Chapter 104

After taking Timber Hall, we spent a day or so taking the rest of Wode Lands before moving on to deal with Saltpans. It didn't take long afterward since most folks surrendered as soon as we arrived at their villages. Of course, besides Timber Hall, Midgeside, and Knightsbridge, there was only one other town of note in Wode Lands, that of Woolpen, a town built on the the raising and shearing of sheep, which traded in sheep's cheese, leather goods, and their main trade good, raw wool, from the large herds of sheep that the town kept. The Knight of Woolpen, Ser Daeron of Woolpen, put up token resistance in that he offered to surrender the town if we could put up a Champion to best him in Single Combat.

Of course, the newly knighted Ser Bryen Farring leaped at the chance to do so, and though the combat was hard fought, my latest Squire managed to trip up Ser Daeron by ducking under a horizontal stroke of Ser Daeron's sword and effectively shoulder blocking Ser Daeron's left knee, causing the larger, older, Knight to topple to the ground. They scrabbled for a brief few moments on the ground, but Ser Bryen had taken his cues from my lessons on grappling well and managed to block the attempt by Ser Daeron to pull him into an arm bar and get into mount position. Ser Bryen drew his dagger and aimed it at Ser Daeron's visor, threatening to plunge the blade through the visor and into Ser Daeron's eye. That forced Ser Daeron to yield and, in so doing, surrendered the Town of Woolpen. The whole affair took maybe a bit over two hours.

Regardless, once the day was up, all of the Wode Lands were under our control, and thus, that of King Stannis. It was unfortunate that doing that took a whole day because it allowed the Sellsword Army to withdraw back into lands attached to Saltpans, linking up with the few guard forces remaining to Houses Hawick and Cox. The next day, we gave chase, buoyed by the Baidak Flotilla on the Holywater, commanded by Salhador Saan. As we left the Lands of House Wode, we entered an area that was different from where we'd spent a large amount of time previously. You see, the Lands of House Wode were, in large part, hilly. Some of these hills were wooded, while others were grassy pastureland. Only the area around Midgeside was largely flat, and that was partially covered in wetlands as it got closer to the Holywater River. The area around Saltpans, however, was beginning to flatten out as we traveled further Northeast toward the salt flats that gave the Town its name.

Regardless, the first challenge we faced along the way to the City of Saltpans was a smaller market town by the name of Honeyhome. Locally, Honeyhome produced honey, mead, and beeswax for trade from the large, centrally-located apiary that the Town Kept. It was a large, timber-framed, octagonal building in the center of town adjacent to a holdfast of stone and timber. The town itself was protected by a wooden wall, something that would stop bandits and raiding forces, but would only be a speedbump to a force armed with ballistae, let alone a force with cannons. This must have been known by the Knight of Honeyhome because he had pressed together a village militia to face us outside the timber gates of the town instead of forcing a siege and risking the town being destroyed in the process.

The Militia of Honeyhome was a lot better equipped and drilled than the one from Midgeside, it seemed. Likely, that was a consequence of the trade I had been doing with Saltpans before this whole Civil War had kicked off. It seemed that some folks had aped my Militia System, even though it was to a lesser extent. All of the Militia had at least a padded jack or boiled leather, and none were armed with random tools pressed into service as weapons. At the same time, their formations were servicable instead of being ragged like the defenders of Midgeside had been using. Unfortunately for the Militia of Honeyhome, they still did not have the numbers, equipment, or discipline to defeat me. There were maybe five hundred Militiamen here, led by Ser Dirk of Honeyhome, assembled under the banner of a yellow beehive on a black field. Compared to the over five thousand men that we had under our banner still able to fight.

The outcome wasn't in doubt here, and Ser Dirk knew it. That was likely why he raised a white flag of parlay and spurred his horse into the center of the field before waiting. It seemed he wanted to negotiate instead of fighting. I frowned at that, looking over at Ser Roger Groves, the most experienced of my Officers in terms of Land Warfare, for guidance. It wasn't that I suspected a trap, more that these men could have been of more use at Saltpans instead of here.

