Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon

When the vanguard of the Reach was defeated by surprise when crossing the river at Tumblestone, less than a thousand people retreated to the center army, and the news that the chief general Horace Redwyne was dead or alive was reported, the lords of the Reach were all shocked.

Tumblestone was the retreat route of this army.

Now Tumblestone was cut off by the Lannister army that had clearly intended to block this returning army, and this army of the Reach lost the initiative.

The Lannisters don't care about returning troops without visiting.

This is the opportunity that Lord Tywin has waited for with great difficulty, and he will not miss it.

What made Lord Tywin determined to keep this Tyrell army that wanted to return to the South?

The answer is Euron Greyjoy.

At the beginning, Lord Tywin originally planned to take advantage of the withdrawal of the Tyrell army in the South and retreat to Casterly Rock, but the news of Euron Greyjoy came from Casterly Rock.

Tywin received accurate news that Captain Victarion of the Iron Fleet "Invincible Ironborn" led an Iron Fleet of more than ninety longships to invade the Shield Islands.

On the other side of Casterly Rock, Euron led the rest of the Iron Fleet and suddenly appeared in the waters outside Lannisport, announcing to the Casterly Rock fleet that he was cooperating with Tywin, and asked for Cersei, claiming that he had the ability to fight the dragon. As a demonstration, Euron drove a sea monster to drag a Lannister warship into the sea.

According to the fleet commander, Euron Greyjoy can drive a huge and twisted sea monster that is larger than a ship and has ten long arms. It dragged a hundred-oared warship into the sea in just a moment. Because the location of the Iron Fleet was very strange, the fleet commander guessed that Euron did not follow the coastline in the usual way of sailing, but departed from the Iron Islands and circled from the Sunset Sea to the vicinity of Lannisport.

If the Ironmen attacked Lannisport, the fleet of Lannisport would most likely be ambushed by the Iron Islands without knowing it, and the consequences would be disastrous.

Moreover, Euron's arrogant fleet of Tokay Rock gave Tywin a gift, the wreckage of a southern warship called "Rose in the Wind", which is said to contain a lot of gold and silver treasures.

The gold and silver treasures are nothing, Tywin only cares about that ship. It is said that before the Kingselection of the Iron Islands, the Shield Islands in the South were looted by pirates, and many ships in the Shield Islands were sunk at that time. This Rose in the Wind was one of the warships rumored to have been sunk at that time.

Tywin certainly understood what this gift represented.

This means that Euron invited Tywin to make a big gamble. In the case of uncertainty about the situation and Euron's strength, whether to choose to cooperate with Euron to deal with Tyrell and Targaryen.

It's called a choice, but Tywin actually has no choice.

Before Euron offered a choice, Tywin's only choice was to wait for death in Casterly Rock or in King's Landing.

So after seeing the letter from Lannisport, Lord Tywin made a decisive decision and chose to give it a try.

This consideration is in the interests of Lannister. Even if Euron has no strength, considering that the Tyrell army will become Lannister's enemy the next moment once it returns to the South. Lord Tywin also needs to consider how to deal with this group of Tyrell troops returning to the South.

Since Euron Greyjoy took the initiative to propose cooperation and wanted to challenge the Targaryen dragon, why doesn't Tywin take a gamble? Even if the other party is a lunatic who talks nonsense, doing so at least gives him a chance to breathe. What's more, the Tyrell army has a fluctuating attitude and is holding its own. In fact, it has already opposed the King's Landing court. It can be counted as their betrayal first.

Anyway, Tywin is determined to keep the Tyrell army and not let them return to the South unscathed.

Tywin marched decisively. One part of his troops crossed the Blackwater River to chase the retreating Tyrell rear army, while the other part, Jaime, led the Lannister army of King's Landing from King's Landing to gallop, occupying the town before the Tyrell front army arrived at Tengshi Town, blocking the Tyrell army's retreat.

