Westerlands Strategy-Strike at the Heart

At this time, there were still a thousand soldiers and two thousand new miner recruits in Golden Tooth, which was approaching the safety alert line of the Golden Tooth garrison.

Even Alysanne Lefford pleaded with him repeatedly not to send soldiers elsewhere.

Daven assured Lady Lefford. Lady Lefford that he would increase patrols at night and that he would even personally inspect the city walls and outposts, which reassured her.

That afternoon, Daven inspected the walls of Golden Tooth as promised, while observing Jon's camp in the distance, and the officers guarding the city gave him a reconnaissance report.

"Sir, there's much less smoke coming from the enemy's camp today than yesterday. They must have moved some troops away last night." The officer who spoke looked to be nearly fifty years old and appeared very experienced.

Daven noticed the cloak on the other man's body—blue with gold pillars—and concluded that he must be a collateral noble of House Lefford. After all, anyone who could serve as an officer in Westeros was definitely not of commoner origin.

He was accompanied by a young man of about seventeen or eighteen. Judging from their features, the two were undoubtedly father and son.

"So how many people do you think are still in that illegitimate child's military camp?"

"Sir, I don't think it's more than five thousand men! And judging from the flags, it's basically just his own army left."

Daven nodded, feeling much relieved.

He looked at Lefford beside him and thought that if Leiford were to guard Golden Tooth, or even inherit Golden Tooth, then the pressure on Casterly Rock would be much less.

At least I won't be tied up leaving the soldiers behind.

"What's wrong with that? It's all Lefford anyway," Daven thought to himself. Just then, the maester from Golden Tooth rushed over, nearly tripping over his own grey maester's robe because he was walking too fast.

"Jazz!"

The scholar Daven and solemnly presented him with a letter.

Daven glanced at it and saw that it was a golden letter tube, which made him feel as if cold water had been poured into his stomach. The previous letters from Casterly Rock had all asked him to mobilize troops. He hoped that this one would be different.

Daven took a deep breath to calm himself down, opened the letterbox, and couldn't help but widen his eyes.

The phrase "Iron Islands" stands out prominently in the short letter.

The letter stated that the Iron Islands had invaded the area around the Crag, with over three hundred longships alone. Not only had nearby Ashemark sent troops to support them, but Tywin had also requested that Golden Tooth send as many troops as possible.

"Seven Hells, those damned pirates!" After confirming the orders in the letter, Daven tightly clenched the letter in his hand. It was Tywin's order, and he had no choice.

Daven looked down at the military camp. It should be mealtime by now, but there was hardly any smoke rising from the chimneys. There were definitely not five thousand people below the city. This made Daven finally make up his mind.

"Daven? Why are you transferring the troops again?" The next morning, Lady Lefford received this bad news almost as soon as she opened her eyes. She simply had her maid quickly wash and dress before coming to Daven's side.

"Daven, we now have only five hundred soldiers and a thousand miners still in training. That's simply not enough."

Faced with Lefford's concerns, Daven said helplessly, "Madam, if our enemy still numbered over 20,000, it certainly wouldn't be enough, but now our enemy has less than 3,000 men—" Daven lied and continued, "Most of them are already exhausted Riverlands soldiers. Believe me, even with only the remaining soldiers, I can defend Golden Tooth for you and for the Westerlands."

Daven had to tell Lefford about the Iron Islands, explaining that if the Ironborn ran rampant, Golden Tooth would be caught in a pincer movement, making the situation even worse.

At this moment, Daven recalled Tywin's "instruction"—to have more contact with Lady Lefford when necessary.

As a man, Daven certainly understood Tywin's meaning. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Don't worry, Madam, I will increase the patrols around your castle tonight."

Seeing Daven's response, Lefford breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Then—I'll have the children go to bed early tonight."

Late at night, Daven lay on Lady Lefford's bed, with portraits of Lady Lefford and her deceased husband still hanging on the wall.

The family of four looked especially warm and loving.

When Daven saw the painting on the wall, he felt that his husband, Leo Lefford, was watching him, which made him very uncomfortable, so he looked away and looked at Lady Lefford beside him.

She was fast asleep, leaning against her own shoulder and arm, and even sucking on her thumb like a baby.

Daven adjusted his sleeping position slightly, trying to fall asleep again, but he just couldn't. He felt like something was wrong.

Especially the recent barrage of orders from Tywin made him feel that someone else was actually in charge of Casterly Rock.

In short, it's not the Tywin I remember.

Daven became increasingly suspicious as he thought about it, and he suddenly decided to send someone to Casterly Rock to ask if there was anything wrong with those orders.

