Chapter 512 A new line of defense

Just before it became completely dark, the tide of corpses finally receded.

 At least in the area around Castle Black, these monsters crawling out of their graves were either burned to ashes or chopped into pieces and scattered in the snow.

 But whether other parts of the Great Wall were broken through by the army of zombies... This question was something that Ed Stark, the commander-in-chief of the Night Watch, who had just experienced a fierce battle, did not dare to think about it.

 He dragged his tired body and directed his men to clean the battlefield and rescue the wounded.

 The white dragon swooped down from the sky and landed in front of him.

The fiery aura emanating from the whole body formed a warm shield within a few hundred meters, blocking out the cold wind of winter.

"Your Majesty." Seeing the king jump off the dragon's back, Ed leaned over and saluted.

"You fought very bravely in this battle. The Night's Watch is indeed a strong shield that protects the kingdom." Samwell praised without hesitation.

 “What about us?” A clear voice suddenly interrupted.

 “The wildling warriors are also very brave.” Samwell looked at Val walking over with a spear and said with a smile.

Var then nodded with satisfaction, but then he sighed again and became sad:

“It’s a pity that we only defended Castle Black. The Great Wall of Despair is so long. I don’t know what other places are like..."

Hearing this, everyone felt heavy.

"Perhaps things are not that bad." Sir Dennis said pretending to be relaxed, "The Great Wall has just collapsed, and those monsters may not be prepared. The attack on Castle Black may be the largest wave, and there may only be a few zombies running away in other places. Go south.”

"Are all you southerners so good at deceiving yourselves?" Val sneered unceremoniously, "Or do you think that wave just now was the full strength of the ghoul?"

Sir Dennis replied stiffly:

“We southerners at least don’t go to other people’s homes like beggars to ask for shelter, but still pretend to be masters.”

"Okay, stop arguing." Ed stepped forward to smooth things over, "However, the corpses we killed just now were probably fifty or sixty thousand, so they should be considered the main force."

"Then you have greatly underestimated those monsters crawling out of the grave." Wa Er said, "The wave just now was a small forward at most. The real army of corpses has not arrived yet... Oh no, maybe from Other places went south, after all, the Great Wall is so long.”

"Don't scare people there." Dennis said, "Those monsters have not been able to attack the Great Wall before. How big can they be? Or are you savages already dead in the hundreds of thousands?"

"There are indeed only a few hundred thousand living savages in total." Val's mouth turned up slightly and he said, "But what about the dead? Do you know how many people have died in the Land of Eternal Winter over the past thousands of years? Now, they are all here Called by the White Walkers, he rose from the grave."

These words directly silenced the night watchman.

They felt a sense of despair and shudder when they thought about the number of wild people who had died in the land of eternal winter for thousands of years.

Samwell smiled and shook his head:

"Although you shouldn't underestimate the enemy, there is no need to scare people like this. The dead people thousands of years ago have long been turned into ashes, how can they crawl out of their graves again? Even considering the cold climate's weakening of the rate of corruption, at most We only need to worry about corpses within the last two to three hundred years."

 Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Walze chuckled:

“Caesar is still smart, no wonder he can become the king. Those other guys are too easy to be deceived.”

These words made the night watchers glare at the wildling princess, but they couldn't find any words to refute.

"Of course, even so, we cannot take it lightly." Samwell continued, "The number of corpses should be in the order of one million, and the group just now is indeed not the main force. Moreover, have you noticed, In the enemy team just now, there were only corpses, but not a single White Walker."

 Ed nodded slightly and asked:

“Your Majesty, do you think the White Walkers didn’t show up? Or did they avoid Castle Black on purpose?”

"They should have avoided Castle Black on purpose." Val said, looking at Caesar with her big bright eyes, "They are afraid of you."

 Samwell nodded, not proud at all, but with an extremely solemn expression on his face:

“The White Walkers are intelligent creatures, I believe everyone should understand this. Compared with the corpses, they are the real source of this catastrophe. They are also the most terrifying enemy that we humans must face.

 At the Battle of Castle Black, they did not appear. They must have gone south through other means.

