Seeing the two of them shake off their disappointment, Witte began to discuss the serious matters at hand: ensuring history followed its original course, or at least, that there were no major deviations.
"As of today, only the four of us brothers know about mine and Renly's magic. I haven't even told Maester Cressen. The reason Renly and I demonstrated our magic today was, firstly, to prove my intelligence, and secondly, to prove that Renly and I have the ability to protect ourselves."
"Eldest brother, second brother, what do you intend to do in the current situation?"
Robert said, "As of today, Prince Doran of Dorne in the south and House Tyrell of Highgarden in the west have both declared their support for the King. We're facing enemies on two fronts, and the rebels who want to overthrow the King are all in the North. Either we stay here to hold off Dorne and Highgarden, or we abandon Storm's End and head north directly. The vassals are currently debating this."
Stannis said, "Highgarden can mobilize several times more troops than we can, and the Dornishmen's fighting ability is also not to be underestimated. We don't have much chance of winning a head-on attack. We can only fight a defensive war and wait for reinforcements from the North, but King's Landing is blocking the Northern reinforcements from coming over. Abandoning Storm's End directly will inevitably lead to Highgarden and Dorne's plundering. This is the home of all of us, and at that time, the morale of the army will definitely collapse, and even defections will occur."
Witte looked at Robert.
"Eldest brother, have you ever thought about what this rebellion is really for?"
"What else could it be? To overthrow that mad King, kill Rhaegar, and get my fiancée back!"
"And then what? The King and the Prince are dead, who becomes King of the Seven Kingdoms?"
Robert and the Northmen, for their own reasons, only wanted to kill the King right now. No one had considered how to divide the spoils of victory, so they had nothing to say.
Stannis spoke, "According to the laws of succession, after the Mad King dies, the throne passes to Rhaegar. But this rebellion is to overthrow them, so the first in line is Prince Rhaegar's child, and the second is Prince Viserys, Rhaegar's younger brother."
"Eldest brother, second brother, don't forget, our ancestors have intermarried with House Targaryen multiple times. Our grandmother was Princess Rhaella of House Targaryen. If a major accident were to occur, Eldest Brother Robert is also qualified to inherit the throne. Moreover, letting the Mad King's descendants inherit the throne, is it to wait until they grow up and kill us to take revenge?"
"Indeed, then eldest brother is the most suitable heir to the Iron Throne." Stannis was also excited that his eldest brother would become King of the Seven Kingdoms.
Witte continued, "The Mad King is foolish and incompetent, and he's becoming more and more brutal. Many of the lords, great and small, are on the verge of erupting. Eldest brother takes the name of ending the Mad King's foolish rule, giving us a goal for the rebellion. Then, with eldest brother, who can unite the lords and has a bloodline claim, sitting on the Iron Throne and becoming king, this will give everyone a common goal, unite the rebel army, and boost morale! So, it's you."
Robert's face was flushed with blood when he heard these words. He remained calm, but his heart was already surging.
Then, my two brothers, listen to my analysis and see if it makes sense;
"If you want to be king, you can't afford to be bogged down in the south, fighting against Dorne and Highgarden. We need to let the northern alliance attack King's Landing. Therefore, Robert must head north as quickly as possible to join the rebel forces and have them proclaim you king, then attack King's Landing. This is the most crucial point; everything we do must revolve around it," Witte began analyzing the situation. Robert and Stannis nodded in agreement, without speaking. Renly also nodded, though whether he understood was another question.
"Firstly, we need to quickly eliminate any loyalists within our own territory and unite the entire Stormlands."
"I'll handle that. Some vassals are slow to respond and disobedient, clearly harboring ulterior motives. Dealing with them will be simple," Robert stated confidently.
"Secondly, we have the Reach, which has the largest army. Do you, my brothers, know the people in the Reach who are capable of commanding troops?"
"Those in the Reach? They're good at counting money, but when it comes to fighting, aside from Randyll Tarly, they're all cowards. Moreover, House Tyrell was just a gardener family's steward before they sold their liege lord to become dukes. Over half the vassals in the Reach don't respect them, and they always try to shirk their duties and not contribute during wars," Robert expressed his contempt for them.
"Lady Olenna is the one who makes the decisions for House Tyrell. Her son, Mace Tyrell, is just a rich, fat buffoon," Stannis added, also aware of the situation.
