Westerlands Campaign-Beneath Golden Tooth

Golden Tooth, the gateway to the Westerlands, is built against a valley, flanked by towering, steep mountains that are rich in gold mines. This castle truly lives up to its name, Golden Tooth.

In front of Golden Tooth stood an army of over 25,000 men.

One of the ten thousand troops, mainly archers, came from the support of House Tyrell. Archers are not just ordinary soldiers; soldiers who can draw warbows require a high level of physical strength.

Tyrell went to great lengths to support Jon, providing not only an army but also all the rations Jon needed.

These troops were led by Jon's brother-in-law, Garlan Tyrell, with Loras Tyrell, the Knight of Flowers, also present, though his main role was to make fun of Jon and even discourage Jon from marrying Margaery.

The thought of having someone of Jon's background marry his sister made Loras feel incredibly uncomfortable.

Especially Jon's verbal attacks on King's Landing that day—that's a significant debt.

However, Jon chose to ignore Loras. He was the third of the three Tyrell brothers, a man of high status but little real power, so there was no point in arguing with him.

The remaining eight thousand men were Jon's own army, of which more than five thousand were surrendered soldiers from the Westerlands King's Landing's Landing, and the rest were Riverlands Militia and veterans of the Mountain Clans.

Jon had assumed that once they had food, they would go back to retire peacefully, but the old men said that eating military rations had made them even stronger, and that staying with Jon might allow them to live a few more years.

Jon didn't expose their little scheme; they simply wanted to save the family some food.

There were also four thousand Riverrun troops led by Brynden; after all, it was right on their own doorstep, and it wouldn't make sense for them not to send troops.

The House Frey mobilized two thousand men, perhaps out of consideration for Roslin, and offered Jon the same level of support they had shown to Robb.

The remaining thousand men were soldiers from Karhold, led by Rickard. He had already relinquished the title of Earl of Karhold to Harrion and decided to stay behind to help Jon.

Now his daily job is "to shout and curse under the Golden Tooth".

"Daven! I killed your father. If you're not a coward, come and fight me! Don't hide in the city like a turtle!"

"Daven! Come out! Don't hide in the city, I know you can hear me!"

"Daven"

Golden Tooth, Daven knew that Rickard was shouting and cursing outside, but he remained hidden inside the city, unmoved.

Once Golden Tooth falls, Jon's army will advance unimpeded, break through Casterly Rock's satellite Sarsfield, and then march all the way to the Casterly Rock.

However, if he can hold Golden Tooth, then Jon will have to go around to the southern part of the Westerlands to deal with the resistance from the various castles Westerlands.

In this way, the Westerlands army, with its terrain advantage, would wear down the invading forces, and the massive war expenditure would be unbearable even for the wealthiest lord.

The worst outcome the Lannister faced was merely the cession of half of the Westerlands, but as long as they retained Casterly Rock, they would eventually reclaim those lost territories.

And that is Tywin's core objective. So no matter how eager for revenge Daven is, he has to hold back.

At this moment, a noblewoman of about twenty-five or twenty-six years old came to Daven's study. She had chestnut hair, a pale face, and walked silently.

Her name was Alysanne Lefford. This name comes from the kind queen Alysanne of the Targaryen era.

Alysanne Lefford's husband Leo Lefford Lefford, drowned in the Battle of the Red Fork. Lefford now raises his seven-year-old daughter and four-year-old son alone and has become the head of the House Lefford.

In reality, there's not much to be done as the clan leader now. When Kevan attacked King's King's Landing, he wiped out almost all of the elite troops in the Westerlands.

The House Lefford now consists of only the mother, her two children, and a few elderly men.

Despite the tall and sturdy walls of Golden Tooth, Alysanne felt no sense of security. Instead, she felt more at ease being with the burly, bearded Daven.

Especially since the Father, one of the Seven, also has a golden beard, this provides her with a certain spiritual comfort.

"Daven, the soldiers tell me that the bastard has brought an army of over 20,000 men. Can we hold them off?" Alysanne asked worriedly.

Despite his impatience, Daven patiently explained to the anxious woman, "Don't worry, madam. Although we only have six thousand troops, it's enough to defend Golden Tooth. The path Robb found has been blocked, and that bastard can't get through no matter what. Besides, even if six thousand soldiers aren't enough, we still have twenty or thirty thousand miners. Believe me, even a hundred thousand troops, let alone twenty thousand, would have no chance of breaking through Golden Tooth."

