"Ah!!"
In the shops of Tumbleton, storefronts were smashed and valuable items looted.
A squad of Lannister Soldiers laughed rampantly, beating the shopkeepers who rushed forward to stop them.
Someone had given the order: two thousand Lannister Soldiers entered the city and were allowed three days of unrestrained looting.
Suddenly, a tall figure appeared.
The Lannister Soldiers quickly stopped their beating and scurried aside like mice seeing a cat.
The shop owner, beaten until his head bled, looked at the massive figure in full steel plate armor, thinking a savior had arrived.
"Ser Gregor, this house has been cleared out; we're heading to the next one now."
A Lannister Soldier spoke up quickly.
"Hmm!?"
The massive figure lifted his visor, revealing a violent and terrifying face; even the single sound squeezed from his nose was filled with a tyrannical aura.
The soldiers were as silent as cicadas in winter.
If they were the scum looting commoners, the man before them was a beast capable of any evil.
Gregor Clegane said nothing, scanning the shop with a gloomy expression before his gaze finally fixed on a hidden small door.
Thump! Thump!
He was nearly eight feet tall (243cm), muscular and exceptionally strong; combined with his full suit of armor, every step was heavy and powerful, making the floorboards thud.
Gregor yanked open the small door and dragged the shopkeeper's wife and daughter from the cramped space filled with clutter.
Ignoring the two women's piercing wails, he committed bestial acts.
The soldiers remained silent, taking advantage of Ser Gregor venting his animalistic lust to hurry to the next house.
.
The same scene was repeated in every corner of Tumbleton.
Tywin looked composed as he watched the loads of grain being brought back by the soldiers, feeling no psychological burden whatsoever.
"Brother, the Fudley Family supports the Iron Throne; it's not a sustainable solution for us to keep looting like this."
Tygett, who had marched with the army, still possessed a lingering warmth of humanity and tried to persuade his elder brother to stop.
Tywin glanced at him and said calmly, "There are five thousand troops on this expedition, two thousand are Lannister Soldiers. Those soldiers have grain requisitioned by their respective lords, but our soldiers must bring their own."
"Lannister can afford it!"
Tygett grew anxious.
Tywin snorted coldly. "An army is a sharp tool that no single family can afford to feed; one can only do their best to scavenge from the weak."
The wealthier one is, the stingier they become.
He didn't want to send out a large army and consume the House Lannister's money and grain every day, working for the Iron Throne for nothing.
Tumbleton was unfortunate to have crossed paths with him.
Afterward, by labeling the Fudley Family as collaborators with the rebels, he could whitewash the sordid act of letting his troops pillage.
Once Robert's rebels were wiped out, it would also add a stroke to his political record.
"I'll go appease the Crownlands soldiers."
Unable to win the argument, Tygett left sullenly.
Of the five thousand troops, two thousand Lannisters entered the city to loot, while the remaining three thousand Crownlands troops were stationed outside.
If things weren't kept under wraps, trouble could easily arise.
A tall youth with a disfigured face followed Tygett out.
Late at night.
While Lord Caron of Fawnton urged his soldiers to keep watch, preparing to face Robert's allied forces.
A black raven flew out from Tumbleton, heading toward Storms End.
Storms End.
Maester Cressen received the message from the raven and hurriedly found Stannis, who was unable to sleep.
Stannis looked exhausted and asked in confusion, "A letter from Lord Fudley?"
"That's right, he has decided to join the rebel army."
Maester Cressen was overjoyed.
Stannis took the letter, his first words being: "The Fudley Family are vassals of the House Tyrell, yet they want to join the rebels; they are wavering chameleons."
Maester Cressen was utterly speechless.
:
After reading the letter, Stannis's expression changed slightly, and he said solemnly, "Maester, we must send word to Robert. There's a trap waiting for him at Fawnton; the rebel army is in danger."
Lord Fudley had made it very clear in the letter.
A large Royalists army had moved into Tumbleton.
