Chapter 322 Littlefinger Wants to Surrender?

Clay also did not forget to pay attention to his own logistical issues when he met with the princes of the Riverlands and the North in the Twin River City.

From the time he went south for the second time until now, he has never stopped, either fighting or on the way to the battlefield.

That is to say, the area of ​​​​the Riverlands, like the Reach, is an area with dense water networks and rich in food production.

In addition, Clay had early controlled the battlefield at Harrenhal and the three eastern cities of Riverrun.

As a result, the main grain-producing areas of the Riverlands were not disturbed. Even if Edmure Tully's thorough policy of clearing the country was implemented, it could still steadily provide enough military supplies for the army.

However, things are different now.

As blizzards fall one after another, food cultivation throughout the Riverlands is facing the risk of large-scale production reductions or even shutdowns.

Although people have ways to solve their hunger in winter, now, they still need to plan appropriately.

After the Northern Territory and the Riverlands have surrendered, there are several problems that need to be solved.

The first is the issue of the flag of this new royal family.

Although Daenerys was reluctant, she knew that she had to make concessions on this point.

So, after Clay sent her to Weihe Tower and had a chat with the old man, designing a new royal flag was already on the agenda.

Clay is not directly involved in how to implement it. At most, he just makes the final decision.

He doesn't have much talent in this area, so it's better not to go up and embarrass himself.

The second thing is the coronation ceremony.

Although in Clay's opinion, this thing is actually extravagant and wasteful.

However, everyone from Daenerys to the old man insisted on holding this ceremony.

Originally, Clay thought that after conquering King's Landing, he would survive and survive.

However, no one supported his view.

According to the old man’s original words:

"A king without a coronation ceremony and a crown on his head will make people groan no matter how he looks at it."

All I can say is, this is a damn ritual.

After these two things are done, the rest is about the army.

The Northern Territory and the Riverlands had used all their strength to mobilize troops, and one of the direct consequences was that so far, of the entire 40,000-strong legion, only about 6,000 people had winter clothing.

Before, it was because there was no other way, and Tywin Lannister's side was shivering in the cold wind just like his own side. So, although the soldiers complained a lot, they were still able to persevere on the whole.

But as the war entered another middle stage, the cold wind from the north once again blew into the Riverlands, a land ravaged by conservative wars.

Changing the uniforms of soldiers has become an urgent matter in order to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army.

In this regard, various families in the north have some stocks. It is very cold in the north, so it is normal to prepare some thick clothes.

However, because before this winter came, the entire Westeros experienced a ten-year summer, and it was a warm summer.

This means that the winter clothes prepared by the North themselves are actually substandard in quantity and quality.

Don't expect a poor farmer to have extra golden dragons to prepare for a winter that may come but doesn't know when. They don't have the spare money.

Therefore, as a king who coordinates the overall situation, Clay is very clear that there is a huge gap.

The cotton used to make thick clothes can only be produced on a large scale in the Riverlands and further south.

It's not that people in the north don't grow these, it's because of the climate that the land's output is too little.

Coupled with their scarce population, they really do not have the ability to grow cash crops such as cotton.

Therefore, Clay issued an order to the nobles of the Riverlands, asking them to organize caravans and go to the Riverlands to purchase cotton.

As for who will provide the money, the nobles are wise enough to know that if they don't give out a single bronze star for this thing, the new king will definitely take it seriously.

If you make war fortune in the future, you will definitely have no chance of losing your land, population, wealth, etc.

Therefore, in the end, King Clay did not spend a single golden dragon on this matter, and the nobles of the Riverlands raised the funds themselves.

Anyway, they have plenty of connections.

As long as there is no war zone along the way, doing business is the specialty of the nobles of the Riverlands.

Anyway, once the business route opens, they will find ways to make money.

The adults of the Reach will not refuse to cooperate with their northern neighbors.

Highgarden City is just a clay statue of a god, and its binding force on the vassals below is not that strong.

If everyone hadn't been from the Reach and the Tyrell family was very powerful, these guys who claimed to be descendants of the Gardener family wouldn't have followed Thorn Rose.

