The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Centurion Zangwill Stephen said in a heavy voice, "The bandits left, blowing a military whistle unique to the Westlands."

"Every warhorse is a purebred from the Claw Isle!" Centurion Elliot Mackie's face was grim.

"The Mountain's Clegane men, they gathered the generals' warhorses. Masking their faces is just to deny it when confronted in the future," Lamb Patrick said slowly. "Jaime, I'm afraid they will keep attacking us, eventually killing us all."

Jaime and the soldiers naturally saw that it was the generals under the Mountain who were dissatisfied with the Mountain's attack, but they couldn't get the Mountain's orders, so they came out privately, disguised as masked bandits. In fact, everyone knew who they were.

Jaime knew who several of the masked bandits were at first glance.

In the extreme cold of the North, helmets originally had masks to cover the face, making it impossible to see the person's face under the mask. But because it was too cold, the mask was made of steel, and without a special lining, it would freeze the person's face to the mask and make it impossible to remove. Forcibly removing it would tear off the skin and flesh.

For the sake of marching speed and convenience, the southern soldiers who came to the North basically learned to wrap their heads and faces like the people of the North, only exposing their eyes.

None of the 'bandits' who came to attack wore helmets, all of them had their heads and faces wrapped.

Jaime jumped off his horse, didn't say a word, drew his longsword and pried open the snow. The soldiers worked together to dig a pit in the snow and threw the bodies of their brothers into it. Jaime didn't let anyone else touch the five seriously wounded soldiers, but ended their pain himself.

"I swear here, as long as I don't die, I will avenge this," Jaime swore in front of the grave, speaking calmly and decisively.

Jaime lost an arm, and his swordsmanship and agility were not as good as before, but he was trying his best to recover little by little.

The Mountain's bandit generals aroused his anger, and for someone like Jaime, anger was a very terrible force.

Whether these people had the Mountain's military orders or not had become unimportant. The Mountain killed Tywin Lannister, Jaime's father, so the old and new scores would be settled together.

Next, Jaime's team sped up their march. They found a leeward hill to camp at night. As soon as the camp was set up and everyone had boiled hot water, the sound of horses' hooves exploded outside. Without Jaime's order, the soldiers, united in hatred, went out of the camp together to form a battle formation, ready to fight the Clegane men to the death.

A group of cavalry came, passing by the camp, each with a throwing spear in hand. As they galloped past the square formation, the throwing spears were thrown, dozens of spears pierced into the square formation, piercing dozens of shields, and seven or eight brothers fell down.

Jaime and three centurions rode out to attack, but the other party didn't engage, galloping away without stopping. Not to mention that Jaime only had three riders, even if he had three hundred riders, he couldn't catch up with the purebred warhorses of Claw Isle.

"Strengthen the guard! Increase the scouts! Day and night!" Jaime ordered.

"I'll guard the first half of the night," Centurion Zangwill Stephen said with a heavy face.

"I'll take care of the second half of the night," Elliot Mackie said coldly. A bad premonition rose in his heart. He remembered what Scribe had said to him when they left: Elliot Mackie, you won't get out of the North, I will kill you, this is a private feud.

The day after the Mountain was attacked, Elliot Mackie subdued Scribe in a conflict and threatened to kill him.

The Mountain's generals and soldiers were all fierce bandits and hooligans. They could bully, beat, threaten, and kill others without consequence, but others couldn't subdue them and say a few harsh words.

*

An hour later, the soldiers huddled in the marching tent with a roaring bonfire to keep warm. As they were falling asleep in the warm tent, suddenly, the military whistles outside blared, accompanied by the wailing of horns. Jaime and the soldiers didn't take off their armor, nor did they unload their longswords. The soldiers went out of the camp together, but all four sides were a vast expanse of white. The sharp military whistles and solemn horns sounded from all sides, but no one was seen.

The three centurions looked at each other. With so many military whistles and horns, it was unlikely that there were only the thirty riders seen during the day and early evening. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they had three hundred riders around them.

"Hold steady, don't attack!" Jaime shouted.

The enemy was on all sides. Attacking any one side would be attacked by the other three sides. If they attacked on all four sides, there were obviously not enough people, and they would be defeated one by one.

The military whistles and horns sounded for a while, and then only the horns on the north side remained. When the horns on the north side subsided, the horns on the south side sounded again. This cycle continued, making noise for half the night, before disappearing one by one.

That night, until dawn, Jaime's 'King's Landing Army' didn't sleep all night.

