BXBX NOVEL Chapter 263: investigate
The twilight of the morning sun spreads on the sparkling water, like a golden road.
Samwell was riding on the back of the dragon, and when he saw the golden Horn of Harvest banner in front of him, he knew he had arrived at the Longtable Castle.
A steel chain was stretched across the wide river, blocking the Mande River.
The wreckage of the ship floats on the river south of the iron chain, silently telling the story of a water battle that took place here.
Samwell did not land at Longtable, but continued to fly south.
On this section of the river, you can see long boats with golden sea monster flags—
That\'s the ironborn\'s longship, the raider\'s longship.
The villages and towns on the shore are in a mess, with traces of killing, burning, looting everywhere.
The smell of fresh blood floated in the air, and the curling fireworks rose up like the sharp claws of devils.
This is the occupied area.
Samwell\'s heart was heavy.
Continuing to the south, he saw a lonely castle with its gates closed, and some ironmen scattered around, who seemed to be monitoring the situation in the city.
Over the castle flew the Banner of Red Apples on a Gold Background—the arms of House Fossoway of the Cider Hall.
It seems that the castle has not fallen yet.
Samwell still did not stop and continued south.
Soon came to the sky above Highgarden.
The once beautiful garden castle has now been robbed of its dazzling brilliance by blood, fireworks, and death.
Samwell suddenly remembered the prophecy about the withering of roses that Melisandre told him—
The pure white castle fell apart under the sweep of the black tide, the shadows gathered into skeletons, gray and white intertwined in the sky, forming a cold wind that destroyed everything, extinguished all flames, and brought death and destruction.
It turns out that this dark tide of death refers to the Ironborn.
Samwell looked sad.
Compared to regret, he felt more helpless.
Although he didn\'t take Melisandre\'s prophecy seriously at first, he also reminded Mrs. Olenna.
Unfortunately, this did not prevent the tragedy from happening.
But in Samwell, he didn\'t change his view on prophecy. Even if he knew it in advance, he might not be able to avoid the ending.
It’s like playing cards in the hands of a magician. You think you can guess the points correctly, but you don’t know that the other party will cheat.
So the best way to deal with it is not to guess, but to directly tear the cards in the opponent\'s hand.
When the sky reached the city, Samwell had torn it once.
In the cathedral fire, some of the prophetic pictures shown to him by the Lord of Light did not happen.
From this we can see that prophecy can also be changed.
It depends on whether you have the strength to tear cards.
The white dragon circled Highgarden for several weeks, continuing south.
Flying more than ten miles along Rose Avenue, they saw a rather large military camp.
The banner flying in the camp shows a stepped white tower with a burning beacon—this is the army of the Hightower family in Old Town.
The purpose of Samwell\'s trip, apart from checking the situation near Highgarden, is more importantly to get in touch with the Hightower family.
During the Eastern Expedition to the Stormlands, the Hightower family dispatched more than 4,000 soldiers. This is certainly not a small number, but it is far from the full war potential of the most powerful family in the river bend.
In Samwell\'s impression, the Hightower family, together with its many vassals, can easily pull out a regular army of tens of thousands of people.
If the Hightower family is willing to send all their troops to help, the rebellion can be quelled without even waiting for the Reach Army stranded in the storm to withdraw.
The white dragon swooped down and landed in the camp, causing quite a commotion.
Fortunately, everyone in Hewan knew about Caesar\'s White Dragon, so they didn\'t panic too much.
Samwell had just jumped off the back of the dragon when he saw a knight stepping forward and said:
"Is it Lord Caesar?"
"It\'s me." Samwell looked at the black and orange butterfly coat of arms on the opponent\'s shield, and knew that it was the knight of the old neighbor Mullendall family. "Is Viscount Martin here too? Who is leading the army?"
"Yes." The knight showed a kind smile, "Do you need me to take you to the camp of the central army? This time the leader is Ser Baelor Hightower."
It turned out to be the eldest son of Shentian Tower who led the army, and this is also an old friend.
"Okay, sorry to trouble you."
Soon, Samwell came to the tent of the Chinese army.
After the attendants had reported their arrival, Sir Baylor came out to greet him in person.
"Sam!" Baylor had a familiar smile on his face, with surprise in his tone, "Why are you here? Didn\'t you fly here?"
"You guessed it right." Samwell stepped forward and hugged each other.
"Your dragon can ride? It grows so fast?"
"Yes. Eat a lot." Samwell responded casually without further explanation.
Sir Baylor didn\'t ask much, and enthusiastically led Samwell into the tent.
There were five other people in the tent, namely Earl Tommen Cotoyne of Three Towers, Earl Warren Bisbury of Hive City, Sir Adam Bulwe of Blackcrown City, and Martin Mullendau of Highland City. Viscount Brendon Cue of Sunhouse.
Samwell greeted them one by one, and then took their seats.
"How long will it take for the troops from the Eastern Expedition to withdraw?" Sir Baylor asked.
"It is estimated that the main force of the Northern Route Army will take about ten days, but my father has sent the cavalry ahead, and they should be able to reach the Bitter Bridge within these two days. I don\'t know the situation of the Southern Route Army, but the estimated time should be about the same."
