Chapter 23: Calm before the storm
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POV of Wilhelm
The Prussian war camp was a complex stretching for kilometers and kilometers of tents that housed the thousands of Prussian soldiers preparing for the possible battle for the fate of the reach.
This huge camp had already been built for almost a moon and the Prussians had already begun to set up some permanent extensions to do certain simpler jobs, such as a blast furnace where the Prussian smiths smelted all the metals they had obtained during their conquests, to begin repairing armor and the manufacture of new gothic armor.
As well as training camps where the soldiers trained their combat skills, since after conquering the last strongholds of resistance in the reach in arbor and the shield islands, they have been idle waiting for the final Prussian/Tyrell clash.
This whole huge complex was surrounded by a palisade with guard towers, making sure that if any enemy tried to approach, they could be seen before they could cause any damage.
The weather was frigid inside this camp, although the climate in the reach was warm for Prussians used to cold climates
For everyone knew that the Tyrells were coming because the scouts had been sending reports practically every hour of the tyrell position, and the day of the clash of armies was today.
But although there were many soldiers anxious for battle in the Prussian monarch's tent, there was another kind of pressure
'Damn those septons calling to burn our warehouses, so much armor that was lost at tumbleton, I could have sold them at a good price, clandestine measures must be taken to wipe them out'
'Religious fanatics of the faith of the seven attacked a merchant who was collaborating with us, I must assign guards to him so that his support will continue, we need that coal to make steel, I need to make all the merchants who trust us will be treated well'
'Merchants who are misdeclaring their goods to avoid paying the taxes due to them, incited by the faith of the seven to do so, let all their goods be confiscated from the merchants so that they learn that there are consequences for their idiocies and that they stay in prison until further notice'
'The maesters in the south are demanding that we widen the search range for a robbery, these idiots think I serve them or what?, those men are there to control the city, not to be their private investigators'
'One hundred and twenty civilian ships requisitioned from the merchants in oldtown and forty military use ships obtained from arbor and eighty from the shield islands we have a small operating fleet, now we will have to learn how to use it ,the fact that my men haven't slammed them on the rocks is a miracle'
The young Prussian monarch was concentrating on the military administration of the castles and towns, because most of his logistics officers were busy keeping the tercios organized and ensuring the soldiers' pay, the immense weight of administering the huge territory of the reach on the monarch's shoulders
Forcing him to have to be at work, more than twelve hours a day because many of his decisions are non-delegable, unless they are persons of trust.
'I must already think about setting up an administration, when we wipe the tyrell off the map, I will start delegating functions to trusted members of the nobility. Perhaps Duke Helmuth, he ruled over a vast land, he is not fanatical and is open-minded.'
I was still working on several books at the same time and thinking of ways to subdivide the territory of the reach when a familiar face entered my tent.
Roon
''My king, I have returned from the south, I hope I have arrived in time to defeat the great tyrell army'' said von Roon kneeling before me and setting down a trunk.
''If you are still in time we are waiting for them to arrive today'' I replied without taking my eyes off the ledgers.
''I am glad, my men and I are anxious that we can be the first to spill the blood of the enemy, and therefore I request that you consider my tercio in the front lines of battle today'' said von Roon rising to his feet
''Roon I do not believe there will be fighting today, the tyrell army is coming, but it is not because the Finns failed in their mission, I wanted them to arrive, I requested the commander of the Finns to allow them to reach us or I would have ordered to hunt down the tyrell nobles to leave them without leadership'' I replied to the young officer
''So, we are going to force them to surrender using their families as bargaining chips?'', said von Roon.
''Exactly, if they surrender we can get all the men who make up their army under control, if the tyrell army fell for lack of leadership it is very likely that the small folks would turn to banditry or they might hear the septons' message, it is better that we keep them locked up for a while'' I said with a serious tone
''Are things terrible with the septons of the faith of the seven?'' the officer asked
''Unfortunately, yes, the repercussions of what lothar did are still hitting hard and everything indicates that the reactions are increasing the more people listen to the septons communicating with each other so they all start saying the same speech ''I replied
''Bitter news your majesty, but we will overcome this adversity as we have always done'' Roon said as he took the trunk he had brought with him
''My king, during my short stay in oldtown, I got this, they call it valyrian steel, it is an incredibly sharp steelin fact, by a mistake I cut my hand while trying to take it, I tried to get one of the smiths in my tercio who tried to make a sword out of the metal, but with the tools, he had on hand he couldn't even melt it down to work it'' said von Roon
''So you were the one who stole something in oldtown the maesters have been going crazy searching and lifting every stone in the south, now I see why, Valyrian steel is expensive, very expensive and quite scarce in the seven kingdoms, in any case we should not show recently made Valyrian steel objects openly, as there would be suspicions'' I said smiling.
