Of course, Aegon himself knew that saying a certain King was "trying to look stronger than he is" was a highly subjective comment. Leaving aside that Robert Baratheon was now a genuinely fat man, more importantly: as the firstborn son of his family, the education he received from childhood was completely different from Eddard's. If Eddard's personality was "passive", then Robert's was "dominant"—then again, if both had strong personalities, it would be unlikely for them to become close friends.
This supreme ruler of the Seven Kingdoms gathered his army to come to the Vale this time, to put it harshly, was to make a show of strength, but from a serious political analysis, he wanted to seize this opportunity to make his vassals fulfill their long-neglected obligations, so as to clarify the lord-vassal relationship in these not-so-peaceful times, and incidentally test everyone's loyalty... just to consolidate his rule.
You nobles have been comfortable and carefree for so long, it's time to pay up and do some work.
***
In the social structure of feudal lords, the relationship between liege lord and vassal can be simply explained using a set of mutual obligations.
The liege lord has the obligation to protect and maintain the vassal—the so-called "protection" is easy to understand; Robert's summoning of a large army to the Vale to suppress the rebellion this time is fulfilling this obligation. He must not only rescue Lysa Tully from the siege by several Earls but also give her justice (if it exists); and "maintenance" is actually giving the vassal a sufficiently large fief and enough subordinate people so that they can support themselves by collecting grain and taxes.
What about the vassal's obligations to the liege lord? Simply summarized, there are also two:
One, the vassal shall not harm the interests of the liege lord—life, honor, property... interests in every sense. There is no room for wordplay here; unless you openly admonish him face-to-face, even speaking ill of the liege lord behind his back is illegal;
Two, the vassal must actively respond when the liege lord encounters difficulties or dangers and issues appointments and summonses. Eddard accepting the appointment to be Hand of the King in King's Landing, and the lords responding to the mobilization order to gather a large army to suppress the rebellion, are all fulfilling their obligations.
In summary, it is very simple, but implementing it in detail could fill a book. In this set of rules, there is a crucial point, which is also the reason why Robert dared to launch this large-scale rebellion suppression even when the royal treasury was empty: when the lords respond to the military call and bring troops to participate in the assembly, they are responsible for the weapons, equipment, and provisions of the troops they have summoned.
In other words—Robert only needs to bear the cost of the army he personally brought from King's Landing for now. As for the remaining more than 30,000 men, and the larger armies that will arrive soon, whoever brings them feeds them! It doesn't matter if the King himself has no money, as long as his vassals have money and are willing to respond to the call.
This is not being unreasonable; the society of feudal lords operates this way. As the eldest son of a noble who received relevant education from childhood, Robert Baratheon was quite clear about the legitimate rights a liege lord possesses—he was entitled to do this. Even if the problem could clearly be solved through means other than war, as long as he chose to fight, no matter how the vassals grumbled or were dissatisfied in their hearts, they had to comply with the summons. Anyone who ignored the command committed the grave crime of defying their liege lord, and after dealing with the fellows in the Vale, he could turn around and go to another place to demand accountability.
…
Interestingly, the nobles of the League of the Righteous who launched this military rebellion also did so under the banner of "protecting the liege lord". According to the rhetoric of the league's founders, they only recognized Jon Arryn's son, Robert Arryn, as their liege lord, and now their liege lord is staying with his mother, who is suspected of murdering her husband, facing danger and needing rescue—which seems to make some sense. The point of conflict between the rebellion and the suppression is this: Robert Baratheon believes that Lysa Tully, as the mother and guardian of the young Lord of the Vale, is a "vassal" he needs to protect; while Jon Royce and other nobles of the Vale refuse to acknowledge that the woman hiding inside the Eyrie possesses a status "equivalent to a liege lord".
The phenomenon of "both sides having a point" is commonplace in life... As for who is right and who is wrong, a debate would certainly be exciting, but since one side has chosen war, things become violent and simple—whoever wins is right.
***
The Riverlands-Crownlands army set up camp at the mouth of the Great Gorge in the Vale of Arryn. Both armies pitched their tents within sight of each other, clearing the view by cutting down trees. This prevented crowding, avoiding the possibility of a surprise attack or a fire spreading through the camps, and also ensured they could support each other if the rebels dared to sortie from the Vale to harass them—assuming the enemy dared.
In addition, Robert also arranged the stockpiling location for provisions and supplies near a crossroads several dozen miles behind the battlefield, and assigned several thousand soldiers to protect it. At critical moments, this force could also be used as a reserve.
No matter how much he despised Robert, the cuckolded King, this fellow born as the Lord of Storm's End and a Commander had quite a methodical approach to basic strategic and tactical arrangements. At least Aegon couldn't find any fault, though of course, this was also because he wasn't a military enthusiast before transmigrating.
