Others did not know the truth about the Battle of the Crossing, but Littlefinger, Petyr Baelish, knew it quite well. Winter Wolf's cannon fodder had inflicted a frightening casualty ratio and dealt a heavy blow to the Lannister army's fighting spirit.
"Cunning Little The Smith. You've wrecked all my calculations. But what is the smith thinking now? Why isn't he hurrying south?" Petyr slammed his palm onto the map, right over Luan River Castle.
The war was about to become a savage, tangled struggle, contrary to Petyr's expectations. The Kingslayer had been gravely wounded, the siege of Riverrun lifted, and Luan River Castle taken. Now the combined forces of the trout, the wolves, and Storm were stronger than Tywin's, with the added morale of victory.
Little The Smith had solved the Northern Army's lack of commanders capable of leading an independent front, as well as its shortage of money. As a renowned commander of the age, Gendry was personally selecting elite northern troops and death squads at Luan River Castle to lead the main force. Meanwhile, the Young Wolf and Blackfish, commanding the Northern Army's western force, could confidently rush to the Riverlands' aid, plunder Lannister supplies, and cut off their food. That was precisely what they were doing. Crackclaw Point nearby was also stirring. In the present situation, Tywin had instead become the target of a pincer attack.
"How long can King's Landing hold?" Littlefinger looked toward King's Landing on the map again. The Crownlands roughly formed a semicircle like the opening between a tiger's jaws, with King's Landing at its center. Once the Northern Army marched south and Crackclaw Point rose in full revolt, while Renly's and Stannis's armies moved north, King's Landing would be completely hemmed in.
The army Little The Smith led consisted of a small