Chapter 217 Captive
The sunset in the desert is surprisingly beautiful.
The western sky is like a golden-purple tapestry, and the clouds are blooming with brilliant and bright red colors, dyeing the Green Blood River red. The desert turned from gold to orange and then to purple, and shadows like blood flowed across the ground.
It's a pity that Edmure Tully didn't have the heart to appreciate such a beautiful scenery.
The eldest son of the Duke of Riverrun was extremely embarrassed at this time. His maroon hair was messy and tangled. It seemed that he hadn't washed it for many days. His armor was covered with mottled blood stains and messy knife marks, and his left arm was injured. The white gauze was wrapped several times, but blood still oozes out.
He sat by the Greenblood River, staring blankly at the sand.
Edmure still can't believe that things will turn out like this.
Originally, the Second Army of the Iron Throne was progressing very smoothly. Under the command of Duke Tywin Lannister, they went all the way south along the Bone Road. After conquering the city of Yronwood, the army in the east of Dorne fell apart and could not be organized again. resistance at scale.
Some small-scale raids could not stop the army. Soon, they attacked the city all the way and reached the city of Sunspear.
Seeing that victory is just around the corner, everything suddenly takes a turn for the worse.
The army in the western region actually withdrew without warning, and before leaving, they burned the food and grass of the troops in the three regions of the river, the valley, and the storm.
The fire in the middle of the night caused the camp to be in chaos. Fortunately, the Dornishmen did not go out to attack, otherwise the troops from the Three Realms might directly bomb the camp.
But even if the Dornish people missed this golden opportunity, the armies of the Three Realms are already in chaos.
The nobles were noisy, blaming and cursing each other. Edmure Tully was not a tough person, and he lacked enough prestige. He couldn't even suppress the nobles in his own riverland, let alone the other two realms. .
In this campaign against Dorne, the commander of the Vale Army was "Bronze Jon", but he had already died in the battle at Skyreach City, and Lord Renly, the commander of the Stormlands, had not returned from his envoy to Sunspear.
Sudden changes occurred, and the nobles of the three realms refused to accept each other, and no consensus could be reached at all.
The nobles of the Valley clamored to withdraw their troops. They started to quarrel when the news of the death of "Bronze Jon" came. The Stormlands paid attention to the situation of Duke Renly, who was sent to Sunspear City, and clamored to send another envoy into the city. As for the nobles in Hejian, the chaos is even more chaotic. Some say they want to withdraw their troops, some say they should go after the army from the western region, and some are even hot-headed and want to attack Sunspear City as soon as possible to obtain food supplies...
Of course, everyone is cursing Tywin Lannister, only this is unified.
From the night to the next afternoon, the messenger from the northern border finally arrived at the camp and brought the latest information from Tianzhi City. The nobles of the three realms were shocked and understood why Duke Tywin wanted to betray them.
Then there was another quarrel, some people wanted to withdraw the army, some people wanted to have peace talks with Dorne, and some people said they would go after the army of the Western Territory...
Edmure shouted hoarse before finally getting the nobles of the Three Realms to agree to withdraw first.
But when they returned the same way, they were shocked to find that all the towns and fortresses behind had been reoccupied by the Dornish people!
When the western army was retreating, they did not forget to cut off their back route.
The ferocity of the old lion made the nobles of the Three Realms gnash their teeth with hatred, and vowed to make the Lannister family pay for their blood.
But it will have to wait for them to get out of this desert.
Without food and grass supplies, not to mention the lack of morale of the army, and without a powerful figure to command the entire army, the army of the three realms soon came to the brink of collapse.
In addition, the Dornish people continued to harass, and finally on the seventh day of the withdrawal, the army of the three realms fell apart, and Edmure could no longer maintain the organizational system, so the noble knights of the three realms could only find their own way out.
After being dispersed, although the armies of the Three Realms could move more freely and flexibly, they were also more likely to become the targets of the Dornish people.
Edmure originally brought nearly 2,000 soldiers from Riverrun with him, but under the pursuit and harassment of the Dornishmen, his soldiers became fewer and fewer. In the end, the son of the Duke of Riverrun was left with less than two hundred defeated soldiers.
In desperation, he had no choice but to abandon the infantry and lead more than fifty cavalry to flee alone.
But even so, he still couldn't get rid of the tail behind him.
Those Dornish people are like poisonous snakes in the desert, tough and dangerous, jumping out from the shadows from time to time to bite.
"Lord Edmure," Sir Engel hurried over, "Our people spotted the ships of the Arbor Island Fleet upstream!"
"Really?" Edmure stood up abruptly, with hope finally shining in his eyes, "How far is it from us?"
"Not far away, the sentry spotted the Purple Grape Banner five miles upstream."
"Okay! Let's start now!"
It has become almost impossible to escape from Dorne by land, and the ships of the Qingting Island Fleet that appeared at this time became their only hope.
The cavalry mounted their horses one after another and headed east along the Green Blood River.
The setting sun has completely set on the horizon, but the moon has not had time to climb up.
Edmure Tully took the lead, already impatient.
He swore that he would never come to Dorne again in his life.
There is also the Lannister family, he must take revenge!
Suddenly the wind blew up.
