"Do not wait for your enemies to make preparations; attack when they are most defenseless." - Prince Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper of Dorne.
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"You look grander in armor, my lord Hand." Aenar commented with an amused tone. Like Tyrion, he also wore crimson armor. A crown of Valyrian steel studded with rubies rested on his hair.
Tyrion, who wore golden armor with a green lion on his chest, flashed a helpless smile and spoke with a tired tone: "Wearing armor is complicated, mainly because of the weight."
"You get used to it. Armor becomes a second skin after fighting dozens of battles." Oberyn, who was also wearing yellow armor with the House Martell crest, commented in an amused tone, watching the dwarf.
Everyone was gathered in a tent, looking at the map on the table in the center.
Eddard, wearing gray armor, looked at the map and spoke in a calm tone:
"From the scouts' information, House Frey's army is stationed fifteen kilometers away, under House Haigh's castle."
"Do we know the enemy numbers, Lord Stark?" Tyrion asked with a glare. He looked at the map and located House Haigh's castle; it wasn't far from Twins.
"Between ten and fourteen thousand men. The rest are probably in Twins." Eddard gave a rough estimate of the enemy troops, since the scouts had no way of knowing the exact number.
"It's a large army, especially considering that House Frey is not a paramount lord of the Riverlands." Oberyn commented, still incredulous at the number of House Frey soldiers. To understand how large this army was, House Martell had around thirty thousand soldiers and possibly less than that. To know that House Frey had so many men was shocking, to say the least.
"Are they soldiers in armor or dirty commoners wielding hoes?" Tyrion asked curiously.
"From the scouts' report, many had armor, but there were some without." Eddard replied, looking at Tywin Lannister's dwarf. He still couldn't believe that Aenar had managed to convince a son to kill his own father.
"Then we have nothing to worry about in the first place." Tyrion commented in a more relaxed tone after hearing the words of the lord of Winterfell. They had around one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers; in comparison, the enemy army was too small in the face of such a large number.
Everyone nodded at Tyrion's words.
"The best part is that they don't know we're already their enemies." Oberyn said, his lips curving into a mischievous smile. "We can enter the camp and attack from the inside, while using our soldiers to attack from the outside."
Tyrion and Eddard looked at Oberyn with surprised expressions. It really was a cruel and malicious plan. If they really did what Oberyn had suggested, it wouldn't be a battle, but a massacre without any resistance.
Whether it was the Red Legion, the Sardaukar or the Northerners, all three were armies that had seen and participated in many wars. They were all experienced veteran soldiers. Together with the number of hundreds of thousands, there was no doubt about victory.
"Great idea, let's do it." Aenar laughed and accepted Oberyn's proposal with a smile on his face. Such a cruel tactic was really something he liked, especially when they could minimize their own losses.
Eddard frowned deeply. He didn't like fighting in such a cowardly way, even against the scum of the Frey, but, as Aenar had already decided, he would accept the order and do as he was told.
"Let's get started." Aenar spoke. He looked at Tyrion and said, "Send a messenger and explain our situation to the army commander."
Tyrion smiled mischievously when he heard those words. He was more than happy to coordinate the attack. House Frey didn't deserve honor or anything related to it. A shameful death was a fitting fate for the most despicable house in Westeros.
"Are we finally going to war?"
Suddenly, Visenya entered the tent wearing black armor, having heard Aenar's orders. The queen couldn't help but feel excited again about the war that was about to take place.
Aenar was speechless at his wife's excitement. He really wanted to know what was going through her mind to make her so eager to kill people. After a while of reflection, he explained Oberyn's strategy, causing the queen to let out a somewhat sadistic laugh.
"A shameful death for human trash." She commented when she heard about Oberyn's plan. She really liked the idea and was looking forward to it.
"I'll be in the army that will attack from outside the camp." Although raiding the enemy camp sounded like fun, she preferred fighting alongside an army. Visenya looked at Aenar, waiting for his permission, which she received.
"Yes, but be careful and don't use Syrax. I don't want the fire to spread to the swamps." Aenar certainly wouldn't object to Visenya going to war. At the same time, he would start accumulating blood for some of his future plans.
Those responsible for this task would be his two loyal subordinates, Sigismund and Titus. Aenar wouldn't trust anyone else with such a delicate mission, which could tarnish his reputation.
Visenya nodded, although she wanted to use Syrax for the first time in war, but accepted Aenar's orders. Besides, she concluded that using Syrax to deal with House Frey's army would be too great an honor for such insignificant people.
"Let's start the war officially." Aenar spoke with a slightly excited tone. It was the first battle in Reconquista, how could he not be excited right now?
"Yes!!!" Everyone answered with a solid and powerful yes.
With Aenar's orders, everyone began to move and the operation began.
Instead of sending a messenger, Tyrion personally acted as messenger so as not to cause any suspicion to House Frey.
Riding a horse, which he climbed onto with the help of a servant, Tyrion, accompanied by four members of the Red Legion, set off towards House Haigh's castle. One of the members of the Red Legion carried the Banner of House Targaryen.
It didn't take more than half an hour for Tyrion to spot the camp outside House Haigh's castle. Among the coats of arms that were present, besides House Haigh, there were two others.
House Erenford and House Charlton.
There was no other coat of arms apart from these three, who were vassals of House Frey. However, the numbers of these three Houses really surprised him, even in the Westlands, it wasn't every House that had three to four thousand men.
After all, no Great House wants a vassal to become too strong, which could threaten the power of an entire region. Only Houses Tyrell and Tully were weak enough to allow such a thing to happen.
While he was thinking, Tyrion had been spotted by the camp watchmen.
One of the soldiers on watch noticed the banner from afar and didn't hesitate to sound the trumpet.
Who came out of the main tent after the trumpet was blown were seven men, the lords of House Haigh, Erenford and Charlton.
The Heir of the Crossing and Twins, Stevron Frey, the second and third son of Walder Frey, Emmon and Aenys Frey.
"What's going on?" Stevron asked the soldier.
"The banner of House Targaryen has been seen outside the camp, Lord Stevron." The soldier replied without any hesitation.
Stevron smiled at the soldier's words. "It seems he's a messenger."
"Father's orders are to bow to King Aenar Targaryen, so we've come with our army to join the march of war." Aenys Frey commented with a naturally cunning and cruel look. Walder's three sons were old and bald or balding, especially Stevron who was sixty years old.
"Let's go and greet the messenger." Stevron, unlike his father, was a kind and courteous man, he had a gentle appearance and attached great importance to his family.
Everyone nodded and followed Stevron to the exit of the camp, where they saw five horses and soldiers wearing red armor.
But what caught their attention was the leader and messenger of the group, a dwarf wearing golden armor with the House Lannister crest in green.
This caused a small shock among everyone around, as in the name of the Seven, there was a Lannister in the army of House Targaryen!?
"Lord Stevron, I presume." Stevron woke up from the shock of hearing the dwarf's question, he just nodded.
"I am Tyrion of House Lannister and Hand of the King. I have come on behalf of the king who will be arriving in a few moments." Tyrion ignored the shocked looks on everyone's faces and spoke with a gentle, charismatic smile.
"The king will be received with all the regalia befitting a king." Stevron, still shocked by Tyrion's identity, spoke with an incredulous tone as he stared at Tyrion with a wide-eyed look.
It was really hard to believe that the Lion Son of the Rock was actually fighting against his own father!
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