Flanking Maneuver
Once it was confirmed that Stannis had amassed a large army at the Twins, Jon began his operation.
For this great relocation, Jon selected over 2,600 elite soldiers, including more than 200 highly trained knights.
The entire flanking force was divided into seven squads, a number considered very auspicious in Riverlands, where the Faith of the Seven was prevalent.
However, if more than three of the seven squads are lost before reaching the rendezvous point, the mission will be declared a failure.
After all, with only a little over a thousand people, it's unlikely they can hold enough ground or pose a significant threat.
Their goal was to tie up Stannis's main force in the Riverlands before the Southern Army arrived, preventing them from retreating at will. The arrival of the Southern Army would be the turning point in the game.
As Old Walder observed, the Twins was merely bait; the reinforcements Jon was truly waiting for were not the Northern Army, but the Reach army that Stannis believed was tied down.
Because Jon could directly observe the movements of enemy troops within a range of dozens of grids, he didn't even need to bring Skinchanger or release Raven for reconnaissance, so he led more than five hundred men by himself.
Although they were at the forefront, outnumbered the most, and chose the direction with the densest scouts, they were actually the fastest under Jon's leadership.
In just a day and a half, they bypassed Stannis's defenses almost silently and quickly headed towards their designated location.
Leo Lefford was also quick-witted; he and Haken worked together, and the two of them led nearly four hundred men to bypass the defenses two days later.
Perhaps Jon was really lucky; the second, third, and fifth squads quickly passed through the defensive line, leaving only Rickard and the last squad still dealing with Stannis's scouts.
"It's like the Seven Hells! There's a bear in the forest, and it's already bitten two of us."
"Damn it, take some men and take care of that beast! The weather's getting colder and colder, and I'm really looking for a bearskin coat."
Soon, several soldiers, whose attention had been drawn by the bear, followed their lord and headed into the woods with spears and fishing nets.
After a thorough search, following the obvious trail of blood, the group quickly located the snow bear.
"Good heavens, it's a polar bear! Polar bear pelts are worth a lot more! No arrows allowed! Catch it with a fishing net!"
Upon seeing the polar bear, the Vale Lord was so surprised that his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he saw the polar bear, which appeared to be sleeping.
The soldiers, having received the order, readily complied, tied up their horses, and quietly approached the polar bear.
Although it was somewhat dangerous not to use bows and arrows, a dozen of them could still handle a bear without any problem.
As the soldiers slowly approached, the polar bear that had been pretending to sleep suddenly opened its eyes.
Whether it was a misperception or not, the nearest Vale soldier didn't see any ferocity or bestiality in the polar bear's eyes; instead, he saw only human composure.
The next second, arrows flew everywhere, and before the soldiers approaching the polar bear could react, they were already hit by several arrows.
There's an ambush!
The minor lord in charge of command at the rear realized a terrible possibility when he suddenly heard a flurry of footsteps.
He lowered his body, back to back with his guards, preparing to face the enemy, when a burly North with an almost entirely white beard charged toward him.
This was the team led by Rickard.
They used polar bears as bait to lure nearby scouts, then laid an ambush.
Because there were so many scouts lying in ambush, their advance was somewhat delayed, making simple infiltration a bit troublesome. He figured that since stealth is all about minimizing enemy detection, wouldn't eliminating the enemies who did detect him also be a form of stealth?
Guided by this approach, he formulated this battle plan.
Rickard twisted and slashed, severing the head that still bore a look of terror.
"Anyway, Jon only said to move back to the past, he didn't say how to do it indirectly," Rickard thought to himself, with a touch of smugness that suggested he was not yet old.
After quickly dealing with the scouts with his men, Rickard prepared to continue his journey.
"Tell that kid from the Westerlands to stick close to him," Rickard instructed his errand boy.
The "Westerlands Kid" he was referring to was Jeyne's Raynard.
Raynard's troops carried a large number of arrows, and eighty percent of the soldiers were longbowmen.
Because they were carrying a lot of supplies, Raynard's team was relatively important and needed to wait for the other teams to pass before choosing the safest direction.
Rickard sat down to rest on a fallen tree trunk, which was already covered in Mushroom.
He stroked the tree trunk with his hand, the rough texture sliding across his palm, and for some reason, it reminded him of many people.
Eddard Stark, Brandon Stark, and their father, Lord Rickard.
Rickard felt he had lived way too long. More than a decade ago, he fought the Targaryen alongside the Baratheon, and now he was following the Targaryen ' banner to fight the Baratheon again, which made him feel somewhat dazed.
Just as he was savoring life, he suddenly saw firelight getting closer and closer in the distance.
Rickard was taken aback and quickly asked his scouts what had happened.
The scouts told him that two forces, totaling at least three thousand men, were approaching them, and that they too were ambushed by "three thousand." Rickard took a deep breath, realizing that this was the furthest he could go.
"Tell everyone! Form ranks and meet the enemy, let that kid Raynard get around!"
Rickard was determined to trade his team for the safety of Raynard's team.
The Skinchanger who followed Rickard was prepared to sacrifice himself when he set off.
Jon had already made proper arrangements for their families, ensuring they would receive the best care after their deaths in battle.
Several soldiers draped the polar bear in simple, but thick and sturdy armor.
The polar bear roared to the sky, drawing more enemies towards its location.
The battle was almost imminent. Neither side seemed interested in negotiating with the other; the fight began almost as soon as they spotted each other.
Although this army was elite, it was still too small in number. They fought from dusk until dawn, and their formation was eventually broken.
Rickard was getting old, and his command ability and physical strength had greatly declined.
Two young noblemen with similar faces plunged longswords into his chest.
Rickard spotted a nobleman in bronze armor in the distance.
Royce ----
Rickard murmured, his last thought being of the characteristics of the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms that he had been required to memorize repeatedly as a child.
The polar bear was also killed, and its white head was cut off and hung on the rune-covered banner of the House Royce.
"Thanks to that Pyromancer, otherwise these people would have really gotten past us."
"He's got some skills. If he can always spot the enemy's movements through the flames, we're guaranteed to win!"
"I just don't know if I can spot where Jon is; I could kill him with one arrow."
Several lords chatted and boasted, glancing at and discussing Thoros not far away.
However, Thoros was not so pleased with himself at this point. He tried to make predictions through the images in the flames, but failed several times.
That kind of failure wasn't due to his own lack of strength, but rather a failure caused by someone's deliberate obstruction. This was beyond his comprehension. Logically speaking, the scenes within the flames were all guided by the Lord of Light. Who could distort the Lord of Light's guidance? This didn't make sense!
The fact that Rickard's army was finally seen was entirely due to the disappearance of that interference; Thoros believed that other armies must have passed by.
Thoros was conflicted. He didn't want to see a war break out between Stannis and Jon, but now he was actually providing services to Stannis.
He didn't know whether he should tell Stannis that others had broken through their lines.
Thoros looked at the soldiers left behind by Rickard. More than three hundred men had dragged down more than three thousand men for a day and a night. In the end, only about thirty men were left, either too exhausted or seriously injured and unconscious.
Such fighting spirit is truly admirable. I wonder what Jon did to them to make them so loyal.
"Great Lord of Light, is Stannis truly the savior you have chosen? Why do I see no hope of his victory?"
Thoros lamented inwardly. He admired Melisandre, and it was because Melisandre told him that Stannis was a savior that Thoros chose to respect Stannis's decision to go to war.
He now only hopes that the war will end as soon as possible, so that humanity can preserve as much energy and strength as possible to get through the Long Night.