Battle for King's Landing-Secret Passage Fails!?
The Great Sept of Baelor is more renowned than the Starry Sept, the headquarters of the Faith of the Seven.
Jon's decision to order Martin to take control of the Starry Sept naturally attracted the attention of the commoners of King's Landing's Landing.
In particular, the act of searching for Wildfire requires digging three feet into the ground, which some people consider "blasphemy."
However, the Northern Army only controlled King's Landing for a day, so any discontent had no time to fester. Moreover, the current High Septon was hiding in the Red Keep and dared not come out at all.
Meanwhile, the Reach army, whose attack King's Landing had been thwarted, temporarily camped King's Landing.
Although they could not attack the city, they were able to send people to check the defenses of each city gate.
After receiving news that the Northern Army had completed its defensive line, the atmosphere in the military camp became even more tense.
Especially now that Mace has arrived with his army, his complaints are even more irritating.
"Jon Snow?! Gods, why are you mocking me like this!"
"Hasn't Tywin been urging us to hurry up? Why isn't he here yet?"
"This isn't like sixteen years ago. Sixteen years ago, we could wait for Rhaegar to win, even though he failed. But what are we waiting for now?"
A brown-haired nobleman with a protruding belly and a wealthy appearance paced anxiously back and forth in the military camp.
His thick, fleshy hands would occasionally scratch his belly.
Fortunately, he hadn't practiced martial arts for many years, so his hands didn't have any calluses; otherwise, his expensive green silk coat would have been snagged.
Even so, everyone had to revolve around him; after all, he was the guardian of the Reach and the commander of an army of 80,000.
"My lord, perhaps we can wait for Lord Tywin to arrive and launch an attack together. That bastard's army must not be too large; he will not be a match for us," Petyr explained humbly.
"But what's the point of this war if Margaery can't become queen?"
"Sister Margaery can definitely do it. I'm very confident that King Joffrey is still alive."
"What king? I've seen more kings than you've seen in brothels!"
Mace waved his hand impatiently, Petyr knew he had to keep quiet for the time being; he would have to wait until the Duke was in a better mood before he could say anything.
"The Duke."
Watching Mace shout and the others bowing and scraping before him, Petyr muttered to himself. He felt it was unfair; how could someone like him be above everyone else? But he quickly suppressed his thoughts, because Jon Snow had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and Petyr was in a bad mood as well.
At this moment, a message arrived. "My lord, sir, the army of the Westerlands has arrived at 40 geese in King's Landing, Lord Tywin has arrived outside our camp."
,"Tywin."
Petyr was thrilled to hear that Tywin had arrived, believing that perhaps Tywin had a solution.
At this moment, Petyr suddenly remembered that when the alliance was first formed, Tywin had ordered his men to urge the Reach army to head north as soon as possible to prevent any unforeseen events.
Petyr had assumed Tywin was wary of Stannis's fleet, but now it seemed even the Lord of Casterly Rock hadn't figured out Jon's actions.
And there was one more thing he couldn't understand: how did Jon gain command of the army?
Judging from the Northern Army's defensive posture and the scouts' reports, Jon Snow's army must number no fewer than ten thousand.
Suddenly, another thought flashed through Petyr's mind: Tywin dared to come to Tyrell's camp alone; what if he were detained?
If Tywin is detained and killed alive, Tyrell can then recover from the mistake of "choosing the wrong side".
As the one making the suggestion, perhaps -
But Petyr quickly rejected the idea.
Tywin dared to come because he was certain he would only come as a last resort. Tyrell did not want to cooperate with Stannis. More than a decade ago, Mace led tens of thousands of troops to besiege Storm's End for more than half a year, forcing Stannis to eat leather shoes and dead rats for several months. The two sides had a past grudge.
By cooperating with Stannis, Tyrell wouldn't get what they wanted either. Stannis's wife, Selyse, was still alive, so it was impossible for him to marry Margaery; he only had one daughter.
There was absolutely no basis for cooperation between the two sides, and persuading Mace wouldn't be easy either. Let's see what good ideas Tywin has for besieging the city.
Soon, a tall, burly nobleman with a bald head and green eyes, dressed in red armor, met with Mace.
Tywin was followed by a group of followers, but none of the Reach soldiers and knights saw the infamous the Mountain.
"I heard he was killed by Eddard Stark's bastard son."
"Real?"
"Yes, when Eddard's bastard son was at the the Green Fork, he used the river—"
Tywin could hear some whispers, but he couldn't care less at that point.
His imposing face couldn't hide his exhaustion; he had fought a battle with the blocking force left behind by Jon before arriving in King's Landing.
Although we won, we paid a considerable price.
Before the Green Fork, he still had an army of over 20,000 men.
There are only about 15,000 people now.
Moreover, this is a weary army.
Many soldiers' spears were broken, and their swords were dulled.
In his haste to reach his destination, he lost nearly one-fifth of his cavalry.
However, it seems I was still late.
Tywin and Mace meet in the House Tyrell's magnificent tent.
As soon as Tywin stepped into the tent, he felt something soft and yielding under his feet. That Mace had actually laid out a carpet inside the tent!
No wonder he couldn't conquer Storm's End with tens of thousands of troops back then.
Despite his disdain, Tywin restrained himself and sat down opposite Mace.
"Lord Tywin, you seem a little late," Mace said, holding an exquisite gold cup. "That bastard is in town now. Tell me, what should we do?"
