The Glory of the Seven Gods of Ice and Fire

Chapter 255 Gains and Losses
While the battle for the West was in full swing, on the other side of Westeros, Hugo's army had already landed in King's Landing.

This time, Hugo brought 30,000 troops from the East, which was far from the limit of the military strength of the Seven Kingdoms in the East, because he had to leave troops to deal with the possible invasion of the Targaryens. However, a small number of people does not mean a lack of combat effectiveness. These 30,000 troops are a strong division that has been tempered through thousands of trials. They are not only experienced, but also have high morale. Hugo has not been idle in the past few months. He has compiled statistics on the performance of various units in the previous battles of glory, and left those inexperienced, low-morale, and poorly disciplined teams in the East for garrison - he does not want to capsize at the last moment.

At the same time as the army set out from the Holy War Port, Hugo also sent messengers to ask his allies in Westeros to lead their troops to assemble in King's Landing so that they could gather strength as soon as possible. Therefore, when Hugo arrived at the capital of the kingdom, Stannis, Frey and the armies of the king's lords had been stationed in the suburbs for some time. At this time, Hugo's army reached 60,000, and some lords from farther away were still on their way.

Hugo's allies were confident of victory. After all, they were led by the invincible God's Blessed One. Under the leadership of the God's Blessed One, victory was inevitable. In this optimistic atmosphere, Hugo did not rush inland, but set out to restore order in King's Landing.

Although King's Landing has regained a certain prosperity after the civil war and the long winter, the damage caused by the war and Cersei is not so easy to heal, which is why Dontos can call on the King's Landing militia to rebel and remain neutral.

Hugo needed the support of the people of King's Landing. After the reforms of old Arryn, the citizens of King's Landing were a powerful force in the Crown. If he could gain the support of the people of King's Landing, the tens of thousands of militiamen in the city would likely join the army. Therefore, after Hugo entered King's Landing, he immediately requisitioned a large number of ships from the East to deliver various supplies that were lacking in the city to the citizens, which restored the order of the capital to a great extent. Naturally, Hugo's move was cheered in King's Landing. The residents of the capital had suffered from the shadow of confrontation and shortage of supplies during this period. The prosperous days of Robert's era were gone forever. Although the supplies put into the market by the Regent were not enough to restore the former scene, the necessities were already sufficient. In the situation that worsened after the death of the Conqueror, they were already satisfied with the current situation.

Next, with the coordination of Dontos, the autonomous communities and industry guilds in the entire city of King's Landing, led by the Oriental community in the capital, all pledged their loyalty to the Eastern Regent. However, they expressed strong resistance to the militia accompanying them on the expedition. Hugo did not force them. His current war strategy was that quality was more important than quantity. Since the militia were unwilling to fight, they would just defend the capital well, and those who were willing to make achievements would be willing to accompany them.

In this way, Hugo successfully controlled the capital of the kingdom. At the same time, he also issued a manifesto to the whole of Westeros, denouncing the Queen Mother's perverse actions after the regency and the behavior of dragging her feet and poaching in the war against the White Walkers. Finally, Hugo announced that the purpose of his westward march was to defend the order of the kingdom and bring a new era to the kingdom. Most importantly, he said that all this was the will of the Seven Gods.

At the same moment the manifesto was issued, the High Bishop of King's Landing also lifted his silence and expressed his support for Hugo. The power of the Church of the Seven was then fully mobilized. They announced throughout Westeros that Hugo's army was the will of the Seven Gods, and that all those who resisted and opposed Hugo were sinners despised by the Seven Gods.

To make matters worse, thanks to Euron's destruction of Oldtown, the Starry Sept, which was powerful enough to oppose the Archbishop of King's Landing and establish a new central government, has been destroyed. A large number of local church personnel have also died in the massacre and melee. The River Reach can only passively respond in the war of public opinion. They hastily brought in an old bishop to fight back against King's Landing - but these counterattacks were pale and powerless.

At the same time, some unfriendly remarks towards the Tyrell family were heard in the circle of Riverbend nobles. However, before the Tyrells suffered a crushing defeat, these remarks were just remarks after all. Even if the system created by the Queen of Thorns lost two of its three pillars, its influence still existed.

Compared to the Reach, the reaction in the Vale was more intense. The Guardian of the Valley, Petyr Baelish, had long since established the Bishop of Gulltown in Gulltown. When the Archbishop's order was issued, Gulltown immediately refuted the King's Landing Church. However, although Littlefinger had made preparations in advance, these measures could no longer affect areas outside the Vale. Rather than denouncing Hugo, its role was more to appease those devout believers of the Seven Gods among his subordinates.