"That's perfect. Brother, send a raven to Lady Olenna of House Tyrell. Tell her that we recognize their loyalty to the crown, and that the rebel forces were forced to raise the banner of rebellion, not wanting the dukes and nobles of the Seven Kingdoms to lose their heads. Offer them a few suggestions. First, arrange a battle at a certain location, where we will feign defeat and retreat, claiming we don't want to cause suffering to both sides. Second, have them directly attack and besiege Storm's End, without looting any towns along the way."
Robert and Stannis listened to the plan, realizing it was advantageous to their side, but wondered if Highgarden would agree.
"Lady Olenna is a clever woman. This way, they can show their loyalty to the royal family without any real losses on either side. The letter also contains a threat. If a fight breaks out, both the Reach and Stormlands will be reduced to ruins, and they fear our retaliation. The most important thing is that House Tyrell's control isn't strong enough. Many of their vassals don't want to fight, some even wanted to kill the Mad King. Moreover, the entire Reach isn't close to the royal family; they just want to profit from the chaos. All these things need to be considered, so this letter can only be given to Lady Olenna, not to a blow-up fish."
"Then, Stannis, you write the letter in my name and arrange a meeting with both sides' envoys. If it works out, great. I'll lead the main force of the Stormlands north as soon as possible. If not, we'll figure something else out."
Robert himself didn't deal with this kind of flowery language. He just let his younger brother handle it.
"Also, have the envoys take a message: Tell them to bring plenty of supplies when they besiege Storm's End. A siege is a siege, whether it lasts a day or a year, haha."
"Then, second brother, you have to defend Storm's End. Robert wants to be king, and if the future king's home is taken, it will have a huge impact on morale."
Stannis nodded in agreement. "The defending forces I'll have won't be many, but Storm's End is difficult to breach. I'll gather more supplies and medicine to prepare."
Witte continued, "Renly's magic can't be revealed for now, unless it's to save an important figure who is seriously injured. Once the north and west are dealt with, the only thing left is Dorne to the south."
Robert said, "I'm not too worried about Dorne. They haven't sent troops to fight in decades, just offering verbal support."
"There's no guarantee they won't march this time, especially since they're aiming to overthrow the King, and their sister was Prince Rhaegar's wife," Witte said, taking a drink of water.
"We should still write a letter to Prince Doran of Dorne in Robert's name. Explain that we understand their loyalty to the royal family, but their brother-in-law, Rhaegar, betrayed his marriage vows, and the Mad King wantonly slaughtered the nobles. After the rebels take King's Landing, they only want to overthrow the royal family and ensure the safety of his sister and her children. If they don't march, that's best. At worst, we want them to come to Storm's End with Highgarden."
"Those assurances don't seem like enough," Stannis said.
"That's why, as Robert's fourth brother, I will go to Dorne as a hostage."
"The Dornish will kill you and raise your head on a pike!" Robert roared.
Witte slowly laid out his reasoning, "Big Brother needs to go north first, and Second Brother needs to defend Storm's End. The best-case scenario is that Dorne doesn't march! The next best is that Dorne agrees to our terms and only besieges Storm's End, which would put more pressure on Second Brother. The worst-case scenario is that Highgarden and Dorne ignore Storm's End and directly support the royal family. Then the neutral Westerlands will inevitably side with the loyalists! With the Reach, which has the most troops, the Westerlands, which have the most money, Dorne, which has been preparing for decades, and the pro-royalists within the rebel forces, who can stand against you?
The Reach is too close to King's Landing, Dorne is too far, and then there is my magic; these three things are my guarantee of safety."
In the original story, Dorne sent ten thousand troops to support the royal family, but the biggest fear was variables. They were afraid that Robert would lose, so they had to find a way to widen the gap in military strength between the two sides.
Robert looked at the three of them for a long while and said with a sigh, "My good brothers!"
With that, the strategy was set.
The eldest brother, Robert, would quickly eliminate the loyalists in Storm's End, feign defeat in a battle against Highgarden, and then lead the main force north to join up with the combined forces of the three northern regions.
The second brother, Stannis, would gather supplies and defend Storm's End until the northern army could come south for support.
The third brother, Renly, would assist in treating the seriously wounded.
The fourth would go to stabilize Dorne.
Robert clasped their hands together, holding them tightly. "Our family motto!"
The four of them shouted, "Ours is the Fury!"
From then on, the four Baratheon brothers began to take their place on the stage of power.