The king on the Great Wall

"Smart people don't waste time guessing whether savages will be obedient, but should directly think about how to ensure that they abide by our laws and put the results of their thinking into practice." Iger replied very simply: "Our laws have made it clear What to do with transgressors, enforce it with iron efficiency, and you'll find that after the initial rough times, we'll soon have no worries about it."

……

"Egger, the wildlings were put into the Great Wall as you wished." Mormont said suddenly, "but the food crisis was only temporarily relieved, and you will use them and the members of the mountain clan to solve the iron people The invasion plan should also be put on the agenda. You will take the lead in implementing the idea you proposed, and the legion will fully cooperate, so don't mess it up."

"Leave it to me." Looking at the solemn Mormont, Iger nodded confidently, and then quickly remembered something that had been neglected before: "My lord commander, there is one thing that seems meaningless. But it is very important. I suggest that the use of strongly subjective words such as 'savage' and 'free people' in public places should be banned in the land grant, and the term 'new land grant' should be used instead. Since we want these Visitors from outside the Great Wall can build this land like real residents of the land grant, abide by our laws, and serve the Night Watch, so they cannot be treated unfairly."

Mormont frowned suspiciously, not quite understanding the point of doing so, but after thinking about it for no harm, he nodded, "All right, add this to the land-grant law... besides, why don't Lick one piece to completely cancel the kneeling ceremony in the land-grant, so that if our "new land-grant people" still want to use the "kneeling people" to mock us, we will have a solid and powerful counterattack weapon."

Iger raised his eyebrows: "Good idea, my lord!"

Political correctness has always been a derogatory term, but only people in high positions can understand: sometimes, this thing really has its meaning.Now, the land grant is about to have its own political correctness. It has to be said that it has just begun to take shape, and it is already becoming more and more like a complete small country.

Chapter 241 Ghoul Assault

One after another, the savages of the tribe gathered in the fence outside the gate of the Great Wall, and after disarming, they lined up and got into the passage... To be honest, this highly visual picture is very similar to the scene of queuing up to enter the gas chamber in a concentration camp. It feels like once you get in, you can never get out.In addition to a series of harsh conditions such as disarming and handing in food, despite Mance Rayder's assurance, some of the [-] savages still hesitated, and would only agree to testify if the free folk who had passed the Great Wall sent representatives to testify. Go ahead and enter.

A series of procedures and the existence of giants greatly reduced the efficiency of wild people passing through the Great Wall. It took at least two or three hours for a tribe with more people to pass through, and only a few batches of thousands of people passed the Great Wall every day.At the same time, because the mammoths raised by the giants could not pass through Castle Black's tunnel, the night watchman had to take a small number of wildlings and giants with mammoths to the direction of Seal Bay, and rely on Eastwatch to share the pressure on Castle Black.

Although the process of letting the savages pass the Great Wall and helping them complete the transition to the status of "new land-grant citizens" is monotonous, the repeated work, when placed on a group of savages of all kinds, can become unexpected "surprises".After a few days like this, most of the savages successfully settled down in the resettlement area designated by the high-level officials of the night watchman, and the number of savages still remaining outside the Great Wall was less than [-].

The days when everything went well are finally over.

……

Thousands of soldiers transferred to Castle Black were still neatly dressed and garrisoned in each tower, preparing to spend a day that theoretically required a high degree of vigilance, but in fact did not need to do anything like the previous few days.Today's first batch of savages entered Castle Black and were being registered by industrial workers when the sound of horns suddenly sounded from the top of the Great Wall.

The Night Watchman has not sent anyone out of the Wall in recent months, unless Benjen Stark and his party who disappeared a year ago returned to the Great Wall, otherwise, there will definitely not be only one sound of the horn, and there must be more to come!

All the night watchmen in Castle Black immediately pricked up their ears, stood up after sitting and resting, opened their eyes while leaning against the wall and dozed off, and all combatants grabbed their weapons in their hands.

Sure enough, the horn sounded again.

