"The duty of the Night's Watch is to guard The The Wall, not to protect Stark, organizing a large-scale operation to search for Benjen Stark is not only putting the cart before the horse, but also a disregard and disrespect for the lives of the other Brothers." Tyrion repeated Aegon's words, staring at him as if he had seen a ghost, his hand holding the pen motionless for a long time: "Are you sure you want to write this? This is insubordination, even if Jeor Mormont is quite reasonable, he can't... Besides, how do you know that your Commander launched the Ranger expedition just to find Benjen Stark?"
"I don't know." Aegon admitted: "Maybe I misunderstood him. He is a dignified former Earl of Bear Island, the Night's Watch Commander, a important person must have a big heart, he wouldn't really recall me and punish me just because I, his subordinate, 'out of misunderstanding', criticized him a couple of times, would he? Besides, he is counting on me to provide supplies."
"Since you know that in your heart, why use such a sharp tone?"
Aegon spread his hands: "What do you think he would think if I presented the facts and reasoned with him, trying to persuade him gently not to carry out this large-scale reconnaissance?"
"I don't know, although I am short, I can't get into Jeor Mormont's belly."
"I think he would definitely think: 'Hmph, a fellow hiding in King's Landing enjoying himself, yet hypocritically advising us not to take risks? Just provide your supplies properly, don't bother with anything else!'" Aegon said: "Then, he probably wouldn't even look at the arguments and evidence you write next about not undertaking this adventure, and would directly reply, ordering me to prepare the supplies as quickly as possible, or face recall."
"That's completely malicious speculation."
"But you have to admit it's possible. On the contrary, if I pretend to have a misunderstanding, and then stand on the side of what's good for the Night's Watch and blast him..." Aegon didn't argue, just continued to explain the reason for doing so: "Hehe, you know, people have a weakness—when they hear or see someone say they are doing something wrong, their attention will 'whoosh' gather, and then they instinctively try to refute the other party. Commander Mormont, seeing my criticism, even if he is disdainful, under this inertia of thought, will at least read the rest of the content. Maybe, he will even write another letter to appease me and explain his real purpose for organizing this operation... After all, he is counting on me to work hard and provide as much of the items on the list as possible."
"You just have a lot of ideas." Tyrion snorted a few times, finding Aegon's ideas somewhat reasonable, nodded, and looked back at the letter paper: "Alright, say it again, I'll write exactly as you say, word for word, and don't come looking for me if something goes wrong."
Just like that, Aegon dictated, Tyrion wrote, and about an hour later, this first official letter from the 1st Night's Watch Chief Logistics Officer to the 997th Commander was meticulously drafted by Tyrion Lannister in the neat and beautiful script popular in the Westerlands.
The letter began with a section of righteous criticism, aimed at immediately attracting the reader's attention; this was followed by Aegon's speculation and judgment on the current situation North of the Wall, in short, writing it as dangerous as possible, preferably enough to scare people; then, the Chief Logistics Officer put forward his opinion—the Night's Watch is currently weak and not suitable for acting alone, the safest way is to first stabilize and strengthen defenses, and then present strong evidence to request aid from the rulers of the Seven Kingdoms.
Finally, there were several specific plans designed by Aegon—he used his imagination to come up with several schemes that would allow them to capture wights alive in the safest possible way, with the Night's Watch committing only a small number of elites. Not only that, he also promised to provide all the weapons and equipment needed to execute these plans.
"With all due respect, Aegon, your plans clearly have a touch of idealism. I'm afraid they can only achieve results under perfect conditions and if the plans proceed smoothly." At this point, Tyrion no longer wanted to question the existence of those ghastly things beyond The The Wall, assuming the other party wasn't talking nonsense, and then discussed the matter at hand: "I've been to The The Wall too, the conditions and situation there are truly harsh and complex, the quality of personnel varies, and the situation can change at any time."
