Fortunately, the season was transitioning from spring to summer, and the sky remained bright for a while after sunset.
Before night completely fell, the Western Expeditionary Army hastily finished clearing the battlefield, organizing the troops, and moving the wounded to the new camp. After extinguishing the fire in the granary at the southwest corner of the camp, taking inventory, taking over the enemy's remaining supplies, and holding a hearty victory feast with the Reachmen's wine and meat, Aegor summoned his generals to report the battle results and casualties before Daenerys.
The Western Expeditionary Army had fielded twenty-seven thousand soldiers. Just over three thousand had been killed, while more than twice that number had suffered light or serious injuries severe enough to be taken off the line... Given that antibiotics had not yet been invented, it was highly likely that some of the latter would become the former. It had been a tough battle, but corresponding to the heavy casualties were the enemy's even more astonishing losses: the Reachmen Allied Army had left nearly five digits' worth of corpses on the main battlefield alone, and that did not include those who had died in the river and been washed away, those hunted down during the subsequent rout, or those incinerated by dragonflame and left in the wilderness, making them impossible to count.
Although Daenerys's forces suffered casualties in this battle that were an order of magnitude higher than during the conquest of the North, the push through the Reach, and the two major land and sea battles near King's Landing, the exchange ratio had dropped below 1:10 into single digits. Even so, this was still a victory, a great victory, and no one could deny it.
The reason was simple: both the strategic and tactical objectives of the Western Expedition had been exceeded.
Strategically, Aegor's original plan had been to push forward forcefully despite the Reachmen's observation and obstruction, relying on the oppressive feeling of being "unstoppable" to wear down their will to resist. However, the enemy, with a slightly higher degree of courage, intelligence, judgment, and organization than expected, had actually managed to set up a decent defensive decisive battle... While creating a challenge for him, it also backfired by greatly accelerating the course of the war.
The resistance that was supposed to be slowly dismantled by the Western Expeditionary Army's steady advance had, after briefly consolidating and rising up, been lifted high and then smashed to the ground, shattering completely.
Whether it was the scouts sent out according to the manuals and regulations, or the wargs who scouted the battlefield from the perspective of flying birds, they all reported the same message: the airtight net surrounding the battlefield, which had originally been dense, instantly disappeared without a trace as soon as the outcome of the major battle was decided. On the vast Reach plain, within a ten-mile radius around the Western Expeditionary Army, it was so clean that not even the shadow of a single scout could be seen.
This was an undeniable sign of abandoned resistance, impossible to fake no matter the era or location. In a war, even if the front line is fought poorly and has no ability to resist, at the very least, it must still be ensured that the enemy's location is known. But now, the Reachmen had scattered so thoroughly that they did not even care about probing the movements of the Western Expeditionary Army. To use a more intuitive comparison, they were fleeing for their lives so desperately that they did not even dare to look back.
Compared to the significant but understandable results mentioned above, the tactical victory was a complete surprise.
Contrary to his usual caution, Aegor had forcefully ordered the Westerlands cavalry to attack, making them advance twenty miles in an hour and penetrate between the Reach Army's main camp and Highgarden despite losing half their numbers. While the purpose was certainly to prevent the enemy's routed soldiers from retreating into the castle, the actual expectation had been to "stop as many as possible," and in his subconscious, he had even been prepared to lose most or all of the Westerlands cavalry.
Aside from the somewhat dark secondary reason that this force was not part of his direct line and he would not feel too bad if it was lost, the main consideration was that the Western Expeditionary Army had also been severely weakened in this battle.
At the crucial moment when the battle reached its climax, he completely lifted the restrictions on the troops' use of firearms. Not a single explosive remained with the army, and even the artillery's gunpowder had been completely consumed by fierce continuous firing. Only the slower-firing gun crews or those whose cannons had blown up had any left, and the total amount, when averaged out, was not even enough for another volley, barely better than nothing.
If Highgarden received reinforcements from the routed soldiers and armed itself, the Western Expeditionary Army, without siege weapons, would be unable to do anything against this white castle. Without knowing how many dragon-hunting scorpions the Tyrells had prepared and were waiting with, Aegor would either have to give up the siege or ask Daenerys to take a risk and launch a night attack with dragonfire.
And no matter which option they chose, they would regrettably lose a very valuable trophy and bargaining chip.
However, for reasons he had not yet fully understood, as many as five or six thousand enemies who were still capable of fighting had been so panicked that they did not even dare to challenge a mere thousand or so dismounted light cavalrymen. They cleanly turned around and retreated south, fleeing into the depths of the Reach plain under the cover of the approaching night. Among them were not only the remnants of the Golden Company infantry, but also the Highgarden guards who were supposed to defend Highgarden, yet had gone to the front line with Lord Tyrell's personal expedition.
