The king on the Great Wall

"I've seen the ability of the Grand Canyon to resist wildlings." After dispelling one worry, he came up with another: "However, the ghosts and dead people are not afraid of falling. If they force their way through regardless of the steepness and difficulty of the slope, they will be killed." The patrol personnel discovered it in time, and it may be difficult to mobilize reinforcements to defend."

The Great Wall is an ice wall wrapped with giant weirwoods. Due to its huge size, its top forms a straight avenue ten meters wide. The "road condition" is better than most of the real roads in the Seven Kingdoms, and it can even pass through by cavalry troops.Once the patrolling soldiers on it find that the enemy is climbing the wall, whether it is blowing horns or setting off wolf smoke, the defenders near the fortress can rush to help after receiving the signal, and take advantage of the ice wall to be condescending and conduct an amazing defense war……

But the Grand Canyon... To pass through here, you must first descend from the opposite cliff to the bottom of the valley, and then climb up again after crossing the river. The difficulty of crossing is comparable to that of climbing the Great Wall. Send out a signal, and it will be difficult for the defenders in the Shadow Tower, West Bridge Watch, or the new stronghold at the mouth of the Grand Canyon in the future to reach the place where the alarm was issued before the enemy successfully crossed over.

Is the patrol only an early warning?

"My lord is right to be worried, but the situation is not that bad... The West Bridge is more than 20 leagues away from Ice Bay, but the section that is as steep and difficult as we are walking now is only ten leagues long, entering from the west. At the mouth of the sea, the width of the milk river will increase rapidly, and the road on the south side of the canyon will become easier."

"No matter how easy it is, it's still a mountain road." Iger frowned and sighed: "It seems that in addition to the military port stronghold on the coast, it is necessary to build a transfer station in the middle of the Grand Canyon to stock up on wildfires and dragon crystal arrows. and other armaments in order to deal with unexpected situations.”

"That's the safest way." Halfhand Colin is actually a conservative who opposes the acceptance of savages, but at this moment he has no doubts about the seriousness of Iger's words.For thousands of years, the strength of the night watchman has been declining, and the number of strongholds stationed has been decreasing, but after this guy suddenly appeared, not only the original nineteen were activated one after another, but he was even more powerful after being elected as the commander-in-chief: he decided to add one later. , After a while, I decided to add another one... and I did it without any ambiguity. This kind of magnanimity and determination made people dissatisfied. "But the situation may not be as bad as adults imagined... Our soldiers found some interesting situations during dozens of patrols."

"Interesting? I'm not in the mood for anecdotes right now."

"It's not an anecdote." Colin shook his head: "After the Great Night Fort was reopened last year, didn't we find a glowing heart tree under the Great Wall, which led to the conjecture that 'the magic power of the Great Wall comes from the weirwood'. Coincidentally, We accidentally discovered that the bottom and two slopes of the Grand Canyon have the most amazing weirwood forest in Westeros."

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Chapter 336 Ice Strait Harbor

Weirwood?

Iger looked into the Grand Canyon again, and sure enough, he saw the crimson dots.The blizzard not long ago covered everything in the northern border and the gifted land in white, and it was winter when everything was lifeless. He thought it was the color of dead trees under the snow, but now he took a closer look. Only then did I realize that the banks of the Ruhe River at the bottom of the valley, the steep slope walls of the canyon... As far as I can see, the weirwood leaves are all over the mountains and plains. The unique blood red, even the snow cannot cover it.

Could it be that Brandon, the builder who built the Impassable Great Wall, saw that the terrain of the Grand Canyon was inconvenient to build an ice wall, so he simply planted weirwoods on a large scale to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of this loophole?

It doesn't sound like much.

Judging from the information we have so far, the Great Wall does have an energy field that can weaken and drive away ghosts and ghouls, which may be called the "anti-cold god enchantment".If this kind of power really comes from the weirwood, then this astonishingly large-scale weirwood forest really made up for the weakness of the Great Wall's defense line that did not cover the Grand Canyon.

But here comes the question: If the Weirwood Woods can really stop the White Walkers from passing through once and for all, what is the Great Wall for?Wouldn't it be easier to plant the entire Haunted Forest with weirwoods than to build a wall of ice seven hundred feet high?