Dorne's reaction remained silent. This large territory was firmly in the hands of the Martell family. Prince Doran had not participated in the civil war before and had preserved his strength. His control over the princes in the territory was still in place.

Among the people, as the manifesto and the statement of the Church of the Seven were issued, another group of nobles and knights turned to Hugo, and the Ironborn who returned to the Iron Islands were also unwilling to be left out. These guys who only cared about eating and not fighting set sail again, either looting the River Bay or joining the fierce fighting in Oldtown. Moreover, the Florent family has now successfully established an alliance with the Ironborn. With Brightwater as a starting base, the Ironborn can attack a wider range, and Tyrell has to transfer more strength and energy to the interior to prevent these ulcers from developing into a major disaster that endangers the entire River Bay.

At the same time, the battle for the Westerly between the two armies also came to an end after a fierce battle. The centaurs loyal to Tywin proved their loyalty. They fought to the last man, leaving only the old, weak, women and children of the tribe to surrender - this is also their tradition. The losses of the River Bend army were also not small, but due to the timely retreat, they still managed to preserve a certain strength.

In the end, Tyrion successfully entered Casterly Rock, accepted the allegiance of the Lannister people, and truly became the Duke of the Westerlands - only half of the Westerlands, the southern part which lacked natural defenses was still occupied by the nobles of the River Bay.

The results of the battle in the west were not a complete victory, but this was acceptable to Hugo. Tyrion had taken the most essential part of the Westerlands, and his side no longer had to worry about the Riverbend army using the Westerlands to attack the river. This was already a success. The next battle in the west only needed to wait for Tyrion to mobilize the forces of the Westerlands. Whether he chose to defend or attack next, it was in line with Hugo's arrangement for him.

At the same time, Tyrion's crime of patricide has not faded. It has been overshadowed by the honor of the previous North Shore Expedition, but it will still affect the rule of the little devil. Hugo hopes that Tyrion can hold the seat under his buttocks by himself. No matter how much he wants to help him, he has to wait until the current war is over to free up his hands.

Of course, as the commander-in-chief of the army, Hugo could not just wait in the castle of King's Landing for the troops to arrive and send back good news; in fact, he had already made the next decision - to attack the valley.

Hugo is not in a hurry to have a decisive battle with the enemy. He knows that the key to this war is no longer the few great nobles in Westeros, but the Dragon Queen in the East. More importantly, given the usual nature of the descendants of the Gardener King, a rash invasion of the River Bay is likely to cause them to unite, which would be counterproductive.

What's more, the territory of River Bend is so huge that if Hugo wants to occupy the area, he may have to put all the forces at hand into it, and it will be easy to get stuck in the quagmire. The same is true for Dorne. The local desert has resisted several generations of dragon kings.

In comparison, the situation in the Vale is more favorable to the army. The rule of this land was originally usurped by Petyr Baelish through conspiracy. Now that the young Duke and Lysa have disappeared, the nobles of the Vale are very dissatisfied with this guy Petyr. The local area is already full of rebels against Petyr, not to mention that Hugo himself is a Vale native, and the locals are also very close to him, so the Vale is a perfect target.

Moreover, strategically, the valley is located behind the army's front line and is a nail that the anti-Hugo forces have driven into Hugo's back. From this perspective, they must also recover the valley to prevent Little Finger from attacking from behind.

However, when Hugo was planning and organizing the siege of the valley and thinking about how to break through the Bloody Gate and Seagull Town, Littlefinger made a decision that no one expected. He gave up the valley.

.

For Petyr Baelish, abandoning the Vale was a difficult but necessary decision.

As the son of a wealthy knight in the Five Fingers Peninsula, Littlefinger embarked on a path that a person of his background should not and dared not think of. He also gained countless glory and power on this path, and for this, he paid countless sacrifices.

For Little Finger, his career must not fail. He has worked so hard to climb to this position, how can he give up?
So, after the war with the White Walkers ended, Littlefinger began to think about how to deal with the next situation.

As a top power player in Westeros, Littlefinger has a very clear view of other things, except for the invasion of the White Walkers and Hugo's unexpected turnaround in the East during the civil war. For example, in his opinion, this war should have happened soon after the civil war: the power of the Eastern Regent was too great and would inevitably join the next round of the power game. His retreat at that time was all preparation for this obvious war.

However, the invasion of the White Walkers delayed the confrontation on both sides of the Narrow Sea. After confirming the truth of the matter, even Littlefinger couldn't help but panic. Tricks and tactics were of no use to these monsters. However, it was beyond his expectations that Hugo formed a rebel army to go north to fight against the White Walkers.

