It was quite unexpected. The resistance Kal had anticipated—or rather, the retaliation from the Shield Islands in the vicinity—never arrived.
It was as if those people did not care in the slightest about his capture of Old Oak.
However, once his army finished reorganizing at Old Oak and advanced south along the Ocean Road, reaching a position roughly twenty leagues from the Mander, he understood why.
A raven flew into his camp and told him who his opponent was.
The Lord of Horn Hill, Randyll Tarly.
This Lord of Horn Hill was renowned for repeatedly achieving outstanding feats in command of battles and was regarded as one of the finest military commanders in Westeros.
During the War of the Usurper, he was the only commander in all the Seven Kingdoms to have handed Robert Baratheon a defeat.
It was also the Battle of Ashford that cemented his reputation.
And now, he had become Kal's opponent.
"He's Samwell Tarly's father. To be honest, perhaps I should have brought Sam along. I'm quite curious what expression that proud Lord Randyll Tarly would wear if he were defeated by the son he looks down on."
At this moment, Kal was leaning against a tree, holding the letter in his hand, speaking in a teasing tone to Jon White Wolf beside him, his gaze filled with a hint of anticipation.
Having swallowed up two houses in succession, together with the additional two thousand troops Jon later brought in, Kal's force had suddenly expanded to a massive ten thousand men.
But unfortunately, he was still very poor, because even so, the total number of cavalry in his army amounted to only a little over three thousand—roughly a quarter of the entire force.
Even that had only been barely scraped together after Kal took Old Oak and absorbed the troops brought by Garlan Tyrell.
Moreover, these men could hardly be said to be well suited to his current needs.
Therefore, in the end, all Kal could do was roughly break them up, relying more heavily on the original lower-level command structure.
At this moment, the army had found a suitable stretch of terrain and settled in to make camp. Kal had deliberately come out to take in the scenery of the Riverlands.
And to bring this letter of challenge with him as well.
Back when he had been in King's Landing, he had met Sam's father. At the time, Randyll Tarly's appearance had disrupted one of his plans, causing the matter to be delayed until now without ever receiving a proper resolution.
It could be said that, over the matter of Samwell Tarly, Kal had disgusted him once.
And this famed commander, whose reputation resounded across the Seven Kingdoms, had likewise disgusted him once over that same affair.
Their first clash had ended in a draw.
After that, relying on his identity and status at the time, Kal had forcibly suppressed the displeasure of the Lord of Horn Hill and firmly protected Samwell, and from that point on, he and Randyll Tarly had completely formed a feud.
Clearly, the letter of challenge before him now was that lord's act of retaliation.
Kal naturally understood Randyll Tarly's intent. After all, there was still a wager between the two of them, which by now had essentially turned into a contest of pride.
Thus, he appeared quite pleased and could not help but smile as he joked.
Jon did not sit on the ground. With one hand resting on the hilt of his sword, he watched the army not far away as it pitched camp, then turned back and gave Kal a wry smile.
"Sam probably couldn't do such a thing—" he said. "I'm even worried that Lord Randyll Tarly might scare him to tears."
Though it sounded somewhat like undermining Sam, Jon felt he was probably not wrong.
"I think he'd wet himself," Kal added with a snicker.
The corner of Jon's mouth twitched. He silently apologized to Sam on Kal's behalf and then let out an awkward chuckle.
Ghost lay atop a large rock not far away and let out a low whine in this direction.
"If he knew what you were thinking, he would definitely be glad that you had him stay at Casterly Rock earlier."
"Sam is actually quite capable at internal administration. Once he follows Tyrion for a while, I plan to send him to the Citadel afterward."
"I'm still lacking a Grand Maester I can truly trust at my side."
Cracking jokes casually, Kal spoke of his plans for Sam's future.
Hearing this, Jon was slightly taken aback.
He was very clever, and he immediately understood the meaning behind Kal's words.
However, when it came to political topics like this, Jon did not really want to know too much.
"All right, then he will certainly be very happy. But, King Kal, regarding Lord Randyll Tarly's challenge to you, how do you think he will wage war against us?"
Jon did not want to discuss political matters, so he immediately shifted the topic to the war at hand. Looking at the letter of challenge in Kal's hand, he asked instinctively.