Although there were no specific deployments, Stannis's military mind had already seen through the Royalists army's objective.
Use Fawnton to lure Robert into attacking, while Tumbleton sends troops for a sneak attack.
With a pincer attack from both sides, Robert would be attacked from the front and back and would surely suffer heavy losses.
A crushing defeat in the first battle would mean missing the opportunity to block The Reach's allied forces from heading north, and the rebel army's plan for a southern campaign would fail.
"I'll go right away."
Maester Cressen pulled out paper and pen and began to write.
Stannis thought for a moment and said in a low voice, "Tell Robert to change his marching route and directly seize Tumbleton. The Hand, Tywin Lannister, is right there."
As the saying goes, to catch the bandits, first catch their leader.
Since Lord Fudley could sell out information, he could coordinate from within to surround and annihilate the five thousand Royalists troops led by Tywin.
By then, without outside reinforcements, the allied forces of the three noble houses at Fawnton would certainly be no match for Robert's valor.
"No problem."
Despite his age, Maester Cressen's movements were not slow at all; he soon wrote two letters and sent them out via two ravens.
After Robert received the news brought by the ravens, he immediately led his troops to change their route.
Leaving The Kingswood, they took the Rose Road, diverted north midway, and headed straight for Tumbleton.
Meanwhile, Tywin sat in the military camp outside the city, studying the war situation in the Riverlands.
The lords of the Riverlands were fighting tooth and nail.
The ten thousand Westerlands allied forces led by Kevan had also had several small-scale skirmishes with the Riverrun allied forces, and they were in a stage of mutual containment.
Once Robert's allied forces were dealt with, they could head north to support the Riverlands and uproot the Tully family and its influence.
"Riverrun is quite nice; it's a pity for the Tully family."
Tywin was planning a grand blueprint, having already marked the Tully family for extermination.
In Westeros, there were few instances of such cruel acts as exterminating an entire clan in a single war, but the Old Lion, who had done it once before, was well-practiced.
In his view, among the guardian families of the four kingdoms alliance, except for the House Stark of the North which was dispensable, the other three had to be replaced.
Wiping out the Tully family and occupying Riverrun was the scenario that maximized the House Lannister's interests.
As for the title of Governor of Trident River, the Iron Throne could re-grant it to House Darry or House Whent.
In any case, given the geographical flaws of the Riverlands, whoever became the Governor of Trident River would not have enough prestige to rule the entire region.
Tygett walked into the tent and said, "Brother, Lord Fudley sent someone, saying he invites you to a banquet to discuss countering the rebels."
"Oh?"
Tywin chuckled. "It seems our Lord Fudley has softened."
But unfortunately, it was too late.
He had learned of the conditions his good student Daeron had negotiated with the House Tyrell and was fuming with rage, just wanting to lash out.
The House Tyrell responded to the Iron Throne's call to arms and actually dared to ask for part of the Stormlands' territory as blood price.
The House Lannister hasn't even gotten any yet; is your House Tyrell worthy of a seat at the table?
While the war was in chaos, he would start by taking out a few of their vassals.
"Call Gregor and come with me to the banquet."
Tywin fastened his red cloak, matching it with his polished bronze lion-heart armor.
Tygett obeyed.
At the same moment, Robert led his army to avoid the scouts from Tumbleton and Fawnton, quietly appearing ten kilometers outside Tumbleton.
..
Inside the castle.
Lord Fudley showed total humility, bowing and scraping to Tywin, looking as if he wanted to kiss the other man's boots.
"My Lord, you are a loyal subject of the crown, and I am also a loyal subject of the crown; we are equals."
Tywin looked down from above, but his words were extremely ironic.
Lord Fudley gave a sheepish smile. "You are the Hand of the King and the commander-in-chief of the army; how could I dare to overstep."
Tywin said nothing, which was a tacit acceptance of the fact.
At the banquet, all kinds of dishes and fine wines were excellent.