Tywin didn't mention that he had been ambushed, but instead indicated that he was aware of the situation.
"That bastard claims he captured the Red Keep; we can certainly verify that."
"Verification?" Mace asked. "Wouldn't we have to storm the city first?"
Raven! Petyr suddenly remembered the method Tywin had used for verification.
However, he chose not to say it aloud, otherwise it would make Mace seem too stupid.
Sure enough, Tywin's solution was to find a nearby castle under their control and have the maester there write a letter to King's Landing.
If the Red Keep receives a reply, it means that it hasn't been captured by Jon, and that Joffrey not only alive but also not under control.
Then they can attack the city without restraint.
"What about Myrcella and Tommen?" Mace asked.
"Compared to the future of the entire Westerlands and the House Lannister, what are two grandsons? Even my eldest son is still in Riverrun."
Tywin said coldly, but Mace instinctively turned her body to the side.
Put yourself in Jon's shoes; if he were holding his own bloodline in his hands, he might not have been able to make such a decision.
Although Mace wasn't particularly capable and wasn't a strong monarch, he was exceptionally good to his children.
Upon unfolding the map, they saw a small town southwest of King's Landing's Landing, and decided to send someone to verify Joffrey's situation by sending Raven.
=======
On the city wall, Jon stood with some personal guards beside him. He closed his eyes and manipulated the Raven to monitor the Lion-and-Flower Coalition's every move. Martin had previously unearthed a large amount of Wildfire from beneath the Great Sept of Baelor, and this Wildfire was being moved towards the city wall little by little.
With these Wildfire, Jon was confident he could hold King's Landing against an army of 100,000.
At this time, the Lion-and-Flower Coalition, which was besieging the city, had not yet made up its mind to attack, but a large number of siege weapons were being transported.
From the very beginning, they had prepared for King's Landing to be captured by Stannis, and then for it to be retaken.
Catapults and siege ladders are pouring toward King's Landing's Landing.
Jon knew that once they were fully prepared, the defenses would be under tremendous pressure.
If Jon had personally trained these ten thousand men, he could have held King's Landing even without Wildfire. But this group of the Patchwork Army was simply not reassuring.
Jon looked toward the Red Keep, whose walls were almost twice as high as King's Landing of Red Keep, and whose moat was both deep and wide.
Even if there were secret passages, they wouldn't be easy to breach. Just then, Sola brought a child to Jon, holding a letter in his hand.
"Jon, he said he came to deliver a letter to you."
"Send a message?"
Jon took the letter, shook it away from his body to make sure it contained no poison or powder.
Upon opening it, it was discovered that the handwriting had been deliberately altered.
My esteemed Jon Snow, I have heard of your exploits at the Green Fork and Darry Castle, and I greatly admire them. But at this moment, there are a full 100,000 troops King's Landing. It will be a very difficult task for you to defend it with only 13,000 men, and if you fail, I think the consequences will be self-evident.
Now I have a suggestion. If you'd like, I can send you out of King's Landing to the Free Cities across the Narrow Sea. I have a friend there who can offer you refuge.
Also, your secret passage might not be accurate.
The letter was very brief, and the sender expressed a strong sense of confidence and control, as if he saw through everything.
But after reading the contents of the letter, Jon sneered; he already knew who this guy was.
Varys!
The Minister of Intelligence who tried to help the Targaryen restore their rule.
It's hard to say whether that child is Rhaegar's son or a descendant of Blackfyre.
The reason he wrote Jon such a letter was because Jon's previous performance had caught his eye.
Perhaps they saw Jon's potential and believed that he could one day assist the "Targaryen orphan" in his counterattack against Westeros.
In his view, Jon was now cornered and had no choice but to accept his advice.
After Jon conquered King's Landing, he asked the Gold Cloaks and mercenary prisoners about Tyrion's whereabouts, but they all said they didn't know.
It seems that he was rescued by Varys just like before.
However, Jon considered another factor.
That is, Varys was worried that if Stannis seized the throne, he might not be able to continue serving as Minister of Intelligence.
In particular, Stannis explicitly expressed his dissatisfaction with Stannis's involvement in instructing children to collect intelligence.
Having lost his position near the core of power, Varys's importance will greatly diminish, and the matter of assisting the Targaryen orphan will naturally become out of the question.
Varys has access to the secret passages of the Red Keep. If there are any Labyrinth, mazes, or other chaotic things inside, he would have a hard time getting through. Moreover, he probably saw exactly what Harrion was doing outside the Red Keep and knew that he was looking for the entrance to the secret passages.
Regardless, Varys does not want to breach the Red Keep at this point.
Unless Jon can fight the Lion-Flower Alliance outside and prove to him that he has the ability to defend the city, and show him who truly holds the destiny of King's Landing's Landing!
Only at this moment would this Spider, who thought it controlled everything, speak to it as an equal.
After reading the letter, Jon looked at the child who was still waiting in the same spot.
He was wearing a brown linen shirt, looked to be around ten years old, and probably came from the slums, but his cheeks were unusually round.
It seems he can gain a lot by delivering the message; the reason he hasn't left is because he's still waiting for Jon's reward.
However, he was disappointed.
Jon tore the letter in his hand to shreds and said to him, "Tell your master that I came to King's Landing to avenge my father. Failure will only mean death. I have no interest in his proposal."