King of The Wall

2021-01-06

Chapter 96 Night's Watch with the Army (Part 2)
Don't mention Casey, the just-adult King's Landing The boy, even Igor, the "experienced soldier", was still involuntarily stunned by the huge army in front of him.

Compared to this army gathering place, Night's Watch's Castle Black is like a small outpost - of course, from a functional point of view, Night's Watch is indeed a sentinel of Seven Kingdoms, and this contrast is not wrong.

How many people are there? Ten thousand, twenty thousand? Or fifty thousand, one hundred thousand?
The so-called "a thousand people, boundless, boundless, ten thousand people, penetrating the sky". For an ordinary person who has not received professional scout training, if the number of people exceeds a certain level, it is estimated that the number of people will become the mission completed by impossible - 10,000, 50,000 or 100,000. When you approach it and look with naked eyes, it is actually divided There is no difference, and this is the important confidence for the ancient world countries to dare to lie about their military strength in an attempt to deter the enemy when they fought each other.

To be honest, Igor couldn't tell how many people there were in the army staging area in front of him, but in fact, after listening to Tyrion's introduction to the population and economic situation of Crownlands, he had no idea how many people there were in the troop staging area in front of him. The number of soldiers is still relatively low.

……

The so-called Crownlands is actually a direct jurisdiction. You can understand that the Duke of this territory is the Iron Throne owner, Robert himself.

This plain south of Vale, east of the Riverlands, north of Reach and Stormlands, if not for its proximity to the sea, would be a land of four wars... in history, it never existed. After an independent regime, it was often under the competition of many forces such as Riverlands, Stormlands, etc. This chaos and disorder, until Aegon the Conqueror landed here and began to conquer Westeros, using the landing point as his main base and Later, the Royal Capital Territory came to an end.

Before the Dragonlord's conquest, the total population of this area was less than 100,000. After three hundred years of House Targaryen's rule, under the dual effect of a large number of people moving in and multiplying, this area has become a The largest city, King's Landing, has the largest population density in the entire Westeros and the most fertile place with the most per capita wealth.

Wealth aside, the population density is the highest - because Crownlands is really small, if King's Landing is excluded, its total population is similar to the sparsely populated North. Given the lack of complete demographics for this era, the combined population of Crownlands is estimated to be around two million.

This time, Robert went to Vale to suppress the rebellion. It was a small-scale local war, and it was not a general mobilization. In this case, the ruling class generally tried to ensure that the war would not affect the lives and properties of the people left security and sustainable development potential of society. At the productivity level of this era, the initial mobilization rate should be between 0.5% and 1%—that is, 10,000 to 20,000. This refers to soldiers, not counting those who came to do business and servile servants. The exact number depends entirely on the authority of the ruler and the ability to control the princes.

Igor couldn't tell how many people there were in the army gathering place in front of him, but it was definitely more than 10,000, and you must know that Cersei later conscripted troops to defend King's Landing, and the hysteria was only a few thousand - this kind of response The huge gap in the number of rulers is actually the most intuitive manifestation of the ruler's control in this "era of man rule".

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"A lot of people!" the young squire Casey muttered to himself, his eyes were completely straight.

Igor actually wanted to say this, but he is now the Chief Logistics Officer of Night's Watch, the "great character" of the teenager in mind.

"There are quite a few, let's go and see what accommodation the king has arranged for us and how we should follow the army."

Seeing his own officials so calm, the young man suddenly felt It must be that oneself has too little knowledge, so he hurriedly drove his horse and followed Igor down the dirt slope, approaching the assembly point.

If this army went to Wall, it could beat hundreds of thousands of wildlings beyond the wall so that neither father nor mother knew, but now...these people are going to Vale to save a murderer The mad woman of her husband... just because she was Tully and was the mother and guardian of the current Duke of Arryn of Vale.

......

Igor was still on the road before: I started thinking that after winning the fight, Igor would allow the parents of Royce and other families to wear black clothed, even for this reason. He also summoned oneself, the "Night's Watch with the army" in a whimsical way, and Robert, the fat pig, is really optimistic.

