As the day of departure approached, the reinforcements Robb promised were also about to arrive.
As agreed, Jon came to Robb's study, and the two were about to head to the military camp together.
But the person Jon saw was Maester Luwin.
He stood at the door, and when he saw Jon, a smile of apology appeared on his face.
"Jon, there's something I need to tell you."
In Jon's memory, this was the first time Maester Luwin had shown such a flustered expression in so many years.
Jon doing Robb's dirty work had finally come back to bite him.
According to their agreement, Jon would help Robb consolidate his power, and Robb would give him an army of about five hundred men to command independently.
An army of five hundred men should have at least ten to thirteen knights as its backbone or commanders.
Moreover, Jon needed to keep Roose Bolton in check, and he couldn't do that without his own people.
In the army, the one with the biggest fist calls the shots.
However, Jon's previous actions in rectifying military discipline had already lowered the knights' favorability towards him to the absolute minimum.
When Robb sent people to recruit soldiers, those men openly stated that they would rather die than serve under a bastard.
Even Robb, who was acting as the Lord of Winterfell, could not force them.
Because this world operates on the principle of 'my vassal's vassal is not my vassal.'
When Maester Luwin explained it to Jon, he knew in his heart that if it hadn't been for the previous military discipline issues, there would still have been people willing to help Jon.
Even if Jon was a bastard, he was still Robb's brother.
He should have been assigned to a relatively safe place where it was easy to gain military merits.
There were plenty of examples of Westeros lords' vassals fighting alongside their lord's bastards.
These people simply refused to accept Jon's command because of what had happened before.
Although out of the more than four hundred knights in the entire Northern army, only a few dozen had actually been troubled by Jon over military discipline issues.
But knights have their own 'circles,' and Jon's reputation in this circle was clearly not good.
This led to almost no one being willing to follow him.
Luwin also understood that this was Jon's dedication and sacrifice, so he carefully comforted him:
"Now that the army is about to go to war, Robb has just consolidated his power, and he really cannot force them, Jon, you…"
"Maester Luwin, when I made the suggestion to Robb, I had already anticipated this situation, it's just a little bit more serious than I thought, but it's nothing, as long as I can go to the battlefield to rescue father."
Seeing Jon say this, Luwin nodded, and at that moment, Robb also happened to walk out.
"Jon, I will allocate three hundred soldiers from Winterfell to you, plus those gathered from others, I think five hundred men are still possible."
The soldiers of Winterfell were directly subordinate to Stark, and they could not disobey Robb's orders.
Moreover, these men were elites, considered Robb's compensation.
"Robb, you don't need to blame yourself. From the beginning, I said that as long as I can go to the battlefield to save father, these things are not important."
However, the more Jon said this, the more uneasy the two of them felt.
They both decided to equip Jon with the best gear and supplies.
To lighten the mood, Jon diverted the topic and asked:
"By the way, Robb, when are we setting off?"
"Oh, I was just about to tell you about that." Robb said, taking out a letter, "This is Old Walder's reply. He agrees to the alliance and will send an army of at least two thousand men!"
Speaking of the army, the Young Wolf Lord became excited.
Jon nodded. He knew that originally, Old Walder had agreed to the alliance after Catelyn went to Luanhe City and persuaded him.
Now that they had persuaded Old Walder in advance, it should be earlier than before.
After a brief chat, Robb suddenly said:
"Jon, there are actually two knights who are willing to fight with you."
"Oh? That's good, what do you think of them?"
"They…" Robb said, looking troubled, because he felt it might have been better not to say anything… "My lord, my family comes from the White Knife River, you can just call me York."
The speaker was an old knight who looked somewhat elderly.
The reason he chose to follow Jon was not out of willingness, but because he had fallen asleep during a meeting held by his lord.
Coupled with the fact that York was already close to sixty years old, his lord also disliked him, thinking he might be a burden, so he threw him out to complete the task.
Moreover, he was alone, bringing only a dozen ordinary retainers.
Removing him, on the contrary, was beneficial to the overall combat effectiveness.
However, Jon also knew that he was not in a position to be picky at the moment, so he sincerely said:
"It is an honor to fight alongside you, Ser."
The old knight felt unlucky to be following a bastard, and even though Jon had greeted him very politely, he still maintained an expressionless face.
But it didn't matter, once on the battlefield, he would have to listen to Jon.
If he was unhappy, then so be it.
Then, Jon came before another knight, who looked quite presentable.
He was twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with standard height and build, and his armor was gleaming.
He didn't look like someone who would doze off during a meeting.
Jon was a little curious, so he waited for him to introduce himself.
But after waiting for a long time, the fellow didn't say a word.
Jon was a bit puzzled, so he awkwardly turned to look at Maester Luwin.
Luwin leaned into Jon's ear and whispered:
"That, this is Ser Tommen, he… is a bit slow-witted."
Jon nodded, roughly understanding the situation.
What about nobles? Can't nobles be slow-witted?
When Robb ordered to assemble a direct unit for Jon, Tommen's lord immediately thought of who to hand over.
So he was pushed out to complete the task.
However, Maester Luwin still spoke some good words for him; at least in terms of military skills, Ser Tommen was qualified.
Jon was speechless in his heart. He thought to himself that his only 'Sleeping Dragon and Phoenix Chick' had actually gathered all four buffs: old, weak, sick, and disabled.
But since things had come to this, he would just go with it for now.
Jon looked at the two again and said:
"Sers, this is my first time on the battlefield, and we are few in number. If you have any opinions or suggestions, you can tell me directly…"
"My lord, my name is Tommen Lecky, from the Lecky family of Long Lake. This time I brought thirty-two retainers, consisting of two light cavalry, seven infantry, and three archers…"
Jon, who was halfway through his sentence, stared at Lecky in astonishment.
This reaction was too slow!
Could he really perform on the battlefield?
As Jon sighed, Old York, the knight beside him, could no longer maintain his composure.
He frowned and pursed his lips, his old face twisted like the pleats on a steamed bun.
He probably had no hope of gaining military merits or spoils of war from this conflict.
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