From Golden Tooth to Casterly Rock, there is only one Sarsfield. Moreover, the three fortresses are connected by a wide and flat road. If light cavalry were sent there, the round trip would not take much time.

I'll send someone back to Casterly Rock tomorrow to ask Tywin.

Daven took a long breath and then exhaled the stale air from his chest. He wanted to fall asleep as soon as possible, but suddenly felt something poking him from below.

Gently shifting his body, Daven retrieved the object, discovering it was a small piece of fabric. The room was too dark, so he used the moonlight outside to get a closer look and realized it was fine linen embellished with lace.

Noble ladies and young women all liked to use this material for their underwear. Daven noticed that Lady Lefford's underwear was also adorned with a few small pearls, and these pearls were the culprit that made him feel uncomfortable.

Daven gently tossed his fine linen underwear to the foot of the bed, trying to fall back asleep.

But just as he drifted off to sleep, he suddenly opened his eyes. As if he had heard something, Daven looked towards the direction outside the city, his brows furrowed, and he listened intently, holding his breath.

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps sounded, and a young man's voice rang out from outside. "Sir! The enemy has begun their attack!"

"What!"

Daven could no longer care about Lady Lefford, who was still sleeping with her arms wrapped around his. He suddenly pulled his arm away, and Lady Lefford woke up with a start.

She opened her eyes and saw a strong, shirtless body sitting up.

Just as Daven stood up, he suddenly felt a chill on his back, followed by a burning pain.

Daven stood up and looked back at Lady Lefford, who was half-crouching there naked, holding a dagger in her hand.

The blade of the dagger was stained red with blood. Daven touched his back; his hands were covered in blood.

"Woman! What are you doing!" Daven roared angrily, like an enraged lion.

How could he not see that the woman he had just been having sex with was trying to assassinate him?

However, she had never practiced using swords, and her attack only cut Daven's skin but did not injure any vital organs.

"Ah--" Lady Lefford knew that her first strike had failed and she would have no more chances. With a scream, she lunged at Daven, dagger in hand.

The size difference between the two was like that of an antelope pouncing on a tiger.

Driven by the pain, Daven reacted with increasing agility; as Lefford lunged forward, Davon's fist came at him.

Daven's fist slammed into Lady Lefford's face, knocking her to the ground.

Lady Lefford in pain, trembling all over, and slowly rose to her feet, speaking through her pale lips, "Golden Tooth belongs to my son Leo Lefford and me, and no one can take it away!"

"Nobody wants to take your Golden Tooth away!" Daven roared, feeling that the woman in front of him was somewhat unreasonable.

Although he had thought about it in his mind, he did not actually carry it out. Moreover, replacing the main branch with a collateral branch was a major decision that required the joint consultation of many people.

"Hmph, you don't," Lady Lefford's usual docile yet lustful demeanor vanished, replaced by a chilling coldness. A strand of hair clung to her lips, making her look like a terrifying ghost crawling out of the water. "But that old bastard and his son can't wait any longer!"

It turns out that disagreements have already arisen within the House Lefford.

The collateral branch believed that as long as they helped Tywin defend Golden Tooth and contributed to its Golden Tooth, they could replace Leo Lefford's son as Earl of Golden Tooth in the future.

When a collateral branch replaces the main branch, the main branch will definitely not have a good ending. In order to consolidate her position, the collateral branch's two children will probably not live to adulthood.

As the matriarch Alysanne Lefford naturally had no intention of sitting idly by. Since they wanted to fight for the inheritance by defending Golden Tooth, she would assassinate Daven and open the city gates!

It's a pity that for a woman completely lacking in martial arts skills, even getting close to Daven would be difficult, let alone assassinating Daven.

Even if Daven were unarmed, he wouldn't be someone a woman with a dagger could assassinate.

"Foolish woman!" Daven, having learned the whole story, felt even more strongly that those letters could not possibly have been sent by Tywin.

I must send someone on horseback to Casterly Rock to inquire.

"Damn it! You deserve to go to hell, you stupid woman!" Daven cursed angrily, still not satisfied, and kicked the naked body hard.

Lefford groaned as he was hit, and the urgent voice of a soldier came from outside again. "Sir, the enemy has begun attacking our fortress on the mountain! There are people everywhere!"

"People everywhere?! How is that possible!"

Daven was puzzled; shouldn't there only be five thousand men still besieging the city?

But the wound on his back was still bleeding, and the moment the lining of his cotton coat touched the wound, he grimaced in pain.

He had no time to think too much about the current situation; he could only quickly get into battle and hold off this wave of attacks.