From Old Oak southward to Highgarden, this stretch of road could be said to be completely flat.
On both sides of the road were endless plains, with grain, vegetables, and melons and fruit planted across these lands.
Green grass and fresh flowers stretched as far as the eye could see, cattle and sheep were in herds, and the wealth was visible to the naked eye.
Having grown up in the North, in that hellish place where even a pickaxe could not chisel through the frozen earth, after Jon came to the Reach and saw this boundless fertile land, he was in fact greatly shocked in his heart.
In his heart, he could not help thinking how much grain such land could produce, and how many people it could support.
If the North also had such warm weather and fertile land, then how prosperous would the North be?
But then the problem came: in a place like this, how were you supposed to fight a war?
Even though Jon's military knowledge was still that of a complete novice, when faced with the situation before him, he also knew what a war on such plains would look like.
This kind of place was naturally a battlefield for cavalry.
A properly equipped cavalry force could easily inflict terrifying casualties on its enemies on terrain like this.
Yet their army of ten thousand could only organize a cavalry force of a little over three thousand to oppose the enemy.
With such a small amount of equipment, trying to contend against the entire Reach still carried no small amount of pressure.
One had to know that the Reach possessed not only wealth. Agriculture here was developed; it was hailed as the breadbasket of the Seven Kingdoms, and its fertile lands raised the greatest population on the entire continent.
And then on top of that, the Reach was also the birthplace of Westerosi chivalry.
The people here valued martial prowess and honored glory. Knights enjoyed supreme esteem and honor, and even tourneys and competitions were stricter and more formal here than elsewhere.
So once he truly arrived here, Jon only had to think about it to know how great the pressure they were facing was.
Jon, who had received a good education at Winterfell, had very keen instincts, and in an instant he focused on the key point of the problem.
Kal glanced at him, casually folded the letter of challenge in his hand, and put it into his clothes.
But he did not answer Jon's question. Instead, he turned to face him with evident interest.
"I'm very glad you were able to notice this issue. So, Ser Jon White Wolf, if you were Randyll Tarly right now, what method would you use to deal with me in a place like this?"
Kal smiled as he spoke, even lifting a hand to gesture at the surrounding terrain while asking in return.
Faced with Kal's counterquestion, Jon was first momentarily taken aback, then looked somewhat embarrassed.
Yet he still began to think about it instinctively.
Kal, meanwhile, waited patiently, because Jon's answer would determine what he would arrange for him to do next.
The exchange between the two of them also caused Garlan Tyrell—who had already become a member of Kal's Kingsguard—to look over subconsciously.
As the second son of House Tyrell, he could be said to be the person present who best understood the strength of the Reach.
Although he did not actually care whether the king he had chosen to serve would lose or not, he was still curious. Aside from that inhuman strength of Kal's, in what way would Kal face the challenge of Lord Randyll Tarly?
Would he once again display a miracle?
Since the Battle of Old Oak, the series of titles cried out by Lady Arwyn Oakheart—the great Bloodwind Knight, the warrior of equal courage and strength, the Father of Dragons, the Lord of Light and Thunder—had, during this period, become widespread within the army.
In private, some soldiers and knights even directly regarded Kal as the incarnation of a god.
Even when praying to the gods in private, they would call upon the name Kal El.
Yes—Kal El, not Kal Baratheon.
Kal Baratheon was the name of the king to whom they pledged loyalty, but Kal El was the self-designation of a god's incarnation walking in the mortal world.
Just as when people addressed the Seven Gods, they would sometimes call them the Father, the Mother, the Warrior, or even the Maiden.
For the Seven Gods worshipped by the Faith were, in truth, seven different aspects of a single deity, representing seven distinct virtues.
Those with less learning might believe them to be seven separate gods.
But worshippers who understood this would pray to a specific aspect of the Seven according to what they sought.
And now, for Kal's current image, some people had already begun to call him the "King."
This "King" was not the traditional kind of king they usually referred to.
Rather, it meant that the Seven Gods had gained an eighth aspect—the "King."
Perhaps after everything came to an end, the Faith of the Seven might even be changed into a Faith of the Eight Gods.
Among the statues of the Seven, an additional figure would appear—tall and imposing, wearing a crown.
