Nightsong Earl Bryce·Caron has already made preparations in advance.
He opened up a large and regular camp just below the cliff where the castle was located.
Wooden fences, drainage ditches, grain and grass areas, ordnance areas and other plots are divided in an orderly manner.
When the lords arrived, Bryce·Caron himself stood at the gate of the castle to greet his guests.
Just like Ser Maddy did to the uninvited guest Titus Earl who came to the west with a sword.
The young host warmly entertained the four Earl who came from afar:
Stonehelm Earl Gulian Shiwen who has never dealt with Nightsong; Blackhaven Earl Simon Dondarrion who is calm and sophisticated; Harvest Hall who is a close neighbor of Nightsong and has always had a good relationship with the Harvest Hall Earl Astan Selmy.
And the last one is the non-staff member of Dornish Marches - Cavron Earl of the Fawn Hall.
Although the territory of Cavron is not within the scope of Dornish Marches, it is adjacent to the border and has been destroyed by the Dorne army before. Therefore, this time it actively responded to the call and joined the Dorne revenge war.
Since Starpike has officially won the title of "Dornish Marches Guardian", this also means that the contemporary Nightsong Earl can no longer claim the title of "Dornish Marches Commander".
But the young Bryce did not feel inappropriate because of this. On the contrary, he enjoyed the honor of having Master Titus decide the gathering place of this army at Nightsong.
This is not only an affirmation of Nightsong's strength, but also allows him to show his dignity as a host in front of the lords - as well as his close relationship with the head of the Peake family.
He is Titus·Peake Earl's first attendant!
Not to mention the complacency of Titus's number one brother, Stormlands people have shown due sincerity in gathering troops.
Just one Nightsong has already recruited more than 2,000 troops in advance.
Although Stonehelm is not on good terms with Nightsong and was not affected by disaster last time, this time he followed the order to send troops without any ambiguity. He also sent two thousand soldiers, which was no worse than the host.
The troops of Blackhaven and Harvest Hall were slightly inferior, with 1,500 and 1,000 men dispatched respectively.
Counting the Fawn Hall troops that arrived later, the total number of Stormlands coalition forces has reached 7,500.
Moreover, at least one-third of them are semi-professional soldiers from the Dornish Marches district, who are well-trained and have solid combat capabilities.
These semi-professional soldier groups have a similar structure to the previous Pikemen Corps of House Peake and Hunter of House Tarly.
Lord families across the border inherited their own unique military training methods and special arms.
It can be said that everyone has his own way.
Soldiers like House Caron are good at using some kind of special long-handled axes and halberds. The "Euphorbian" phalanx formed by them can be used both offensively and defensively, whether they are fighting alone or gathered in a column.
The chopping and thrusting functions of its ax and halberd can not only kill light infantry, but also effectively stop the impact of cavalry.
House Selmy, on the other hand, has specially trained a group of fighters who use cross swords. Their melee fighting ability is very powerful.
Dondarrion's javelin throwers are even more unique. Each person is equipped with eight short javelins.
The soldier's shape is like an eight-armed arhat, and his throwing is accurate and extremely powerful. He can form a suppressive long-range coverage strike in a short period of time that is far beyond that of ordinary archers.
Coupled with the basalt natural barrier of Blackhaven, Dondarrion of Stormlands has always been a strong rival of Dornish, and is also the only Stormlands family that dares to build a castle deep in the mountains.
Stonehelm Shi Wen's Meteor Hammer Soldier is a model of heavy infantry.
When they wield the iron chain, the plump spherical spike hammer can easily break armor and shatter shields, which is very suitable for chaotic battle situations and has huge lethality in fierce battles.
Even Fawn Hall, who took the initiative to participate in the war this time, also had a "unique skill". They brought a thousand people, including four hundred light cavalry.
Baila Theon's traditional territory is narrow, and it has never been known for its wealth. For Stormlands, this is already a considerable size of cavalry.
It's no wonder that during the battle of Summerhall, Fawn Hall Earl dared to confront Storm's End's cavalry group.
This is because the territory under the jurisdiction of the Fawn Hall is mostly vast and high-quality grassland, which is very conducive to the development of animal husbandry. In their territory, not only a large number of sheep are raised, but also many horses are bred.
Within the scope of Stormlands, their family is considered a very wealthy aristocrat.
Sufficient financial, material and livestock resources have allowed House Caron to maintain a sizable cavalry force for a long time.
If you don't count the knights brought by several families, Fawn Hall's army has the largest number of mounted soldiers.
Now that all the Dornish Marches lords under his command have arrived, it's time for the most important person to appear.
Earl in black, with his guards in white and his army of Starpike, revisits his old place and passes through it. The female NPC is no longer refreshed.
Wake Forest, stepped into the territory of House Caron, and came to Nightsong, which had been away for a long time.
This time, for the sake of the security of the rear, he did not mobilize any soldiers from the three cities of Whitegrove, Ringlet, and Dunstonbury in the northern section of the territory. Sufficient troops must be left to garrison there.
Instead, the forces located in the three cities of Dornish Marches were mobilized:
Among the four newly formed corps, he brought two this time, one thousand infantry from the garrison corps, 300 cavalry from the gendarmerie regiment, plus one thousand auxiliary troops responsible for food and grass transportation, camp construction, and fortification logistics.
