Seeing the East family's military power firsthand made the Northern lords nervous. Their tone toward Jason was suddenly much more respectful.
Jason felt the change immediately. No one dared to question his command. They all clearly expressed their intent to obey.
This was exactly what he wanted.
The East family was a behemoth. After destroying Roose Bolton and the Freys, that behemoth could no longer hide. It was exposed to the North and all of Westeros.
Since he couldn't stay low-profile, he decided to show his strength to everyone. He'd make sure anyone with ulterior motives wouldn't dare to move.
While expanding his army, Jason also returned to the modern world. He contacted Ethan at IronForge Props to order a batch of portable flamethrowers.
This simple design wasn't military-grade, which could reach tens of meters, but it could still spray flames nearly 10 meters.
Jason wanted them specifically to deal with the flammable Wights.
Compared to cold steel, dragonglass, or even flintlocks, flamethrowers would inflict much greater damage on the Wights.
He placed an order for 5,000 units.
Each flamethrower weighed about 25 kg. The fuel cylinder held nearly 20 liters of gasoline, which was enough for about ten sprays, each lasting several seconds.
Ethan and his team didn't know why Jason wanted so many flamethrowers. But their partnership had always been happy and profitable, especially with the flintlocks and artillery.
Besides, Jason owned 30% of IronForge Props; he was one of the bosses. Making a simple flamethrower wasn't a big deal.
Still, 5,000 units at once was a huge order. The cylinders, spray guns, and fuel pipes all needed to be customized. It would take a lot of time.
"It's fine," Jason said. "I'll give you half a year to produce all 5,000. Is that enough?"
Ethan thought for a moment, discussed it with his partners, and nodded. "Yeah, half a year is enough. We'll subcontract the parts to smaller factories and just handle the final assembly here. That's plenty of time."
"Good. I'm counting on you," Jason said, feeling relieved. "Don't worry about the price." With this batch of flamethrowers, his army would finally have a real chance against the Wights.
Ethan quickly finalized the design, calculated the cost, and quoted him a unit price of 500 yuan.
Jason didn't even blink. 5,000 units totaled 2.5 million yuan, which he barely cared about.
He told Ethan to make the flamethrowers the top priority. They could slow down production of the artillery and flintlocks if needed.
Ethan and his team didn't mind. The client was the boss, and as long as he paid, they'd make whatever he wanted.
Of course, flamethrowers needed fuel. A lot of fuel.
Jason called Oliver in the Purchasing Department.
Oliver said getting gasoline wasn't a problem, since the company had acquired its own gas station, making diesel and gasoline purchases easy.
"Good. I also need you to order 30,010 cubic meters of oil storage tanks," Jason instructed over the phone. "Fill them all with gasoline and store them in the warehouse. Don't worry about the rest."
Oliver didn't ask questions. He was used to his boss's strange requests. "Yes, Mr. Liu. I've got it noted."
After arranging the production and the fuel purchase, Jason finally breathed a sigh of relief.
To be honest, he was still deeply uneasy about facing the terrifying Wights beyond the Wall.
If he couldn't travel back to the modern world at any time—if he couldn't just run away from the danger—he wasn't sure he'd have the courage to lead the armies of the North against those monsters.
"I hope everything goes well," he thought, feeling he had arranged everything he could.
He looked out at the banquet. The Northern lords were happy, singing, and dancing.
Jason wondered if they'd still have the courage to sing when they reached the Wall and saw the Wights.
He hoped they wouldn't pee their pants.
The welcome dinner ended soon. The drunk lords were escorted back to their rooms by their guards.
Jason was also dizzy from the wine, but he insisted on listening to the Maester's report.
The grain shipments supported by the Riverlords were arriving at Winterfell and continuing to move north. Jason had already sent cavalry teams to escort the supply wagons.
At the same time, a massive amount of food and supplies was arriving from Starfire City. Thanks to modern freight carriages with steel and rubber tires, that supply line was much faster.
After a few more days, the food from Starfire City finally reached the Dreadfort.
Jason gave the order: assemble the 50,000 troops at the Dreadfort. They were preparing to march north to the Wall.
The Night's Watch ranger who had come to request aid was overjoyed when he saw the 50,000-strong army mobilizing.
Looking at the excited ranger, Jason didn't have the heart to tell him the truth. He hadn't mobilized every soldier in the North for the Wildlings, who didn't even have proper weapons. He had done it for the non-human monsters.
The ranger also brought the latest news from Castle Black.
The Night's Watch still hadn't elected a new Lord Commander. The main candidates, Ser Dennis Melister of the Shadow Tower and Cassie Pike of Greywater Watch, were deadlocked.
Jason and the Northern lords were speechless. A Wildling army was bearing down on them, and the Night's Watch was busy splitting itself apart. It was madness.
If not for the Wall—hundreds of meters of solid ice—the fewer than 700 men of the Watch would have already had their heads cut off and stuck on spears.
But the Night's Watch held a unique position in Westeros. Not even a king could command them. So, Jason and the lords said nothing.
------------------------
For Advance chapters visit : patreon.com/Mythic_Muse