CHAPTER 170: AFTERMATH OF THE NIGHT RAID - I

Chapter 170: Aftermath of the Night Raid - I

130 Kilometers North of The Wall

POV of Robb Stark

As it turned out, Lord Bolton needed no help from Robb at all, and he and his men had already dealt with the surprise night raid by the time they came to help him.

"Cave Dwellers." Lord Bolton explained as he pointed at the corpses on the snowy ground, making him feel a slight nausea at the sight and smell.

’Oh god, the smell is awful.’ That’s what Robb thought.

If Lord Bolton noticed how uncomfortable he felt around so many dead bodies, he didn’t comment on it. Something he was grateful for.

"Some five hundred of them attacked us at night. Hoping to take us by surprise in the darkness." Lord Bolton said and stabbed a man in the back, who shuddered one more time before going still.

"Our wargs saw them coming from kilometers away. These fools never stood a chance. I would pity them if they had not managed to kill a dozen of my men."

A dozen men in exchange for 500 of the enemies. Robb wondered how well-trained the Bolton men were to sustain such a low number of casualties.

Taking a proper look at the corpses, he noticed that they were dressed in crudely made furs that looked like they had not been washed for decades and held stone weapons.

He looked around and noticed that only a few of the cave dwellers even had proper weapons. None had any armor. He was not surprised that they were decimated against the Bolton men, who were well-trained and well-armed.

Lord Bolton’s army had already become famous from his previous expedition to the North. Still, when Robb saw Lord Bolton’s army with his own eyes on this expedition, he suspected the rumors were insufficient. Or perhaps Lord Bolton had managed to improve his army even further.

If Robb had to describe Lord Bolton’s army in one word, it would be "discipline."

He had never seen such a disciplined army. All the men moved together, unified.

Despite their discipline, the armies of House Stark and the other lords were nowhere near Lord Bolton’s army.

After all, each warrior had a different fighting style. Each had different abilities, as well as various fears. Ultimately, no matter how diligently they tried to obey orders, when the order to charge came, each man fought his own battle on the battlefield.

But Lord Bolton’s army was different. This army’s men didn’t act individually. Robb had no idea how Lord Bolton managed to do this.

Besides the army’s discipline, their equipment was also the finest in the North, perhaps the best in all of Westeros. Every man possessed armor and weapons made of Frost Steel. Robb didn’t think even the King’s army was that well-equipped.

Considering the state of Lord Bolton’s army, Robb thought it wasn’t surprising that they had survived even a night raid with so few casualties.

Though he was sure that the story would be slightly different if the warg had not noticed the attackers, wargs truly did make for excellent scouts.

Maybe he should stop listening to his mother’s continuous warnings and ask one of Lord Bolton’s warg to teach them the art of warging.

It seemed like warging could be helpful in many ways. Scouting, tracking, surveillance, and more. Everything else aside, he would have acquired some pretty valuable wartime skills.

But alas, he’d have to convince his mother of the idea first.

"Didn’t the cave dwellers live 100 kilometers to the west?" he asked, wondering if he had misread the map.

"128 kilometers West-North from here in the Frozen Mountains. Yes. You have a good memory, Robb." Lord Bolton said, and he felt his chest swell in pride, even if Lord Bolton was able to recall the exact location of the Cave Dwellers from their present location. "I did not expect to see them here, let alone get attacked by them when they were so outnumbered. They must be desperate."

He looked at their lack of armor and proper weapons and frowned, "Why would they attack us when we not only outnumber them but also have better weapons and armor?" Though even as he asked that, he was ashamed that he was only wearing a leather gambeson, as wearing the steel armor would take a lot of time.

Lord Bolton, on the other hand, was wearing his strange armor, which covered him from head to toe. Covered with the blood of the fallen foes along with swords that were equally covered with blood, he made for quite a sight in the moonlight.

He wondered if Lord Bolton slept with his armor on and if he should do the same.

It would have been better if he had consulted Uncle Benjen and Ser Rodric on this matter. There were still many things he didn’t know and lacked experience with.

He needed to start actively asking questions, rather than simply learning by watching and doing. Otherwise, it seemed impossible for him to reach his goal: Lord Bolton’s level.

"They’re ignorant and never leave the safety of their caves and venture out into the world. They probably saw our steel and were overcome by greed. Or perhaps it was our food and warm clothes. Take heed, Robb. Sometimes an ignorant foe who doesn’t know to fear can be much more dangerous than a wise enemy who knows when to stay away." Lord Bolton stabbed another Cave Dweller in the back, but this one was already dead.

"Plus. No one ever accused the cave dwellers of being very smart." Lord Bolton said as he casually stepped over the corpse and went looking for any survivors, like so many other Bolton men were doing around them.

"People say that centuries of living in the same caves and having incest with their mother, sister, and daughters have dulled their brains. You’ll not hear me arguing with those people."

Even if he could not see Lord Bolton’s face, he could feel that he was smiling underneath his helmet.

---------------

Hey folks. You can get a 30% discount on my Gold

, Platinum, Diamond, and Mithril level Patreon memberships with the code 10VAN2025 until the end of October.

---------------

Author’s Note: You folks can also read up to +55 Chapters on my P@treon Page as an early access privilege.

You can also read "+2 Free Chapter" and see some pictures as aFree Member.

www.patreon.com/vanguard_v

P@treon Page Name: V For Vanguard

Next Chapters’ Name:

Ch.171: Aftermath of the Night Raid - II

Ch.172: Like a Wave Crashing Against a Cliff