 In order to prevent more people from being harmed and to prevent the army of ghouls from snowballing, two things are urgent. "

 “Your Majesty, please speak.”

“First of all, the northerners must move south.” Samwell said solemnly, “The closer the residence is to the Great Wall, the faster. I will personally go south and urge the lords along the way to organize the migration of their people.”

Ed nodded and said:

“I remember you suggested that the Northerners move south a long time ago, but at that time the Wall had not yet fallen, and most people did not regard the White Walkers as a real threat.”

"It can't be done now. The migration south used to be voluntary, but now it is mandatory." Samwell said, "As for the second thing, we must re-establish a new line of defense to stop the White Walkers and corpses. "

“Your Majesty, where do you think it is appropriate to set up a new line of defense?”

 “Do you have any suggestions?” Samwell asked.

“Perhaps Moe can stop the White Walkers.” Someone suggested.

Ed shook his head and retorted:

"The end of the river must be frozen in winter, and there is no way to stop the White Walkers. In fact, the entire Northern Territory is sparsely populated, and there are no dangerous places blocked by rivers and mountains. If we want to build a new line of defense that can stop the White Walkers, I’m afraid… we can only go to the Neck.”

 When he said this, the commander-in-chief of the Night Watch showed unconcealable pain in his eyes.

 Because the Neck is the dividing line between the north and the south, and it has always been the most important barrier for the independence of the north.

At that time, the Andals came across the sea, relied on more advanced smelting technology, defeated the ancestors, and occupied most of the land in Westeros, but they failed to conquer the northern border.

 The reason is because of the neck.

It is like the neck of Westeros, narrow and dangerous, covered with quicksand and swamps, making it extremely difficult to pass.

For thousands of years, the northerners only needed to deploy a few hundred elite archers in the Gulf of Cailin to prevent tens of thousands of southern armies from marching north.

Had it not been for the fact that the dragons could fly and ignore the dangerous terrain on land, the Targaryens would not have been able to bring the Northerners to their knees.

 White Walkers can't fly, let alone wights, so the Neck is indeed an excellent place for defense.

More importantly, the Neck is located at the southernmost point of the North, making it convenient for King's Landing to send large armies for support.

Samwell had not sent out his army north to the Great Wall before because the supply line from King's Landing to the Great Wall was too long and hopelessly long.

Given the agricultural level of Westeros and the impact of severe winter, if we really have to maintain 200,000 troops to garrison the Great Wall, the number of people in the south who will starve to death may take longer than those who die at the hands of the White Walkers.

And if the defense is deployed at the neck, the logistical pressure will be greatly reduced immediately.

However, the biggest problem with this strategy is that the northern border is equivalent to being completely abandoned.

This is also the reason why Samwell did not take the initiative to propose this plan, but he did not expect that Ed Stark would actually speak out for him first.

The North is the foundation of the Stark family, and it is Eddard’s favorite homeland.

Samwell could not imagine how much inner suffering the other party was going through when he said these words.

 However, as a rational monarch, he knew that he had to make difficult choices at some point.

“Lord Eddard is right,” Samwell said. “Establishing a defense line in the Neck is indeed the best choice. Of course, this also means that the Northerners’ plan to move south must be completed as soon as possible.”

 Ed suppressed the grief in his heart and said:

"Your Majesty, I have arranged for Jon Snow to organize the Northerners to move south, but I am worried that he is not fast enough. So, if you can, please go to Winterfell in person and let my son Rickon In the name of the Duke of Winterfell, the order to move south is officially issued.”

 “Okay. I’ll go right away.”

 Samwell was about to leave, but Ed stopped him again:

 “Your Majesty, there is one more thing…”

"you say."

 “Please follow me.”

 Ed finished speaking and walked towards the castle.

 Samwell followed.

 The two went up the spiral staircase to the third floor.

After exiting the stairs, Ed stopped in front of the door of the second room on the left.

Samwell saw his hand on the doorknob, but he hesitated to push it, as if there was something extremely terrifying behind the door.

 “Lord Ed, what’s wrong with you?”