During that time, Littlefinger once doubted whether he was still living in the original world. In his previous cognition, even if there were miracles in the world, it was impossible for evil spirits to interfere in the world on a large scale. Until the invasion of the White Walkers broke his idea. So, in such a difficult situation, Petyr had to follow Hugo's baton and sent reinforcements and a large amount of supplies to the rebels for survival and reputation.

Fortunately, the invasion of the White Walkers ended much faster than he expected, so that when Petyr was just leading the army to prepare for the north and preparing for the retreat, the war in the north had already ended. After a big sigh of relief, Petyr realized that the next war would be a confrontation between Hugo and the kingdom. Everything was still developing as he expected, but the time was delayed. At the same time, he also found that his actions in the war were not enough to redeem his lost reputation. The slow speed of the valley army made some people doubt their motives, which was not a good sign.

The War against the White Walkers made Petyr realize the power of Hugo. In order to fight against Hugo, he decided to invite another leader who was rumored to have performed miracles. It was during the process of inviting this leader that Petyr discovered Dorne's little secret, laying the foundation for his own alliance in the future.

At the same time, Petyr also realized that his greatest advantage at the moment was not his control over the valley, but the officials, soldiers, nobles and fellow villagers under his command. There were nearly 20,000 of these people, and they were all his die-hard fans. As long as these people were still there, he would still be a player in the game of power, and it would not be difficult for him to choose a place to make a comeback.

Therefore, facing the fact that the Vale would be trapped after the war, Petyr began to transfer some manpower and assets to the south early on. The uprising that affected the entire Vale further strengthened his idea. However, he still had some fantasies about his hometown: it would be too embarrassing to lose everything after so much effort to become the guardian of the canyon. So he kept waiting and did not leave immediately.

Finally, when Hugo's intention to besiege him was revealed, Petyr resolutely loaded the Myr fleet with all the supplies he could find. The fleet sailed away from Seagull Harbor with the remaining troops and dependents of the Vale, the heirs of the Arryn family, and the noble hostages, and left the Vale cleanly and neatly.

Petyr's choice was beyond everyone's expectations. No one thought that Littlefinger would choose to fight to the death. Therefore, the Myr fleet successfully broke through the encirclement of the army and successfully left the original cage. Of course, the news of Littlefinger's departure could not be concealed. All parties in the Vale quickly learned about it, and then one by one the castles in the Vale changed their flags. No one would defend Littlefinger's regime because Littlefinger took all his supporters away.

However, Littlefinger's departure also caused the Vale to quickly fall into chaos. The knights of the Five Fingers Peninsula, the barbarians of the Moon Mountains, and the ambitious people who were always there all started to revolt. They began to stir up trouble in this leaderless environment of the Vale. When Littlefinger was still there, the Vale could still maintain the most basic peace. Now that Littlefinger is gone, the Vale immediately fell into complete chaos. The once wealthy Vale was full of bandits and war gangs, and there was chaos and fighting everywhere.

Therefore, although the Vale fell into Hugo's hands smoothly, he still had to clean up the mess in the Vale - this was exactly what Petyr wanted to achieve, and this was also a method he was very good at. At the same time, because the nobles of the Vale were concerned about the safety of the captured family heads, they could not provide much support to Hugo. Hugo took over the Vale, but was unable to mobilize the power of the Vale. Instead, he had to send troops to the Vale to protect the rear.

I have to say, Mr. Canyon Guardian really disgusted Hugo.

Of course, troubles aside, the actual damage caused to Hugo by the mess is still very limited. For him, stabilizing the Vale is not a difficult thing. The Vale gathers the most devout Seven Gods believers in Westeros, and he is not only their fellow countryman, but also a recognized God-favored person in the kingdom, and has extremely high prestige in this land. He will not spend time going to the Vale at the moment. Although he can quickly quell the local chaos by going to the Vale, it will also take a lot of time, and he has no time to waste on it now; he will only send his own messengers and those devout priests of the Seven Gods. Although these people cannot immediately quell the chaos in the Vale, it is enough to ensure that the chaos does not overflow.

However, although this problem was not difficult to solve, Hugo was quite annoyed with Petyr. This guy's methods were still so cruel. Even if they were not fatal, they could hit the opponent's sore spot, especially since he had encountered it twice.

Hugo is determined to defeat Petyr, and he will use a great battle to show Littlefinger that tactics cannot defeat absolute power. Petyr must pay the price for what he has done.

He waited for that day to come.

(End of this chapter)