Tywin took a sip of Summerwine and looked around, noticing that no female members of the Fudley Family had appeared.
"Afraid to see me?"
His mind was sharp, and an inexplicable sense of unease welled up.
Lord Fudley leaned in. "My Lord, is the food to your liking?"
"It's very good."
Tywin grew wary and asked seemingly casually, "Where is Lady Fudley? Visiting your castle, how could I not meet your noble wife?"
"My wife is ill." Lord Fudley added, "She suffered a bit of a fright."
After two more sentences, Lord Fudley made an excuse to withdraw.
"Something's not right!"
Tywin's eyelids twitched wildly, and he called Tygett and Gregor to protect him closely.
Bang!
Suddenly, the doors slammed shut, and the sound of frantic footsteps came from the second floor.
Tywin looked up hastily and saw more than twenty crossbowmen dressed as attendants, pointing hand-crossbows at him.
"My Lord, get down!"
Gregor let out a roar, pinning Tywin beneath him and using his body to block the incoming bolts.
His armor was designed to be very thick, and the iron arrowheads hit the back of the armor, clattering as they bounced off.
Tygett wasn't so lucky; he swung his sword to deflect a few bolts, but two struck him in the chest with a thud.
"Go, quickly!"
Tywin turned pale with shock, unable to believe that someone would actually violate Guest Right just to kill him.
There were still many invited minor nobles, knights, and House Lannister officers in the hall.
In an instant, the assassins posing as attendants pulled out daggers and launched an indiscriminate attack on the group.
Lord Fudley hid in the shadows, his face flushed with excitement.
He had violated Guest Right.
If he killed everyone who knew, then no one would know about it.
"Get back!!"
Gregor protected Tywin with one hand and charged with his powerful body, scattering the assassins blocking the way and slamming heavily into the closed doors.
With a boom, the door panels shook, and dust trickled down from above.
Gregor's face was contorted, a red light flashed in his eyes, and he gathered all his strength to ram his side into it again.
Finally, the bolt snapped, and the doors burst open.
Tywin's face lit up with joy, and he shouted, "Everyone, follow me!"
But except for Tygett, who had been strengthened by the Gem Sequence, the others had already been shot dead, and the few survivors were struggling to hold their ground.
Tywin couldn't care about that much; he only cared about his own survival.
"Damn Fudley Family, I will destroy you all!"
The moment he escaped, his anger surged, and his eyes seemed ready to spit fire.
However, he had rejoiced too soon.
Rumble—
Robert's army appeared outside Tumbleton, and the two thousand vanguard troops caught the Royalists army off guard.
Because there was no commander, the army collapsed instantly and fled in all directions.
"Follow me into the city and capture Tywin Lannister alive!"
Robert laughed loudly; he didn't pursue the defeated army, choosing to catch the turtle in the jar.
The city gates were secretly opened by people sent by Lord Fudley.
Robert rode his Great-horned Elk and easily charged into the city, swinging his warhammer at the terrified Lannister troops.
Tywin had just escaped when he ran head-on into Robert, who looked like the Warrior descended.
"Eh, is that Tywin?"
Robert was young and had good eyesight; he recognized the disheveled Tywin at a glance, then frowned.
The man had come out of the Fudley Family castle; it seemed some conflict had occurred between the two sides.
But now was not the time to worry about that.
Robert squeezed the sides of his mount and shouted, "The one in the red cloak is Tywin Lannister! Whoever catches him gets a reward of 5,000"
"Gold Dragons!"
Having said that, he was the first to charge.
Tywin's face turned pale; he snatched a warhorse and fled, heedless of everything else.
"Chase him! Don't let Tywin Lannister get away!"
No further words from Robert were needed; the soldiers behind him charged like madmen, their eyes filled with Tywin Lannister's golden backside, the one who supposedly shits gold.
>
more chapter available in p@tréøñ(Atoki_29)
30% offer on annual membership also