The infantry regiment is good at positional warfare and steady fighting, while the military police regiment has important responsibilities and needs to manage the order, rewards and punishments of the entire army.
In addition, Horn Hill and Glen City also sent two thousand troops.
Horn Hill could have dispatched more combat forces, but Titus considered that the remaining local forces had not been completely eliminated and the Ringlet knights still needed to continue to exert pressure and stabilize their rule, so they did not mobilize too much.
In addition, Rosso Brune has also brought his survey corps, taking advantage of the new trend of "national headhunting" to sneak into the depths of the mountains.
Their mission is very critical.
Therefore, Titus also specially asked Bryce to assign the instructor of Nightsong and some of the mountain soldiers of the Caron family as the vanguard guides of the regiment - they are more familiar with the nearby terrain.
It's still the Caron family's living room that can shut out all the whistling sounds outside the castle.
Here Titus once killed the coach Maddy, who had an extraordinary wingspan and stride and had the title of "the fastest sword" in the frontier, and named his "one-day squire" as a knight.
Today.
It had become a venue for pre-war carnivals.
The reception hall was brightly lit, and a huge fire burned in the huge stone fireplace.
Titus was drinking and chatting with the generals who led the troops and the Stormlands nobles who had been summoned.
On the table were sizzling roast lamb, capons stuffed with onions, Mushroom and chestnuts, salted pork soaked in almond milk and sprinkled with pepper, smoked sausages, and paired with House Caron's treasured amber fruit wine. The aroma filled the entire hall.
The servants in the castle were dressed in uniforms, carrying trays and shuttled through the banquet, orderly adding wine and food to everyone.
During the banquet.
Fawn Hall Earl's eyes fell several times on Captain White Eagle, whose guard was beside Titus, but they did not exchange anything in public.
Nightsong Earl still plays the role of a warm and considerate host, constantly toasting and greeting the guests in the castle.
Stonehelm Earl Gulian Shiwen seemed to be extremely low-key in the territory of his "enemy". Most of the time he just drank quietly and occasionally whispered a few words with the sworn knight beside him.
Simon Dondarrion reminisced with Titus about the comradeship that lasted for one or two years.
After three rounds of drinking.
Harvest Hall's Astan Selmy put down his wine glass and respectfully asked "Dornish Marches Guardian" for the next battle plan.
At the same time, he also bluntly expressed his worries about this "counterattack Dorne war".
After all, Dorne currently still belongs to Seven Kingdoms's territory, and there will always be some worry if a large-scale attack is carried out rashly.
Not to mention, the king has just married a woman from the Dorne Martell family. At this moment, the situation is obviously different from the situation after hearing about the rebellion by the Dorne army.
In fact, all the vassals of Baila Theon had concerns, but Astan Earl was the most honest person and was the first to ask.
When Titus, who had just become the "Dornish Marches Guardian", heard this, he knew that he had to resolve everyone's doubts, otherwise it would be difficult to lead a team of 12,000 people, and they would not be able to work together as one.
He stood up slowly and motioned to the Nightsong servant beside him to add some wine for him. The amber fruit wine slid along the edge of the jug and into the cup, forming fine bubbles.
After the wine glass was filled, Titus picked up the wine glass, glanced at everyone present calmly, and said with a smile, "I have already thought of Astan's concerns, so you don't have to worry about it.
I have long said that the battle launched this time is not aimed at the entire territory of Dorne, and we do not want to destroy the hard-won peace of the kingdom.
But before! It is also an ironclad fact that the Dorne army robbed the borders, massacred civilians, and trampled on our territory.
The rebellious people committed such a rebellious act, and we raised troops to attack him in order to protect the country and the people, and to fight back, what's wrong with it? With such a just act, why should we fear the criticism and rumors from the palace?"
Nightsong's hall has an excellent internal structure. It was originally built for singers to perform. It can also receive sound very well at this time. Everyone can feel the black Earl's confidence in this battle.
After a pause, Titus raised his glass to signal to everyone, the wine on the edge of the glass swaying slightly.
"When I lead my army to flatten Prince's Pass and conquer the Dorne nobles who made trouble before, I will have Grand Maester to defend me!
Come, let me drink this cup with you today, and congratulate you on the resounding victory that is coming and will definitely come!"
The originally restrained atmosphere was completely broken, and everyone could hear the strong will of "Dornish Marches Guardian".
After receiving the explanation that it would not target the entire Dorne, the Stormlands nobles' previous hesitation dissipated, and they stood up one after another, picked up the wine glasses on the table, and raised the glasses high.
"Tamp down Prince's Pass!"
"Tamp down Prince's Pass!
"You have been with me for a long time, and you have fought only one or two battles, so you understand my style to some extent.
As long as we work together, we can use iron and fire to tell Manwudi and Forrester that Dornish Marches is not something they can touch!
Also use this battle to tell the other Dorne nobles clearly----"
Titus sat back in his high position, looked directly at everyone, and declared to the participants in a firm tone, "----From now on, it's time to attack and defend Skinchanging----Dornish can go, and I can go too!
As soon as these words were said, the atmosphere of the entire banquet reached a new level----
House Fowler, let me fly: