The crowd stepped on the cracked earth, raising a cloud of gray dust.
Suleiman reined in the reins and turned to look at the endless marching team in front of him.
When he left Deddings Castle, he left Mrs. Lorna's four hundred recruits at the lord's castle, and he took his nine hundred soldiers to join this so-called coalition.
The troops of House Bracken and House Lychester, totaling two thousand people, are tasked with chasing and searching Ironborn.
However, this army is not so much chasing, as wandering Riverlands.
At this moment, an old and sharp voice broke through the dull marching atmosphere. "All troops, obey the order! Turn to the west path!"
Quick!"
Suleiman follows the reputation, Lymond. Lychester is an old lord, the one with the highest rank and rank in the team, and the commander of the coalition forces.
At this moment, he was standing on a high ground, waving his arms as if chasing away a swarm of invisible flies.
This is the third time today that the direction has changed. There was a commotion in the team. The soldiers of Suleiman looked at their "parents" blankly. The "parents" looked helplessly at their respective "Lead Chief", and the "Household Head" looked at Suleiman.
Suleiman frowned. Although he knew and understood that the nobles of Riverlands wanted to preserve their strength, and he thought so too, the old man's performance was too clumsy.
For a while he headed east, saying that he had a premonition that Ironborn would land there, and for a while he turned around and said that he had a premonition that they had missed Ironborn, and now they had to get into a small road that they didn't even know would lead to that place.
Suleiman thought to himself, although I also want to hang out with you, but it's not like this. It will be too obvious when word spreads.
He made up his mind and prepared to ride forward to ask the commander-in-chief what he wanted to do.
A hand suddenly reached out and gently pulled his reins.
Suleiman turned his head and saw a shrewd young face. He was Sir Hendry. House Bracken, the nephew of Lord Jonos. House Bracken, and the leader of the House Bracken unit.
Hendry lowered his voice. "Sir Suleiman, please be patient."
Suleiman looked at him with questioning eyes.
Hendry didn't say much, he just raised his hand and pointed helplessly at his temple. Then, he pointed his finger far away at Lymond. Lychester who was still dancing in the distance, and made a gentle circle gesture.
There is a problem here!
Suleiman was stunned, no, it was real or fake.
Hendry. House Bracken came closer, and his voice was almost inaudible. "When War of the Usurper came, some of Master Lychester's sons followed Targaryen, and some followed Robert. Baratheon."
There was a hint of sympathy in his voice.
"As a result... none of them came back."
"His family is extinct."
Suleiman's pupils shrank slightly, so the old man had a mental problem.
Hendry looked at Suleiman's expression, his tone full of helplessness. "Since then, he has had some mental problems."
At this time, a gust of cold wind blew by, picking up the fallen leaves on the ground. Suleiman opened his eyes wide, looked at Hendry, and asked with his eyes, so,
We, two thousand people, are now listening to the command of a man with mental problems.
Hendry. House Bracken nodded silently, and then forced a smile on his face that was uglier than crying.
Suleiman was completely speechless.
Under the random command of Lymond. Lychester, the team stopped again. The soldiers sat on the ground in twos and threes, waiting blankly for the next incomprehensible order.
Suleiman and Hendry walked side by side, separated from the main team, and walked slowly on the flanks. Hendry's eyes involuntarily fell on the soldiers behind Suleiman.
He found that Suleiman's soldiers did not spread out and sit in the shade like his family's soldiers. Instead, they sat together in small groups and maintained a vigilant formation, with weapons placed where they were most convenient.
They did not have any disputes and chaos, but instead took out dry food and water in a taciturn manner. They exuded a temperament that was incompatible with this unorganized coalition, as if they were not on the same level.
Seeing this, Hendry finally couldn't help but asked curiously, "Master Suleiman."
"These people should not be soldiers raised by your family, right?"
"Why can they behave so...::::. different from ordinary citizens of Riverlands?"
After all, as far as he knew, the lord in front of him was just a small lord, and he shouldn't have that many Gold Dragon to maintain such a large family's standing soldiers.
Suleiman gave him a warning look, his eyes were calm, and he said calmly, "It's very simple."
"Give them prospects."
"What do you mean?" Hendry looked confused.
"If you are willing to give your soldiers a path through which they can obtain things they dare not dream of in their lives, Gold Dragon or anything else, I think their performance will not be worse than that of my subjects."
Hendry opened his mouth, a little shocked. This is a road through which they can obtain things they dare not expect. This is really easy to say.:::
He seemed to want to say something, but in the end he just smiled bitterly and shook his head.
At this moment, the sound of horse hoofbeats interrupted the exchange between the two. Lymond. Lychester rode over and the madness on his face faded a lot, and his eyes became somewhat clear.
He looked at Suleiman and Hendry, and asked in a fairly normal tone, "Sir Suleiman, Sir Hendry."
"Do you have any suggestions for the next march direction?"
This sudden awakening caught both of them off guard. After all, the old man had been talking to himself and acting extremely weird since he set out, and did not communicate with others.
Hendry reacted faster. He pointed to a meandering river in the distance and answered pragmatically, "Sir, we should move along Green Fork. The river is where Ironborn is most likely to appear."
Suleiman also nodded and agreed. If you really want to find Ironborn, this is indeed the most basic and correct judgment.
But...
He looked at the old Lymond who had regained his consciousness, his heart moved, and he suddenly asked, "Master Lychester, I heard that your castle was occupied by Ironborn."
"We have such a powerful team, why don't we try to regain it?"
This question was like a stone thrown into the calm lake. A trace of pain flashed in Lymond. Lychester's cloudy eyes, but he quickly covered it up.
He shook his head and said in an unusually sober tone, "Although my castle is not big or small, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack."
"We have two thousand people to attack. If there are hundreds of Ironborn in the castle, we won't be able to take it down. It will only increase casualties."
"So, I plan to wait for the king's reinforcements to arrive in a month. By then, it will not be too late to recapture the castle."
This crazy old man had such clear thoughts when he was sober. Suleiman looked at him with an indescribable surprise in his heart. If he hadn't known that the old man in front of him was really mentally abnormal, he would really have felt that the old man in front of him had brought the essence of the four words "preserving strength" to the extreme.
After the old man finished speaking, he seemed to have exhausted all his energy, and his eyes began to become distracted again. He no longer paid attention to the two of them, turned the horse's head to himself, mumbled something that no one could understand, and rode away.
Hendry. House Bracken looked at his back, showed a strange smile, and told Suleiman the real truth.
"Master Suleiman, in fact, the real reason is that Master Norbert. Vance is unwilling to help him regain his family castle."
"Because Master Vance received the mission from Riverrun to hunt down Ironborn. It is obviously not his mission to help Lychester recover the castle, and siege will obviously cause huge losses."
"This is a laborious and thankless task. It doesn't matter if there is no loss. Once the loss is serious, it will not be good if we fail in the hands of Ironborn."
"House Lychester's own team does not have the ability to recapture the castle alone."
After Hendry finished speaking, the weird smile on his face turned into a meaningful smile. He took off the water bag from his waist, unscrewed the cap, and took a big sip of the drink.
Then, he looked at Suleiman, like a cunning fox, and asked the fatal question:
"Is it possible that Master Suleiman is willing to use his own people to bleed for other people's castles?
2
Suleiman glanced at him, and then looked at the back of the old man talking crazy to himself in the distance:
"Why not?"
"Pfft...·
"Hendry The sip of wine he just took into his mouth suddenly spurted out, and the water splashed onto his clothes.
He choked and coughed violently, and his face turned red.