Game of Thrones: The Impaler of the Blue Fork

Chapter 102: The Ferry Crossing in the Black Tent and the Deadlock in the Iron Pliers

The cold autumn rain fell like dense needles, piercing the land of the Blue Fork River Valley, which was blackened by smoke and fire.

In the inner fortress, due to the continuous rain, hardwood charcoal had to be burned in the fireplace at the bottom of the stone tower.

The dark red charcoal fire dispelled the dampness, but it couldn't dispel the pungent smell that seeped in through the cracks in the window, a mixture of rotting seaweed and the acrid, burnt odor of waste acid.

Steward Pollifer stood in front of the desk.

This once down-on-his-luck accountant, who used to haggle with sailors for a few copper coins at the docks of Haijiang City, now wore a fine, waterproof, dark wool robe.

His already thin cheeks were sunken inwards, and his eyes revealed a cold indifference that came from years of scrutinizing gains and losses.

He was flipping through the leather-bound general ledger of the territory's internal affairs.

The sound of turning pages echoed in the stone chamber like the scraping of bones by a sickle.

"My lord," Pollifer said without looking up.

"Last month, a total of seventeen laborers lost their jobs in the No. 2 sedimentation tank and the No. 3 acid mud pit."

"Most of them had their legs burned by quicklime, and the wounds were oozing pus and rotting into the bone; four of them collapsed right next to the blacksmith's furnace and stopped breathing."

Otto Hohenzollern sat behind a hard wooden table, his left hand unconsciously stroking the rough iron ring.

He didn't interrupt, or even frown; he just listened quietly.

"The body was thrown into a deep pit far from the water source under cover of night, and covered with a thick layer of lime so as not to alert the people on the other side."

Pollifer skillfully crossed out seventeen names with a charcoal stick.

"I have sent people to the refugee camps in the south to select twenty of the strongest refugees to fill the vacancies. Each person will only receive a set of coarse linen clothes and half a black bread as a resettlement allowance."

"Have you calculated the consumption of rations?" Otto's voice was as cold as a block of ice.

"I've calculated it. If we buy them acid-resistant leather boots and herbs, the cost per person is enough to buy five more new refugees."

Polyver presented a pure capital formula.

"There are peasants fleeing the war in Blackwood River everywhere now. As long as the Golden Dragon in Seagull Town continues, there will be plenty of this kind of fuel, which can be bought with two bowls of oat porridge, in the Riverlands."

But after reporting the number of lives lost, Pollifer frowned slightly and finally revealed the most critical hidden danger of the day.

"Sir, although fuel is cheap, our stoves are already overflowing."

Pollifer pointed to the territory sketch on the wall.

"Last month, the water mills were running non-stop, and the output of the salt ponds and earthen kilns was nearing its limit."

"If we want to increase deliveries from Seagull Town, we'll have to expand the sedimentation tanks and slag kilns on the east side. But it's late autumn now, and the wind is blowing north."

Pollifer walked to the window and pointed to the shadowy grove of trees on the north bank of the Blue Fork River.

Three hundred heavily armored halberdiers sent by Earl Jason Mellist of Seafront City were stationed there.

"The garrison in Haijiang City isn't blind. If we build more earthen kilns, the toxic fumes containing lead ash and acid will drift directly across the river."

"Once it arouses the suspicion of those regular troops, Earl Jason will definitely send knights to forcibly cross the river and search. At that point, the secret of the raw silver mine will be completely exposed."

Otto looked toward the north bank, following Pollifer's finger.

"Since the pot is already full, adding more firewood will only burn a hole through the bottom."

Otto withdrew his gaze and slammed the iron ring on his left hand onto the table with a dull, crisp sound.

"Since we can't cook anymore, let's take someone else's pot."

Otto walked to the map and locked onto the Blackwood River war zone, which borders Raventree City and Stonewall City.

"Jonos Brecken's light cavalry have been burning, killing, and looting in the south, and must have taken a lot of cattle, sheep, furs, and even the Blackwood family's winter provisions."

"But this piece of fat meat is stained with the blood of Tethos, and Brecken dares not openly sell it in the markets of the Riverlands."

"If Duke Horst sees grain bearing the mark of a black raven circulating in the market, he will surely send troops to Stonehide to demand an explanation."

A cruel smile curled at the corner of Otto's mouth.

"Go tell William to put on black leather armor, take five veterans from the Golden Company, and make a trip to Stonehold for me."

"Your Excellency is thinking..." Pollifer's eyes lit up slightly.

"Go tell Jonas Brecken."

Otto's voice carried a chilling undertone, as if he were a monster who would devour people without spitting out their bones.

"All the illicit profits from the war that he had in his hands were secretly channeled to the Blue Fork River."

"I used the ships from Seagull Town to transport his stolen goods out of the Narrow Sea, exchanged them for clean golden dragons, Frey family's fine iron, and the sharpest crossbows, and then returned them to him cleanly."

"The territory of Hohenzollern, we'll act as his intermediaries. We won't be greedy, we'll only take 30% as a toll."

Three days later. Stonehide, the fortress of the Brecken family.

The ancient castle was filled with the strong smell of roasted meat and the sour odor of cheap ale.

A large number of light cavalrymen who had just withdrawn from the Blackwood River front were reveling unrestrainedly in the courtyard, with sacks of looted grain and bundles of raw hides piled up on the open ground.

But as Otto had predicted, these supplies were too conspicuous to be quickly converted into military funds to sustain the war effort.

Thirteen-year-old William Charlton, dressed in a black leather armor without any family crest, calmly stepped into the main hall of Stonehedge City, under the watchful eyes of a group of drunken Brecken soldiers.

He was followed by five expressionless veterans of the Golden Regiment.