Shouldn't it be cursed: Brynden the Builder is so stupid, he can't even think of this!

……

Melisandre is the only person with extraordinary power that Iger has come into contact with face-to-face so far.However, even though the two had already had skin-to-skin relatives, the witch kept secrets from him about magic, and did not show or explain it at will.Fortunately, she didn't say that Iger can also judge by himself through various signs-through long-term observation and a few exchanges, Iger vaguely felt that even magic power must follow the laws of thermodynamics.

It is impossible for the weirwood itself to generate energy, otherwise the whole world must be filled with this kind of perpetual motion machine... It can be speculated that it does not have magical power itself, but only a carrier and release channel—like an antenna, it emits signals, but the signal It is itself generated by the equipment it is connected to, transformed from electrical energy.

The giant heart tree under the Nightfort is physically protected by the ice wall of the Great Wall, but this large weirwood forest?If Iger was a White Walker, he would definitely send dead people to destroy and eat it a little bit. What ability does a tree have to defend itself?Unless its "anti-cold god barrier" is strong enough to directly kill the approaching ghouls and other ghosts, it will be destructible after all.

***

"Don't pin your hope of fighting against the White Walkers on trees, we are the strong shields that guard mankind, not the weirwood." Although the weirwood in the mountains and plains is indeed growing well, and I don't know how many years it has existed, Iger still shook his head : "Don't take it lightly, the scheduled patrols will be carried out as usual, and we will start looking for places suitable for establishing a transit base."

"That's natural." Colin fully agreed.

……

As the distance under their feet increased, everyone soon fell into the fatigue of long-distance walking, and the communication gradually decreased until it stopped completely.After being a "leader" for a long time, I suddenly re-experienced the hardships of patrolling small soldiers. To be honest, Iger is really uncomfortable. Fortunately, the weather is sunny and the wind is weak.Started at dawn, paused a little at noon to eat something, then continued to bury your head on the road. Facing the afterglow of the west slanting sun, you accelerated your pace and sprinted a bit, and finally arrived at the finish line before dark—only a distance from Ice Bay. A few miles away, it was determined by the site selection team as a temporary camp for the location of the new stronghold, but there are no formal facilities yet.

Several tents of different sizes were set up behind a giant rock to block the wind, and seven or eight night watchman advance soldiers in black were scattered or sitting or standing, resting or cooking dinner in front of the fire. He hadn't even met the new commander-in-chief yet, and after being introduced by Colin Halfhand, he hurriedly stood up to say hello to the commander.

"Commander-in-Chief, after a long day's journey, should we rest directly, or go to see the location of the port while it's still dark?"

……

Iger raised his head, and the sky had not yet completely darkened. Although his legs were exhausted after walking for a day, he finally sighed: As a helmsman, rest is really a luxury.

"Let's go and see the location of the port. If everything goes well, we will go back on the main road tomorrow."

"it is good."

Colin has been a ranger for many years, and walking for dozens of miles will not wear him down. He put down the little luggage he was carrying, stretched his body, and walked down to the high ground neatly.

The mountainous area on the south side of the Grand Canyon, which is located in the west of the grant land, is actually an extension of Frost and Snow Fang from a geological point of view, but it is only an extension after all. It is hundreds of miles away from the main peak and the highest point outside the Great Canyon. Iger came this way today After halfway through, the terrain and roads began to become gentler and wider.At first, the group was still walking on the mountainside—a mountain several hundred meters high on the left, and a steep canyon on the right, but soon the mountain became lower and lower, and the slope of the cliff became smaller and smaller. Everyone was already walking on a slope slightly higher than the river valley.

The temporary camp was at the end of this gentle slope, on a rocky clearing tens of meters above sea level overlooking the Ice Bay.

The sun has completely sunk below the sea surface, but the sky is still twilight. The towering mountains on the north bank of the valley are as black as a high wall in the afterglow. Brings a little salty fishy taste.Colin led Iger down the high ground where the temporary camp was located, and came to the seaside next to Ice Bay.

The sediment content of the Ruhe River is extremely low, and the alluvial land-making efficiency is terribly poor. Naturally, the scene at the mouth of the sea remains unchanged all year round. There is even a piece of crystal clear and white sand beach washed out from a distance, which seems to glow in the dark sky. Stand out.If the location is not too north, this white sand beach is a good place for leisure and vacation in summer.