This also meant that at this moment, there were no enemies between the Western Expeditionary Army and Highgarden's outer walls, and probably not many left inside the walls either.
...
The brief summary meeting ended, and the generals dispersed, rejoining the celebration that was already nearing its end. Aegor was sitting in his chair, contemplating how to handle Highgarden, which had been captured intact, when Daenerys's pleasant but undeniably authoritative voice sounded beside him.
"Aegor, come for a walk with me."
Stepping out of the large tent covered with the three-headed red dragon emblem, Daenerys and the black-clad commander walked side by side into the brightly lit campgrounds, illuminated by torches and bonfires.
As the most powerful man and woman on this continent at the moment, their so-called "walk" certainly could not be just a casual stroll and chat. As expected, Daenerys soon initiated the conversation, talking about a series of changes happening in the opposite direction of this Western Expedition, in the east of Westeros.
The existence of the Anti-Daenerys Alliance was not news, but after Aegor set out on the path to conquer the Reach, the situation had changed slightly: Braavos had passed a resolution and begun to semi-openly support the Anti-Dragon Mother Alliance. Although they did not send a single soldier to participate except for liaison officers, with the financial and material help of the known world's financial center and most efficient arsenal, the previously chaotic and ineffective slave masters' military alliance suddenly found its backbone and began to get on track. Not only did they quickly assemble a combined fleet whose numbers were comparable to the Iron Fleet and whose tonnage was superior, but they also advertised everywhere, announcing that they would hire any mercenary willing to name a price and cross the sea by ship, preparing to start a somewhat familiar war.
Those with sharp memories would surely remember: several years ago, not long ago, when the Lannister golden siblings' incest had just been exposed, King Robert ordered the Six Kingdoms to besiege the Westerlands, preparing to wipe House Lannister from the world. At that time, Tywin spared no expense in buying armed forces from across the Narrow Sea to harass the east coast ruled by Robert, so that the armies of the Stormlands, the Crownlands, and the Vale could not go west with their full strength.
What the Anti-Dragon Mother Alliance was doing now was similar, except they were not doing it for Aegon, and the scale was much larger than last time.
"Trade on both sides has been completely cut off, but that is not a big problem. The enemy's navy is sailing freely in the Narrow Sea. I tried to drive them away with dragons, but found that they also had dragon-hunting scorpions on their ships." A hint of suppressed anger surged in Daenerys's tone. "The navy has not yet completed its rest and reorganization, and all the cannons have been taken by you. At the critical moment of spring planting, it is impossible to mobilize a large army and open another front, so I ordered the fleet to rely on Dragonstone for defense and train in Blackwater Bay, without attacking rashly. But the situation is truly quite tense. The mercenaries hired by the slave masters could land in the Stormlands and invade on a large scale at any time. And two-thirds of my army is currently tied down on the Reach battlefield, not to mention that the Vale is also in communication and negotiation with Braavosi envoys..."
She took a long breath and turned her head to glance at her Hand of the Queen. "Do you understand what I want to say? It is true that my reclaiming the Iron Throne is a major victory, and unifying the Seven Kingdoms is indeed important, but a king who is unable to protect his own kingdom will be looked down upon, let alone a queen!"
"Understood!" Aegor nodded. "The outcome of the Reach campaign has now been decided, and the news reaching them will surely make the Vale lords dare not act rashly. At the same time, I will rapidly advance west, and after taking Oldtown, I will return east as soon as possible. At that time, the cannons will be loaded onto ships, and with our accumulated strength, the slave masters' alliance will be vulnerable. Your Grace's decision to adopt a defensive stance is very wise. Time is on our side. Delay a little longer, and the seas will be vast and the sky clear!"
This was not flattery. When there was no certainty of victory, being able to remain calm and avoid battle was also a valuable wisdom. When Daenerys was not having a fit of madness, she was actually quite intelligent.
"You must be quick. As long as they are willing to surrender, it may be acceptable to be slightly lenient with the Reach nobles. The Reach is here, and they cannot fly away. After dealing with the slave masters' alliance, we will have plenty of time to handle them slowly." Daenerys was very satisfied that Aegor could quickly grasp her intention to hurry him along. After giving another instruction, she did not continue to nag, but sighed and switched to the next topic. "Aegon was taken south by the Golden Company and Connington? Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with this nephew of mine?"
(To be continued.)