The hot and dry wind rolled up the sky full of dust.
Edmure and his party had to wrap their mouths and noses with robes, and continued to move forward with difficulty.
Finally, they saw the big ship on the Green Blood River and the purple grape flag flying on it.
Hejian people never thought that the flag of Qingting Island would be so beautiful.
Soldiers began shouting, waving the trout banners of House Tully, and even lighting bonfires, trying to get the attention of the boats in the river.
Finally, the Qingting Island warship spotted the Hejian people on the shore, turned around and approached.
Edmure became more and more excited as he watched the warship getting closer and closer.
Wish there was booze on board. He thought to himself, but soon laughed at himself, how could there be no alcohol on the boat on Qingting Island.
Edmure decided that after successfully escaping this time, he must buy a hundred barrels of Arbor Isle's golden wine and store it in the wine cellar of Riverrun.
"My lord, something seems wrong!" Sir Engel's voice was solemn, interrupting Edmure's wild thoughts.
"What's wrong?"
"This warship doesn't look like it belongs to Qingting Island."
Sir Engel watched carefully for a while, and finally shouted anxiously:
"No! No! The boat on Qingting Island is not like this! This is probably a trap!"
Edmure was horrified, and finally got back on his horse under the urging of the knights, and began to run away from the Green Blood River.
But alas, it was too late.
After the warship found out that it was exposed, it immediately blew its horn.
Soon, the Dornish people appeared in the desert.
Edmure frantically urged the horse, trying to escape from the encirclement, but the horse was already extremely exhausted from the days of running around and lack of forage, and couldn't run fast at all.
"Put down your weapons, surrender without killing!" The Dornishmen began to persuade them to surrender.
Edmure turned a deaf ear and was still making the last effort.
He didn't dare to look back, for fear that when he turned his head, he would find that he had lost another group of people.
A dry willow tree appeared in front of it. Beside the tree was a stranded punting boat, which was turned upside down, like a simple cabin.
Passing the "boat house", the wooden door slammed open, and seven or eight Dornishmen rushed out with long-handled axes, just blocking the way for the Hejian people to escape.
"Put down your weapons, surrender without killing!"
Edmure clamped the horse's belly suddenly, and the war horse neighed sadly, but was still hit by a long axe in the horse's leg.
Blood splattered everywhere, Edmure rolled on the sandy ground, and when he finally stopped, he saw a Dornishman had already put the scimitar on his neck.
it is finally over. He was a little relieved.
"Edmure Tully?" The Dornishmen seemed to recognize him.
"Yes." Edmure panted, "I want to be treated as a prisoner."
"You will." The Dornishman pulled him up and led him to the river.
At this time, the "Qingting Island Warship" has also approached, and it is true that there are Dornish people standing on it.
Edmure was brought onto the boat, and then saw a face that surprised him.
"Prince Doran?"
"Ser Edmure." Prince Doran sat in a wheelchair, and behind him stood a huge man holding a long axe.
"I didn't expect you to come to arrest me in person. It's an honor."
"I personally directed this operation."
"Congratulations." Edmure said bitterly, "You have finally won a big victory. A victory written with the blood of soldiers from the three realms."
"Actually, not much blood was shed." Prince Doran spoke softly.
"What's the meaning?"
Prince Doran pointed to the shore, where the Dornishmen were taking captives from the river:
"I have issued a strict order that as long as you lay down your weapons, you will never kill people. So, now I have nearly 60,000 prisoners in the three realms."
Edmure's eyes lit up. If the number of Prince Doran is not exaggerated, then the losses of the Three Realms army this time are indeed not heavy, and most of them have become prisoners.
"Thank you for your kindness." Edmure's tone softened a lot, "The Riverland will definitely pay the right amount of money to redeem these captives."
Prince Doran shook his head and said, "I didn't say I would let you go."
"What do you mean? Are you using us as a bargaining chip?" Edmure narrowed his eyes, "Doran, which side are you on?"
"Of course I'm on Dorne's side."
"Hmph! I see you're just going to sell."
Prince Daolan smiled slightly, neither denying nor acknowledging, and turned to say:
"Now there is a problem that I need your help to solve?"
"what is the problem?"
"Food."
Edmure immediately reacted: "What? You can't afford so many prisoners, can you?"
"Yes." Prince Doran nodded and admitted, "So, if you don't want to see your companions starve to death, you'd better get me a batch of food as soon as possible."
"Then let me go back to Riverrun, and I'll go to Riverland to help you raise food." Edmure said.
"The land between the rivers is too far away, I want you to go to the river bend to help me raise money."
"River bend?" Edmure smacked his lips, "Sure, as long as you give me enough money."
Prince Doran spread his hands together: "There is no money, only one person."
"who?"
"Loras Tyrell."
Edmure sneered and said, "The third son of the Duke of Highgarden can't get food for an army of 60,000."
"How will you know if you don't try." Prince Doran seemed to have a plan in mind.
"Yes. Then I will run for you."
"Thank you."
Edmure seemed a little unbelievable that the other party let him go like this: "Aren't you worried that I ran away?"
Prince Doran laughed and said:
"Of course you can run, as long as you are willing to bear the infamy of abandoning the Hejian army."
(end of this chapter)