Mad King has prepared everything for his son.
As soon as Rhaegar·Targaryen, who was full of confidence, came back, he could immediately take charge and become the commander-in-chief of the royal army. He had no shortage of soldiers and horses, and food and grass were well prepared.
Not to mention those cruel and insane acts, when facing Targaryen's common powerful enemy, Aerys II is still very much like an old father.
Even his father is rare to be so reliable, and the silver-haired Crown Prince is very optimistic about the future direction of the war.
He believed that the army was in control and that there was no enemy ahead.
Don't look at the dukes in Riverrun dancing happily----
It doesn't matter.
He will take action!
Rhaegar is even imagining that when he wears a red robe, returns to the court with great honors, and holds a heavy army, he will definitely be able to sweep away the treacherous and sycophantic atmosphere in the palace.
He wants to carry out drastic reforms and eliminate all evil parties around the monarch!
Regardless of whether the prince's idea of "clearing the emperor's side" seems childish and ridiculous, before leaving King's Landing, Rhaegar told Jaime that when he returns to King's Landing after the war, he will launch reforms and change everything - this is not a lie.
Dragonstone Prince is serious.
His attitude can no longer be summed up simply as "confidence". This is actually a Targaryen who has blindly believed that he is the "man of destiny" and the "savior" for a long time.
That's right, a typical, extremely "standard" Targaryen.
No matter how normal his appearance is, no matter how melancholy his eyes are, no matter how powerful his charm is, no matter how graceful he is in dealing with others, and no matter how gentle he is when he treats his women - it can't change the cruel fact of steel -
That is unique to House Targaryen, the crazy undertone lurking beneath all the surfaces----
Isn't the "normality" and "perfection" of Prince Yin another kind of "righteousness gone evil"?
Rhaegar's optimism did not last long. At most, it extended to Harrenhal.
The last military meeting of the royalist army.
The candlelight cast dancing light and shadow on the long table.
Crown Prince is pushing a crumpled force distribution map to the center of the long conference table, the brows on his indigo eyes frowning slightly.
He was in the large conference room at Harrenhal, discussing the follow-up operations with the generals of the royal army.
Riverrun estimated the total force that can be put into the battlefield, and now Harrenhal is doing similar things.
The people attending the meeting were divided into many groups, including those from the urban area of Crownlands, those from the Crackclaw Point dense forest, and those from Riverlands, the Reach, and Dorne----
Crownlands's army is naturally in charge of Crown Prince himself, and the iron guard Jon·Darry is his deputy.
Walter Whent of Harrenhal;
William Mooton of Maidenpool;
Raymond Darry of Farmer's Keep;
As well as the heads of the Legg family and the Guback family.
The above lords are all loyal supporters of Iron Throne in Riverlands. The only missing one is House Bracken who has a loud voice, but apart from shouting slogans, he is still standing still at Stone Hedge.
Rhaegar plans to hand over this part of the army to the leadership of Kingsguard Barristan Selmy, who has the richest battle experience in this conference room.
The commander of the Reach army is Sir Fertimo Clyne, instructor Highgarden from Red Lake city. Their soldiers have the best equipment among all, but they are also the least useful to Rhaegar. Their willingness to fight is very low, so they can only be used as a reserve force behind the formation.
I hope that waiting for work can make them stronger.
The leader of the Dorne army is another Iron Guard Lewyn Martell.
Due to time constraints or other reasons, there is no intention to send troops to the entire eastern part of Dorne, which is the area with the largest population of Dornish. This support army is currently mainly composed of Skyreach from the Dorne Midwest,
The composition of Wang Jiacheng, Hellholt, Blackmont, Starfall, and High Hermitage.
Did a rough calculation.
Rhaegar, who had always been optimistic before, is a little unhappy. He likes reading and learning, and his math level is quite good.
After the defeat of Stoney Sept, Crownlands recruited an additional 15,000 people on the basis of the defeated troops, but most of them were recruits who had just entered the battlefield. These 15,000 people also included half of Wildlings soldiers on Crackclaw Point.
Those warriors from the jungle may not lack the courage to fight the enemy, but their equipment, obedience, and training are so poor that they cannot be relied on at all.