At this time, the place is still bare, and the scene has not changed from what it was estimated to be 1000 years ago. The suddenly bright vision and the increased wind force made Iger, who had walked the Tianshan Road for a long time, feel a little uncomfortable for a while.

"This beach stretches all the way into the sea, and there are no reefs in the part exposed after the low tide. It is an ideal place for launching new ships." Colin walked over the beach with Iger, and briefly introduced: "Half a league to the south , there is a corner of the land that protrudes out into the sea, and it may not be clear if the light is not enough now - but this corner forms a natural breakwater, which makes the wind and waves on the sea outside the beach extremely small, forming a small natural beach. The most important thing is: the bottom of this extended corner is solid rock, not sand, and high enough to be on the water even at high tide. If necessary, forts and lighthouses can be built on it to resist the invasion of the sea The enemy also guides their own ships, which greatly saves the effort of reclamation and dock building."

"Think about it in detail. Are you from a boatman?"

"That guy who was a boatman, the guy sitting over there with roast beef said that he is an illegitimate son of the Iron Islands." Colin laughed loudly, without pretending to be credited: "Go and see?"

"Well, go take a look."

……

At this time, when the tide was high, Iger stepped on the moss and shells under his feet and walked up to this protrusion, standing on the edge and watching the waves constantly hitting the edge of the breakwater.

The natural breakwater next to the white sand beach is a pointed triangle, extending more than a mile into the sea. To be honest, it is a bit small, but considering that it is about to be built as a temporary military port in a backward world, it only needs to stop and stop the displacement of two The number of wooden boats is basically enough.

There is no direct sunlight, and the bottom of the water cannot be seen, but as long as the depth is more than three meters at low tide, it can basically accommodate most of the medium-sized ships in Westeros.

Iger asked, "How deep is the water near the shore?"

"I don't know, but what is certain is that the tide has not bottomed out."

"I will arrange a team to come over as soon as possible to level the upper layer of this breakwater, and build a shore defense fortress and lighthouse overlooking the entire harbor at the very end. But it is not necessary to use this bank as a dock for boats, it depends on the depth of the water." Iger shook. Shaking his head: "I don't like the answer of 'I don't know'. I asked the fishermen of the mountain clan to borrow a small boat to measure the depth of the coastal waters in this area, especially in this small bay. After confirming that it can be used, we can start building the port."

"Okay." Colin naturally obeyed the commander-in-chief's order unconditionally.

Iger looked around: the terrain on the west coast is tortuous, and such a good natural harbor has been created by accident. Although it is a little small, the depth of the water is still to be measured, and it is uncertain whether to add more piers artificially, but at least the start is not good. Not bad.

"The general layout can be determined. The side facing the beach is the shipyard, and the other side is the berthing place - this is the military port we built for the northern border. The right to use it belongs to Robb Stark in name, If the guardians of the northern border have any requirements, they will fully meet them, and he will reimburse them anyway. As for the stronghold belonging to the night watchmen, that highland is not bad, with walls and forts built, overlooking the entire harbor, it is usually the place where patrols are stationed, When the harbor is attacked, the night watchman can also play the role of guarding the port, which is perfect."

"Sounds really good." Colin silently stubbled the stubble on his chin: "What's the name of this place, can't we always call it a 'temporary stronghold'?"

"What's it called?" Iger forgot about it, and looked around against the sea breeze that blew his cheeks cold, and a name quickly popped up in his mind: "Facing Ice Bay, next to the Grand Canyon, and stationed in the North The port of the border navy, don’t play tricks, let’s call it Bingxia Port!”

This name is good, concise and concise, catchy and straightforward to indicate the location and function, Colin nodded: "Okay, then it's called Ice Strait Harbor."

I saw everything I needed to see, and briefly explained my vision. It happened that it was completely dark, and Iger turned around and took Colin and a few guards away from this protruding cape and returned to the land, while walking towards the temporary camp. While looking towards the dark mountains to the east.

He did not forget the other purpose of his trip.

"You said earlier that there is a road to return to the land grant. Can cavalry and carriages pass?"

"Yes, although there are many mountains in this area, they are not high, and the roads are opened in the mountains and the low valleys between the mountains. The clan people often go to the gift land to trade with the night watchmen, and the commodities include live animals. If it is leveled and widened, it will definitely be no problem to pass a smaller carriage.”

