Ice and Fire: Conquering the World Starting from the Wall

To guard against the White Walkers, the campfires in the camp burned all night, and their light shone brightly on the ice walls in the darkness.

Warhorses, having lived alongside humans for a long time, know how to find safe places; they know that where there is a campfire, there is hope.

Upon seeing the horses, Lynn immediately recognized them as belonging to Stannis's army, as the saddles were so exquisite and ornate that the Night's Watch of Eastwatch would not use them.

Several soldiers are comforting them, feeding them grains and water.

Only a few days had passed, and these once plump and strong warhorses had become so thin that their ribs were showing. It can be inferred that they had experienced a great deal of physical exertion and were not getting enough to eat.

Someone was searching through the package tied to the saddle, but found nothing except a few tools for cleaning the horse.

"Didn't you spot the rider?"

"Lynn asked."

"Hama went to search himself; the hoofprints in the snow are very clear, so we should be able to find them."

Halk answered immediately.

By this time, all the resting men had been awakened, and the cavalrymen, without removing their armor or dismounting their horses, quickly entered a state of alert.

Lynn estimated that only a dozen minutes had passed when Hamma returned to the camp with about ten riders, their spare horse carrying three unconscious people.

All three men wore wool cloaks printed with stag logos. One of them had his shirt pulled open, revealing a bright red skin on his chest, clearly indicating severe hypothermia.

The other two weren't much better off. Despite everyone's efforts—warming them by the fire, feeding them water, and massaging their limbs—two of them still died, leaving only the one who looked quite young alive.

Once he regained some consciousness, he was immediately carried to Lynn for questioning.

"What happened? Where are your king and army?"

Lynn asked, looking down.

The young man looked about the same age as Jon Snow; he must be a knight's squire.

Because of the insignia on his armor, he initially mistook the free civilian cavalry around him for his own people.

"They've all... been scattered, dead people... dead people everywhere... and dead wild animals..."

Seeing his half-asleep, terrified expression, Lynn frowned.

My worst fears came true.

Although Stannis's army was without armor, it was still a thousand-strong force, fully armed, and knew how to defend themselves with fire. If they were still attacked by the White Walkers under these circumstances, then there are only two possibilities.

Either they went too far and entered the White Walkers' territory.

Either the White Walkers are not short of manpower and are already daring to attack a force of more than a thousand people.

Before this, it should be noted that free people could avoid being attacked simply by lighting enough bonfires.

Does this mean that most of the wildlings who did not heed Mans' call and remained in the vast wilderness hoping for a miracle have already been transformed by the White Walkers?

According to Mans' own estimate, in addition to those willing to join him in attacking the Wall, there were at least 2 to 5 people scattered throughout the vast northern mountains and forests.

These people either disregarded the summons from Mans, the King of the Frontier, or they were simply too isolated and out of touch with the outside world to receive the notification.

This is not good news.

The young servant seemed on the verge of fainting again, so Lynn quickly asked:

"Where were you attacked? Where are the Stanniss?"

"Hard...hardship...the king was...taken away by ship...leaving horses...for...the rest of the people to escape..."

The servant lost consciousness again after speaking, and Lynn quickly ordered people to continue treatment.

None of them are good news.

His original plan was that Stannis, having lost supplies and a way out, would come to him and surrender on his own.

Unexpectedly, he was eventually picked up by Carter Parker.

Lynn pondered for a moment, then summoned Hamma.

"Send a team back to inform Mans, on the fastest horses."

Tell him that the White Walkers are ignoring numbers and fire, and have begun attacking gathered crowds; the number of the undead army may have increased significantly.

There were still some slower-moving free citizens on the road, and he had to remind them.

Hama accepted the order and immediately began selecting people.

Lynn cast his gaze into the boundless forest, feeling as if countless ghostly figures were about to burst forth.

A chill suddenly ran through me.

"Wake the giant up, and we'll travel through the night."

He said this to Halk, who had stayed by his side.

The giants heard the noise and came over to check, but after finding nothing was wrong, they went back to sleep, snoring loudly.

The cavalrymen had to bang their shields or helmets against their ears with their steel swords to wake them up.

The giants, who were woken up again, were very unhappy, and Lynn had to explain the situation to them in his half-baked ancient giant language, which he had only recently learned.

Upon hearing that there might be danger, Mag immediately woke up, waking up his tribesmen who were still lying down with a mix of hitting and cursing.

Giants have difficulty conceiving, and for the sake of the race's survival, female giants are absolutely not allowed to take any risks, so this time all the giants who came were male.

If something goes wrong and they are all wiped out, then our entire race will truly be exterminated.

While they were making torches, some people stripped the dead Lu family cavalrymen naked, removed their clothes and boots, and threw them into the fire to burn them.

The free people had long been accustomed to not wasting anything, so they did it skillfully and without any psychological burden.

Half an hour later, the two groups carrying torches parted ways here, each heading towards one side of the Great Wall.

It wasn't until the evening of the second day, when they were about to reach Eastview, that Lynn and his men finally encountered the second wave of defeated soldiers.

There were about twenty people in this group, and they seemed to be in better condition than the three people we found earlier. At least they were still able to sit firmly on their horses and weren't so weak that they fell off.

Hamma easily surrounded them.

It's less a matter of encirclement and more a matter of their voluntary surrender.

As soon as the Free People's cavalry made their move to raid the enemy's rear, these routs who had been without food for who knows how many days dismounted, dropped their weapons, and knelt on the ground.

They were all so hungry and emaciated that it was quite surprising that they didn't kill the horse for meat.

They probably knew that losing their mounts in the harsh environment beyond the Great Wall was tantamount to being sentenced to death by General Winter.

When Lynn questioned them about whether they had any other companions, the oldest of the cavalrymen replied:

"If you head north along the coast, you can find at least 300 men, because the king has promised to send a ship to fetch us."

He weakly spat on the ground to express his anger.

"But in my opinion, the king will not return; that woman in red has bewitched him."

Before she arrived, the Duke of Dragonstone never abandoned his loyal soldiers.

But ever since the Scarlet Witch arrived, Stannis first abandoned his army at the Blackwater River, and now he's left us behind, taking only his Red Witch and his so-called "Hermione Party" nobles with him on a boat and escaping..."

Based on the information he had received earlier, Lynn already understood the situation.

It seems that in the critical moment, Stannis only had time to take away his nobles and important figures like the Scarlet Witch, while the remaining soldiers were left to fend for themselves.

Given the heavy losses, saying they would send a ship to pick them up was just a false pretense.

At least the angry soldiers in front of them didn't believe it.