"I don\'t think there is any need to wait any longer." Sir Adam said rather anxiously, "We have gathered 6,000 infantry, 800 cavalry, and the army of the northern princes gathered at Bitter Bridge to deal with the Ironborn and Oakher. The Te family is enough!"
Samwell glanced at the knight of the Bulwei family and asked, "Is Countess Alysanne in High Court?"
"Yes."
No wonder. Samwell remembered that the countess of the Bulwei family was a cousin of the Tyrell family, and seemed to be the niece of some cousin of the inflatable fish.
"I think so." Sir Baylor nodded. His sister Ellie, the wife of the Duke of Metz was also in High Court, and she was also very anxious at the moment.
He looked at Samwell, and said again: "Sam, since you are here, please convey to Madam Olenna that we plan to formally march to Highgarden at noon the day after tomorrow, and hope that the northern army will also start at the same time, flanking the front and rear Rebels and ironborn."
Samwell felt that the cavalry of the Northern Route Army the day after tomorrow should have arrived, so he nodded and said:
"good."
After a pause, he asked again: "What\'s the current situation on Qingting Island? Why haven\'t you seen the Redwynn family\'s fleet after the rebellion for so long?"
Sir Baylor hesitated and said:
"I have already sent a letter to Qingting Island. It is probably because Earl Paxter has not returned from the storm, so he is not on the island. There has been no reply."
The stormy land did not see the fleet of Qingting Island. Samwell complained secretly.
He is now more and more sure that the Earl of Paxter is probably deliberately sitting back and watching the rebellion happen.
But given the relationship between the Redwyne family and the Tyrell family, he really couldn\'t say much.
Afterwards, everyone discussed the battle plan in detail.
Until the plan was finalized, the atmosphere in the tent became more relaxed.
Baylor took a sip of his wine and asked, "Sam, how is the Eastern Expedition to the Stormlands going? I heard that you have already captured Tongmen City?"
"Yes."
"The speed is pretty fast." Baelor smiled, "That\'s really a pity. If it weren\'t for this rebellion, I\'m afraid you would all be able to fight against the city of Storm\'s End."
"It\'s hit." Samwell laughed, "And it\'s down."
There was a moment of silence in the tent, and then several exclamations in unison:
"You captured Storm\'s End?"
"Yes."
Looking at Samwell, who was calm and calm, Viscount Martin Mullendall was in a complicated mood.
He still clearly remembered the scene when the young Horn Hill Knight first came to Highland City. At that time, the kid was still racking his brains to get his own help to open up territory in the Crimson Mountains.
Unexpectedly, it has only been so long, and one of the top castles in the Seven Kingdoms has already been occupied.
Viscount Brandon Cue\'s mood is equally complicated. He thought that he almost married his daughter to the young man in front of him, but now, the other party will become an important nobleman in the Seven Kingdoms in a blink of an eye.
It\'s all my daughter\'s failure to live up to expectations! Viscount Brandon sighed secretly.
The faces of the rest of the people have also changed. If it is said that when Samwell hatched the dragon and got engaged to Margaery, they only thought that this young man had great potential.
But now, Samwell, who occupies Storm\'s End, has transformed this potential into real strength.
The Caesar family is about to become one of the most prominent families in the Seven Kingdoms.
…
Towards evening, Samwell returned to Bitter Bridge again.
After placing the white dragon in the stable, Samwell went to find Margaery, and after asking the servants, he found out that she stayed in the church to pray all day long.
Pushing open the oak door, Margaery\'s beautiful back came into Samwell\'s eyes. She was kneeling in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary. A dozen candles were shining soft light, and through her loose and thin gauze skirt, she outlined a charming and beautiful figure. Warm body curves.
"Sam." Margaery turned around and smiled gently at her fiancé when she heard the movement, "Where did you go today?"
"I went to the south with Cleopatra to have a look." Samwell stepped forward and embraced her from behind, and gently stroked her slightly raised belly with both hands.
"What... did you see?" Margaret\'s body tensed suddenly.
"The situation is really not good..."
Samwell gave a brief account without mentioning too **** content, and finally comforted:
"Don\'t worry, the princes of the River Bend in the south have assembled a large army under the call of the Hightower family. I just discussed the battle plan with them. I plan to launch an attack at noon the day after tomorrow. I will notify Longtable Castle to cooperate. Acting together, attacking from north to south, will definitely drive the Ironborn into the sea."
"What about Highgarden?" Margaret was still worried, "The Oakheart family occupies Highgarden, with so many hostages in their hands, we can\'t forcefully attack the city, right?"
"The rebellion of the Oakheart family should be resolved through negotiation. After all, they are the nobles of the River Bend, and they dare not do anything."
"Oakheart...should want Gaoting to change his position?" Margaret said.
"You don\'t have to worry too much." Samwell hugged his fiancee a little tighter, "The current situation cannot be shaken by the Oakheart family or a few Deer Party families."
"Yes." Margaery also suppressed all kinds of turbulent thoughts, and curled up in the man\'s arms.
Samwell smelled the fragrance of the girl\'s hair, and stopped talking.
The church became quiet, and a warm and quiet atmosphere circulated.