"Very well, how to plan the port, wait for the experts in Baigang to arrive, and the person in charge of the construction department will discuss and proceed with them, and finally show me the results." Iger nodded: "Tomorrow we have another task— —I have a special use for finding a place that is open and flat on the road to the land-grant here, away from the sea and any other clan settlements."

"Special purpose?" Colin Halfhand was a little confused: "Is it the patrol transfer station you said to build during the day, but this is only useful if it is built on the patrol route. There is a mountain between the road and the canyon."

"It's not a patrolling transfer station, it's an experiment site. I have someone design some...weapons specifically for dealing with aliens, and experiments need to be carried out in places far away from human habitation."

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Chapter 337 Step by step

Iger needed a proving ground to carry out the practical testing and improvement of the bombs: his original plan was to let Nina find a suitable location in a place other than the land-grant: although there were only eight observers stationed by the Iron Bank in the Great Wall and Houguan Town , but according to the treaty signed in the loan contract, they are qualified to act arbitrarily within the scope of the night watchman's jurisdiction.

Out of some selfishness that I can't tell the specific reasons for the time being, Iger hopes to have exclusive possession of the killer weapon of thermal weapons for as long as possible-and this requires excellent confidentiality measures.

Tiemen's harassment of the northern border gave him inspiration: He has no right to prevent outsiders from approaching the [-]th stronghold along the Great Wall and Houguan Town, but this "Ice Strait Port" is a secret military port built for the northern border. He has every reason to keep the barriers tight and openly prevent outsiders from approaching.

Externally, he will use the excuse of protecting the military secrets of the northern border to prevent unrelated people from approaching Ice Bay; internally, he will use the guise of developing the "White Ghost Buster" containing wildfire to cover up the constant explosions from the test site; Finally, a certain limit of personal control over the technicians can ensure that even if the existence of gunpowder is leaked, the absolute advantage of technical details can be maintained in a short period of time.

The test site will be established in the mountains more than a dozen miles east of the port, to ensure that no matter how the ironmen go around or surprise the port from land, they will not accidentally discover this important research base.

……

In addition to the test site, there is another important reason that prompted Iger to make this trip in person-some hidden plans that cannot be put on the table. He needs to be at the scene and explain clearly to the commander of Ice Strait Port he chose: from the northern border The funds raised by the princes, even including Roose Bolton's unexpected [-] golden dragons, were far lower than expected, and as compensation, what he received was Robb Stark's "reimbursement of port construction costs" promise.

Science and technology is a bottomless pit, and no amount of money will be too much. Iger is determined to throw down his face and use Robb's promise to make a good fortune.

Since it is "reimbursement", it is naturally impossible to pay as much as you want. Even if there is no invoice, there must be a title.With the craftsmen and technicians coming from outside the land-grant, Iger finally decided to make a fuss about "weapon consumption" and "garrison salary".

[Weapon consumption]: The northern navy will use the solidified old wildfire transported by Iger from King's Landing as naval warfare weapons against the Iron Fleet. Even if these horrible substances are passivated, they are still much stronger than ordinary kerosene, but they are used to deal with the ghosts But after all, it is not as strong as the newly made liquid wildfire.Iger simply used the waste and used some of it to equip the Northern Navy, with a plan for the use of incendiary bombs.

When these unwanted dangerous substances were removed from the underground of the Alchemist Guild in King's Landing, Iger didn't pay any money except for labor costs, but now it's sold to the northern border, but it's not a free gift.

Set a similar price and earn as much as you sell.

[Salary of the Guards]: Iger plans to build Icefjord into the largest stronghold of the Night Watchers besides Houcrown Town, with hundreds of staff from various departments and thousands of guards—the numbers will not be watery, but the actual personnel They are not well-trained elite soldiers, but temporarily recruited mountain clan people and newly-given land people.Iger decided to designate Ice Strait Port as a rotation training base for land-grant residents. Each batch of recruits will be led by a small number of officers, while practicing, and at the same time assume the duties of port defenders.