"I'm not asking them to do exactly as I say, the key is the things I'm preparing for these plans." Aegon explained: "As long as they have a little recognition for the idea of 'requesting aid from the rulers of the Seven Kingdoms', and then wait for me to send them the equipment for capturing wights and dealing with White Walkers, my goal will be achieved. It takes a month from King's Landing to The The Wall, even by sea day and night, by then, the most dangerous moment will have already passed."
"What's the most dangerous moment?"
"Hehe, military secret."
The part Aegon couldn't tell Tyrion anymore was: in the original plot's Ranger expedition, the reason the Night's Watch troops chose to station at the First Men's Fist was their judgment that this location was the only way for Mance Rayder's hundred thousand Wildlings to attack The The Wall by moving South from the Frostfangs along the Milk River, and it was a strategically important location, easy to defend and difficult to attack—as long as they seized and held this high ground, a mere few hundred Night's Watch could withstand the attack of tens of thousands of Wildlings and prevent them from moving South.
Doing this was not wrong in terms of either strategy or tactics, but unfortunately, what they waited for was not the Wildlings, but wights covering the mountainsides.
As long as the Night's Watch would delay their departure slightly because they were waiting for the equipment and supplies I promised, the Wildlings' great army would set out from their assembly point and move South, surging past the First Men's Fist in a mighty torrent, causing the expeditionary force to completely lose the 'first move' advantage of occupying the favorable terrain. If they couldn't seize the First Men's Fist, they wouldn't give the army of the dead the opportunity to surround them on the mountain, and naturally, they wouldn't be almost completely annihilated.
This is the best way a Quartermaster can influence the front line without command authority—by controlling the timing of supply deliveries.
If the Night's Watch could follow my suggestion and capture wights alive to send to King's Landing, that would undoubtedly be the best outcome, but if not, saving as many Black Brothers as possible is also a good choice.
Unable to determine which was more in line with his own interests, saving them or not, Aegon finally decided to follow his heart: this time, he would be an emotional person—he couldn't just do nothing and watch three hundred Brothers go beyond The The Wall to their deaths. Although he desperately wanted to get rid of his Night's Watch identity and was unhappy with the leaders who dumped a bunch of tasks on him, at the end of the day—the hundreds of Night's Watch Brothers at Castle Black were comrades he had shared a bond with, and from a personal perspective, he also admired the character and dedication of the Black Cloaks leadership like Commander Mormont and Maester Aemon.
"Tch... Military secret my foot, I don't care anyway." Tyrion gestured disdainfully, picked up the letter paper and glanced at it: "Okay, that's it, anything else to add?"
"Hmm, let me think... First, help me get the official appointment certificate for 'Chief Logistics Officer' and write it down—I don't want a salary, and my subordinates will be recruited by me, as long as the Night's Watch officially recognizes this title for me."
"Hmm, that's very important, anything else?"
Aegon thought for a moment, it's not easy to send a letter to The The Wall, so he might as well say everything he wanted to say in advance: "Also write in the difficulties I encountered in recruiting, tell them my idea of recruiting 'Temporary Night's Watch', and see if Jeor Mormont agrees."
"You encountered difficulties in recruiting?" Tyrion glanced at him again: "How come I don't know, have you started recruiting?"
"No, don't ask so many questions, just write what I say."
"Okay... fine."
Aegon organized his words, slightly embellishing and beautifying his plan, and Tyrion wrote it into the letter.
"Oh, right, add another point, if they find the bodies of Ranger Brothers patrolling the North, don't burn them after bringing them back to Castle Black, lock them in cages, and if they come back to life, just send them directly to King's Landing."
What the hell is this now? Tyrion frowned, but decided to temporarily stop thinking and just be a writing machine: "Anything else?"
"That's all... Hmm, finally, add a sentence for Jon Snow, just say Arya asked me to send her regards, she is learning sword fighting from me in King's Landing and is very happy, tell him to take care of himself on The The Wall."
Tyrion rolled his eyes: "You dare to impersonate Miss Stark?"
"Just write it down, I'll talk to Arya tomorrow, she will definitely agree."