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. This is the room of my...bastard son Jon Snow." With that, he finally pushed the door open.

Samwell walked in with a trace of doubt, and first felt a biting chill rushing towards his face.

 As if this is the source of winter.

There were countless fine ice cubes scattered on the wooden floor of the room, and Ed Stark froze in place after seeing these broken ice.

Samwell also saw a black cloak spread out by the bedside, with some dark-colored weapons on it, including spear points, arrows, and daggers...

 He stepped forward and took out a piece to examine, only to find that they were indeed dragon crystal weapons.

"Your Majesty," Eddard finally spoke, with a deep and hoarse tone, "Jon Snow told me that when he was following Lord Commander Mormont on an expedition, he found some people who seemed to be former Night's Watchmen in the Fist of the First Men. The relics contain dragon crystal weapons and a horn..."

As he spoke, Ed took out a dark horn from his arms and handed it to the king.

Samwell took it. The horn tentacles were cold and made of unknown materials. The edges were inlaid with bronze, full of a simple temperament.

 But other than that, there is nothing magical about it.

 It seems like an ordinary old horn.

"Jon said," Eddard continued, "that on the day the Wall fell, Robb came back to Castle Black from the south, and without saying a word, he went into his chambers, found this horn, blew it... and then the Wall It fell down.”

"So this is the real Horn of Winter?" Samwell looked thoughtful.

"Yes." Ed nodded and forced his eyes away from the broken ice on the ground. "If what Jon said is true, if Robb really blew down the Great Wall..."

 “I believe Robb did not mean what he meant,” said Samwell.

Ed nodded:

“Jon also said that Robb acted very strangely that night, as if... he was a completely different person.”

"White Walkers have the ability to control corpses, but they may not be able to control living people." Samwell said, but inexplicably he thought of the tombs in the underground tombs of Winterfell where the former King of Winter was buried.

There are also those long swords that have long disappeared and are said to be able to suppress the heroic spirits in the tombs.

"Your Majesty, your magnanimity frightens me." Eddard said, "But the Stark family has made a big mistake. This is irrefutable. Moreover, Robb's incident reminded me that my other Son, Bran, he...he seems to have become a different person since he returned from beyond the wall."

Samwell rubbed the surface of the Horn of Winter, thinking about how to explain it to his poor old father.

Ed took the initiative and said:

“Your Majesty, if you think about it carefully, Bran has a lot to do with this matter. It was he who helped you find the so-called Horn of Winter, which made you think that the real threat had been eliminated...”

"He may not be deliberately deceiving." Although Samwell was also doubting Bran in his heart, he still comforted him, "Bran may have been deceived by Mance Rayder, thinking that what he held was the real Winter. Horn. At this point, all of us were actually deceived by Mance."

To be honest, compared to Mance’s huge and oppressive horn, the real thing in front of me seems ordinary. Even if it is thrown in the snow, no one will take a second look.

"I believe that your Majesty will make your own judgment." Ed couldn't say much.

 After all, this matter involves his two sons.

 No matter what they did, they were always his most beloved children.

 Samwell put away the Horn of Winter, stepped forward and patted Eddard Stark on the shoulder, saying:

"Lord Eddard, I have never doubted the loyalty of your country, nor the honor of the Stark family. The Great Wall has collapsed, and mankind is facing an unprecedented crisis. At this moment, the Seven Kingdoms need warriors like you. .

 So, you don’t have to blame yourself too much, let alone get discouraged because of this. My trust in you is as firm as ever.

  The position of Commander-in-Chief of the Night's Watch belongs to you, and I hope you can continue to lead this army to fight on the front lines.

 As for the collapse of the Great Wall, you don’t have to worry about it anymore. I'll look into everything. "

 “Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty.” Ed said in a deep voice, feeling a little better.

 After hesitating for a moment, he finally said:

"I know it's a bit selfish to say this. But I still hope that when you leave Winterfell, you can take my wife and children with you..."

"I will." Samwell promised. "The white dragon has plenty of room on his back. I will take them with me to King's Landing."

 After saying that, he patted Ed on the shoulder again, and then strode away.

 (End of this chapter)