In the morning, everyone ate breakfast and set off. Everything was safe and sound, and no one came to attack again. At noon, Jaime ordered a rest. The team had just stopped when the sound of horses' hooves sounded behind them. The soldiers immediately formed a battle formation to meet the enemy. This time, it was still thirty riders, but it was obvious that the personnel had changed. This time, it was horse archers, and arrows rained down densely from a distance, falling into the square formation. Warhorses circled around within an arrow's distance, and arrows kept shooting into the square formation. The soldiers kept getting hit by arrows, and screams kept ringing out...

Jaime was furious, took a shield, and rode out alone. The three centurions were shocked and followed together. The opposing horse archers didn't engage, scattering in all directions... They soon went far away and couldn't be caught up at all. When Jaime and the three centurions retreated, the horse archers came again, sweeping past the edge of the camp like a hurricane, pouring down a rain of arrows, and then, while the 'King's Landing Army' was in a panic, they rode away...

This time, the 'King's Landing Army' suffered heavy losses, with a third of them killed or wounded.

The opposing horse archers were all sharpshooters, and everyone's arrows hit their targets.

"They're playing a killing game!" Centurion Lamb Patrick was the most strategic of the four, "Jaime, we have to divide into three groups, one group stays to resist the enemy, but the number of tents doesn't decrease, so that they mistakenly think we are all here, one group quietly goes east, takes the White Knife River, and goes down the White Knife River to White Harbor to take a boat; the other group goes south, passes through the First Men's barrows, crosses the Neck, and enters the Riverlands, otherwise, we will all die in the First Men's barrows."

"I'll take fifty brothers to stay and hold them off, you leave in two groups," Jaime said.

"No, I'll take fifty brothers to stay and act as a feint, so that the Clegane men think we're still here. You go east alone, go down the White Knife River to White Harbor, Ser Elliot Mackie and Ser Zangwill Stephen lead the remaining hundred or so soldiers south. Remember, march day and night, otherwise, none of us will be able to get out of the North."

"I'll stay!" Jaime said resolutely, "You leave in two groups, this is a military order."

"Jaime, we're counting on you to kill the Mountain and avenge us. If you stay, who will avenge the brothers who died unjustly?" Lamb Patrick said sharply.

"No, I'll stay, maybe the Mountain's Clegane men won't dare to kill me, I'm the vanguard against the Others, and also the deputy commander of the allied forces, I have war merits and glory. When there was a conflict in Winterfell, I asked them to show the Mountain's military orders, they couldn't produce them, and we retreated completely."

"Jaime, this time is different from the situation in Winterfell," Lamb Patrick said decisively.

Jaime looked at Lamb, looked at Elliot Mackie, Zangwill Stephen, and looked from the centurions to the soldiers: "Brothers, I've lost an arm, and my swordsmanship is not as good as before, even if I escape, I'm afraid it will be difficult to kill the Mountain. It's better for me to stay behind and save the lives of some brothers... I've made up my mind..."

Suddenly, everything went black, followed by a pain in his head, and Jaime fell heavily to the ground, unconscious...

He didn't know how long had passed, but Jaime woke up faintly, feeling a splitting headache. He heard the sound of rushing water in his ears. He opened his eyes and saw a swaying, dazzling white ground in front of him, which made him dizzy. He let out a muffled groan.

The swaying ground stopped immediately, and a voice rang out: "Lord is awake?!" An arm supported Jaime's shoulder, helping him up from the horizontal horseback.

Jaime reached out and touched his head, which was wrapped in bandages. With the help of the soldier, he sat on the saddle, accompanied by only one person and one horse.

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"Half a day and a night, Lord."

"Where is this?"

"By the White Knife River."

"Who knocked me out?"

"Ser Lamb, Lord."

That blow was very heavy, causing Jaime no small injury.

"You're riding Ser Lamb's warhorse?"

"Yes, Lord."

"Ser Lamb led fifty brothers to hold them off?"

"Yes!"

Jaime was silent.

"Lord, Ser Lamb wants us to disguise our identities. When we get to White Harbor, we can't reveal our true identities."

"Oh?"

"Ser Lamb believes that this time the Clegane men are playing a killing game, mostly because Lord Mountain gave the military order."

"No, the Mountain knows that Lancel wasn't arranged by me."

"Lord, when we left Winterfell, Lancel Lannister didn't confess the mastermind behind the scenes, but after we left, it's entirely possible that he changed his mind and said that you were the mastermind."

Jaime was shocked!