''My king, it wasn't me who stole it if my speculations are correct, it was the Finn, inside the city he gave me the steel and escaped, he was the one who deserves all the credit for getting the steel, I'm just the one in charge of bringing it to you'' said Roon.
'Ah, Roon is still traumatized when he was a sergeant and one of his officers all the time stole his merits from him and passed them off as his own'
''Ah, I see, good to know, Roon, we'll go get some rest, it must have been a long journey here, as for the time being, there will be no fight against the westerosis'' I said smiling
''Your majesty is so sure that they will not wish to fight just for a few attacks on their logistical line and have captured kin?'', said Roon raising an eyebrow.
''Of course, look at the reports of the Finns so you can see what they did to break enemy morale'' I said handing him a mountain of papers detailing the actions of the scouts.
When Roon was reading the reports I could see how every moment he was opening his eyes wider and wider in surprise and showing his teeth as if a little disgusted by the brutal and cruel ways of combat of the Finns
''Mein got, I never thought I would come to feel sorry for the enemy, how many men did they lose in such a short time?'', said Roon a little perplexed
''I don't know, the Finns may be the best scouts and ambushers in the army, but for reporting they are terrible, when I ask them to approximate the number of enemy casualties they usually reply with, a little, a lot, some, a real pain in the ass to be honest'' I replied while playing with my hair and smiling
''Ha, ha, ha, ha, I see, my king I won't waste any more of your valuable time, I'll take my leave'' said Roon leaving the tent
But before he left he met Aleksanteri entering the tent
They both stayed watching each other for a few seconds when they went back to their directions.
Aleksanteri, the first thing he does is to throw a sword on my desk and sat on a chair, he took off his mask and helmet and began to peel an apple.
As I unsheathed the sword, I realized immediately that it was made of Valyrian steel
''From house Roxton, the man died in one of our ambushes, that shit is sharp, I cut one of the men of house Fossoway in half with it with an ease I would have only seen lothar do it'' said Aleksanteri as he was concentrating on his apple.
''Well that speaks very well of the sword, since lothar has Herculean strength compared to the other nobles, he could cleave a person in half with just his hands'' I said remembering a battle where lothar actually did that
''And how did you manage to keep him locked up?, if I remember correctly, he can break chains as if they were made of paper'' I said Aleksanteri looking at me
''Because he is collaborating, there is no other way to keep lothar locked up'' I said looking at the Finn who was eating his apple
''When will you give him his trial'', Aleksanteri asked.
''When the war is over and we see how much his decisions actually affected our results, at that time I will see the proper punishment for lothar and his band of fanatics'' I said with a kindly tone.
''If the punishment is serious, remember lothar could be very useful under my command, having a man who can shatter a person's skull with just one hand is something I have always wished to have, imagine the possibilities'' Aleksanteri said smiling.
''I will take it into consideration Aleksanteri, but remember lothar is a mad dog, very hard to control'' I said looking at the Finn.
''Oh, how sweet these apples are, you know I'm very good at manipulating people, especially crazy people, you just have to find the words that activate him and he's eating out of the palm of your hand'' said Aleksanteri.
''Well speaking of that I have a new mission for you, of course, unless you want to rest a bit before leaving'' I said looking at the Finn as he took out another apple.
''Trouble with the septons of the faith of the seven, I already have a plan against them, I just need some of the gold we got, we will bribe some to speak well of us and we will monetarily support anyone who wants to support us by making them fight each other'' Aleksanteri said smiling
''Yes, but, no, I need you to go to the capital of the seven kingdoms and prepare everything for our arrival, information, tunnels, people who want to change sides, weak point in the fortifications, possibility to bribe guards and if possible, get first-hand information from the mad king, you know reports of recruitment and letters between him and his vassals to determine if they will have reinforcements or are just the ones in the capital'' I said looking at the Finn
''Oh, well, if it is feasible, I will take two thousand of men and infiltrate the city and send you information about everything that happens there, just one question if I manage to infiltrate the fortress, who can or can't I kill'' said Aleksanteri
''Don't kill anyone from the royal family, if they escape from the seven kingdoms it's for the best, for the moment we can only rule the reach, as this territory is as vast as the whole kingdom of Prussia, we are already biting off more than we can eat, trying to take the seven kingdoms now would be impossible, but we need chaos in the future to be able to control everything'' I said looking at ends
''And the Targaryen survivors will give us that opportunity, as Robert will have an unstable reign, since he will be a usurper and we will show ourselves as faithful dogs wagging our tails while in the shadows, we prepare for the conquest of these seven kingdoms, so do what you can to make the Targaryen escape the city, also don't kill very skilled advisors if Robert's rule collapses too soon we will not be prepared to catch the fruits of the plan'' I said to the Finn as I closed the last ledger
''Consider it done, my king'' Aleksanteri said with a chuckle.
Charles poked his head into the tent
''My king, the Tyrells are here'' said Charles.
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