The professional killing intent that seemed to have rolled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood effectively suppressed the noisy atmosphere in the hall.

Count Jonas Brecken sat in a large chair covered with a bearskin.

The hot-tempered and extremely warlike lord was cutting into the roasted leg of lamb on a plate with a dagger.

He squinted, sizing up the half-grown boy sent by Hohenzollern who hadn't even grown his first hair yet.

"Does the Baron of Blue Fork have no one else to rely on? He actually sent a baby servant who's still nursing to negotiate a deal with me?"

Jonos slammed the bloodstained dagger onto the table and let out a disdainful sneer.

William did not perform the elaborate aristocratic kneeling ceremony. He bowed slightly, and his gray eyes showed no trace of the timidity of a young man, but rather a coldness and sophistication very much like Otto's.

"My Lord. The Baron sent me because I am traveling light and will not attract the attention of Riverrun spies."

William's voice was cool and steady.

"Moreover, when it comes to buying and selling, age doesn't matter; we only look at the resources we have."

William took two steps forward, pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket, and threw it onto the greasy oak table.

"The spoils of war that the adults have piled up in the courtyard, 'seized' from Raventree City, will get moldy and smelly if they don't sell them by winter."

"The Baron promised that once the goods are delivered to the docks of Blue Fork River, the ships from Seagull Town will turn them into crates of clean golden dragons within five days."

"In addition, Hohenzollern can also provide Mil's crossbows, as well as triangular steel arrowheads that can easily pierce the leather armor of rangers."

Jonas Brecken stopped cutting the meat.

He wiped his rough, large hands on the bearskin and grabbed the parchment.

"A 30% cut?" Jonos looked at the terms and conditions and snorted coldly.

"Your little baron is heartless. Isn't he afraid this fat will tear down his gray stone wall?"

"Blue Fork River has always had a good appetite, so adults don't need to worry about it."

William stared directly at Jonos, his tone suddenly turning cold, and finally revealed the most lethal trump card of the day.

"But the Baron's weapons and smuggling ships were exchanged for a strategic commitment from the Red Flag."

William walked to the long table, placed his hands on the edge of the table, and leaned forward slightly, like a young wolf baring its fangs.

"Hohenzollern and Brecken formed a deadly pact of offense and defense."

"If Tytos Blackwood dares to mobilize a large army to launch a strong attack on Stonehedge, the Iron Oath Legion of Bluefork will immediately break camp and cut off all supply lines from Raventree to the north."

"If Tethos dares to lead his army north to fill the Blue Fork River, Hohenzollern demands that the Red-Horse cavalry burn the manors and villages south of Raventree to the ground within three days!"

William's every word was resounding.

"We two families have Tethos sandwiched in between. If anyone dares to touch either of us, the other will raid their stronghold!"

"Nail him firmly to the mud of the Blackwood River until he bleeds to death!"

The hall was deathly silent.

Jonas Brecken stared intently at the thirteen-year-old boy in front of him.

"good!"

Jonos suddenly pulled out the dagger from the table, slashed a bloody gash in his palm, and slapped the parchment with a bold gesture, leaving a shocking bloody handprint.

"Go back and tell Otto Hohenzollern! The Red-Haired Cavalry will pluck every single feather from that old raven, Theodorus!"

Two weeks later. The main fortress of Raventree City.

The cold rain had turned into frost mixed with ice shards.

Tytus Blackwood stood before the enormous strategic sand table, his already wrinkled old face now appearing even more ashen and lifeless.

On the sand table, the black wooden blocks representing the Blackwood army are being squeezed tightly into a small area by red and gray wooden blocks.

"grown ups."

The lieutenant, still covered in mud and grime, knelt on one knee before Tethos, his voice trembling with despair, before he hadn't even had time to remove his helmet.

"The front lines can't hold out any longer. Breken's light cavalry have suddenly been equipped with a large number of crossbows and armor-piercing arrows, and our rangers have suffered heavy losses in their charges."

"And...and they didn't even engage in positional warfare with us. They grabbed the spoils and ran eastward, transporting all the loot away through the undercurrents of the Red Fork River. We didn't even have a chance to intercept them!"

Tethos's eagle eye was fixed on the location of the Blue Fork River on the sand table.

His hands, which had held a longsword countless times, were now trembling violently with anger and humiliation.

Otto Hohenzollern, that little beast, was sitting in that gray stone wall, feeding Brecken, that hungry wolf, with the flesh and blood he had stolen from Blackwood.

"Sir, we must fight back!"

The lieutenant roared through gritted teeth.

"If you give the order, I will personally lead a thousand men north, and we will bite down the walls of the Blue Fork River, even if we have to use our teeth!"

"and then?"

Tethos's voice was terribly hoarse, and like an ancient tree about to wither, he slowly closed his eyes.

"Once our main force moves north for three days, Jonos Brecken's Red Horse Cavalry will trample the gates of Raventree City."

"Otto knew we wouldn't dare to move. He set up a porcupine-like mud pit in front of us and put a mad dog behind us."

"Pass down the order."

Tethos opened his eyes, a humiliating decision as the old general swallowed his last mouthful of blood.

"The entire army should consolidate its defensive lines. Abandon all outlying villages south of the Blackwood River. Construct deep trenches and high walls, and switch to a full-scale defensive posture."

"My lord! What about our spies...?"

"Recall all the men sent north of the Blue Cross River!"

Tethos slammed his fist on the sand table, shattering the wooden blocks into pieces.

"Seal the city gates! Until we find concrete evidence of the Dark Silver Vein, no one is allowed to provoke that monster again!"

"Let's just get through this damn winter!"

Outside the window, the first snow of the season was falling gently in the river region.