And the Riverlands coalition that he planned to hand over to Barristan in the follow-up war only numbered just over 10,000 people--too many of the Riverlands people were just outsiders. Many lords have not chosen sides yet, but are conservatively hiding in their own stone castles and continuing to wait and see, waiting for the price.
Even if the 20,000 people from the Reach and Dorne are added, the total strength of the royalist army stationed outside Harrenhal is only about 45,000.
According to the latest information coming from the direction of Riverrun, the so-called rebels who stand on the opposite side of Iron Throne have already gathered an army of fifty or sixty thousand people----
Where did they come from so many people?
To be honest, this was something Rhaegar had never expected before. He was still looking at people from the same old perspective, and once mistakenly believed that his own military strength should be more advantageous.
Due to the storm caused by the wings of a certain butterfly, the military strength of the rebel army and the royal army has undergone a huge reversal -
Fifty-five thousand: In the history of the forty-five thousand parallel world, why did Rhaegar choose to single out Robert?
Is it his guilt and sense of responsibility, or is he passionate and wants to be a hero and solve the cause of the mess with his own hands?
None.
Forty-five thousand versus less than forty thousand, it seems he has the advantage.
Rhaegar knew very well in his heart that the people on the other side were a group of veterans who had gone through wars and were very united. On the other hand, our own army was patchwork and the formation time was too short. There was no tacit understanding and it was completely impossible to cooperate with each other.
There are either a large number of new recruits who serve as supplements, or reinforcements from far away who have their own agenda and want to preserve their strength.
It's not that Robert is lucky, it's that Rhaegar can only choose to fight one-on-one. He must win in one-on-one, otherwise his chances of winning will be even lower.
He had no choice.
We must set an example and kill the leader of the rebel army----
Now this time, he no longer has the advantage in terms of military strength, and he seems to have no choice!
Rhaegar's tone was solemn, his eyes swept over everyone present, and he said slowly, "Obviously, our number is ten to twenty thousand fewer than the other party. How to deal with it next, please feel free to speak."
The owner of Harrenhal seemed to have noticed Prince Rhaegar's worries, and tried to say, "Our numbers do not have an advantage. How about we defend Harrenhal and use defensive warfare to consume the soldiers of the rebels?"
"No!"
"Absolutely not."
Princes Barristan and Lewyn interrupted one after another. Sir Fertimo Clyne of the Reach army moved his mouth. Seeing that someone had already spoken, he did not interrupt again.
Rhaegar looked at Whent Earl with a hint of disappointment in his eyes. Sure enough, he shouldn't place his hopes on these lords who had never fought in a war.
Defense versus consumption?
The most feared thing about "eradicating the rebel party" is that it takes time.
This is exactly the same as the situation in the early days of the Robert rebellion, when the Vale army was eager to attack Gulltown. They were worried that the opposition forces would expand rapidly and uncontrollable things would happen.
Now.
It's just that the perspectives of the royal party and the rebel party have been reversed, and they are now in a hurry.
Barristan, who was previously responsible for gathering the defeated army and accomplished it well, shook his head to refute Harrenhal Earl's point of view. He was an honest man, so his voice was urgent. "Sir Walter Earl, this is definitely not a good strategy!"
Amidst the light clatter of armor, the white-robed iron guard stood up and pointed to the areas controlled by the rebels on the force distribution map, as well as the "deer", "wolf", "eagle", and "fish" in those areas - "Castle Black", and explained, "The rebels are in the spotlight now. If we retreat to the fort, they will not feel the slightest pressure, and will turn around and attack the surrounding towns that are unwilling to join the rebellion - or offer conditions to win over the hesitant lords."
Prince Lewyn took over. "Once the situation is lost, it will be more terrifying than the loss of a certain castle. The area occupied by the enemy will become larger, and the military will become stronger and stronger, and it will be even more difficult for us to deal with it then!"
Neither mentioned a simpler question:
If the opponent never comes to attack the city, what should we do?
As the enemy-occupied areas gradually increased, the supporters within our own side also became wavering, and eventually defected one after another.
