Judging from his expression, he was considering whether to draw his sword. At that moment, Jory interjected.
"My lord, Ser Drasil may be of humble birth, but he is a knight, and it is a fact that you and your men have disrespected him; he even drew his sword. If Ser Drasil had wished, he could have killed him, but he merely knocked him unconscious. I beg you, let us not prolong this unpleasantness any longer. As for Ser Drasil, Lord Stark did indeed order him to act alone, and this order elevated him to a command level where he could ask you questions in times of war."
It's obvious he doesn't like what others say, but there's nothing he can do about it right now. Jory and I have always gotten along well, and Moran is very quiet. Glover may be a high-ranking nobleman, but we are all House Stark, so we don't argue in public and always present a united front.
Glover remained silent, knowing that further investigation would alienate the House Stark. So I continued.
"Since you've requested so many more people, are you planning a counterattack?"
"... Sir." I added at the end of the sentence after a short rest, and gave a sarcastic bow. I saw his face twitch, and I tried hard not to laugh as he spoke.
"Are you crazy? Why would I counterattack an army twice our size?"
"Then why do you need the 500 men required for the defense of Bear Island?"
"Which is easier to defend, 700 or 1200 men? Besides, with so many soldiers here, it would be ridiculous for them to ignore their rear and attack the impoverished Bear Island."
"You're making too many assumptions. How do you know the Ironborn wanted to raid and steal the spoils? This time is different; this isn't a raid, it's a rebellion."
They only need to leave four or five boats in the strait between the island and the coast. Then we won't have time to help them. He's a selfish bastard.
"How do you know so much about the enemy's movements?"
"I have my own methods, which is why Lord Stark gave me so much leeway. If you need to know, Lord Stark will tell you."
If we remain defensive, the attackers will change their target and attack Bear Island. And we mustn't forget that if we don't deal with them, enemy reinforcements will arrive two days earlier than us. The next five ships will head to Bear Island while we are under siege.
I looked at the map on the table. Deepwood Motte was located on the top of a the Mountain, with Wolfswood to the southwest, south, and southeast. Another 180-degree direction was covered with small hills, and about 30 kilometers from the sea was the largest the North port city on the west coast, since Sea Dragon Point no longer existed. The House Glover made a living by selling the timber from Wolfswood, which was bought by merchants from Lannisport.
The Ironborn will attack from the North. If we hide a small detachment deep in the forest to the south, I don't know if that will be enough to repel them. Do we have any other chances? Another possibility is to leave Bear Island to fate. I cannot accept the defeats I've experienced on the front lines in this war. I need all the achievements I can get. I turned to the others and said.
"The decision we must make now is whether to let Bear Island resign itself to fate, deceiving itself into believing we are powerless and waiting for reinforcements behind the Wall, or to let those wet rats who try to invade our land like the real the North live a nightmare day?"
My speech ignited Jory and Hallis's fighting spirit, but it didn't affect Glover.
My plan doesn't need him and his 200 men; I only need our 1,050. Of course, it would be better if Glover joined us, but a coward like him would only act like the aging Lord Frey. They would only join the fight if victory was already assured.
I told them my plan, Glover reluctantly agreed, since these soldiers weren't directly under his command. Jory and Hallis might listen to him because he was the lord, allowing him to act as a commander, but ultimately, whether they followed him or not was their own decision if they didn't like the plan. Hallis gave me 100 men, Jory gave me 150; my 50-man detachment was now ready.
As we left the room to find our people, Jory patted the back of my neck.
"Ah, why is that?"
"Because we almost became enemies with the Glover family. Do you think we didn't know he was a petty person? We tolerated him because it's wartime."
When I bravely faced Lord Stark, I decided to stop listening to that old fogey's nonsense, so I said.
"That's why I did it. He needs to understand that it's not him who calls the shots, it's us. If you let such an incompetent person think he's in charge, then we'll get hurt when the fighting starts. When the fighting gets a little scary, he'll try to protect himself and conflict with your orders. Do you want that to happen in a fight? But now he knows his place."
"My words received unexpected support," Hallis said.
"You're right. I've really been annoyed with him these past few days. He keeps ordering me around like I'm his servant."
With Hallis's father already 65 years old and his brother having passed away from illness, he now had to hand over command of Moran's forces to 18-year-old Hallis. On the way back to camp, we continued to discuss the battle plan.