So the situation developed like this. Now the Tyrell army has 30,000 troops. Although thousands of front cavalry were lost in Tengshi Town, there are still more than 20,000 people, who are surrounded and blocked by the Lannister army on a plain with only a few low hills south of the Blackwater River and north of Tengshi Town.

Tywin's decisiveness brought a good situation, and the Lannisters successfully formed a left and right pincer movement. Lord Tywin personally led the Lannister army and the new army of about 20,000 people who joined in the middle to pursue the Tyrells from the Blackwater River, while Jaime led 4,000 Lannister troops from King's Landing and Osfred Kettleblack, the captain of the gold cloaks under Cersei, and 2,000 gold cloak infantry to encircle the front of the Tyrell army from Tumblestone.

In fact, before the Lannisters showed their fangs, someone in the Riverlands army had already given the most reasonable response.

When Lord Rowan brought the cavalry led by Adam of Lannister and the mixed cavalry and infantry led by Gregor to pursue in two wings, Lord Rowan and Lord Tully both suggested that the rear army ambush directly in the hills and forests on the retreat.

For the same reason, when the Tyrell army was out of touch with the front and rear armies because of the cavalry and infantry, in order to achieve the pursuit effect, the Lannister pursuers must also be out of touch with the infantry in the rear.

Moreover, Gregor Clegane's mixed cavalry and infantry on the left wing were obviously out of touch, but Lord Rowan and Randyll Tarly, both veterans of the army, immediately realized that the left wing was a trap, and therefore suggested to the Duke of Mace that they lead their troops to ambush Adam Marbrand's cavalry on the right wing.

Although the morale of the army was shaken at the beginning, the number of Tyrell's troops was still superior. Moreover, Earl Rowan's response strategy was very appropriate. After discovering the ill intentions of the Lannister army, he immediately left behind a rear guard, and the rest immediately moved closer to the central army to avoid the risk of being cut off.

To be honest, if the Duke of Mace had decided at that time to let Earl Rowan and Earl Tully turn back to fight and ambush Adam's cavalry, Lord Tywin would definitely not have had time to rescue his right-wing cavalry. In this way, maybe Tyrell could have taken some initiative.

However, the Duke of Mace was always hesitant and missed the opportunity to fight. It was not until the front army brought the information that they encountered an ambush by Lannister in Tengshi Town that they regretted it and slapped the shore and cried bitterly. But it was too late to ambush the Lannister cavalry at this time.

After the Tyrell army was almost forced to camp and defend in the hilly area on the bank of the upper reaches of the Mander River. Adam and the Mountain Gregor, who had been chasing after Tyrell, had achieved their strategic goal. The two chasing troops retreated ten miles away and set up camp, obviously waiting for the Lannister main force brought by Tywin.

When the Duke of Mace finally gave up his fantasy and realized that Duke Tywin was going to attack them, he could not even find Earl Leford, who was sent by Tywin to spread false news and show goodwill.

Now the more than 27,000 Tyrell troops were forced to stay on several low hills by the Lannister army.

The initial test reaction link had been missed, and the two sides were in a confrontation.

The Lannister army camped twenty miles away from the Tyrell army, and the Tyrell army's retreat to Tengshi Town had been cut off by Jaime.

But obviously, the Lannister army's goal had been achieved, and they were not in a hurry to attack.

Things are unpredictable, and the situation changes. A few days ago, the Tyrell army was still sitting on the Diaoyutai, sitting in the camp waiting for Duke Tywin's troops to take action first.

In just a few days, Lord Tywin had taken the initiative and camped aside, waiting for the Tyrell army to act first.

Lord Mace had countless opportunities, but he chose the worst approach every time. It can only be said that he had it to himself.

The only thing to be thankful for is that he still had people like Earl Rowan and Earl Tully in his army to back him up, so he was not killed by Tywin's heavy punch.

"We can't just sit there and wait for death." Earl Tully had a steel will and shrewdness. "Duke Mace, although we were caught off guard, our army still has the advantage in numbers. Both sides have just set up camp tonight. Please let me take a cavalry out of the camp to explore the Lannister army and find out the strength of Lannister."

