Chapter 19: -x-x-x- Chapter 19 -x-x-x-
On our first morning back at the Rock, Tygett and I could be found out on the drilling fields watching as the semi trained officers led the pikemen through their drills. In the nearly six months that had passed since the men found themselves chivvied out of their beds one morning and told that they were to become the first of a new type of army they had gone from a stumbling block that could barely hold formation at a steady walk to a well drilled formation that could turn on a dime and hold the lines steady at a full charge.
"Most impressive Jaime, but will they stand fast when a line of knights comes charging down on them at a full gallop?" the battle hardened mercenary commander asked.
"A question we can't answer until that moment comes, but I think that they will hold. At least by the time their training is complete. So are you interested in training me an army of them twenty thousand strong?" I answered honestly.
"Only pikemen?" he questioned.
I shook my head "No, I want them supported by light cavalry in the vein of the Dothraki. Skirmishers who can harry enemy infantry yet are fleet enough to avoid contact with enemy knights. Their purpose would be to strike fast and hard behind the battle lines, raiding enemy camps and supply lines. Well that and ride down the enemy once they break on the pikes. Know any independent Dothraki who would be interested in being hired as instructors?"
Tygett thought about what I had said for a bit "Are you trying to create some kind of combined arms force based on the Unsullied and Dothraki?"
I gave a nod and round of applause "Very good Uncle, you're the first one to realize that. Although I was actually inspired by the Lockstep Legions of Old Ghis when I came up with the idea of the pikemen. I got to thinking about what I could do with so disciplined a force and then how they should be equipped to be most effective, these pikes were the result.
"Westerosi knights to act as heavy cavalry and the hammer to break enemy armies. The pikes to act as the anvil and control the battlefield. The skirmishers to raid enemy supply lines and cut down the enemy infantry once they break. I've also recruited nearly four thousand young boys from among the sons of the Red Cloaks and started them training as archers."
Tygett whistled in surprise "Well led such an army would destroy anything it faced in the field. A bit weak on siege though."
I smiled nastily at that "You haven't heard then."
"Heard what?" he questioned.
"That I've got a dozen Alchemists and their apprentices set up down in one of the played out mines under the Rock and they are working on a means to more safely use wildfire against fixed fortifications. Imagine being able to fire a scorpion bolt, or even an arrow, at a castles gate and have it set the gate ablaze with wildfire. The Alchemists tell me an amount smaller than your pinky should burn wood to ash in seconds but will find itself rapidly dwindling when faced with nought but stone for fuel." I explained, thinking about the various experiments going on down in those deep mines even as we spoke. It turns out that making an arrow that was both effective and safe enough for use was quite difficult, but progress was being made.
Tygett flinched "Wildfire? That substance has burned everyone who ever thought they could field it successfully."
"Aye, and just like them I think I've found a way around the problems. I could be wrong, of course, but the stuff just has too much potential for me to overlook. So far the work has been promising but it may well prove unworkable in the end, for now though I am operating under the assumption that it will end up being a viable weapon. If time should prove otherwise then we'll reassess the siege issue later.
"Still, you've seen the troops and heard my plans. Are you willing to be Lord General and command it for me?" I replied, thinking about the fact that I could always introduce black powder if the wildfire didn't pan out.
Tygett silently stared out over the field for a long while before turning to face me, "Aye, I'll do it. Is there any specific reason you've decided to push these plans of yours so hard though? With Dorne having bent the knee and the only other claimants to the throne being small children with no real support, war seems unlikely."
"We'll talk about that later today, with my council in private." I answered curtly, earning a nod of acquiescence from the older man.
We would indeed talk about it when Cersei, Gerion, Tygett, Genna, and I were closeted away in my Solar after lunch.
"While I was in King's Landing, Tyrion provided me a briefing on Balon Greyjoy and it has crystallized some of my half formed plans so I decided that it was time to fully brief you all. We will get into the details in a bit, but to summarize this very briefly - within ten years, five if I have anything to say about it, we will go to war with the Iron Islands."
I held up a hand to short circuit the questions that I knew they all had and continued "Balon Greyjoy, unlike his father, is a firm believer in the Old Ways and the Drowned God. More, he is by all accounts an ambitious man with more balls than brains who has already ordered not just the rebuilding of the Iron Fleet but its expansion.
"If allowed to act as he will, neither Tyrion nor I has any doubt that he will put the Driftwood Crown upon his brow and declare independence from the Iron Throne the instant that he thinks he can get away with it. In other words, just as soon as his fleets building program is completed and he sees an opportunity. Does anyone here disagree with my representation of Balon?"
Receiving four head-shakes, with varying degrees of hesitancy, in return I said "So the question becomes; what do we do about this?"
I took a deep breath and said levelly "My decision is to resolve the festering boil that is the Ironborn permanently. I plan on building up our army and navy while simultaneously trying to make Greyjoy think me a weak fop so that when he moves I will have an unimpeachable excuse to respond with extreme force. That response would start with our forces humbling, or exterminating, Houses Harlaw and Drumm with the goal of acquiring Nightfall and Red Rain. Ideally this would be accomplished before forces from any of the other kingdoms can reach the Islands.
"Then we will move against House Greyjoy and exterminate it root and branch. Any minor sons will be taken as wards by loyal lords to be sent to the Wall upon reaching adult hood while the daughters will go to the Silent Sisters, everyone else bearing the name Greyjoy will be killed.
"We will then push for Prince Stannis to be removed from Dragonstone and named Lord Paramount of the Iron Isles. If he has a son, she will marry one of the Greyjoy daughters - assuming that one exists - to solidify his claim. Thoughts?"