After the large army had established its footing, they began sending out scouts and messengers. On one hand, they reconnoitered the battlefield and issued a proclamation ordering the League of the Righteous to surrender obediently to avoid the disaster of war. On the other hand, they sent orders to the other families in the Vale who had not participated in the rebellion to send troops to rescue their liege lord. Many families responded to the call, but Robert did not let them join the main army. Instead, he ordered them to go to the territories of the core member families of the League of the Righteous and surround and attack these towns and fortresses belonging to the rebels.
Although they didn't directly participate in the "rebellion", the relationships among the nobles in the Vale have always been complex, connected by blood and kinship. Who knows if there are any spies among them? It was better to send them far away... On this point, the cuckolded King's clever arrangement impressed Aegon once again. How did such an excellent Commander end up as King? Another good part placed in the wrong position by fate!
…
Although only two of the Six Kingdoms had arrived, Aegon had resolutely begun his plan to visit the many nobles of the Crownlands and the Riverlands. Most nobles were completely uninterested in the Night's Watch Chief Quartermaster. Only because Robert was in the army, and it was impolite to be too arrogant under the King's nose, did they force themselves to grant a polite reception. After only a few sentences, they would subtly hint for him to leave. After a few days, only a few nobles were willing to delve deeper into the Night's Watch Industry that Aegon described, and verbally agreed that they would "have a chance" to visit King's Landing in the future.
Aegon felt like a salesman hitting walls everywhere, but he was not discouraged—it was naturally impossible to become instant friends and quickly build deep relationships with a large number of nobles. As long as they were willing to meet him and chat for a few sentences out of consideration for his special identity as a "Night's Watch member with the army", and could recognize him when they met again in the future, the rudimentary form of this "network" would be initially established. And on this point, he actually had many advantages: for example, he was likely the first Night's Watch member most nobles had ever seen in their lives; for example, he had an Asian appearance significantly different from the First Men, Andals, and Rhoynar; for example, he had rare books printed on plant fiber in his hands, and a lot of new words and concepts in his mouth.
…
The third contingent to join the main army came from the North, numbering close to ten thousand, led by Robb Stark. The sparsely populated North, spanning a thousand miles, could quickly assemble ten thousand men for a small rebellion suppression and travel such a long distance to arrive. Their loyalty was evident. Robert himself came out and rode several miles to welcome his friend's son. Next was the Westerlands army, led by Kevan Lannister, the Lannister second-in-command. Although their strength was also only ten thousand, their equipment and the brightness of their armor made the other armies look inferior by comparison. Moreover, Aegon heard—that among these ten thousand men, over a third were not temporarily conscripted, but were reserve troops who usually trained in Lannisport. This was quite impressive.
Following closely was the King's own house, the ten thousand strong army of House Baratheon from the Stormlands. The Commander was theoretically Renly Baratheon, but as one of the King's councilors and his younger brother, he always stayed by his elder brother's side. The tasks of assembling the army and so on were all voluntarily completed by his vassals, so there is no need to elaborate.
The Reach sent five thousand men—as the only kingdom among the Seven Kingdoms with a population exceeding ten million, sending so few men clearly carried a suspicion of disrespect. However, these five thousand were all genuine cavalry, and Randyll Tarly, who led the troops, also explained that not sending too many was due to the long journey. Moreover, he proactively promised to provide all subsequent provisions for the main army, so Robert ultimately accepted this explanation... As for that damned place Dorne, they were already showing great respect by sending Prince Oberyn Martell with several thousand spearmen! You know, even Aegon couldn't conquer them on dragonback back then!
The Iron Islands sent over a hundred ships of various sizes, totaling over a thousand people including the sailors. Aegon only vaguely heard that the leader was a woman—thinking about it, it could only be the heir in that madman Balon's mind, his daughter Asha Greyjoy. The soldiers who had seen her around all said she was a very charming woman... But this was irrelevant to the Night's Watch. The only interesting point was that the Iron Islands' ships picked up those few thousand spearmen when passing by Dorne, allowing the Dornish army to arrive earlier than The Reach cavalry, even without being fully mounted.
Including the Dragonstone fleet and the Narrow Sea lords' armies personally led by Stannis Baratheon, who had already arrived at Crab Bay, controlled Gulltown, and surrounded Runestone... Nearly a month after Aegon left King's Landing, the armies and nobles of the Seven Kingdoms had finally mostly arrived. Now, the entire Vale was surrounded by sea and land forces loyal to Robert, and outside the Bloody Gate, the entrance to the Vale of Arryn, a vast army had gathered. Over eighty thousand lords and soldiers camped in sections outside the valley mouth, their banners fluttering like a colorful forest. This display of the King's authority, this frontal assault on a perilous pass unbroken for ages, was finally about to officially begin.
—