Earl Rowan's quick response saved the Tyrell army's food and grass, but the supplies with the army were only enough for more than a month. If the Lannisters were going to outlast the Tyrell army, then a month's food would obviously not be enough without the certainty of reinforcements.

This time, the Duke of Mace finally stopped hesitating and agreed.

So the second battle between the two sides took place in the Lannister army.

Lord Tywin was well prepared, but he obviously did not expect that Randyll Tarly would choose to attack at night on the first night when the Tyrell army had just established itself and had not yet established itself.

The Lannister pursuit troops were obviously very tired, and there were still tents knocking and banging in the firelight until late at night. And Lord Tarly also found that the Lannister army was obviously out of touch, and was continuously arriving at the camp from the north with torches.

"Alas, what a pity, if I had brought more people."

Because the incident happened suddenly, the morale of the Tyrell army was in chaos. Lord Tarly only brought his most trusted thousand Tarly family foot hunters and horses for the night attack this time. But after quietly approaching the Lannister camp, the earl found that the Lannister army's pursuers were also in chaos. If there were more people, Lord Tarly felt that he could directly counterattack and catch Tywin off guard and give him a heavy blow.

But time waits for no one, and Lord Tully also knew that it was too late to go back and get troops. So he calmly rushed into a Lannister camp with straw in his mouth and a spear in his mouth.

With the wild and urgent horn, Lord Tully personally led the thousand men to burn and kill in the panicked tents, instantly causing chaos in the Lannister army. Lord Tully saw that he was not met with strong enough resistance, so he burned from one camp to another. People's shouts, the collision of spears, and the neighing of horses resounded through the night sky.

But it could only cause chaos.

When Lord Tully led his troops to burn the third camp, the Lannister cavalry had reacted and began to try to surround it with the pikemen and archers in the square formation from the central camp above the hill.

But Lord Tully did not want to fight. After setting fire, he led his horses and shouted three times: "I am the vanguard! I am the vanguard! I am the vanguard!" Then he led his troops and horses away from the battle without hesitation.

The Lannister army could only symbolically pursue for a while, and then watched the cavalry go away in the night. They were also not stable in the army formation, and they were afraid that there were ambushes on the road, so they did not dare to pursue in the night.

The two sides went back and forth, and each showed their strengths.

But in the end, Earl Tully only took a little advantage, and the Lannister army had achieved a phased victory in strategy.

Tywin has successfully kept all the southern lords in this place, and this is what he planned. These southern lords cannot return to the south, and Euron Greyjoy is making trouble in the south. Even if the remaining troops in the south surrender to King Targaryen, King Targaryen will have to deal with the affairs of the south first.

But no matter how ingenious the plan is, it must be implemented on the battlefield in the end.

Tywin knew very well that he didn't have much time. Although Euron brought a turnaround, he couldn't expect too much from him. Tywin never forgot that his goal was to save Lannister. The reason for attacking the southern lords was that no matter how you counted, the southern lords were a threat. Instead of waiting for the southern lords to gather their troops to fight against the west, it was better to try to eliminate the main force of the south here now.

In fact, no matter how Euron and Targaryen fought in the south, Tywin didn't care. If Targaryen won, Tywin would still have only one way to return to the west. If Euron won by chance, Tywin would have to consider whether his strength was enough to continue to maintain his dominance in Westeros, where dragons, sea monsters, white walkers and aliens appeared one after another. Because of the many sources of information, Tywin had a lot of information about the white walkers and aliens on King Targaryen's side. He had to consider a possibility, that is, there was a greater threat in the seven kingdoms.

The reason why he chose to conflict with the South at this time may not be without such considerations. Tywin has already decided that no matter who wins or loses, he will return to the West to strengthen defenses, be ready to isolate himself from the outside world at any time, and defend himself with troops in the impending crisis.