"What's going on?" Iger was originally sitting in the conference room discussing with several night watchman officers about many matters after the introduction of the new land granters, and his thoughts were interrupted.

More than 2 newly granted land residents have been taken to the resettlement area, and they are strictly prohibited from leaving the allocated area without authorization. There are scouts everywhere around Castle Black, not to mention that Mance Rayder, the king beyond the wall, is a hostage in Castle Black. Even if the savages want to make trouble, they shouldn't pick this time.

Mormont stood up from his chair and made a decisive decision: "Take care of the wildlings who have already entered Castle Black, close the gate of Castle Black, and let's go to the city... to see what's going on."

A group of night watchmen officers left the conference table and went to their posts to carry out the orders.In the central area of ​​Castle Black, hundreds of wildlings and three giants didn't know what happened. They looked around in a daze, nervously watching the black-clothed soldiers who suddenly raised their weapons and became murderous.

Judging by the performance of the savages, it doesn't look like they have arranged to launch an attack in advance.Before Egger could breathe a sigh of relief, the horn rang for the third time.

***

It was not the first time that the night watchman had sounded three horns, but it was the first time Iger had actually heard it.When the sound in the dream entered his ears in reality, he felt goosebumps all over his body.

The aliens are attacking?

But didn't Mance Rayder say before: The White Walkers don't want to get close to the Great Wall, and have been moving at a certain distance?

After a slight turn of his mind, not only Egger woke up in horror: The "unwillingness" of the aliens to approach the Great Wall does not mean that they "cannot" approach the Great Wall... Seeing that the target that has been chasing for several months is about to completely withdraw into the Great Wall, the natural enemy of mankind finally Couldn't sit still, forced a shot!

Picking this savage has already entered most of it, and only part of it is outside the wall. When the vigilance and fighting will are at the lowest point, they attack. As expected, they are intelligent magical creatures, and they will pick their time!

Egger realized the threat, and turned his head to look at Mormont: "My lord commander, if there is chaos in the wooden fence outside the passage at this time, and the white ghosts take the opportunity to pass through the gate, Castle Black will be in danger!"

"Lead a team, take dragonglass weapons, and guard the exit of the gate!" Why didn't Mormont understand this, and immediately pointed at the chief ranger and ordered loudly, and then walked quickly to the elevator cage: "Take the Take all the wildlings outside the castle first, and tell them not to move without permission!"

After roaring loudly, Mormont took the lead into the cage, rang the bell, and ascended to the top of the Great Wall with Iger and others.

……

"What's next?" Mormont asked as he climbed up the Wall, approaching the edge of the Wall.

"The rest of the savages suddenly rushed out of the forest and ran towards our wooden fence." A sentry replied, "To the north... there is something in the woods, chasing them."

"Go down, call two hundred people to come up, get the oil barrels and rockets ready!"

Iger looked down the Great Wall, on the white snow in the isolation zone below, thousands of black spots were rushing towards the wooden fence built by the night watchman at the entrance of the passage, some were holding children, some were carrying their belongings, and some Driving sheep and even driving dog carts...the faster ones have already arrived outside the wooden door.

In the woods, the natural enemies of the living also popped up. The ghouls overflowed from the ghost forest like melted animal fat, crossed the roots and rocks, and strode toward the Great Wall in mighty form.

Standing on the top of the 200-meter-high Great Wall, it is actually difficult to distinguish the ghouls and humans below... Fortunately, it is daytime, and even though there is no sun, Iger can still distinguish them through the movements of the moving black spots below: at the end The savages held weapons and torches, looking back as they ran; while the ghouls chasing them were not entirely human, and there were bears, wolves, and shadow lynx mixed in among them. But the most important thing is that they all pursue the living people in front of them with a firm and unwavering attitude. Once they get close, they will immediately pounce and bring down the target, killing the opponent's life, which is in stark contrast to the fleeing savages.