Here comes the important point: On the reimbursement form, these rotation recruits are "soldiers".Soldiers, on the other hand, had to pay military salaries. Since they were port defenders, they were naturally included in the category that could be reimbursed.Set a price that is cheaper than the northerners recruiting soldiers themselves, and increase the number of people a little more, and you can report dozens or hundreds of gold dragons every month.

In this way, the expenses during the military training period of the land-grant residents are tantamount to being borne by the northern border—less money for the land-grant means more money for Egg.He hopes that through this method, he can squeeze out sufficient funds for the upgrade of military technology as much as possible.

***

Under the threat of the White Walkers, all soldiers are just the beginning.Some training and arming for the residents of the entire land-grant has long been planned. The reason why this work was started several months after the savages were released was nothing more than a "transition period".

If the rotation training is started at the beginning of the new land-grant people, and the only remaining young and strong in each tribe are forced to leave their families and go to a place designated by the night watchman to receive training... most of the tribes will be forced to rise up and rebel against the night watchman Or flee to the south to attack the northern border, making the north of the neck full of smoke.

But now it is different: the socialized operation of earning a living according to work has lasted enough time to penetrate the hearts of the people, and the work of weakening the prestige and influence of the tribal leaders has also been carried out step by step for three or two months.The deterrence of the bloody delisting of the Tur tribe came first, and the various preferential treatment and promises of the logistics department followed... two-pronged approach, although the leaders of each tribe had quite different opinions, in the end no one blatantly obstructed them.

If the process of transforming the people outside the Great Wall into land-grant people is to boil frogs in warm water, then Iger reckons that they have already matured seven or eight times—the threat of the aliens made him dare not wait any longer.Now is the time to start training them instead of fearing backlash.

Iger's plan is to achieve the following goals as soon as possible for more than half of the adults in the land grant.

1. Receive basic command training, be able to understand simple common language commands and execute them correctly;

2. Carry out basic physical training to ensure good physique and endurance;

3. Basic familiarity with the performance of standard weapons, understand the usage of various dragon crystals and incendiary weapons.

The above are collectively referred to as the three basics.

The purpose of the rotation training is of course not to train everyone in the land-grant to become elite soldiers—not to mention whether it can be done, but even if it can, every tribe has elite troops, which will threaten the dominance of Houguan Town.

Needless to say, the training of weapons and physical fitness, under the command of Mance Rayder, he fought wits and bravery with the ghosts for two years, and then attacked the Great Wall for a wave of shopping. ordinary member.The logistics department mobilized resources to pile them up, hoping to fatten them up as soon as possible; and this rugged patrol route along the Grand Canyon is also a ready-made cross-country running training place-fed and a certain amount of exercise, even if you starve to death Ghosts can also quickly return to a decent looking level.

And discipline... This thing itself cannot make people brave and good at fighting, but it can significantly improve the level of troops to withstand attrition rate and the ability to execute orders.An undisciplined army may die one in a hundred people, or even collapse when the White Walker appears in sight, or even though there are no casualties, the battlefield is in chaos and no movement can be made at all.And such a situation often makes Minzhuang, who should be a helper, become a burden because of panic when the real battle is really going on.

Iger's requirements are not high, as long as the new and old land-grant residents can implement the plan and obey the command without any trouble at the moment of the decisive battle... that's enough.As for how to defeat the ghosts and win the final victory of the war, that is the responsibility of the leader himself.

Everything is laid out step by step, just waiting for the ultimate challenge to come.

-

Volume [-] A Song of Ice and Fire

Chapter 338 Slave Bay

The [-]-foot-high pyramid rises from a majestic square base and soars into the sky.The Queen's Court sits on top of it, surrounded by trees, flowers, and sparkles... From here you can see the whole city: narrow winding alleys and broad brick streets, temples and barns, hovels and palaces, Brothels and bathhouses, gardens and fountains, and the red-brick rings of the Colosseum.Beyond the walls lay the ash-like sea, the winding Skahazadhan, dry brown hills, burnt orchards, and scorched fields.

The lofty queen's residence is like the top of the holy mountain, but it's a pity that the queen is missing, and there is only a worried and anxious queen's hand.

Even Petyr Baelish had to admit that his brain was limited.

