While Roman led 4,000 soldiers on an eastern expedition, the area around Harrenhal was filled with chaos.
Because Jaime drove deep into the Riverlands, causing refugees to scatter across the western Riverlands, and other lords could not afford to sustain these people, everyone flocked to the territory of the Hean Family.
The officials of Harrenhal were overjoyed by these refugees. Over the past four years, Roman had tasked local governments with training a large number of civil servants. Many of these minor officials had climbed their way up from commoners through great hardship, and each of them deeply cherished the opportunity for advancement.
Now, these refugees became their stepping stones to promotion, and many officials volunteered to receive the refugees to clear land and cultivate fields.
Since everyone shared the same culture and language, as long as they delineated the scope of activities and strengthened monitoring and screening, Harrenhal could immediately acquire a large group of hardworking civilians.
Therefore, as long as a Harrenhal official received refugees, they could transform from a menial clerk into a local official, and then compete for higher positions based on performance. Because of this, many officials and their subordinates even came into conflict.
A large number of refugees were absorbed by Harrenhal and were settled around the Strongholds to reclaim wasteland, build roads, and dig irrigation ditches.
Of course, in troubled times, there are not only refugees but also bandits, an unavoidable element. Currently, bandits and river pirates were rampant in the Riverlands like rats.
However, the territory of Harrenhal was vastly different from four years ago. Relying on the various Strongholds and the vast militia mobilized by the Harrenhal headquarters, the subjects under the Hean Family now even had the ability to resist attacks from noble regular armies.
Dealing with these bandits was naturally easy. Under the mobilization of local governments, militia units began wide-ranging patrols. Once bandits were discovered, they would quickly maneuver to surround and annihilate them.
At the same time, Harrenhal would receive real-time reports of banditry from various places via ravens and use the 4,000 standing soldiers left behind by Roman to support the borders at any time.
When the number of bandits was small, they were kicked to death on the roadside by the militia; once the number increased, it would attract the standing army of Harrenhal.
One day, a bandit leader brought his troops to the outskirts of Harrenhal.
He was originally a small-time robber in the Riverlands, and under the suppression of House Tully, he only dared to intercept lone merchants.
But ever since the Lannisters invaded the Riverlands, many refugees who could no longer survive had joined his ranks.
Last time, they even attacked a small Lannister unit, using their numerical advantage to beat the other side soundly.
"Lord George, are we really going to rob the territory of the Hean Family? I heard that the army trained by Roman Rivers won against the 9,000-strong coalition force of The Crownlands at Antler Keep. If we run into them, aren't we dead for sure!"
After gaining followers, the bandit leader gave himself the name George and made others call him "Lord."
Now, this "Lord" scoffed at his subordinate's concerns.
"It is precisely because Roman won against the 9,000-strong coalition in The Crownlands that it is even more impossible for them to have left many troops in Harrenhal."
"Besides, we have a full 3,000 men. We've even fought the Lannisters, so what is there to be afraid of?"
The subordinate wanted to say that the Lannister soldiers they encountered at that time were only about 40 men, and their armor was broken, so of course they could win with a few hundred people.
But George still insisted that his subordinates prepare to raid. The subordinate could only sigh and agree; after all, there was really nothing to eat now, and if they didn't raid, there would be internal strife.
The bandit group's organization and discipline were extremely poor. By the time George assembled his troops and marched to the destination, a week had already passed.
The Strongholds were impossible to attack, so George's targets were the villages and small towns surrounding the Strongholds.
At this time, the farmland within the Harrenhal territory had finished harvesting, and the ridges were full of neat, withered wheat stubble.
What was eerie was that there was not a single person in the villages George passed through. Not only were there no people, but there was no food, livestock, tools, or even straw, yet there were signs of life inside the houses.
Many in the bandit group thought they had seen ghosts, and some even felt that the excessive warfare in the Riverlands recently had attracted the stranger.
The villages George passed through were all like this, and they couldn't find a single bit of food. Now the bandit group had started eating grass and chewing tree bark; they were just one step away from killing each other for meat.
Finally, the bandit group found a small town. This town hadn't had time to build city walls and had no defenses, so George led his men in easily.
At the same time, they were pleasantly surprised to find food stored in the residents' houses. Although it was little, it was at least something humans could eat.
As for why the strange behavior of people leaving while leaving food behind occurred, the bandit group was too lazy to consider it; they were currently fighting with their companions for a bite to eat.
In the end, George scolded everyone and made everyone divide into small teams to search their own areas, which finally stabilized the bandit group.
Once the areas were assigned, the bandits cheered and rushed toward the various houses, frantically looting for food.
But they hadn't been happy for long before the townspeople suddenly launched a counterattack.
Some militiamen crawled out from wardrobes, shot a bandit through with a crossbow bolt, and then hid back inside.
Some townspeople suddenly emerged from underground and killed bandits on the kitchen stoves in small squad formations.
Even more militiamen appeared from the high platforms of empty houses, attacking the bandits on the street with crossfire.
What made George most angry was that the townspeople and militiamen only struck once and then hid again, and the bandit group couldn't find where they were.
George was so furious that his eyes were splitting; he cursed, "Search! Search carefully for me! I want to see where these people can hide! Can they burrow into the ground or something?"
Well, he actually guessed right; the bandits really found tunnels all over the village.
"Damn it! How dare they toy with us! Go down there and catch them for me; I want to skin them alive!"
Following George's order, the bandits howled and rushed into the tunnels, but they encountered an attack the moment they entered.
The townspeople had carved out small rooms on the side of the tunnel entrances, where people specifically stood to stab the bandits with short spears.
Dozens of bandits died just from breaking into the underground, and when they reached the tunnels, they were even more confused. The tunnels were dug into arcs, the effective field of vision was very narrow, and they were filled with traps.
After losing another batch of bandits, they finally arrived at an open space, but no one knew which way to go.
"This looks like a fork in the road. Which way should we go?"
Just as the bandits were confused, several iron-clad wooden doors suddenly slammed down, blocking the tunnel and trapping the bandits in this space.
Immediately after, several round pots with burning sparks were thrown down, and the entire space instantly ignited with White Flame, causing the bandits to let out shrill screams.
Some bandits were also killed by militiamen who suddenly rushed out of the tunnels, and then the militiamen suddenly disappeared again.
The surviving bandits reported the situation underground to George, making him furious and exasperated.
"Set it on fire! Flood it! I don't believe I can't kill them!"
But it was still useless. The tunnels had separate compartments, as well as specialized water barriers, drainage channels, flame deflectors, and ventilation shafts.
No matter how the bandit group tried, it had no effect, and every time the bandit group took action, the militiamen would pop out and shoot them with an arrow. Over time, the bandit group turned from anger to fear.
George finally couldn't stand this kind of attrition and had people collect the pitifully small amount of food and quickly leave this place of trouble.
When all the bandits came out of the small town, after taking stock, they found that more than 700 people had died.
George's heart instantly turned cold. Having lost so many subordinates without gaining anything, how could he establish a foothold in the Riverlands from now on?
But George soon stopped considering this problem because his subordinate reported to him in fear:
"The horizon in the distance has turned silver!"