The wildlings knew how to deal with ghouls. Although the ghouls, animals or people who fought with the broken wildling warriors continued to cause casualties, many of them fell down with fire, but hundreds of ghouls continued to emerge from the forest. This unstoppable momentum made the terrified savages lose their fighting spirit.Dozens of night watchman soldiers in the wooden fence below did not have high vision and could not see the situation in the distance, and did not receive orders. They just closed the gate tightly and kept countless savages out of the fence.

Thousands of savages are being chased by thousands of ghouls, and the ratio of the number of enemies to us has not reached the level of crushing. However, when most of the same kind have passed through the Great Wall and hid in a safe place, the last few savages who are still left outside the Great Wall Seeing hope... Instead, he no longer has the courage to fight desperately. He only hopes to quickly pass through the incredible high wall in front of him and hide behind the Great Wall.

"Order... to open the gates and let the wildlings in." Mormont ordered, livid in the cold wind atop the Wall, "and lower the portcullis of the access to the Wall, we cannot risk Castle Black falling. The following ghost things must be resolved by the following people themselves, and we will provide support on the top of the Great Wall-after we are sure it is safe, we will continue to let them pass the wall!"

Lower the gate?This is a way of life that cut off thousands of lives, including dozens of night watchman brothers!Iger opened his mouth, not daring to be a virgin indiscriminately, and finally did not raise any objections.

The order was conveyed quickly, the wooden gate of the fence was opened, and the savages crowded at the gate rushed in as if they were being amnesty.The original intention of the fence design was to prevent the wildlings from sneaking into Castle Black when the portcullis was open when collecting weapons from the wildlings. The function of allowing a large number of people to quickly enter and exit was not considered when it was built. Too many panicked wildlings squeezed inside desperately, and some even Squeezed off the slab bridge that spans the trench.

Seeing that the gate of the fence was opened, the savage warriors who were behind also gave up fighting and retreated towards the passage.The ghouls who lost their restraint were able to continue to approach the Great Wall comfortably, and soon surrounded the wooden fence protecting the entrance of the passage.

Seeing that the ghouls were about to chase the last batch of wildlings into the wooden fence, Mormont gritted his teeth and waved, ordering an attack.

The night watchmen on the top of the wall shot out the rockets they had already prepared in their hands. Several oil barrels strengthened by the wildfire were ignited and then thrown out with the boom, drawing arcs in the air, and fell several times outside the wooden fence gate at the foot of the Great Wall. Within a range of ten meters, balls of fire exploded. The impact and the flames left on the ground effectively prevented the ghouls from charging.Although there were accidental injuries to some of the living people who ran at the end, taking advantage of this wave of decisive cover, the gate of the wooden fence was able to be closed.

The tide of ghouls completely gushed out from the forest, and rushed towards the wooden fence from three directions: northwest, northeast and true north, and quickly crossed the shallow ditch with spikes to prevent people, and began to climb the wooden fence no more than two or three meters high. fence.

The savages who ran into the fence flocked to the passage through the Great Wall in panic, but they were surprised to find that the passage through the Great Wall was blocked by a portcullis. Although they had reached the Great Wall, they were only a short distance from a safe place. Be stopped!

-

Chapter 242 Bloody Battle Behind the Wall

"Ser Jaime... the portcullis... is lowered!"

"I saw it!" James replied angrily, turned his head to look at the thousands of wildlings crowded at the gate, and understood why Mormont had given this order: to renovate and add walls to Castle Black It is indeed much stronger, but as a price, the occupied area has also been reduced to a fraction of its original size. There are already more than a thousand night watchmen and land-grant militiamen stationed at full capacity... If these savages are allowed to pass through the Great Wall without disarming, Even if he was lucky enough not to bring in the pile of ghost things outside the fence, it would still be a huge threat to Castle Black.

What's more, those human natural enemies outside the fence have already started hitting the door and climbing the wooden wall. If the portcullis is raised to allow entry, no one will resist those things...

Instead of opening the gates and letting a bunch of people crowd at the door to scramble for entry qualifications, and then face the enemy and be massacred, it is better not to let anyone in and force everyone to take up arms to resist!