He appeared in front of Daenerys on the day Daenerys took Meereen and defected to her. At that time, the hungry people of Yunkai and Astapor who had followed the queen so far poured into the largest city in Slaver's Bay. It looted and slaughtered unscrupulously in the chaos of its fall.The majestic step pyramids of the nobles were spared, but the civilian areas were severely damaged.Although the Unsullied finally stabilized the situation, Petyr still used both soft and hard tactics, and it took a lot of effort to restore order, and barely operated the plan he offered to drive tigers and wolves to establish rule.

It’s not easy. He was able to feel like a duck to water in Westeros. Apart from his clever mind, meticulous thinking, and being able to use any means to achieve his goals without a bottom line... In fact, he also has an understanding of noble gentlemen. , and the contempt of people around him for his "little finger" played a key role.

But in Meereen, the den of poisonous snakes, he didn't have the biggest cover of his humble birth. He was in the open, under the watchful eyes of everyone, and the enemies in the dark were even more unscrupulous than him.He had to tighten the string of struggle, handling government affairs during the day, and sleeping with one eye open at night.In this environment, for the first time since Petyr "awakened", he did not have the slightest extra energy to carry out conspiracy and tricks, but devoted all his experience and brains to safeguarding the interests of his master.

What supported his belief was the burning anger in his heart, and it was assisting Daenerys Targaryen to fight back to Westeros, to Tully, to Ayrin, to Lannister... the one who once despised him , mocking him, judging him, the desire for revenge of all those who betrayed him.One day, he will sit on the Iron Throne and rule the Seven Kingdoms on behalf of the queen. He will find out the "note incident" that ruined himself and had to flee overseas, and cut off the heads of every participant , Inserted on the bamboo pole on the wall of the Red Castle!

……

That was in the distant future, and now, he had to be the Queen's Hand conscientiously.

***

The new nobles of Meereen quickly succumbed to the pressure of hard and soft, and the whole city began to operate under the rule of the true dragon banner, continuously producing and accumulating materials and armaments needed for its own defense and Daenerys' counterattack against Westeros... …Unfortunately, this is probably the only good news after Petyr boarded the thief ship "The Last Targaryen".

The wayward and young queen traveled all the way, captured Astapor and Yunkai successively before arriving in Meereen, but because of the wrong handling method, she left a lot of mess, and finally had to take over by herself.

Astapor: When Daenerys left, she left a three-person council composed of doctors, scholars and priests, but did not consider whether these three people had the ability and experience to rule, let alone left enough for them to protect themselves. armed forces.Sure enough, the council was quickly subverted and wiped out by a butcher named Cleon.This ex-slave, whose speed of slaughtering pigs was unmatched, apparently abolished slavery, but in fact he became the new slave owner. The Butcher King grabbed all the children of the former nobles and began to train the new Unsullied.Every pyramid in Astapori has been turned into a military camp. Death and lies are everywhere in the streets and alleys. There is little food in the shops but full of slaves. Compared with before Daenerys passed by, it is more like hell. up.

Yunkai: With a few simple but ingenious tricks and a treachery, the queen took the city easily, but perhaps the victory came too easily to be cherished - Daenerys didn't drain it Resources did not establish a new order, and even the slave owners in power did not deal with it, only adding countless "free people" to feed the team, and hurried to the next stop.To make matters worse, as soon as Daenerys was gone, Yunkai's slaveholders immediately resumed their original rule, and even regarded her as the greatest threat-they sent envoys to Volantis, Qarth and other free lands. The trading city-states spread rumors about Daenerys and, after gathering more allies, launched a war against the queen.

Cruel when it shouldn't be cruel, and kind when it shouldn't be kind—it's typical political naivety, but given that Daenerys is indeed a novice queen, Petyr doesn't really have much to complain about.

***

After some planning and arrangements, the newly born Dragon Mother regime reluctantly gained a foothold with its own support and passed the most dangerous initial stage.

But the real challenge came soon. After Yunkai regrouped slave soldiers and mercenaries and joined forces with New Ghis to capture Astapor, Meereen ushered in the armed intervention of the former and the Volantis fleet.Petyr integrated all the resources inside and outside the city, established an alliance with the Raza people called "sheep people" by the Dothraki outside the ring-shaped sandstone mountains, and adapted the formation of Unsullied, mercenaries and hungry people who followed the mother of dragons. The new Meereen army sent troops to prevent more hungry people from the south from flooding in and bringing hunger and plague...