Seeing Daven's response, Alysanne felt slightly relieved, but then cautiously took two steps closer to Daven and asked, "Shouldn't we incorporate those miners into the army as soon as possible? It would be safer with more people guarding the area."

"That won't do, my lady. Our rations are limited, and those cowardly miners are simply not suited for the battlefield; they'll only dampen morale. How about this," Daven stood up, moving a little further away from Alysanne, "I'll select another three thousand men from the miners and train them. And my lady, if that bastard isn't stupid, the final battle will likely take place in the south. Lord Tywin will personally oversee the confrontation. As long as we keep the city gates closed, we have nothing to fear."

Seeing that Daven was intentionally distancing himself from her, Alysanne stopped moving forward, took a few steps back, nodded, and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Sir."

Daven was aware of Tywin's entire plan, and they all agreed that Jon would never be able to breach Golden Tooth, given that Jon had no record of ever breaching a city in a direct assault.

That King's Landing could at most be considered a sneak attack.

Jon may be quite skilled in open field battles, but against this fortress-like castle, there is absolutely no possibility of taking any shortcuts.

Meanwhile, a consensus also emerged within Jon's army: taking Golden Tooth would be no easy feat.

"Jon, we're consuming a lot of food every day, and the soldiers are all itching to fight. How about we try attacking the city tomorrow?" Rickard tried to encourage Jon to attack the city.

At this moment, Jon sat in the commander-in-chief's seat in the military tent. This time, he did not need anyone's appointment or permission, nor did he need to play any tricks of retreating to advance. The command of the army was in his hands.

But the responsibility for the war also fell entirely on his shoulders.

Sandor Clegane stood outside the tent, with Robert Frey standing beside him.

Garlan and Loras were closest to Jon, while Brynden and Rickard sat on the other side.

Black Walder, having served with Robb in the invasion of the Westerlands, was experienced and thus assigned to join Jon in the siege. Martin continued to command Jon's Heavy Armor Battalion as a trump card and core force.

As for Monde, Jon sent him back to Darry Castle with Lyman to help Lyman rebuild Darry Castle and the surrounding territory.

Because the Westerlands is rich in minerals, its smelting technology is very advanced, and the heavy armor of the Heavy Armor Battalion has been highly praised by many people.

In addition, Jeyne's father and brothers also joined Jon's army with a small number of men, since their family's the Crag was still in the Westerlands, and they needed to reclaim their territory.

In addition, Melisandre also came from King's Landing's Landing, just as Varys said, presumably to help him.

But Jon had no idea how to help her.

Should I use the Shadow Assassin like I did with Renly?

However, the Shadow Assassin can only be created through the mating of Melisandre and Stannis, who possesses the King's Blood.

Although he also possessed King's Blood, neither Melisandre nor Stannis should have known this.

If Jon couldn't figure it out, he simply stopped thinking about it; he had his own methods anyway.

"Now is not the time. Golden Tooth is well-defended; a hasty attack would only result in needless loss of life."

Before Jon could finish speaking, Loras crossed his arms and said, "Then I wonder if our Lord Jon has any good ideas? You know, the food you're consuming is all being pulled from Highgarden's granaries."

Everyone could hear the sarcasm in Loras's tone, but they didn't say anything, just looked at Loras and then at Jon.

After all, this was Jon's family matter, and neither they, as vassals nor allies, could easily interfere.

Jon didn't argue with Loras, but calmly said, "Attacks naturally require timing; if there isn't one, we'll create one."

Jon approached the map and said, "Golden Tooth is strategically located; it's the most fortified fortress and stronghold in the Westerlands— "

"Casterly Rock is the one," Loras interjected again.

"Lo!" Garlan whispered to stop him. Although Garlan was slow to react, he still observed basic etiquette.

"----One of them." Jon didn't say anything, but continued on his own, "If I were Tywin, then based on my understanding of Jon Tywin, I would definitely think that I wouldn't launch a full-scale attack on Golden Tooth. The north is narrow, with almost only a small stretch of coastline accessible, and Tywin has already fortified the fortresses. The only possible place for a decisive battle is the south."

Although no one immediately understood Jon's long and complicated sentence, they all understood his meaning.

"So you're planning a flanking attack to the south?" Loras asked.

"No, I want the people of Golden Tooth to think I'm going south. Once they've transferred most of their troops out of the city, we can launch an attack and take it all in one fell swoop! After all, even the strongest fortress needs soldiers to defend it, doesn't it?" Jon revealed his final plan.

"The garrison of Golden Tooth isn't stupid. Why do you think they'll listen to you?" Loras asked again.