The Mountain of Ice and Fire

“Three thousand sets of armor? Didn't Duke Tywin award the Mountain with one thousand sets of armor?” Adam Marbrand said.

“The Mountain doesn't even have three thousand men in total,” Ser Kevan Lannister immediately followed up, his tone resolute.

“Taking three thousand sets after one thousand? Heh, no matter how great his功劳 (gōngláo, merit, contribution) is, it's not appropriate,” Lord Shallot of Silverhill said, his peaceful tone not hindering his kicking a man when he's down.

Shallot's youngest, seventh son died at the hands of the Mountain, and Shallot's family's Gold Leaf Bay was also won by the Mountain in a bet, forging a deep resentment between the two families. However, Shallot was cunning and knew that Duke Tywin valued the Mountain, so he threw stones after others.

Other nobles echoed the words of the three great knights: Adam, Kevan, and Shallot.

Lord Odd Lannister opened a noodle shop with the Mountain, and the war didn't affect his steward's speed in opening a second noodle shop in King's Landing. Lannisport connected to the nine free trade city-states on the other side of the Narrow Sea, as far as the eastern megacity of Qarth. Developed sea trade also allowed Westerling noodles to reach various places with ship captains around the world. Although the quantity was not large, its advantage was its high unit price. As a unique food product in the world, it brought generous profits to Odd and the Mountain, while also improving the relationship between the two families.

Lord Odd said, “My lords, I heard that the three thousand sets of armor are a reward for the mountain tribes, not for the Mountain. I don't know if that's correct.”

“The mountain people sent three thousand soldiers to help us fight, and the Duke promised to give them three thousand sets of armor. At the same time, this is also Tyrion Lannister's ransom,” Lord Gawen Haeygood, the Mountain's father-in-law, said.

Thus, the dozen or so nobles in the northern Westerlands and those with good relations with Lord Odd also echoed Gawen and Odd's statements.

Tywin tapped the table lightly: “Everyone, stop dwelling on the armor. When Roose Bolton led his army to attack us, we all took off our armor and were sleeping soundly. Only the Mountain and his men rested fully armed, men and horses not removing armor, the heavy cavalry's men and horses all slept in armor, and blocked the enemy for us at the first moment, buying us time to get up and form ranks.”

“In the battle, the Mountain pierced through the enemy's entire line in the center army, chased Roose Bolton to the hills, cut off Roose Bolton's banner, causing the enemy's fighting spirit to collapse, and captured seven very important Northern lords, killing countless knights. It is reasonable for me to reward him with one thousand sets of armor.”

The generals were silent, no one said a word!

“The mountain tribes are barbarians that Tyrion tricked from the Mountains of the Moon. Tyrion promised to give the barbarians a set of armor and weapons each in exchange for his and his mercenary guards' lives. Only then did the barbarians follow Tyrion to our camp. During the battle, only three hundred barbarians had a complete set of armor and weapons, and the rest were unarmed, but you have all seen their combat effectiveness. The Northern regular army could not stop their attacks. Before the war, I also promised that as long as they fought well, I would give them three thousand sets of armor. After the war, they came to take them, as they should.”

The generals were silent, everyone reflecting on themselves. They wondered how the Duke would evaluate their performance in the battle, and whether they would be inferior to the barbarians.

“Ser Stevron Swyft, go!” Tywin said. He didn't look at Stevron again.

Stevron was filled with shame, got up, and left with his head down. The bloody fingerprint left by the Mountain on his face was like a small flag.

*

After the great victory at the Green Fork, the Westerlands army did not take advantage of the victory to pursue Roose Bolton, nor did they take the Twins. They suddenly marched south at high speed. This gave Roose Bolton and the well-guarded Twins a chance to breathe.

The Westerlands army was busy returning to the Trident's crossroads, passing the Crossroads Inn, and heading west along the river road.

The supply line and the road back to the Westerlands had been cut off by Robb Stark. Unless they broke through Robb's defenses, the Westerlands people could not return to the Westerlands. And the entire empty Westerlands was under Robb's knife.

Tywin strictly ordered the entire army to march at a pace that exhausted their physical strength, resulting in heavy losses. Wounded soldiers in the war, once unable to keep up, would be abandoned to fend for themselves. Every morning, when the army broke camp and set off, some people always fell by the roadside, falling asleep and never waking up again; in the afternoon, others collapsed exhausted on the roadside, and it was unknown whether they could recover their strength and catch up with the team. In the evening, some people deserted directly into the night.