Because Cersei and Lancel had a close relationship, Jaime once invited Lancel to go hunting in the Kingswood, and then hung Lancel on a big tree and left. Lancel was destined to die, but he was saved by the High Sparrow and joined the High Sparrow's Faith Militant, becoming a leader of the Warrior's Sons.

Since joining the Faith Militant and believing in the High Sparrow, Lancel had severed all family ties and had a life-and-death hatred with Jaime. It was entirely possible that he said Jaime was the mastermind after Jaime left.

"Whether I was the mastermind behind Lancel's attack on the Mountain is no longer important. The Mountain killed my father, this is a death feud," Jaime said lightly. His heart, like the rolling White Knife River, was full of turbulent waves.

*

In late January and early February of 301 AC, in the First Men's barrows of the North, the three hundred King's Landing soldiers who were brave and fearless in fighting the Others encountered a bandit ambush and were completely wiped out. Only Jaime and one soldier were missing. After hearing the news, Allied Commander the Mountain and North Duke Eddard Stark sent a thousand allied soldiers to frantically suppress the bandits day and night in the vast First Men's barrows hills...

*

In order to fight the Others and save the life and death of the human race, none of the thousand 'King's Landing Army' led by Jaime returned to King's Landing. This team made outstanding contributions and paid the heaviest price.

In the allied forces going north to fight the Others, the Vale army, the Clegane men, and the Northern army all paid a very heavy price.

More than 20,000 soldiers in the Vale army died, more than 10,000 people; the North mobilized the entire territory, with noble legions and militias numbering tens of thousands of people joining the battle, most of the soldiers died in battle, and only a few thousand survived; among the free folk warriors, all the giant tribes died in battle, and only 5,000 of the tens of thousands of free folk warriors survived. Of course, they didn't die in the Battle of Winterfell, they had been fighting and losing members since the Thenn mountains, from tens of thousands of people to finally becoming thousands of people, with members decreasing by nine tenths...

The Night's Watch originally didn't have many people, they fought from more than a thousand people to the end, and there were less than three hundred people left...

The Mountain's Clegane men not only lost thousands of Clegane warriors, but also almost all the warhorses of the Clegane cavalry. The Mountain's eldest daughter, Julie Clegane, paid with her young life, and the Mountain's immeasurable dragon... was also about to die because of a severe injury from the Night King...

*

On the ruins of Winterfell, in a few days, several simple and huge houses were built. In the rooms, roaring stoves were lit. Free folk leaders, Vale nobles, Westerlands generals, Northern warriors, and Night's Watch officers crowded together, holding their final military conference.

The Mountain, as the commander of the allied forces, took the lead in speaking. The wound on his left face was very obvious, and the scar was like an ugly poisonous insect lying on his left cheek.

"Generals, knights, warriors, we gathered here regardless of race, belief, kinship, and grievances to fight the Others. For the life and death of the human race, we won, we created a great miracle and immortal history. Today, we will say goodbye to each other, and I will soon leave here with my dragon." The Mountain's voice became low and dim, "The dragon sheep thief came from the Mountains of the Moon, I want to send him home. With the full help of Lady Doughty and Lady Melisandre, and hundreds of monks, the dragon can barely fly back."

Everyone looked at the Mountain, and their hearts were all dark and heavy!

"As the commander of the allied forces, I am very grateful to all the soldiers for their bloody battles. The glory of victory belongs to all of us. The scholars of the North, the scholars of Oldtown, and the royal historians will record the names of all the warriors one by one, for future generations to remember. Our brilliance and fearlessness will be sung and praised by wandering singers and minstrels. Please allow me to solemnly propose here that we mourn Ser Jaime Lannister together. He established immortal merits, but was attacked by bandits in the First Men's barrows, and his life and death are unknown. He is a true iron-blooded warrior whom I admire. He is the vanguard general against the Others, he is our eternal glory."

A round of applause rang out, this was applause for Jaime, and also applause for themselves!

After the Mountain finished speaking, he looked at Eddard. Eddard stood up and said: "Lords, sirs, knights, centurions, and warriors, the North will forever remember your help, and the Stark family will never forget your righteousness and kindness. My eldest son - Robb Stark died in battle in the final battle. He left a will regarding the royal heir, and left a message instructing the scholars that he hoped to be able to read his will in the presence of all the lords, generals, knights, and warriors..." Eddard looked at the scholar, and the family scholar stepped forward, stood on the right, and took out Robb Stark's wax-sealed will...

This will was originally scheduled to be read aloud publicly the morning after the celebration banquet, but because Demon Mountain was attacked at the banquet and seriously injured, the matter was delayed until today...