James was born in a family, and he can figure this out from a big standpoint, but it doesn't mean that the other night watchmen who accompanied him out of the wall to carry out the order, as well as those refugees who just ran out of the Haunted Forest in a hurry, can also understand .A large group of savages gathered in front of the lowered gate, angrily roaring and protesting in Common Tongue, Old Tongue, and other words that James couldn't understand, and even called on everyone to raise the gate.

"Silence!" The kingslayer stood in front of the gate and shouted loudly: "Even if you lift the gate, only one tenth of us can escape at most. Take up arms and shoot the ghosts chasing you!" If we retreat, we will have a chance to survive!"

"What are you, and you still want to command us?"

"Just a bloody crow! Get out of the way!"

After the clear sound of the weapon being unsheathed and a flash of sword light, the wild man who raised the stick towards James fell down bleeding.As soon as James killed the enemy, he realized that he couldn't reason with the savages in front of him, held up the blood-stained steel sword, took a deep breath and organized his words, and cursed: "You bastard savages! Now there are two choices, either take up arms and drive back the gang of ghosts outside the wall, and then pass through the Great Wall safely; or be hacked to death by me like this guy on the ground!"

James never thought that one day he would blurt out such impossibly rude and swear words, but the insults and threats were so effective—looking at his bleeding sword and the other black-clothed soldiers who were also staring at him, he could understand The tribes of the Common language fell silent first, and they relayed Jaime's words in their old tongue to the outsiders and the last few giants who couldn't understand... Slowly, everyone turned around, took up their weapons, and Towards the wooden wall, already crumbling under the ghoul's onslaught.

It's not that he was moved by James' eloquence or changed his temper suddenly, but the situation is very clear now: the gate of Castle Black has been covered with more iron bars after repair, it is strong and heavy, and it will never be opened in a short time , but the ghoul behind him has already broken through the wall.This battle is not to obey the command of the blond "crow" or to protect human beings, but to fight for the survival of himself and his fellow family members around him.

In the cold and snow, the savages and dozens of night watchmen huddled inside the wooden fence picked up the best weapons they could find, and lit as many fires and torches as possible...

Before they finished their preparations, the gate of the wooden fence was the first to be unable to withstand the impact of hundreds of ghouls. It fell to the ground with a loud noise, and the enemy rushed in.

***

"Is James locked up outside the Great Wall?" Iger gasped when he heard that, "Why is it him?"

The soldier who was arrested and questioned innocently shook his head: "There is no reason...today...today is his turn to be on duty."

This is really bad, quite bad—Iger tensed up, James is a Ranger Captain, and he seems to be happy to play this role. It is completely reasonable to perform the task of going out of the wall to collect wildling weapons.

He actually regards himself as an ordinary ranger captain, but if something happens, it will not only be as simple as sacrificing a middle-level night watchman officer for the night watchman and even the world, let alone the possible impact of the western border on the Great Wall. You don't have to think about it again... If Tywin thinks that this is a story fabricated by the northerners after killing his son, the Seven Kingdoms will definitely add chaos!

Mormont also realized the seriousness of the problem: "We have to find a way to rescue him."

"He won't come up alone, go and move all the oil barrels in the warehouse up, we have to repel this wave of ghouls at all costs." Iger understood James' temperament and shook his head.It would be great if the solidified wildfires in King's Landing were here. Nina had arranged for a ship to send them to Eastwatch not long ago, but the legion has been busy receiving wildlings these days, and there is no manpower to transport those dangerous goods. "Try to surround the wooden fence with fire, and use this opportunity to cover the brothers below to pass the Great Wall!"

***

The wooden fence was used as a place to collect wildling weapons, and there were all kinds of tools and equipment. The few remaining giants, all the wildling warriors, and the spearwives quickly armed themselves to protect the young boys and girls who had no fighting power...they Most of them did not hold swords, but lit torches in campfires to arm themselves with flames.

The ghouls swayed through the fallen gate and charged toward the crowd formed in the wooden fence.