Of course, these were matters for later. For now, there was only the faintest sign of such a development.
And among them, the most steadfast believer was Lady Arwyn Oakheart, who, after being stripped of her status as the castellan of Old Oak, instead became the most fervent in her faith in Kal.
People all said that she was the one who had most clearly witnessed the manifestation of a divine miracle.
Thinking over everything that had happened recently, Ser Garlan Tyrell quietly carried out his duties.
As someone who had personally been captured alive by Kal on the battlefield, he was even more clear-headed about that kind of miracle.
A gentle breeze passed over the lush green grassland, and nameless wildflowers gave off a faint fragrance.
The great tree against which Kal was leaning swayed its branches, vines and leaves brushing against one another and whispering softly.
And just when Kal felt that he was about to fall asleep, Jon spoke.
"Cavalry. In terrain like this, cavalry are the absolute kings."
"If I were Lord Randyll Tarly, I would definitely make full use of this natural advantage that favors them."
"For the Reach, cavalry are not lacking. Whether it is the breeding of warhorses or the cavalry themselves, this creates a situation that can overwhelm us."
"Your Majesty, I think the road ahead will be very difficult for us."
"Perhaps every step our army takes will be met with relentless harassment. Under circumstances where Lord Randyll Tarly holds both a troop-type advantage and a manpower advantage, he would certainly choose cavalry-based harassment and attritional tactics."
After running through a series of thoughts in his mind, Jon arrived at what he believed to be the most likely scenario, and his tone and expression could not help but grow especially grave.
Kal opened his eyes and glanced at him with a faint smile.
"Well said. Go on."
Seeing that King Kal remained so calm and untroubled, Jon's agitation—upon realizing what their army was likely to face next—eased somewhat.
However, his tone did not relax much.
"If I were Lord Randyll Tarly, I would at the very least dispatch multiple roaming cavalry units along the route."
"These men wouldn't need to do much—only to circle around us at all times, every day and every hour, and then, at random moments, launch probing attacks against our forces."
"In such circumstances, once we also dispatch cavalry to pursue them, those forces harassing our army will immediately turn and flee."
"At that point, we will face a difficult choice—whether to split our forces to pursue them, or to pull back and hold our ground, waiting for the next round of repeated attacks while remaining constantly on guard."
"These roaming cavalry units will keep following us, wearing us down, nibbling away at us, until we reach a certain point—"
Jon did not say the rest aloud, but everyone knew what he meant.
His face was full of bitterness, and he could not continue speaking.
However, Kal had no intention of letting him off.
"If Randyll Tarly really were to deal with us in the way you described, then do you have any countermeasures?"
Kal still looked at Jon with a smile, continuing to test him.
At this, even Ser Balon Swann, who had been following Kal in silence as part of his escort, looked over subconsciously.
The bitterness on Jon's face deepened.
"Our infantry form the main body of our army. Faced with this situation, we can only form dense formations, using long weapons and shields to build battle arrays, resisting cavalry charges while retaining both defensive and advancing capability."
"Archers would weaken the enemy through dense volleys."
"Cavalry would be positioned behind the infantry, striking the enemy when an opportunity presents itself—but without pursuing."
"But this would also cause us to lose mobility. When our supply situation is taken into account, this is not a long-term solution."
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I truly can't think of a way to resolve the predicament before us."
As Jon spoke, his voice grew softer and softer, and his expression worsened with each sentence.
Under so many unfavorable factors, aside from retreat, he could not think of any way to win a war in which they were completely outmatched.
This left him looking dispirited.
Kal, however, did not reproach him for it. Instead, he clapped his hands, his expression full of praise.
"Not bad. It seems Lord Eddard Stark did a fine job educating you."
"The fact that you were able to consider the comparison between our forces and the enemy's, as well as the enemy's likely methods of attack, is already very good."
"Your Majesty, what should we do now?" Ser Balon Swann asked instinctively.
"Once we know roughly how the enemy intends to deal with us, doesn't that mean we already have a solution?" Kal said with a mysterious smile.
"Besides, I suspect there may be a probing attack against us tonight."
"Jon, I'll give you a force of one thousand cavalry. You will deal with them."
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