Every day's forced march was an overloaded hell, and even the Earl had to finish eating and taking a nap on horseback.

Although Tyrion's destination was King's Landing, before reaching the Trident's crossing, the Mountain, Tyrion, and Tywin's three groups were on the same route. The Mountain and his men were fine, as they had received this kind of intensity of training in Clegane. But Tyrion was miserable. The three hundred mountain warriors under his command could still persevere, but he alone was exhausted to the point of collapse. If Shae hadn't been with him, massaging his feet and playing the flute for him at night, Tyrion wasn't sure if he would have run away with the deserters.

Finally, they made it to the Trident's crossing, and the army began to cross the river. Only then did Tyrion dispel the crazy idea of running away. His newly recruited squire, Podrick Payne, impressed Tyrion in this crazy march. This kid had withstood Tyrion's test, and shared a carriage with Shae, and sure enough, he did not report Tyrion's violation of 'bringing a prostitute' to Duke Tywin. He not only kept up with the team, but also took good care of Shae.

The army crossed the Trident for a day and a night, and came to the Crossroads Inn. Then the army split into three routes. Tywin's army went west, still marching madly; Tyrion led his Shae, Podrick Payne, Bronn, Shagga and Conn, and three hundred Stone Crows warriors, fully armed, swords shining, onto the wide Kingsroad, heading towards King's Landing at a leisurely pace.

The Mountain then led his seven hundred or so Clegane cavalry - more than one hundred and fifty reserves were all incorporated into the regular army, and one hundred strong men who were good at riding were selected from the Northern prisoners to join them; more than three thousand infantry - the bulk of Chiswyck's warband of one thousand one hundred men, Polliver's Brave Companions of three hundred men, Jack's hundred of three hundred men, and the mountain tribes of one thousand two hundred men; one hundred soldiers from the Northern prisoners were recruited, led by the elite Northern warrior Harwin.

Harwin's father was Hullen, Eddard Stark's master of horse. Harwin and Alyn were captured by the Mountain at the same time, and then along with twenty Northern guards, they were recruited by the Mountain and swore allegiance to the Mountain.

Among the Northern prisoners, the Mountain only recruited one hundred cavalry and one hundred infantry. Because of the small number of people, and compared to the Mountain's absolute advantage in strength, it could effectively contain these guys' dissent.

The Mountain personally examined these recruited soldiers. First, they must all be civilians, including farmers, hunters, and fishermen; second, they must all be bachelors. This had a benefit. These guys wouldn't miss home, and if the food and clothing were decent, and the military pay was higher than in the North, the thought of returning to the North would only weaken day by day.

Before the war, the Mountain killed Vargo Hoat and recruited the Brave Companions; he plotted to kill Ser Amory Lorch and added three hundred-man teams, adding up to an increase of six hundred men to the legion; then he fought a fierce battle, and the Mountain's legion increased by another one thousand four hundred men.

The Mountain's stolen family motto: Unmatched! was also accepted by the Westerlands nobles after this battle. The Shallot family's motto, Unmatched, was embarrassing in comparison!

The three-dog banner was raised high, fluttering in the wind, separating from Tyrion's team on the Kingsroad, and turning left onto the road to Harrenhal. Next to the three-dog banner, another banner was flying: the Swyft family of Cornfield's - the yellow background with a blue bantam rooster banner. Ser Stevron Swyft was in charge of logistics. He followed the Duke's orders and led five hundred logistics troops with one thousand carts and oxcarts, following the Mountain to Harrenhal to fetch grain to supply the Westerlands army.

The Swyft family motto is: Awake! Awake!

*

Harrenhal is not very far from the Crossroads Inn, a hundred miles away. As the army marched, a team blocked the road ahead. The leading young man wore black armor and a red cloak, with arrogant eyes. It was the Mountain's chief clerk, Ledger. Next to Ledger, a thin and clever wild boy rode a small pony, a scabbard with a thin sword at his waist, very short hair, auburn color, blue eyes, eyeballs rolling around, wearing leather armor, it was Arya, who claimed to be Arno!