After seeing this army gathering place, he understood where the Warrior King's "fascinated confidence" came from.

Although he is lewd, he is not a qualified ruler at all in Igor's eyes, but in terms of dominance and prestige, this guy is definitely above the line of excellence. Although these fatty years of random wealth and waste have resulted in the Iron Throne regime being heavily indebted, it has given him an astonishing level of support and prestige among the middle-class aristocrats and lower-level Knight classes who have gained "benefits and honors". This advanced idea of "overdrafting the future and stabilizing the current ruling situation" through loans, I don't know whether it is Robert's mischief or true great intelligence may appear to be stupidity.

It's true that the prestige and control that comes with loose money isn't solid -- but it's a different story if the people who make this move are themselves often winning battles. As long as Robert doesn't die, don't suffer a big defeat. This kind of unreliable control, the 3 minutes of heat in a short-term war, is no less than any regular army under any excellent social system.

This is just the Crownlands soldiers, plus the other six countries... If there is no Bloody Gate natural danger, Vale's "Lords Declarant" can't even finish a battle!

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When I was working as a monk in the King's Landing Night's Watch office for a day, Igor also knew about the coat of arms of the nobles of Westeros. Clothed, he rode deep into the army assembly area, and many coats of arms he seemed to know appeared on the flags planted everywhere. The Golden Crowned Stag that symbolizes House Baratheon is the most, which is nonsense... In addition to this, he also sees other patterns on the chests of soldiers and servants, silk banners and tent curtains decorated with long spears and wooden spears: The Lake family The cross of Warhammers, the Stokeworth family's golden cup sheep, House Hayford's light green waves, etc...

Igor did not continue to count, Robert personally initiated the mobilization order, and you can guess without thinking: Crownlands' various No one in the family will be absent. Even if there is only the last member of the family, they will insist on crawling here carrying the flag, trying to win military exploits in the war, so as to revive the family.

With so many nobles gathered together, it's a good time to engage in financial scams to brainwash and make money, but now the chief logistics officer needs to find the king first...or at least the relevant personnel for placement.

I asked several soldiers in a row, but Igor didn't get any valuable reply. Everyone didn't seem to know that King Robert also got a "Night's Watch with the army". This made Igor a little unhappy, and this was the helplessness of the huge power and status gap: he had long expected that the so-called Night's Watch with the army was probably just a magical idea that Robert suddenly came up with after being drunk - from the servant to find oneself When there is not even a letter of proof or a letter of appointment, it can be seen.

There is no way, he has to come no matter what, the reason is very simple: Oneself came to the king but completely forgot about this trivial matter, in case oneself did not come, the king just remembered it , that oneself will have to eat and walk around. In any case, the precious farming time of oneself, the transmigrator, must be wasted on a boring expedition with the army!
Igor scolded the fat deer countless times in his heart, but he came here, so naturally there is no reason to go back, if that's the case... not to mention major principles, oneself's status as a squire in mind will at least fall A big chunk.

I can't stop asking aimlessly and then keep hitting the wall. We must resolve this matter quickly, otherwise it will be too embarrassing!
 …

He rode on to the depths of the barracks. To be honest, the discipline, quality, and organization of the army in this era were really bad. Riding into the middle of the army gathering place without dismounting, there is no enemy within a few hundred miles, but what if it is an assassin?
Igor wondered, if oneself knew the way, would he be able to ride to Robert's tent like this until he was stopped by Kingsguard? I don't know if this guy is in the army now, but anyway... if there is an explosive weapon like dynamite, assassinating the king is like playing.

Finally, he saw someone he knew and could meet the king -- a certain King's Landing noble who had bought bonds. In addition, they redeemed it again two days ago, and they are considered acquaintances who have met twice and said dozens of words!

Fortunately, I didn't ask him about the penalty for redemption of bonds in advance. Now at least I don't have to worry about the other party pretending not to know oneself.

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(end of this chapter)