Stannis walked out of the tent, looked at the towering walls of King's Landing in front of him, and said, "I hope that in a few days, we will be the ones standing on the city walls, looking at the Westerlands army."
As Stannis looked at the city walls, Tyrion, clad in armor, was also observing the situation outside the walls. He had also received Duke Tywin's letter. Although he was pleased that Duke Tywin had made the correct decision, salvaging The Reach's army and bringing a glimmer of hope to the end of the siege of King's Landing, he still felt that the letter had arrived at the most inopportune time.
Even now, Tyrion remembered his sister Cersei's furious demeanor. It was no exaggeration to say that Cersei absolutely had the intention to kill everyone around her at that moment. Fortunately, he managed to lock Cersei up in time, otherwise, Cersei might have caused an even greater commotion.
"She's going to hate you to death!" Bronn said with a hint of schadenfreude. "Once she gets out, she'll definitely kill you."
"She doesn't dare to get angry at Father, she can only bully me, a dwarf," Tyrion shrugged indifferently, then asked very seriously, "How are her confidantes doing now?"
Bronn smiled and said, "Don't worry, they've all been thrown onto the city walls. The Red Keep has been replaced with our people, nothing will happen." Saying that, he pointed outside and said, "Instead of worrying about what's inside, you should think more about how to deal with Stannis's next attack! Although I don't have any of your bullshit strategies, I can tell that before The Reach's army arrives, Stannis will definitely launch an all-out assault on the city, and the intensity of the attack will definitely surpass the past. Do you think we, with these people, can hold out?"
As he spoke, Bronn pointed to the numb-faced city defenders around them.
Continuous sieges were an ordeal for the attacking side, and even more so for the defending side. Although Tyrion had obtained a large amount of money and food through confiscating property, which allowed him to hire civilians within the city to join the city defense forces, when casualties reached an alarming number and provisions gradually ran out, it became very difficult for him to recruit more people in the city.
Even if he used coercive measures to conscript able-bodied men and arranged execution squads to force the city defenders to fight, he could not cope with the increasingly brutal siege warfare.
Moreover, as the Gold Cloaks, who served as the execution squad, dwindled to just over a thousand men, the role of the execution squad became very small, even counterproductive.
Just recently, the city defense forces directly mutinied on the city walls, attacking the Gold Cloaks alongside Stannis's attacking army. Fortunately, Adam Marbrand's abilities were outstanding, and he held the city walls. Otherwise, they would already be imprisoned.
Tyrion sighed and said, "Do you have any good ways to boost morale?"
"Do you have money?" Bronn asked.
Tyrion shook his head. The money plundered from the noble houses was almost used up, unless he resorted to his old tricks and searched a few more noble houses. But if he did that, he would certainly face a desperate counterattack from the nobles of King's Landing. At that time, perhaps Stannis wouldn't even need to attack the city; the city gates would be opened by these nobles, and King's Landing would be handed over to him.
"Do you have food?" Bronn asked again.
"Yes, but it cannot be touched," Tyrion replied again.
Currently, within King's Landing, food was more valuable than money. Although Tyrion had food obtained from confiscating noble houses, this food had to supply the daily needs of the entire King's Landing.
Once this food was diverted for other uses and could not supply the minimum daily needs of the people of King's Landing, then in less than a day, the hungry people of King's Landing would surely riot. At that time, the city defense forces recruited from King's Landing would probably not obey their orders to suppress the riot, and relying on the just over a thousand remaining Gold Cloaks would be completely unable to resist those rioters.
"I can only think of one way," Bronn looked around at the people, then pulled Tyrion to a secluded place where they wouldn't be overheard, and said, "You can gather the families of the city defenders in one area, then surround them with the remaining Wildfire, and tell the city defenders that if the city walls are breached by Stannis..."
Tyrion directly interrupted Bronn's narration, saying with a serious expression, "Enough! I will not do that, even if the city walls are breached by Stannis, I will not do such a thing." Saying that, he looked at Bronn and said, "How could you come up with such an idea, just like Mad King Aerys."
Bronn was not displeased that his suggestion was rejected. Facing Tyrion's accusation, he merely shrugged.
Tyrion looked outside the city again and saw Stannis's army gathering, so he shouted loudly, "Prepare for battle, prepare for battle!"
The sentries not far away also blew their horns for battle preparation.
Bronn, at this moment, also shed his previous nonchalant demeanor and became serious.
At this moment, Tyrion suddenly grabbed Bronn's clothes and said, "If the city walls are breached, you immediately go to my official residence, take Shae, I have Podrick prepare a small boat at the small dock below the Red Keep, you can take the boat to the Kingswood across the Narrow Sea, as long as you enter the territory of Summerhall, you will be safe."
Bronn hesitated and asked, "What about you?"
Tyrion smiled and said, "I am a Lannister after all, so I must act like one."
As the horns blew from Stannis's army outside the city, the assembling siege army once again advanced towards the city walls with siege engines, and a new round of battle began again.
Just as Stannis began to unleash his full might, assaulting King's Landing without reservation, approximately three leagues from King's Landing, in an abandoned small town called Stony Sept, another battle was also on the verge of erupting.
However, unlike the back-and-forth frontal confrontation in King's Landing, this battle in Stony Sept was more like a meticulously prepared slaughter.
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