"Father, are you surprised I'm not dead yet? The Little Demon held up a large shield, giving their archers a terrible headache."
After the battle, Tyrion, who had crawled out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, found his father, speaking irrelevant jokes.
His father was the current Warden of the West, the head of the Lannister family, Tywin Lannister.
Tywin, dressed in magnificent lion-like armor, showed no emotion on his face when facing his son, whose arm was almost severed; he was busy savoring fine wine in a jeweled goblet, enjoying the joy of victory.
Seeing this, Tyrion feigned panic and said, "Oh dear, will my not dying ruin your plans? If so, I deserve to die ten thousand times over."
Tywin glanced at him: "The wildlings you brought out of the Valley of Arryn were somewhat useful. I did indeed place you in the disorganized and undisciplined left flank. According to my plan, that boy Robb should have pressed forward with his main army as soon as he saw the left wing collapse."
"Heh heh, throwing me into a losing team, personally sending my son's neck to the enemy's blade, and you wouldn't even tell me in advance, so I could at least die with understanding."
Tywin drank the wine in his goblet in one gulp: "If everyone knew, what kind of military secret would that be? If you knew you were going to die, could you have acted so convincingly?"
Tyrion looked at this so-called father with disgust, saying nothing.
Just because he was a born dwarf, this Lord Warden of the West never stopped wanting him dead for a single day.
Because of his pathetic honor, this Lord Tywin, who clearly wanted him to die a thousand times over, still had to maintain a facade of decency, constantly humiliating him, discriminating against him everywhere, just to make him die.
But I will not let him have his way!
He wants me to never appear before him again, but I will live openly and righteously, forever reminding that damnable father: you still have a dwarf son!
Tywin, oblivious to the Little Demon's expression, had his armor removed by his attendants.
"For Robb Stark's age, his use of troops was unexpectedly cautious; it's already commendable that he didn't fall for it. But I was superior, and victory is victory. At the end of the day, he's still a rash boy with more courage than wisdom."
Tyrion wanted to say something to mock him, but now that Tywin had won a great victory, no amount of mockery would matter; Tywin simply didn't care.
Just then, they heard an urgent shout: "Lord Tywin!"
Ser Adam Marbrand, one of Tywin's men, arrived on a fast horse. As soon as he dismounted, the horse foamed at the mouth and bled from its muzzle.
Duke Tywin stood to greet him, and Ser Adam knelt on one knee before him: "Your Grace, we have captured some enemy leaders, including Earl Seven, Ser Willis Manderly, and Hallyne Karstark. Earl Horwood was killed. But most of them escaped; their fighting spirit wasn't strong."
Duke Tywin didn't hear the news he wanted and asked, "What about that Stark boy?"
Ser Adam swallowed: "According to intelligence from the captives, Robb Stark did not go with them, but took three hundred heavy cavalry to Riverrun."
"What a boy, truly more courage than wisdom!" Tyrion remembered his father's earlier assessment and couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Tywin was somewhat annoyed but quickly calmed down: "He only has three hundred men. What can he do even if he goes to Riverrun? Does he really think he can defeat Jaime with just three hundred men?"
Ser Adam reminded him: "There are still four thousand men at Harrenhal, an unknown number at Seaguard, and an unknown number of defenders at Riverrun. And because Riverrun is surrounded by rivers on all sides, Lord Jaime will likely scatter his forces in three places. Only then can Riverrun be surrounded. If that boy defeats them one by one…"
Tywin knew he had been outmaneuvered by a mere boy. He finally understood why the Northern forces scattered at the first touch; he had twenty thousand men, and the enemy also had twenty thousand, yet he won so easily. This was inherently illogical.
It turned out everything was to cover for that boy Robb.
Unlike the Little Demon Tyrion, Tywin cared most about his son Jaime, his only recognized heir.
"Order the three armies to advance towards Harrenhal at all costs! Discard all supplies and baggage that can be discarded, and move at the fastest possible speed!"
"Yes!"
Ser Adam had followed Lord Tywin for many years, and this was the first time he had seen Lord Tywin so agitated.
…
The Northern forces, having just been defeated by Tywin's twenty thousand men, were now retreating to rest near the King's Road.
Greatjon's voice was as loud as thunder: "Why aren't we attacking proactively?! Letting them kill so many of our men for nothing?!"
The person he was questioning was naturally the current commander of this army, Roose Bolton.
"We have twenty thousand men, and they have roughly the same number. What's wrong with a fight?"
Roose Bolton ignored Greatjon's nonsense: "We are not Tywin's match. They have over six thousand cavalry, we only have over two thousand, and their archers' equipment is better than ours."
"You're full of shit! One of us Northerners can fight ten of them!"
Roose Bolton was too lazy to argue with this brute: "I am the commander appointed by Lord Robb. If you have any complaints, wait until this war is over and then complain to Lord Robb. Right now, you must obey my orders!"
Rickard Karstark was also anxious; his eldest son had been captured by Tywin, and he couldn't calmly think about the problem here: "But we can't do nothing, can we? Our men have been captured!"
Roose Bolton comforted him: "They also have men captured by us! Nobles will not kill each other directly. Just wait for a prisoner exchange, and your son will appear before you unharmed."
Although the Northern army was defeated, it still retained its fighting strength, with two thousand casualties out of a twenty-thousand-man force.
But they only defeated a group of wildlings and mercenaries tricked by the Little Demon; the main army led by Tywin was largely unaffected.
Roose Bolton thought for a moment: "Since the enemy has already taken captives, they should already know about the Young Wolf Lord going to Riverrun for support. They will definitely want to reinforce Riverrun. We must adopt guerrilla tactics, harass them, and not let them join forces with the Kingslayer!"
After pacifying the remaining troops and formulating a new battle plan, Roose Bolton set off with the remaining soldiers of the North.
…
The news of Robb defeating Jaime had not yet reached the battlefield across the river, and King's Landing was even more unaware of the front-line situation. Everyone thought the war was about to end, and Jaime would sweep through the entire Riverlands, with the North being next.
Early in the morning, Emperor Joffrey, who loved his people like his own children, was excited. He was preparing to do the first major thing since his succession.
He was going to put the former Hand of the King on trial.
...
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