Fighting is a war, but making money in business is another matter.

…

Clay is slowly sorting out the current complicated situation. Daenerys, with a large group of people, began to prepare for Clay and her coronation. Women are more concerned about such ritualistic things.

Even if she is already a de facto queen, she is not exempt from the customs.

Forty thousand people, all placed in Riverrun and Twins, would actually have no effect.

With Clay's order, a mixed infantry and cavalry force of 14,000 people had quickly rushed along the River Road towards their destination, the town of Earl Harroway.

In the direction of the Blood Gate, things haven't been peaceful recently.

The people of the valley seemed to be ready to make a move again, and troops were often mobilized near the Blood Gate.

It seems that the people of the valley have not been frightened by the previous failure, and have begun to prepare for war with Clay Mandler.

Although there is no way to send the eyeliner from the blood gate into the valley, the defense of this place is very tight.

However, the east coast of the valley near the strait has become a permeable sieve for the Mandalay family, which has already controlled the nearby sea.

Slowly, after the intelligence network was established, some information was gradually leaked.

After Lysa Tully died, the young Duke of the Vale, Lord Petyr Baelish, who was named Warden of the East by Joffrey Baratheon, actually took control.

Although the foreign war failed, Littlefinger still used his own skills to blame the Lannister for the defeat.

Holding Arya Stark in his hands, he has always wanted to plan to send this girl to the position of guardian in the North.

However, what happened next exceeded his expectations.

At the battle of Harrenhal, Tywin Lannister's army collapsed, Joffrey Baratheon was captured, and the crown on his head was taken off.

Robb Stark, the King of the North and the Riverlands, also died in this battle.

Originally, this was an excellent opportunity for Petyr Baelish to return Roose Bolton to the Dreadfort in the name of returning Arya Stark.

This guy also hoarded a lot of soldiers and horses in the Dreadfort. He wanted to attack the empty Winterfell. With the remaining members of the Stark family, there was no way he could stop him.

And it's hard to say what will happen once the Bolton family moves into Winterfell.

However, just when Littlefinger was excitedly preparing to implement this plan, a piece of news came that stunned him.

The commander-in-chief of the Northern Riverlands Alliance, the man whom he and Yoon Royce hated so much, Clay Manderly, was actually a dragon master.

Littlefinger received the news, and the dragon king took away Robb Stark's body on the spot, went north to Winterfell, and handed it back to the Stark family.

As his eyes darkened, the former finance minister knew that his carefully prepared plan was completely over.

Where did this Dragon King come from? Isn’t this a lie?

Petyr Baelish was furious.

No, if I had known you were the Dragon King, why would I still be stirring up trouble here?

It's fun to be funny, right?

But he had no choice but to continue to preside over the situation in the valley. At the same time, he immediately left the Eagle's Nest City, leaving little Robert Arryn behind.

The incident when Queen Visenya's dragon came to the backyard of the Eagle's Nest City and forced the King of the Valley to land, became a common historical memory among the nobles of the entire valley.

What if Clay Manderly didn't have martial ethics and rode his dragon over the Eagle's Nest City, would he surrender or not?

If you don't surrender, if you let the dragon flames fall down, the entire Eagle's Nest City will be gone.

If he surrendered, would Petyr Baelish's ultimate dream come true?

In the midst of this repeated entanglement, a large ship full of bachelors with various chains quietly docked at the port of Seagull Town.

Soon after receiving the news, Duke Petyr Baelish quickly protected this group of "technical talents" and immediately arrived in the Eagle's Nest City before other families could react.

After reading it, there was no signature, but Petyr could tell who wrote the letter from the tone of his voice. His thoughts were ups and downs in his heart.

If we really follow the arrangements of these guys, it will put the Valley completely on the opposite side of Targaryen, Mandalay, and the Riverlands and the North.

He was thinking about how he could benefit from such a situation.

According to his idea, if he now adopts a surrender attitude that looks like he understands current affairs, he might be able to get a very good position in the new dynasty.

After all, the power of the valley is now nominally in his hands, and this amount is not small.

