章節 45: The Old Lion Plans
Tywin looked around at the members of the Small Council, scrutinising each of them closely. He did not trust any of them, he never had and never would. Even so, they were now people was having to rely on to extract himself from the difficult situation in which he found himself.
"In all, the army should number nearly fifty thousand, my lord." Varys, the Spider spoke quietly, a pleased look on his face as he recounted the recent report on their armies situation. It was certainly better than it had been a few months ago, but it was also arguably worse.
Ten thousand of his men, trained Lannister soldiers, well-disciplined, well-armoured and well-trained. Each of them survivors of the battle against Stannis nought a few weeks ago.
He had an additional fifteen thousand recruits from the various lands all over the Crownlands, but mostly from Kings Landing. No more than untrained rabble which would take weeks if not months to train to an acceptable level of skill and cohesion.
An assortment of Sellsword companies that added an additional fifteen thousand men to his army. Well-trained, but their level of skill and the lack of proper discipline between them would result in serious problems with the overall cohesion amongst his army.
Then an additional ten thousand men from the Golden Company. They were the jewel in the rough, the best Sellsword company in Essos and one he was relieved had accepted his offer.
In total, fifty thousand men however, he only had around twenty thousand men on hand, half of which were fresh recruits from Kings Landing lured by the promise of land in the Riverlands and Westerlands. The remaining additional recruits from the surrounding lands of Kings Landing would take an additional week to arrive in which Tywin would have to ensure all were at least lightly armoured and had some measure of training.
The Sellsword companies, lured by the promises of riches and the freedom to raid and pillage the Young Wolfs kingdom to their hearts contet would then take an additional few weeks to arrive. It was Tywin's aim to ensure that the Smallfolk were trained in time for the Sellswords arrival.
And this was down to one very simple reason, he didn't have the food or supplies necessary to feed such a large army for very long. No, Tywin would need to take his army as soon as the Sellswords arrived and march upon the Riverlands, crushing the Young Wolf in a short enough space of time that he could keep his army well fed.
If he didn't, the war would be all but lost.
The Spider had already reported that the Young Wolf was aware of Tywin recruiting from the people of Kings Landing and the Crownlands. However, the Stark King was tied down in the Westerlands and couldn't move his forces without leaving himself dangerously exposed.
Even the fifty thousand men of the Reach under Mace Tyrell stationed along the Mander were unable to move, the Dornish warriors led by Oberyn Martell camped at the Prince's Path served as a big enough warning in of itself. The Red Viper occasionally pushing his men a few miles north as if intent on invading the Reach but quickly scurrying back to the Princes Path when Mace Tyrell turned to face him.
Unfortunately, the Lord Paramount of the Manders never once marched to engage the Dornish host. Whether it was because he had finally gained some sense or because his commanders managed to keep him in check, Tywin did not know. But he was grateful because this way, fifty thousand warriors were being kept occupied.
Even if his army was gathered, Tywin was still wary of his chances of victory.
The Young Wolf's forces were divided into three factions:
The North.
The Riverlands.
And the Reach.
However, the former two had fought side by side for near a year and the Reach had already committed five thousand men to the Young Wolf's cause. Unlike Tywin's army, the Stark King would have a great deal of cohesion, unison, and discipline amongst his army that Tywin wouldn't be able to match.
And the worse thing of all, was that Tywin knew that the Young Wolf would use this chance to prepare for him.
Robb Stark would be choosing where the battle would take place and it would be in a position Tywin would have no choice but to march and meet him without putting himself in a vulnerable position. As much as he didn't want, Tywin could begrudgingly admit that he admired Robb Starks skill for war.
Men like that were rare.
However, just because Tywin would be forced to meet Robb Stark in a place that was advantageous for the Young Wolf, didn't mean he had to do so unprepared. His gaze flickering to the empty seat that belonged to the Master of Coin, Petyr Baelish.
And as he did, Tywin smirked.
The war would end, and House Lannister would rise to even greater heights as the new rulers of Westeros.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票