"What do you think, Ser Roger? Should we negotiate?" I questioned.

"Do you suspect a trap, My Lord?" Queried Ser Roger.

"It's not that. It's simply that an extra five hundred dred men would be heartily welcomed at Saltpans by the Tattered Prince. Even Militia, since these seemed well drilled and decently-equipped." I frowned.

"And you are wondering why they are still here instead of gathering at the more defensible location?" Asked Ser Roger.

"Precisely. They have to know they have no chance on their own. Why stay instead of go?" I questioned, nodding.

"Why not ask Ser Dirk during negotiations?" Queried Ser Roger.

"Good point. Accompany me while I parlay. Ser Denys, you have command while I do so, just in case this is a ploy." I ordered, turning to Ser Denys Irons.

"Of course, My Lord." Agreed Ser Roger.

"If they attempt to take you captive, I'll send in the men. You won't be in danger long, My Lord." Concurred Ser Denys.

And with that, I spurred Armino toward the center of the field, Ser Roger riding alongside me under our own flag of parlay. As we got closer, I got a better look at Ser Dirk of Honeyhome. He wore a Castle-Forged Steel Cuirass over Arsenal Steel Chainmail with a Sallet Helm tucked under one arm. He was an older man, with salt and pepper hair and a mustache instead of a full beard or even a goatee. He clearly had experience, which made me believe that this wasn't just a simple parlay to negotiate a surrender as I'd thought it might be. Looking about, however, I couldn't see anyplace that might have a hidden party that could attempt to capture me. Just what was Ser Dirk up to here? I would find out shortly, it seemed.

"Hail and well met, Lord Seawynd." Ser Dirk called out as Ser Roger and I rode up.

"Ser Dirk. Am I to take it that you wish to negotiate a conditional surrender of Honeyhome?" I questioned.

"Indeed, My Lord." Confirmed Ser Dirk.

"And why should we entertain that?" I queried.

"Because you need to." Answered Ser Dirk.

"You are aware that we have over ten times your numbers, yes? Perhaps there is some trick you have prepared for us?" Asked Ser Roger, voicing my doubts.

"Only in that the forces you would lose fighting my Militia will be needed to take Saltpans." Insisted Ser Dirk.

"Explain." I demanded.

"Houses Cox, Hawick, and Mooton have instituted the Militia System that you have pioneered, My Lord. One in every ten men of our lands is required to be armed and trained as a soldier. Perhaps you wondered how it was that Lord Mooton was able to muster ten thousand men to fight in King's Landing? That is how." Informed Ser Dirk.

"I see. Ser Roger, what is the population of the lands remaining in Rebel hands?" I frowned.

"Two-hundred-fifty-thousand between Saltpans, Maidenpool, the Regional Towns, and country farming hamlets, give or take a few thousand." Relayed Ser Roger.

"Honeyhome has fifteen thousand people. One in ten of fifteen thousand is seven-hundred-fifty. Do you wonder why I only brought five hundred to face you, My Lord? It is because two-hundred-fifty had been sent to Saltpans. You will find a similar number has been sent by Stonedelve, Ironsite, and Saltharvest. Maidenpool still has more than a thousand men of Lord Mooton's Militia as well. The whole of the Eastern Riverlands has been mustered to arms to fight." Informed Ser Dirk.

"And every man we lose fighting these delaying actions is one less to fight the larger battles, while the Tattered Prince has reserves from these Militiamen." I mused, finally seeing the strategy the enemy had been enacting.

"Just so, My Lord." Nodded Ser Dirk.

I had to hand it to the Tattered Prince, it was the perfect strategy. It was practically tailored to give him the maximum amount of time so that the Vale could muster troops to reinforce him while also giving him a non-negligable chance of beating me on his own. Of course, it also relied on Local Militias being willing to fight instead of negotiate, but given that these were their homes they would be fighting for, that wasn't generally going to be an issue. After all, most armies did some level of foraging from the local populace to feed themselves, which would make surrender an unattractive option. Fortunately for us, I had my own supply lines coming by river, which meant my army didn't need to forage for food or fodder. Hence this negotiation tactic. It was still a difficult prospect.