If Clay Mandler wants to solve the problem of the Valley without bloodshed, he must win over these people.

This was a sure thing in Petyr Baelish's mind.

But in this way, he completely missed his dream.

In the future, being able to live peacefully in King's Landing or the Vale and find a good position may be the pinnacle of his life.

When he thought about it this way, he felt unwilling to do so.

Some of the previous chips would be completely useless if they were surrendered.

It is naturally extremely uncomfortable to have all your hard work go to waste.

He thought so, but there was someone down there who wouldn't do it.

Ever since they knew that Clay Manderly, who defeated them, really owned the dragon, some minor nobles in the valley began to clamor everywhere, saying that the war could no longer be fought, and demanding that Petyr surrender to the west of the Blood Gate as soon as possible.

Most of these people are small and medium-sized nobles.

They know very well that in a war like this, the only ones injured are the unlucky ones who have no ability to protect themselves.

It is easy to be used as cannon fodder to bear the wrath of the Dragon King.

No one thought they had a long life, and no one wanted to go crazy with Petyr Baelish.

However, after the most violent one among these guys died mysteriously on the daughter's bed, these objections quickly died down.

No one went to question the Eyrie. Lord Baelish's methods frightened everyone.

Until now, Clay Mandler's army has entered Earl Harroway's town, and these valley nobles have not found out how that guy died at that time.

Knowing that they had boarded the pirate ship, these guys had no choice but to accept the "technical guidance" sent by the Eagle's Nest City. They spent all their wealth and began to set up a greater or lesser number of shooters on their fortresses. Dragon Ballista.

Of course, Clay knows these things. After all, no matter how tight the blood gate is, the east coastline will still be full of loopholes.

A steady stream of news was sent to Clay Mandler, who was based in Twin River City.

The real war will not break out until Clay Manderly and Daenerys Targaryen complete the coronation ceremony and officially declare the establishment of the kingdom.

Everybody knows.

However, before that, there are still temptations from both sides, which can be solved by other means and do not necessarily require a direct fight.

After all, there are more than just two of them in the Seven Kingdoms.

…

"Take a look, this letter is interesting."

In the main castle of Twins City, Clay leaned back in a comfortable chair and raised a piece of paper in his hand to Daenerys and the old man sitting opposite him.

This morning, Clay had just returned to Twins City after checking on the damage to the army's weapons, when a letter sent by a raven was handed into his hands by an attendant.

The signature is none other than our dear Lord Petyr Baelish.

The two people obviously didn't know about this yet, and they were staring at the letter in Clay's hand with curious faces.

They also want to know what Petyr Baelish is up to.

Taking it from Clay's hand, Daenerys shrank her neck. The cold weather in the north still made her, who was accustomed to warmth, a little uncomfortable.

When you open it up, your beautiful eyebrows suddenly sit up.

After reading it, she handed the paper in her hand to the old man and remained silent while looking at Clay's half-smiling expression.

"Littlefinger what does this mean?"

After reading it, the old man also looked strange.

"Surrender to you? Then invite you to the Eagle's Nest City as a guest, and make it clear that the city is targeting us."

Clay nodded, that was indeed what Littlefinger meant in the letter.

He really didn't understand this operation.

Everyone knows that the Eagle's Nest City has been transformed into a hedgehog, with many dragon-shooting crossbows staring at the sky at any time.

Everyone knows what An is thinking about letting Clay go to the Eagle's Nest City as a guest at this time.

But if it wasn't to surrender and tell one's own school that the city was not doing good things behind its back, what was it for?

Do you expect this to deceive your own trust?

This is also a bit too belittling.

"Clay, what do you think?"

Daenerys asked.

She had personally experienced the dragon-shooting crossbow and knew that it was at least a certain threat to Drogon.

Anyway, she has no interest in repeating the deeds of her ancestor, Queen Visenya.

Your own life is more important, times have changed.

Clay picked up the letter from the table and threw it into the burning fireplace next to him.

With the dancing firelight reflected in his pupils, Clay said:

"Have the Grafson family of Seagull Town been in contact with us some time ago?"

