The End of the Second Day

Once again, the sun rose and began to set on the field of the Antlers. Fierce fighting has taken place on the flanks between both armies, small, Lannister probing forces testing the defences and actions of the northern forces and each time they were repelled. Each hour fight was long and difficult, thousands of soldiers clashing and killing the other.

Hearing the horn blown from the command base at the top of the hill, Rodrik nodded his head to his young squire, Gared Tuttle. Here the boy blew the horn in his hands and as the sun began to set on the second day, the right flank pulled back its soldiers. Without proper preparations put into place, battling an enemy during the night would be a foolish decision, one that both sides recognised. Not only that, but both sides would be exhausting their troops which would cause mistakes and openings that could cost them victory.

It hadn't been an easy fight, unlike Lord Blackwood and Kevan Lannister, Addam Marbrand had been younger and desired accomplishments, Gregor also knew that he wasn't as skilled a defensive tactician as Lord Blackwood. As a result, their battle had been more pitched and while both he and Addam had kept the bulk of their forces back while only engaging in small skirmishes, it had by no means been easy.

In the overall scheme of things, Gregor knew he was but a small piece in the wider picture that was the Young Wolf's army. He wasn't the most skilled tactician and by all accounts, individuals like Ser Garlan Tyrell, Patrek Mallister, Dacey Mormont and others amongst Robb's personal guard would be better suited to taking command of a flank.

But for some reason, the King had seen something in him, something that Gregor couldn't comprehend why. He was a strategist and tactician, certainly not the best and there were others better than him. Yet despite that, Robb still chose to give him command of the flank.

However, Gregor did imagine it was perhaps a similar situation to what happened with Edmure Tully in the Battle of the Fords. It had been a long battle going on for months and had ended with a devastating loss for them in the Slaughters of Tumbler's Falls. Edmure had been given the command not only because of his position, but to also put Tywin at ease in the belief that there would be an easy opening for him to exploit, which he had. Gregor wasn't certain, but his position as commander of the right flank might have been for something similar.

Despite that fact in his mind, Gregor wasn't disillusioned. Robb would have a plan in mind should Tywin begin concentrating the bulk of his forces on the right flank.

At the head of one detachment his son, Rodrik Forrester rode towards him. His armour was bloody, and he had few nicks and cuts to his armour showing that despite small, the skirmishes hadn't been easy.

"My son, are you alright?" Gregor asked and Rodrik smiled.

"I'm fine, father." He answered. "The enemy outnumbered us, aye, but they lacked proper armour. Sellswords I imagine."

Gregor nodded his head. "He's using them as a probing force." He noted with a narrowed eyes. "Young he may be, but Ser Marbrand is no fool. Tomorrow, I imagine things will become more difficult."

"It's strange," Rodrik said, turning to look back at the enemy left flank. "Every battle we've been ends in a few hours, nearly a day at most. But now we're looking at a battle that is going to last three days."

"Every battle we've had has capitalised upon the speed of our movement and the reputation we've built up. Not to mention, we couldn't move slowly due to the infrastructure of the Riverlands. But now, nearly half the enemy force is made up of those who haven't heard or don't care about us. We don't have the element of surprise nor do we have superior numbers. We're at an insurmountable disadvantage."

"I would have thought that Tywin would order a mass assault upon our lines like Robb predicted. Why is he doing these probing attacks? Surely he doesn't have the food to last much longer?" Rodrik asked and Gregor remained silent, having no answer to that question.

-X- Line Break -X-

Sitting down on his wooden chair, Robb looked out over the map, displaying a more in-depth look at the lands surrounding the Antlers. Numerous wooden cut-outs displaying soldier formations and total numbers. Infantry displayed with square pieces, cavalrymen with triangular and archers in circles.

Around him, were numerous members of his personal guard, including Ser Brienne of Tarth, Ser Garlan Tyrell, Dacey Mormont, Smalljon Umber and Patrek Mallister. In front of him were three riders dispatched from the centre and the two flanks. Each delivering reports of casualties, injuries and projected enemy losses as well.

For the second day of conflict, things looked good.

Overall, their total losses added up to around fifteen hundred with a further two thousand injured. Around a third of that number would need to be taken back to the Antlers to be healed. The remainder would be fine to remain at camp and heal for a day before being allowed to be dispatched to the front lines once more.

Total enemy losses amounted to around three times that number, most of them being a result of Brynden Blackwood's excellent skill in utilising his father's defensive formation. Even Robb couldn't deny that breaching the formation would be incredibly difficult, not impossible, but difficult.

Kevan Lannister's probing tactic was a smart one, utilising experienced, but expendable soldiers such as the Sellswords to try and find weaknesses in an enemy's defensive formation. However, Lord Blackwood's formation was flexible and more than capable of dealing with these probing attacks. While a good tactic, Kevan Lannister had fallen into one of the many traps hidden within the defensive formation of Lord Blackwood and his son, Brynden had utilised those traps perfectly.

Nearly every single probing force had been almost annihilated.

As for Gregor Forrester, his battle had been more pitched with large amounts of injuries and deaths. His son, Rodrik had fought hard, leading a single detachment to force four enemy units to retreat to the Lannister main army of the left flank. The day hadn't been easy on any front, but it was nowhere near as bad as Robb had expected.

"I thought the Old Lion would attack us in force?" Smalljon grumbled having expected a fight today and was disgruntled to not get the chance.

"You'll get your chance eventually, Smalljon." Dacey shot back from the side. "Tywin's going to run out of food eventually so he'll need to beat us and raid the Riverlands and even the Reach before that happens otherwise his army is going to splinter."

"Ah, I know. Just can't stand being stuck doing anything."

As this happened, Robb remained silent, studying the enemy formation on the map in front of him in thought. Smalljon's grumblings were something Robb shared, he had expected a large assault today, the small skirmishes yesterday and today he had thought were the lead up to a mass assault on all fronts and had prepared accordingly, but that hadn't happened.

Tywin had instead remained firm, only moving his forces to match Robb's own, their centres both remained where they were, unmoving beside the initial vanguard clash. Most of the fighting had been on the flanks with equally small skirmishes.

But nothing had happened beyond that.

So, the question remained, why was he being so cautious? His food supplies would probably last another few days, at most a week if rationed tightly. Even then, his army would be discontent and may have many of his Sellswords and Golden Company soldiers leaving. They fought for money, but a man needed to live long before he could spend it.

And a man would find living in a battle on an empty stomach very difficult.

So that raised the question of what game Tywin was playing because it wasn't the one Robb had expected.