"Don't crowd!" James yelled. "Spread out, go!"

If the crowd continues to huddle like this, even if the ghoul is ignited by the flames, it can still threaten the protected people in the inner circle.The sober-minded among the savages also reacted, and followed up with a growl.

"kill!"

"Taste the taste of being grilled!"

"@#￥%&!"

Roars of various languages ​​and accents sounded, the pony of Saibei neighed, the hounds barked, and the giant's thunderous voice mixed together, and people could no longer distinguish each other.A middle-sized ghoul direwolf with tattered fur was the fastest, and rushed to the crowd first. Its strength had been improved after turning into a ghoul, but its flexibility was greatly reduced. James dodged sideways, and his arm muscles tensed instantly under the armor. As tight as steel, the steel sword cut into the side of the corpse wolf's neck, almost beheading it.

The corpse wolf fell heavily to the ground, and was stabbed with countless torches by the savages who rushed up from behind. It quickly turned into a ball of moving flames, knocked down several people, and then fell silent.

The Kingslayer's prowess and heroism contained his own rout, and the surrounding wildling warriors and spearwives who barely mustered up the courage to fight provided some cooperation.Driven by the instinct of self-preservation, the savages began to spontaneously approach and protect the kingslayer, gritted their teeth and fought a bloody battle with the non-human opponent in front of them.

And the roars and cries of these warriors inspired those fearful people behind. Under the chain reaction, many young savages huddled in the crowd were also excited and roared to join the battle.

A roar, accompanied by a sword, a hammer or a torch, and then those who react quickly can avoid the counterattack of the ghoul to deal with the next enemy, and those who react slowly will be thrown down and blood splattered... There are heavy casualties, but this is nothing. The fighting style of an untrained savage.

Enemies continued to pour in from the broken gate, and the battle quickly spread from the fence gate to the camp. The few giants who were so unresponsive that they didn't know how to retreat instantly became isolated islands in the tide of ghouls, and were overwhelmed by the enemy's numbers. .Every few seconds, a living person fell down, and a ghoul burst into flames and turned into a ball of fire.In addition to the shouts and roars, the torches collided with the flesh, the corpse oil was roasted so high that it exploded from the flesh, and the sound of steel colliding with bones also joined in, forming a strange symphony.

Thankfully, no White Walkers joined the fight.In the case where the attackers were all ghouls, the living side's back-to-back fight... perhaps it should be said that the back-to-the-wall counterattack effectively curbed the massacre plans of the enemies rushing in from the fallen wooden door.

It is a pity that although they showed momentum for a short time, they did not change their situation of having nowhere to retreat and nowhere to escape. They fought bloody battles and attrition, hoping that the commander of Castle Black would show mercy and raise the iron gates.

And with the surrounding wooden walls crumbling and falling, and the shambling figures of wight giants appearing on the edge of the Haunted Forest, the balance of victory will soon tip in favor of the dead.

-

Chapter 243

The ghouls toppled large sections of the wooden fence, and began to rush into the camp from all directions. The living people retreated steadily, and soon fell into a situation where they could only rely on the piles of debris in the fence, the bonfire, and the flesh and blood of their teammates around them as cover. situation.

The situation is hopeless, but the continuous sound of explosions and flames still inspires people's fighting spirit.A single oil barrel can kill a ghoul more than a dozen kingslayers, but more important than the power of the explosion is the psychological hint given by the support from the top of the Great Wall: the people above have not given up on them!

***

On the top of the 200-meter-high Great Wall, the sentries of the Night's Watch struggled to throw oil barrels and cover fire with rockets.A wall of fire will be an ideal cover for the survivors on the ground, but the huge height difference makes it difficult to guarantee the accuracy of the attack - it is too difficult to prevent the oil barrel from falling too far and not blowing up in the crowd. Many oil barrels fell outside the wooden fence, only forming fires around which ghouls walked around, unable to form a barrier.

Just as the night watchmen on the top of the Great Wall were nervously looking down at the battle situation below, a soft and slightly lazy female voice came from behind the crowd.