This was obviously a question to the old man, but Daenerys didn't know about it.

Earl Weiman was stunned for a moment, tilted his head back slightly, recalled his memories, and nodded:

"Yes, Count Gerold Grafson has been trying to contact us. He does not want to continue the war with Littlefinger."

Clay frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and said softly:

"Grandpa, the news I sent you earlier is that Littlefinger has gathered all the elites in the valley near the Blood Gate?"

The old man replied:

"Yes, if the dragon cannot risk burning the city gate, we will have to attack the Blood Gate head-on. In that case, the casualties will be very high, and we don't know whether we can defeat it."

When the old man said this, he was obviously troubled.

I originally thought that my grandson could control the dragon, but after that, it became a very simple matter to push the seven kingdoms equally.

However, the reactions of the other nobles of the Seven Kingdoms were incredibly fast.

The emergence of the dragon-shooting crossbow made the Northern Territory and the Riverlands very uncomfortable.

Or so he thought.

Clay smiled coldly. He had previously controlled Galesos and tried to approach the Blood Gate from high altitude.

He discovered that this thing was actually less powerful than the one designed by the black-robed bachelor Qenben in his memory.

On his side, the dragons, especially Galesos, were larger than Daenerys' Drogon at the time.

In other words, if he really tried his best, Clay felt that he could resist a few shots.

Once the giant dragon gets close and a breath of dragon flames is released, all these giant crossbows will be useless.

As time goes by, the dragon grows day by day, and sooner or later, these dragon-shooting crossbows will be a pile of waste.

But Clay didn't want to wait too long. The threat from the north was always a thorn in his heart.

He didn't want to be attacked from both sides.

"Dani, there's something you need to do."

Clay turned to Daenerys.

"Fly to White Harbor and take my order to have the White Harbor fleet begin to assemble. Also, ask them what the actual number of troops they transport is. I want an exact number."

"Also, ask them again if they can suppress the entire valley fleet. Don't worry about the fleet in Seagull Town yet."

"Give them an order. If possible, I hope that from the moment my order arrives, no board in the entire valley will be allowed to enter the sea."

Do you really think that if you block the bloody door, I will have no chance to sing?

Do you know what the theory of sea power is?

It would be a shame to not show off the power of the navy that has been built for so long.

I don't believe you can get the giant crossbow onto the warship so quickly.

You really think you are the rich guys from the Reach, don't you?

Daenerys and the old man both realized that Clay was going to attack the Vale.

But their thinking habits still stayed on the land. The two people hugging the sea didn't quite understand what Clay's order was for.

"Clay, we have enough ships. From before you left, we have been building them until now. We can suppress those small sampans in the valley. There are no questions. You don't have to ask."

The old man gave Clay a pat on the back. As the de facto leader, he knew very well what kind of strength the large fleet that had now completely controlled Biting Bay had after investing at all costs in the past few years.

"However, you have to tell us both what you think. Even if you smash all the navy in the valley, the Blood Gate will still be where it should be."

Clay knew it was time to show these two a little naval shock.

So, he took the two of them to the huge valley sand table next to them.

"The Blood Gate is indeed a natural danger. It is difficult to cross. It is true that the Mingyue Mountain Range runs from north to south, so those who want to attack the valley from the west can only choose the Blood Gate route."

"But the question is, what if I don't want to fight from west to east?"

Clay looked at the two of them, raised the corner of his mouth, moved his finger to the right, stepped back, and slid down:

"Lengshui City, Snakewood City, Hongge City, Xinsu City, Runestone City, and Seagull Town."

"What did you see?"

"Yes, they all rely on the ocean or rivers."

"As I said just now, most of the troops in the valley are concentrated near the Blood Gate. So what will happen to these castles?"

Clay tapped his knuckles on the sand table and gave his answer:

"Weak, empty, vulnerable."

"As long as we destroy their warships, the entire east side of the valley will be free to take whatever we want."

"That's why I just asked Dany to ask how many troops we can transport."

