Chapter 116 Before the Storm
"Further north, there is the Fallwood City of House Fell. It is one of the few castles in the deep woods in the Stormlands." Renly rode Highgarden's tall horse, holding the reins and pointing to the north, "Climb over the front. A few hills away, we can reach the main castle of the Baratheon family, Storm's End, a castle rumored to be blessed by magic."
Loras Tyrell held a piece of grass in his mouth and whistled along the way, "Stannis will surely retreat to the sea. He will not fight you, your majesty." He made aristocratic elegance on horseback. etiquette, half-bowed and said with a smile.
"It's a bit strange, Your Majesty," Count Matus Rowan frowned, "None of the Stormland nobles who greeted you along the way brought out the proper food, grass and supplies. This is not what a vassal should do."< br>
Renly noticed Matus Rowan's confused look, but he also knew that he had just exhausted the Rowan family's food reserves, and he motioned to Alister Florent with his eyes.
Allister naturally knew what the king was thinking, "When the Stormlanders joined the army, they had already run out of food, and most of the army followed Ser Garlan Tyrell to Bitterbridge. The castle was undefended. Stannis When an attack comes, I will not rush out to greet His Majesty.”
Matus Rowan shrugged slightly, accepting this reason.
There was a vibration from the hills in the distance, and Randyll Tarly galloped in front of Renly, "We need to speed up over these hills, Your Majesty, there is very little water here, and there is no sign of rain in the sky. , this is not good.”
Loras took off the wineskin from the saddle, "We have no water, Lord Randyll, but we have wine to drink."
These words caused a burst of laughter from the surrounding knights, but Renly waved his hand to stop everyone's laughter, "I listen to you, Lord Randyll."
Randyll Tully nodded slightly. This was the most worthy thing for his king to follow and praise. He issued an order to the followers around him, "Didn't you hear the king's order? Send the order to speed up the march!"
"Yes!" The followers rushed to all parts of the army to convey the order.
Loras also put away his playful expression, put the wineskin back on the saddle, and silently watched Randyll Tarly running towards the rear.
"Lord Randyll is a busy man," Loras said, "my father's most warlike vassal."
"That's why I have Lord Randyll with me," Renly said, looking at the hills in the distance. "I was an infant when Stannis fought. He has far more experience than I do. Rich.”
"Nervous?" Loras smiled slightly and looked at Renly's handsome profile in the sun. "Stannis wants to attack Storm's End, but the Seven Gods never favor someone as old-fashioned and boring as him. He will definitely not To confront us head-on, he is still at Storm's End just for the sake of being a king. His strength is too weak."
"I have tens of thousands of troops, don't be ridiculous," Renly smiled contemptuously, "I will annihilate Stannis's army, destroy his ships, and destroy his army in one fell swoop."
Timon raised his long sword, which was full of patterns. From a distance, it looked like it was broken and broken.
Is this what "Broken Sword" Timon is referring to? Andrew Ismon held his breath and followed Timon. The leader was a famous knight, and it was always right to follow the strong.
Renly's scouts were sent everywhere to ensure the safety of the surrounding area, which caused them a lot of trouble.
"Boy," Timon stopped and leaned towards the rock in front. It was obvious that there was no trace of Renly's cavalry. He said in a low voice, "You are a Stormlander, why did you defect to Stannis?"
Andrew Eastmon suddenly frowned, "Stannis is the legitimate king of the Seven Kingdoms. I am a knight. Of course I must be loyal to the king."
"There are two more people who say they are the legitimate kings of the Seven Kingdoms," Timon said with a slightly sarcastic tone, realizing that there were no enemies around him. "Stannis is just one of them."
"Please be careful with your words, Sir Timon." Andrew did not expect that this famous knight from the Seven Kingdoms would actually say such words that were not in line with the spirit of chivalry.
"Huh~" Timon raised his finger and pointed to the hills, "Look what we found?" Andrew turned his head and looked over. A group of young soldiers were loading and unloading their knight master's baggage in an orderly manner. A forest of flags stood in the distance. at.
"Didn't Renly's army just pass by?" Andrew said doubtfully, "They."
"The mountain roads in the hills are complicated and undulating." Timon backed away slowly and patted Andrew on the back. Andrew quickly followed, "They are not on the same line as the main force. It is normal. We should go back, your dear king. Your Majesty needs this news most.”
"Renly's army stretches endlessly. There are so many that they can be seen everywhere like rubble in the mountains, your majesty." Stannis's adviser, Justin Marseille of Stonedance City, said uneasily when he heard the scout's report.
Stannis looked at the map of the Stormlands. The red paint marked Renly's march route that he had guessed before. "How many scouts do we have back?"
"Ten teams of scouts were sent out from the camp outside Storm's End, but only four returned to the military camp." Justin frowned.
"I know, Justin," Stannis pursed his lips slightly, "We discussed it at the beginning. Those ten teams of scouts were just smoke. The scouts I asked about were the scouts of Greenwood City, my personal guards!" He raised his voice.
"Sorry, Your Majesty, I'm too nervous," Justin took a deep breath, with cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. "Our scouts are intact and all evacuated safely."
"Call the scouts in. You won't get any useful information from your mouth." Stannis' tone was slightly harsh.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Justin hurriedly walked out of the tent. "Broken Sword" Timon came in and knelt down on one knee, "Your Majesty the King."
"Timon, tell me what you found?" Stannis stared at the red paint on the map.
Timon nodded, "Renly's army spread out in patches. The cavalry climbed over the hills in steps, but there was no way. The terrain was like this. Tens of thousands of cavalry originally climbed over the hills in three steps, but now, it's just At the location where I surveyed, there were more than ten Southern Cavalry formations that were out of touch with the main force. Sometimes even a formation could not be assembled, and the horses in the Reach were not suitable for climbing. "
"The knight lords in the Reach are used to accompanying the army with food, but with so many knights and cavalry, they still chose to form a baggage square for easier management, but in my opinion, they are too far away from their knight lord. ” Timon added.
Stannis stepped forward, dipped the pen in his hand into red dye, and drew more than ten lines in a row on the map of the hills in the Stormlands.
He turned around and threw the pen dipped in red on the table, "You did a good job, but your king needs you to do better, better than you are now."
Timon looked at Stannis, whose gaze was extremely firm.
"I need you to lead an army, a cavalry, to follow me and wait for my orders," Stannis said.
"Yes!" Timon did not expect such an appointment, and he was slightly excited.
"Justin," Stannis called to Justin, who was frowning at the side, "I hope you will take up the courage that persuaded me not to attack Storm's End before, and join your king to stop Renly's army head-on."
Justin's heart sank slightly, but he still put one hand on his chest, lowered his head and said, "Follow your orders, Your Majesty."
"Pretend to retreat and intercept the baggage," Stannis said, his eyes blazing.
(End of chapter)