-earth policy against its own people.

Even if there were any, they would most likely be soldiers personally trained by Tywin.

But this is the best possible outcome.

The western part of the region is mostly mountainous and hilly, and its eastern border, which borders the Riverlands, is like a giant pocket.

After defeating Tywin, Renly was probably too eager to press his advantage, so he chose the shortest route and plunged into the mountains.

Although he has now occupied Deep Cave City, he is now in a dilemma.

We can either keep pushing forward, pushing through the long supply lines to take on the tough nut of Casterly Rock.

But the allied forces could advance slowly, block the exit of the trap, and completely crush him in the mountains.

Alternatively, they could know when to quit while they're ahead, withdraw in time, abandon the occupied cities, and retreat all the way back to the river bend.

In this way, the pressure on the western border will be reduced, and the allied forces can march eastward to threaten Tengshi Town and open up the vital passage connecting the east and west banks of the Heishui River.

If Renly goes south via the Bitterbridge, crosses the Mande River, and then returns to Storm's End.

Sir Barristan's detachment could also take the opportunity to withdraw from the siege.

Following the lead of Red Roland, we can easily take over some of the castles on the outskirts of Stormlands, and also win over those wavering lords.

Or perhaps.

Renly led his army directly here, abandoning all the detours, and decided to settle the score in one battle!

In this way, the allied forces became the defenders.

"Lord Ed, is this the current situation?"

When Joffrey presented his analysis in a very logical and eloquent manner, Ed's eyes lit up.

"If it weren't for Your Majesty's identity, I would have really thought someone had stolen my battle plan."

Hehe, I really am a strategic genius.

Not long after, a commotion arose outside the tent.

"Your Majesty! Urgent report from the front!"

A scout lifted the curtain and came in.

"The force attacking Deep Cave City was only a detachment; the main attack wasn't there!"

"After defeating Tywin, Renly's army returned directly to Highhold and then marched north along the coastline from the Seafront."

"Head straight for the Rail Hall!"

>