"If I can hold a thousand people, I will only dare to attack them one by one. Two thousand people are two people. If there are four thousand people, I will dare to concentrate my troops, land directly from the Longbow Hall, and rush directly into the Erin Valley. The troops will be in a straight line." Force the Eyrie."

"I don't believe that when the time comes, our beloved Lord Baelish will still dare to put his main force at the Blood Gate."

Daenerys and the old man were both shocked by Clay's words.

They had been thinking about how to break through the Blood Gate, but they didn't expect that Clay had already had an idea.

With her eyebrows raised high, Daenerys thought of something and asked Clay in confusion:

"Then why did you say, don't worry about Seagull Town yet?"

Clay shook his head and explained:

"Count Gerald Grafson, who stays in Seagull Town, you said he is a noble, but in essence, he is a businessman."

"For the past two years, Stannis's royal fleet has been dangling in front of his eyes. Did he even play a role as a pirate and rob his cargo ship?"

"Our Lord Petyr chose to accept the leadership of Joffrey Baratheon. Stannis can completely cut off the trade route in Gull Town. The two sides are enemies anyway."

"So, in the past two years, the trade level of Seagull Town has been very unsatisfactory for Jero Grafson, and the war abroad has been a complete failure. If he continues to follow Littlefinger, Seagull Town will be finished."

"Grandpa, this is actually easy to understand. If you think about our previous tax structure in Baigang, you will understand what it would be like if all the taxes brought by trade were cut."

"I plan to promise to help him wipe out Stannis's royal fleet and send a fleet to guard his trade routes."

"Of course this condition is nothing in peacetime, but now... I estimate that Count Gerald Grafson will nod in agreement immediately."

Staring at the huge valley sand table, the old man gradually followed Clay's train of thought.

After all, he is the Earl of White Harbor, and he knows the sea better than other nobles.

However, he never thought that the navy could be used in this way.

Once it takes shape, at least half of the army in the valley will have to return to defend the coast, otherwise, the old nest will be kicked out.

As for the Blood Gate, which had lost more than half of its army, the threat was greatly reduced.

After thinking for a long time, the old man said with emotion:

"It works, it's a good idea!"

He turned to look at Daenerys:

"Your Majesty, please make a trip. This matter is indeed very important to us."

When Daenerys saw both of them saying this, although she still had concerns in her heart, she didn't say much.

The king was about to be crowned and he had to stay in the Twins City to stabilize the situation, so he had to trouble him, the queen-to-be, to make a trip.

Fortunately, White Harbor is not far from here, and the round trip only takes a day.

Without any delay, Daenerys and Clay confirmed the information they wanted to ask for, read it silently, turned around and left the door.

Not long after, Clay and the old man heard Drogon's roar outside the city, as well as the loud sound caused by the flapping of its wings.

Apparently, Daenerys has already set off.

When he came to the window and watched the black and red dragon retreating, the old man seemed to feel relaxed.

He was more troubled by the blood gate problem than Clay.

After all, this is the first king of the Mandalay family. If he cannot unify the entire Westeros, the old man will never accept it.

"Clay, you have long asked your family to vigorously develop the navy. Did you already think that such a day would come?"

Turning back and looking at his grandson who had sat back in the chair, the old man asked with a smile.

"No, I'm not a god, how could I know what happens next."

Clay wants to shake his head.

"It's just that I have always felt that our Westeros navy has never played its real role."

"King's Landing, Storm's End, Oldtown, Lannister Port, these cities are all by the sea."

"That is to say, we can theoretically replicate the method just now."

The old man thought for a while and suddenly said:

"Hmm... This seems to be the same as the pirates from the Iron Islands..."

Clay smiled, not denying it at all.

"Indeed, this idea is actually derived from the "ancient roads" of the Iron Islands."

"It's just a few ruined islands that produce nothing. How can Greyjoy be considered a prominent surname? Just refer to the threat the Iron Fleet poses to the coasts of the Westerlands and the Reach."

"Our fleet can't take care of things on the Sunset Sea for the time being, so I'll use these guys on the Strait Sea to practice first."

"Grandpa, our navy is about to undergo a test..."