"All right, here are my terms. You and your forces are to join me in fighting the Sellswords. Half your Militia must come with my army to fight. Do that, and I will accept your surrender." I offered.

"In which case, I must demand your forces respect private property while in Honeyhome. Any supplies requisitioned must be paid for in coin, and strict discipline must be maintained to avoid incidents." Retorted Ser Dirk.

"That won't be a problem." Snorted Ser Roger.

"Indeed. I can agree to that quite easily. It would seem that we have an accord, Ser Dirk." I nodded.

And with that, I managed to simultaneously secure the surrender of Honeyhome and also pick up some reinforcements. My forces were on their best behavior, but it still took a day to organize things with the Honeyhome Militia. Even without a fight, the Tattered Prince's strategy had stalled me. Likewise, as we moved into the last patch of rugged hills before finally making it to the vast expanse of lowland plains where the majority of the Eastern Riverlands sat on, we faced a similar issue with Ser Criston of Ironsite, where an Iron Mine was situated, meaning that the Militia of the Town were all equipped in castle-forged steel, chainmail mostly, with some scale. He, too, offered to negotiate, giving further incentive to do so in that his militia were very well equipped. I agreed, and similar terms were struck here as had been struck at Honeyhome. Once again, it took a day to sort it out.

It was at Stonedelve, at the very end of the rugged hills, where the first real fight of the assault on Hawick and Cox Lands occurred. Stonedelve quarried good stone from the local hills, and their town was ringed by two walls, an outer wall of rammed earth and an inner wall around a Stone Castle, Miner's and Mason's Guildhouses, and the homes of wealthier merchants made of good granite. Stonedelve was actually the property of House Walle, a vassal house to House Hawick. While Ironsite and Honeyhome were appointments, Stonedelve was like Saltharvest in that it was a regular feudal holding. In Saltharvest's case, it belonged to House Cox and was more important, but that didn't stop Stonedelve from having a proper castle, guard forces, or decent fortifications around the town.

Ser Triston Walle knew that and had decided that instead of negotiating, he would take his five-hundred Militia and remaining sixty Guards and force me to spend time and effort in a siege to dig them out of their fortifications. Doing so took a full thirty-six hours alongside two hundred men killed or wounded, putting us even further behind schedule and cutting into the reinforcements we received previously. Furthermore, some one hundred enemy troops led by Ser Triston's heir, Ser Lucos Walle, managed to escape out a postern to link up with House Cox at Saltharvest. Organizing after the battle took even more time, and by the time we arrived at Saltharvest, near the Salt Pans where the River Holywater merged with the Trident, we were five days behind schedule.

Ser Quincy Cox was an Old Man but wily. He had prepared for our arrival and launched a series of fire ship attacks on our Baidak Flotilla as soon as we were in position. On a river, there was less room for the tactics that we had used against such attacks in the past. Salhador Saan was unable to effectively maneuver all our Baidaks out of the way, and the assault not only sunk several Baidaks but forced Salhador Saan to retreat, inflicting our first naval loss. It would be up to our army to defeat House Cox, and as we drew up into siege lines to try and batter down the walls of Saltharvest, I knew it wasn't going to be easy. However, I had no idea just how right I would wind up being about that. That night, as I sat in my command tent, our siege camp would be attacked in a night raid.

And I would find my very command tent under attack. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here is the next chapter. Notably, it contains Ricasso's first actual naval defeat, though the reason for it will become clear later. Ser Quincy Cox wasn't the best commander in Canon after all, so he's got to have something going for him here, and there are a whole mess of professional soldiers in the area. We also see the Tattered Prince's strategy become clear. The Tattered Prince is an old sellsword commander, and you don't get to be an old sellsword commander without knowing your business intimately. Accordingly, the strategy is costing Ricasso in terms of time, and every day that passes is one more day Littlefinger has to muster reinforcements from the Vale.

At any rate, the next chapter will include the Night Attack on Ricasso's Siege Camp.

Stay tuned. . .