Cersei is the one who spoke first "You want to encourage Greyjoy to rebel?"
I gave a firm nod "Aye, and one of your jobs will be to make sure that Robert is seen to be disinterested in ruling and is perceived by the Ironborn as a weak man. Balon is unlikely to make a move if he thinks that Robert will actually call the banners in response to his actions. The truth is that the Ironborn have never been all that integrated into the Seven Kingdoms, and that is something that I would like to see changed before your son takes the throne."
Genna shook her head "So you want to build two massive canals, rebuild King's Landing, pick a war with the Faith, and conquer the Iron Islands all at the same time? Even we can't manage all of that Jaime."
"I want the canals started when the Ironborn are still a threat because I want to use the promise of alliance against Ironborn raiders as one of the reasons for Lord's Tully and Stark to agree. I figure we can get some nice concessions out of them in exchange for that promise, and with Stannis ruling the place the threat will be gone so those promises won't end up costing us anything. That means taking the workers from the poor of King's Landing." I explained.
Tygett spoke up "That's all fine, but what's this about a war with the Faith?"
Before I could say anything Genna answered "Jaime has some damn fool notion of refusing to marry and instead taking a bunch of women as his whores before having Robert legitimize the bastards, all to get the Faith so angry that they break Maegor's laws and reconstitute the Faith Militant."
Tygett stared at her in horror for a moment before turning to face me, "Did you forget about the fucking Blackfyre's boy?"
I gave them both a flat look and said "Ignoring, for the moment, that the plans in question are much more complicated than that Aunt Genna; no I didn't forget about the Blackfyre's.
"Instead I remembered the preceding centuries of history both among the Targaryens and among the North. Orys Baratheon was Aegon's bastard brother and he served ably and with loyalty for his entire life, and he was just the first of more than a dozen Targaryen bastards to have served their house ably as Kingsguards, Hands, Small Council members, and every other position of influence you could name.
"In the North, bastards were seen as nothing more than a slight blemish on the fathers honor and again have a long history of serving their families ably and with honor. It's only among the Andals, whose Faith demonizes the bastard and demands that they be shunned, that we see a history of bastards striking against their blood.
"What decides the worth of a man, true born or bastard, is not whether his parents were wed before the eyes of the gods or not; but how he is raised. And my bastards will be raised to see one another as family, to be one pride that stands together against the world. That, however is a matter for another day.
"What matters now is that I have no intention of even hinting at legitimizing my future bastards until after the Iron Islands have been pacified. Breaking the Faith won't be done with armies and swords, although both will have a role, but instead with minstrels and rumors. And that takes time, years worth of it."
Tygett clearly wasn't convinced of my argument but he also, clearly, decided that this wasn't the time for the argument and so gave a curt nod. Genna on the other hand wasn't so convinced and so turned to Cersei.
"What's your opinion on this idea of bastards for heirs Cersei?" she asked.
'sorry auntie, but there is a reason I made sure this meeting didn't occur last night'
My sister's response was far different than it had been when I told her of my plans the night before, she had initially raged and shouted but some physical relaxation had bought me time to soothe her ego and convince her that she was the only woman I could ever love and since I couldn't have her I refused to marry, yet I still needed heirs unless she wanted to see Tyrion as the next Lord of the Rock.
"That I have some concerns over making sure it doesn't result in a Blackfyre situation but otherwise I'm fine with it. Name an eligible women suitable for being the Lady of Casterly Rock, because I can't think of even one that I find worthy of my brother or our house. No, better that they know their place and that they are honored with the privilege of birthing a child who will bare our houses name than for him to raise an unworthy women to our house only so that the mewling sheep can be satisfied with his heir." she replied.
Genna was persistent though "We do have cousins who already bare our name, surely you don't think all them unworthy."
Cersei only raised an eyebrow "Cousins who are all born of our bannermen. To favor one by elevating their daughter as his wife would offend the rest unless the house in question does something to deserve that reward. Tell me, you were close to father. Who did he intend for Jaime to marry?"
She winced at that, causing me to look at her in curiosity given that I had no clue who Tywin had in mind for me wife. "He sent a note to Tygett asking him to find a noble daughter from the Free Cities who was suitable." she said, causing me to turn to my uncle and raise an eyebrow.
He shrugged "Don't look at me, it hadn't arrived by the time I had started my journey back here."
I gave a slight nod "And if it had, does any daughter of Essos spring to your mind as a suitable candidate to be my wife?"
"No, those with the needed power come with downsides that would do almost as much harm to your reputation here in the Seven Kingdoms as legitimizing your bastards would. Every house of any real note over there is involved in the slave trade whether they call it that or not, and none of them would bring our house anything of note save the daughter herself. They simply don't have armies like we do and their gold is ultimately meaningless to us, nor do they have connections in the Kingdoms that would prove useful to you." he said, clearly unhappy with what he said but also clearly unwilling to lie to me about it.
"So my point stands. Besides, remaining unmarried keeps our options open if things should change in the relatively near future. Now let's move onto what's happened while I've been in the capital." I said, moving the meeting onto less contentions topics.
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RaiseHavoc
RaiseHavoc Dear readers unfortunately it’s the end of the line.. I am not the original author, I’m just a guy who decided to post something cool I read one day (see full synopsis) I’ve tried to contact the author himself but no luck in any kind of response. The guy is a political head so I’m sure his writing hobby doesn’t mean much to him but if you want to shoot your shot for answers, here’s the realm he currently delves in https://www.the-sietch.com/index.php?members/emperor-tippy.8/
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