Capítulo 105: Robert 3
293AC
Robert stared at the map of Essos he had rolled out before him. News had been trickling into the camp over the last two days of the betrayal of Qohor and the victory of Maegor at the battle of the Grey Crag. He had to admit that it made him look towards the Pentoshi forces within his army with some suspicion. Though they were of poor quality and lacked the cavalry to replicate Qohor's devastating betrayal, an act which had put the allies against Volantis in a far weaker position than before.
Norvos and Lorath would have to fend for themselves for now, however, as Maegor seemed intent on joining his forces to the main body of the Volantene army now that the North of Essos had Qohor to contend with.
Still, it left him in an opportune position to respond, a week into the southern Flatlands of old Andalos, he was now face faced with the decision of marching southeast to try to catch Maegor's army as it crossed the Royne into the Golden Fields, or to march south to the relief of Myr, which the Larger Valerian host was besieging. He could in no circumstances allow the two to join together.
He turned his gaze to the Pentoshi Commander, a mercenary general of Dothraki blood by the name of Daruin. "How far can Maegor's army march in a day?"
"March? Quite far, but his supply lines will slow him down, especially on this side of the Rhoyne. It is not the harvest season in the Golden Fields yet, so his army and his elephants will need feed shipped from Selhorys." Darin seemed to think for a second. "By my guess, and by how he has fought in smaller wars, I would say that he will stick to the River. The Rhoyne is the lifeblood of Volantis, and he will make better time going south along its banks."
"Where will he cross then?"
"He may have already crossed, but I would imagine it would be south of the Sorrows, and somewhere north of Selhorys. That would give him the best time to Myr."
"Hmm." Robert Nodded. "Ned, what do you think?"
"I have never dealt with War Elephants, Robert, but I imagine they are best not faced on an open field." The Stark turned to the Dothraki, who nodded. "In that case, our best option would be to catch him in the crossing, or while his forces are against the river. If we could drive them into it then we might avoid the worst of their charge."
Robert nodded, he had much the same thought. "I agree. We will need to move quickly though, lest Maegor bypass us entirely. Joffrey, come here." He quickly jotted down an order, before handing it to his son. The boy had groaned about being used as a courier at first but eventually agreed after Robert had pointed out that all squires did that duty at some point, and told him that it was better to be a runner for a king than a layabout little shite. "Run this to your uncle Renly. He'll take five-thousand of his cavalry out to the Royne and mirror Maegor's movements."
As Joffrey ran off with it, Robert found himself clutching his Warhammer tightly. This would be his first field battle since the Trident. He would have to see if his old strength still held up against the Volantene Triarch.
He stood to his feet, walking around the map. "The question then I'd what will the other army do if we move to cut off Maegor?"
"They can't pursue us," The Dothraki captain said. " The Golden Company is in Myr, along with whatever else the Three Sisters have put together on the ground. If they leave their backs to them they risk being sandwiched between our forces."
"That is presuming they don't take Myr," Ned said plainly. "Their army is far larger than that of the defenders and fanatical to boot."
"Myr is strong, with aid from the sea, and the Volantenes aren't fooled enough to launch against the Combined navy of Westeros, Braavos, Tyrosh, and Myr. Their fleet is outnumbered five to one. They will continue to blockade Lys instead."
"The Lyseni have no army if I recall correctly," Robert said, looking plainly at the man. "What if they surrender?"
"They might," He conceded, "but they have been conquered by Volantis before. I suspect they wish to avoid it happening twice."
Robert nodded, he could understand that, and Stannis would break that blockade soon enough anyway. "It seems our backs are clear then. Now we just need to defeat a larger force led by a competent general with a history of victories, and who is in possession of a large number of war Elephants." He scratched at some of the stubble growing back onto his chin. He would need to shave again. "Joyful."
In truth it was indeed joyful, he loved this, the enemy was a foe that needed ending, a puzzle to be taken apart. He knew that Jon viewed politics the same way, but as far as he was concerned that could all rot. This was his passion.
He turned back to the Captain of Pentos.
"What can you tell me about Maegor's sub-commanders?
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