"Friends of the Night Watch, I heard—are you in trouble?"

……

At some point, Melisandre also came up in the cage.

"Down below, thousands of lives are about to be lost in the hands of ghouls." Seeing this temptress, Iger seemed to have regained some hope, and he spoke out his vision: "We hope to use oil barrels to form around the wooden fence. A ring of fire, but it can't be thrown that well, and... the fire is not big enough."

"I see." The red-robed woman didn't seem to be talking about the appearance of thousands of human lives. She smiled, walked to the edge of the Great Wall lightly and unhurriedly, and looked down.

The hastily erected wooden fence has already collapsed nearly half of it under the impact of the ghouls, and the defense organized with courage did not make the living dead and ghouled animals flinch in the slightest.The men in black and the savages hiding inside have been compressed into a semicircle against the wall under the enemy's attack, and the soldiers on the outermost edge are still getting injured and falling down. The crowd is like mud balls washed by the tide, and they are constantly being stripped away. , Zoom out.

The situation was clear, and Melisandre quickly raised her head: "It looks like the people below need help."

Mormon said in a low voice with displeasure: "Priest, if you and your so-called Red God have any good means, do it quickly, and don't make sarcastic remarks here!"

"Thanks for your hospitality, since the Commander asks for help, I will help." Melisandre nodded, raised her hands that were always in front of her body, and put them in the eyes of everyone. "I will ask R'hllor for help, but there is no guarantee whether he will help."

***

The so-called "seeking help from R'hllor" was naturally just a cover-up.How could a majestic true god respond to everything, and even take action himself?

Melisandre has been at the Great Wall for a while, and she has long been looking for opportunities to show her strength to gain influence, but the night watchmen on the Great Wall are different from the commoners and nobles in the south—they are used to seeing strange spirits, General cover-ups and tricks are hard to get their attention or fool them.

If I continue to stay like this day after day without doing anything, I will simply visit the Great Wall.Perhaps, it's time to spend some precious mana to make these men in black feel a little in awe of the Lord of Light.

Even if it won't make the night watchman obey his advice, at least it will be convenient for him to spread the belief of the Red God to the land-grant people... Anyway, in the final analysis, for some reason, his mana recovery speed on the Great Wall is much faster than that in the south.

……

The red-robed woman figured out the joints, lowered her head, looked down at the dying savages and some black-clothed soldiers under the Great Wall, and began to summon the mana in her body.

There were ready-made fires and combustibles on the ground below. Melisandre picked a little from her memory and chose a burning technique.This is an easy fire spell that anyone with a gift for spells can learn with practice.But at a distance of 200 meters, the flame needs to burn enough to stop the tide of ghouls... Adding these two conditions together, no matter how simple a spell is, it will become unbelievably difficult.

However, as one of the best red god priests in the world, Melisandre is confident that she can perform it.

She concentrated and whispered a mantra to assist.Because he hadn't cast a spell of this magnitude for too long, the magic power flowing through his body brought a long-lost tingling pain.Manipulative, tangible, colorless and odorless fire-attribute energy gushes out from the body, extending like tentacles to the battle site under the Great Wall...

The officers of the Night Watch who were staring at her as if they were watching a play were at a loss, and some of them even started to get angry at Melisandre's untimely pretending to be a ghost.

On the ground below, the flames burning at the falling oil barrels around the wooden fence suddenly jumped several meters higher, not only increased the brightness several times, but also ignited the wooden walls and door panels that fell on the ground, and the flames spread rapidly like a swimming poisonous snake , Instantly ignited the entire wooden fence, forming a ring-shaped wall of fire more than two meters wide, separating the hundreds of ghouls on the outside from the strikers who were biting and fighting with human soldiers inside the wooden fence.

This is definitely not a normal burning. Maybe wildfire can spread so fast, but it is absolutely impossible to create such a strong fire in an instant...

Everyone looked at the red-robed woman in astonishment. This witch really has some skills!