According to what Walter Whent said, hiding in Harrenhal, all the initiative of the royalist army will be lost. What will those who have not expressed their opinions in the Three Rivers Basin think?
They will definitely feel that the royal family has lost its chance of winning and is in ruins. Not only will they not come to vote, but they may directly fall to the rebels and contribute to the false king's path to the throne--
After listening to the words of the two white robes, General Rhaegar realized that he really had no choice.
The royalist army could only take advantage of abundant supplies and still have morale to take the initiative to fight against the rebels. They only hoped that the rebel camp would be harmonious on the surface, but in fact they were at odds with each other.
Crown Prince was silent, feeling that he had missed the opportunity. It is actually best to deal with rebelling against the party when it is not yet a thing----
After listening to a few more people's speeches, Rhaegar's fingers lightly crossed the military strength map, his brows never relaxed, and finally stopped at the incompatible and extremely eye-catching "" "Castle Black" went up and asked the Reach army commander who spoke very little, "What is going on with this Titus·Peake?"
Ever since he went north, this name kept appearing in his ears, and every time it appeared, it stung his nerves.
This man is an important figure in the rebels, a rising star who has cut off his friend's left hand with one sword.
Rhaegar thinks he is too difficult.
There was nothing more frustrating to him than to find a meteor falling from the sky when he was surrounded by stags, running wolves, falcons, and trout.
But he didn't want to think about who caused all this?
Sir Fertimo Clyne, who had been listening in, did not expect that there was something about him. As for Starpike Earl's special identity, it was difficult for him to reveal it for a while.
What on earth is going on with Titus·Peake? As a knight of Red Lake, how do I know?
He guessed that what the prince really wanted to ask was: What's going on with you the Reach? Highgarden can't even control its vassals, how could you let the Peake family make such a big noise?
Is this something that is not clear? -House Tyrell just can't control it----
But in the current situation, this question is difficult to answer.
Among the southern army that besieged Storm's End, from Mace·Tyrell onwards, no one would take the initiative to mention this name.
It seems that after Alyn Earl of the Cider Hall volunteered and "took orders to attack Starpike", everyone seemed to have selectively forgotten the Dornish Marches lord who was born in the Reach.
An attitude of turning a blind eye and deceiving oneself.
Oh, not all.
Green Valley City Mei Dou Earl, whose father-in-law's family was "cremated", showed a gnashing of teeth when he mentioned that one person. I don't know if it was to cover up his joy - after the death of the old Caswell father and son, Green Valley City Earl's mother-in-law was about to get Bitterbridge's inheritance rights.
"Uh--Your Highness, I can only say, House Peake--you also understand."
Sir Fordimo thought for a moment and found that he had nothing to add, so he finished his sentence and continued to remain silent.
It's like they southerners have always been so taciturn.
The petty Lord Mace had told Sir Fertimo before he left that if the prince won, he would show the Reach's support for him. If the prince failed to win, they would be careful to preserve their the Reach military strength.
Anyway, as long as their "numbers" are large enough, whichever party has the advantage will have to win over these southerners.
The territorial area of the Reach is only inferior to the North, which is vast and sparsely populated, ranking second in mainland China.
When it comes to population, it is undoubtedly the first, and it is leading by a huge margin.
They the Reach people come out to hang out because they have many brothers.
Sir Fertimo Clyne chose to obey orders. He was just Highgarden's instructor and had no say in this matter, even if he didn't want to fight a bad war.
To put it bluntly, like His Royal Highness, he had no choice----
So.
The only option left is battle.
Rhaegar thought.
Even if this is done, it is exactly what the rebels want.
The opponent would never want to storm Harrenhal, which is garrisoned by tens of thousands of people - without the help of the dragon, it would be a nightmare.
When he left King's Landing, Rhaegar was still very ambitious. Once he experienced the reality, he began to realize that many things had to be done that way. In a daze, he actually understood his father on Iron Throne.
Rhaegar sighed helplessly, and before announcing the adjournment of the meeting, he made a clear strategic decision to fight the rebels on the south bank of Trident and the north side of Gods Eye.
A corner of Harrenhal after spraying Dragonfire: