Bab 108: A show of skill I
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POV of Jon Arryn, seventh moon 284 AC
The last few days had been political chaos as the secret of the Prussians began to spread rapidly. At first, it was only the nobles around us when Wilhelm made the demonstration, but now everyone knows that the Prussians and their blessings were delivered by their god.
As Lord Hohenzollern had previously stated, the faith of the seven was the first to be upset in an attempt to get the kingdom and the faith to jointly declare the Prussians as earthly demons and that they must be eliminated at all costs. Obviously, I was not going to accept that a civil war would be provoked simply because of that.
We would be giving the Targaryens a golden opportunity to return, and we would certainly be turning against us the one lord who has cared about the realm as much as I do. Furthermore, declaring the Prussians to be earthly demons could lead to an escalation of violence and unnecessary bloodshed. It would be wiser to seek a diplomatic solution and avoid a civil war that would only bring suffering to our kingdom.
And that diplomatic solution was simple: varying amounts of blackmailing the high septone with his corruption and an official prosecution for improper acts.
So all ended well.
The Prussians are always efficient and loyal to what they promise. In less than four days, the men of Lord Hohenzollern had mapped the sewage system of the city, and the shit was not up to the knee; it was up to the chest, according to what many of the men who entered the place reported.
And the work of maintenance and renovation had already begun on the sewage system, as the Prussian engineers were working day and night without rest to make new plans based on the maps they were given and began with expropriations of houses in the city to be demolished in order to expand and improve the waste system of the city.
During these days, the Prussians have been very busy dealing with the nobles, who began almost immediately to offer their daughters in marriage to the Prussians to try to obtain those Prussian blessings, but everything seemed to have been in vain, since in all the negotiations, Lord Hohenzollern attended personally, and in the few that had been achieved, it was because the alliance gave many benefits to the Prussian lord, who used his men as pawns in the great game.
This time I did not attend the feast because I had things to do to prepare the equipment for my men-at-arms who would participate in the team fight, but apparently I found myself in the presence of the Prussian lord, who was on his way to do the same.
''Lord Arryn, are you going to check on the progress of the sewage system?'', asked Lord Hohenzollern as he approached me on his white horse.
''I trust your men will do a good job; they have done more in these days than the crown has done in several moons. I have to verify that my men's equipment is well prepared for the fighting'', I answered the young Prussian lord.
''What a coincidence! I am going to do something similar since one of my generals was in charge of everything. I am only going to review his report, so I can rest a little from so much politics, which is already annoying me, having to
review hundreds of letters of possible alliances, and that my nobles go to meet the daughters of some nobles, you know the typical thing'' said Lord Hohenzollern while he handed me a small bottle of perfume.
''But I understand you are good at negotiations'' I said to Lord Hohenzollern as I concentrated on the path.
''Well, I have what they want, and it's not something they can get by other means,but I have had trouble negotiating a marriage with the tarth'' Lord Hohenzollern said as he looked at the buildings along the way.
''Ah, Lord, I heard that his heir recently drowned, a disgrace. I suppose you are negotiating a marriage with his only remaining daughter'' I said after thinking a bit about the banner man houses of the stormlands.
''Yes, but the problem comes mainly from my side. Lord Tarth even refused that we were paying him to perform the marriage, as he was pleased with Roon, someone young with power and influence in the Prussian army, a good candidate to be the one to marry his daughter, but Lord Tarth's only condition seemed to be too much for Roon,'' said Lord Hohenzollern grimacing.
''What was the condition?'' I asked, intrigued.
''That roon would abandon his German surname and take the surname of Lord Thorn, as well as the children born of the marriage, but for roon, that was unthinkable; the man respects his father too much to perform what he considers the greatest humiliation for his late father'' said Lord Hohenzollern.
''just that? We're talking about him having control over one of the richest territories in the Stormlands'' I said, a bit puzzled.
''I know; personally, I would do it too. Alexander the Great himself was adopted by Ada of Caria and got control of the city without a fight,'' said Lord Hohenzollern, but I had to interrupt him.
''Excuse me for interrupting Lord Hohenzollern, but I have heard that name a lot among your men, and I am very curious to know who he is,'' I said, trying to satisfy my curiosity.
''Oh, well, Alexander the Great was the greatest conqueror of our history. Imagine him as Aegon the conqueror, but without dragons—only his genius and the army he inherited from his father he managed to conquer a vast empire that stretched from Greece to Egypt and India. His legacy endures to this day as one of the most brilliant and strategic military leaders of all time. Unfortunately, he was a star that shone too brightly; he died young, and his empire was torn apart in a power struggle among his followers.
''Despite his short life, his influence on history is undeniable, and his legacy continues to be studied and admired by many,'' said Lord Hohenzollern with considerable admiration.
''Wow, now I understand why your men mentioned him so much'' I responded to Lord Hohenzollern's explanation.
