Game of Thrones: From a deserter to a high-ranking official

Chapter 184 Extreme Transition

Chapter 115 Extreme Transition

Three weeks of continuous battles on the controversial lake pushed everyone to their limits.

Lisanro Rojaer used almost his last bit of strength to pull his fancy spear from the corpse of a Valantis sentry captain.

The mud and blood on his armor had hardened, and his handsome face was full of exhaustion and confusion.

The White Legion had just captured a remote Valantius supply depot in the Lake of Controversy, but their harvest was meager: piles of oats, some cured meat, and a pitiful amount of silver coins.

In the eyes of this young master Luo Jiaer, there wasn't even a prisoner or "trophy" of any status.

After all, what kind of spoils of war were these grains and tattered silver coins to him? They were more like spoils to give to beggars!

Leaning on his spear and panting heavily, Lisanro complained to Tiberius, who was having his auxiliary soldiers collect arrows from the corpses and the ground.

"Tiberius—why did we even come to this godforsaken place? To grab this meager scraps and fight these stinking fish and shrimp of Valantis?" He kicked the corpse at his feet and said indignantly.

"This godforsaken place is nothing but rocks and water, not even a decent-looking girl! We've been rowing boats at night and fighting on horseback during the day for the past three weeks, our bones are practically falling apart!"

"I'm exhausted, and I haven't accomplished much!"

Tiberius did not answer directly, but instead pulled out a piece of parchment from his pocket, slightly wrinkled from being soaked in sweat. It was the latest reconnaissance report from the patrolling cavalry.

He handed the paper to Lisanro, his tone calm to the point of being cold: "Take a look at this. The vanguard of the Valantis has already arrived at Cliff Fortress and will soon reach the Broken Spear River crossing."

He pointed to the location on the map where they had previously achieved a glorious victory, a cold smile playing on his lips: "And Broken Spear City, which we left to defend against other mercenary groups, is now the only place upstream capable of holding over a thousand people and possessing a fortified stronghold."

"Even more 'coincidentally,' it was also the only crucial crossing point upstream that allowed the Valantis' war elephants to cross the river."

Tiberius almost burst out laughing: "Now, the scum we left behind only have two choices: First, hold that stronghold to the death. But that means facing the main force of Valantis and their elephants head-on, which is undoubtedly a death sentence. Second, abandon the stronghold and head south along the riverbank to join up with our allies downstream, or head straight for Rieslan. But," he paused, his gaze sweeping over the small sampans and fishing boats they had captured on the lake.

"Before we left, we 'borrowed' all the horses, mules, camels, donkeys, cattle, and even the relatively obedient goats in Broken Spear City."

"And all the decent boats on the river are here. We burned the rest that we couldn't take with us."

"How far can they run under the noses of the Valantis cavalry on their own two legs? They will either fight a siege with no reinforcements, or await their fate in hunger and fear of being pursued."

Lisanro frowned: "I understand what you mean, Tiberius."

"But—according to you, the Valantis are too close to us! If you ask me, we should stick to our original plan and go straight into the heart of Valanti, so we can drink from the Lorne River!"

"You saw it yourself, their slaves in the heartland and the soldiers stationed at the controversial lake, they looked at us like we'd seen a ghost!"

"Indeed, after all, they never dreamed that the rumored Three Daughters Kingdom, which was supposedly so vulnerable and on the verge of destruction, would actually have an army appearing before them so casually!" Tippi said with a smile, then pulled a still-usable arrow from a corpse and carefully wiped it clean.

"Yes, it's as easy for us to beat them as cutting melons and vegetables!" Lisangluo said confidently.

"Lisangluo, actually, that's what I thought at first too: to strike straight at the heart of the enemy and wreak havoc in their vulnerable territory."

"But I later realized I made a mistake."

He pointed to the dejected Valantis garrison who had just been captured: "These men, these scum stationed in the Controversial Lake region, though their fighting ability is lousy and their weapons are broken, are more like a group of farmers tilling the land next to the military camp or peddlers running a business than soldiers."

"But! They do have four thousand men!"

"If these four thousand knives remain positioned behind us, and they dare to launch a preemptive strike, we'll be caught in a pincer movement by these four thousand men and the main force that's arriving, and we'll be surrounded and annihilated!"

"They don't even need to launch an attack; just by following us, we're destined to slow our march, and we'll have to be especially vigilant at night!"

Li Sanluo looked completely bewildered: "Dumplings? What are dumplings?"

Vito, who happened to be walking over, heard this, raised his thick, dark eyebrows, and interjected.

"Young master, to put it simply, there are two things you fear most when fighting a war: one is that someone is always watching you from behind, and the other is that the enemy can send reinforcements at any time."

"Unfortunately, these small fry from Controversial Lake have it all!"

He patted Lisanglu on the shoulder and explained to him in a way that was "rough but reasonable".

"No matter what, those are four thousand living people, not four thousand pigs! If we leave them alone, do you think Boss Jules can sleep soundly at night? If we let them follow us, after looting the manor, can we still chat and collect spoils and prisoners at the same time?"

At this moment, Jules walked over, put down the bag of oatmeal he had just checked, and added something in a calm voice.

"Moreover, by eliminating them, we have at least secured another escape route besides the downstream crossing. If the plan to cross eastward into the heart of Valantis does not go smoothly, or if the situation downstream changes, our naval advantage will not be as great as we imagined."

Then we can turn back and return to Brokenspear City via the Controversial Lake or the Brokenspear River crossing.

"But that's dangerous. Marcus might leave someone here to guard it!"

"Perhaps, but he won't leave too many men behind. After all, we've already looted all the food and limited currency from these encampments. If he really sends troops, their Tiger Robe Army will have a hard time getting supplies."

"And those scum, if they don't turn Broken Spear City into a wasteland, then the Lord of Light will have a change of heart!"

"Now that the trouble is over, the next step is to figure out how to cross the river and 'visit' Valantis's house."

Tiberius cast his gaze upon the vast land, his eyes gleaming with the light of an adventurer.

"Lisanro, didn't you complain that there weren't any qualified prisoners or decent spoils of war here?"

"Good news! There are plenty there!"

"Wealth? Valuable prisoners? You can find them everywhere!"

At that very moment—

"Hey Jules, boss! Tiberius, little boss!" Leon, the "henchman," rode over from a distance and quickly rolled off his horse to stand in front of the group.

"Something's happened, boss! There are several Iron Citizens involved!"

"Iron Citizen?!"