''You can't learn strategy without studying the battles of Granico, Issus, and Gaugamela, but, as Roon said, he doesn't want to give in to the change of surname; the man respects his father too much to do that,'' said Lord Hohenzollern as he rode off.
''He's a bit...clumsy...if you ask me'' I said to Lord Hochzollern.
''Yes,but in Prussia, respect for one's father and family is very important. Besides, Roon's father's history places him as an exemplary father of commoner birth; he rose to nobility by merit due to an impeccable military record. My grandfather, who surrounded himself with the best officers, always had him by his side when he needed advice on how to lead the infantry, and because of that, it was not difficult for Roon's father to have a good wife who gave him the most precious thing that all seek: the blessings of our Lord the Almighty. The land he had received was not very rich; it was a small town that had been devastated by the war''.
''Even if his father strove to rebuild while still working as a military officer, as tradition dictates, when Roon had the ability to make a fist, he was trained to use a sword by his father, who taught him the skills necessary to become a brave and skilled warrior. As he grew up, his father went into huge debt to get him the best teachers that gold could afford, as he knew that knowledge was what differentiated an officer from a soldier, so he took the most dangerous jobs in the army as they were the most highly paid, always guaranteeing everything to his son''.
''When Roon was old enough to do his compulsory military service, his father managed to gather enough men for him to be given a sergeant's position, so that his son would not have to leave as a simple soldier. Soon after, Roon's father died in service due to the high-risk missions he was taking. He was given compensation, and Roon ended up with no debts when he took over his father's territories but also nothing in his reserves, only knowledge and training, which led him to finally end up where he is now. In his eyes, his father is one of the idols, like the marble statues he has in his residence of some Roman emperors'' finished lord Hohenzollern.
''Well now his refusal is more understandable,'' I said, considering all the information.
''Yes, I still don't know how Roon's father found time off from his Verlorener Haufen unit to spend time with his son. Since he was going from suicide mission to suicide mission to give his beloved son everything he needed, I knew I could force him, but I preferred not to. Although we are already mediating something, using historical jurisprudence of the ancient targaryen with their marriages with the velaryon, Roon keeps his surname, but when the firstborn of the union ascends, he takes the surname of the tarth, and there is not so much refusal from both sides. With a little luck, everything will end well'' said Lord Hohenzollern, smiling a little.
''I see'' I replied, realizing that we had already arrived at the Prussian camp.
where the Prussian soldiers were training in their formations for the battle they would have in a few hours.
Lord Hohenzollern looked at me and gave me a slight smile.
''Do you want to take a closer look at the Prussian army, Lord Arryn?'' asked the young Prussian lord.
''I thought you wanted to keep your training a secret'' replied Lord Hohenzollern.
''They are not a secret; in truth, I suppose Varys has already told you about it. The real secret is the middle-ranking officers, the backbone of the Prussian army. As long as you don't have a reliable officer corps, I doubt you can try to copy how the Prussian formations work, but considering that you prefer lineage to skill, it will be difficult'' said Lord Hohenzollern as he wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to me.
''Feel free to review the training; just give your regards to the commanding officer of the camp'' said Lord Hohenzollern as he dismounted from his horse and entered a tent where there was a large amount of swords and pikes.
I was not going to miss this opportunity, and when I entered the Prussian camp, the guards let me pass without problems since they heard the conversation I had with their lord.
Everything was in perfect order, the tents erected with the same distances between them, with a place where the men prepare their meals every few tents with their own latrines, and that alone differentiated it greatly from any camp of the lords of the seven kingdoms that, in most cases, cared little about the order in the camp.
The sound of metal caught my attention as a group of Prussians were practicing with their pikes among themselves. As much as I wanted to observe in more detail the Prussian training since Varys only told me what they were doing, not how they were doing it, I had to give the greetings to the commanding officer; it was the only thing they asked me to do, and I could not ignore it.
There was only one tent that was larger than the rest, and it must have been where this Prussian general who was in command was staying. To my surprise, there were no guards at the entrance, possibly because no other guards would let outsiders in.
As I entered, I met some Teutonic knights, and there was a group of three men talking to each other while looking at a map.
The one with the eye patch was playing with a dog in his arms, and the dog was biting his fingers playfully.
From the heraldry, I recognized Lord Tarly, who was speaking in German with some difficulty to the man standing between them.
the one who was the commanding officer and was pointing his finger at the map.
My entrance did not go unnoticed, and their gazes were fixed on me.
Only the commanding officer's face was filled with displeasure.
''What the hell is a Westerosi doing in my camp?... No offense, Herr Tarly, you are welcome'' said the officer with an annoyed tone, which then changed to a respectful tone when he spoke to Lord Tarly.
''No offense, Herr Roon'' replied Lord Tarly with a serious face.
So he is Roon.
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