Casterly Rock is the gateway to the Westerlands, flanked by steep mountains on both sides, with the castle built on a mountain pass.
This place is not only high in elevation, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack, but it also has abundant gold mines.
Of course, the Gold Mine at Casterly Rock belongs to Lannister, and the Gold Mine reserves there are far greater than those below Casterly Rock.
The Gold Mine at Casterly Rock, the Gold Mine below Casterly Rock, and the red and gold Gold Mine of the Reyes Family (which Tywin killed) all belong to Lannister. Family.
Casterly Rock was a strategically important location, and it was also home to several thousand troops. However, Tywin did not linger there. He quickly set up the defenses, appointed a general to guard the city, and then led the remnants of his army, who had fled all the way from King's Landing, straight to Casterly Rock.
He knew where Dao needed him most right now: Casterly Rock, the heart of the entire West.
Only by returning to Casterly Rock could he command the entire West, organize defenses, and resist foreign enemies.
Leaving Shitang Town and crossing Casterly Rock, you can see the Casterly Rock mountain, which looks like an isolated mountain, in the distance.
The two-hundred-foot-high stone mountain sits on the flat coast of the Sunset Sea, with an unobstructed view of the surrounding terrain. It is like a chess piece placed alone on a chessboard by Heavenly God, a natural and enormous fortress.
Furthermore, there is a shipyard cave beneath Casterly Rock, where Lannister could hide his warships without worrying about storms.
If Targaryen had had such a fortress back then, their fleet wouldn't have been destroyed by the storm and wiped out.
In short, seeing the Casterly Rock made Tywin feel relieved, like a lion returning to its territory, with a place where he could lick his wounds in peace.
" Adam," Tywin called out to the bastard.
"grown ups."
How many people do we have left?
"We still have more than 1,400 people."
"What about the wounded?"
"Reporting to Your Excellency, there are no wounded soldiers. All of our wounded soldiers have volunteered to stay in Shitang Town to cover the rear."
Hearing Adam's words, Tywin's eyes sharpened, and he turned to look at the blond Adam, asking Dao, "Voluntary? How many of them volunteered?"
Seeing his lie exposed, Adam felt his heart pounding. He stammered, "Sir, there are some people who can't even ride a horse anymore, I—"
"Alright," Tywin interrupted him, "you did the right thing, I don't blame you."
"My lord, I am willing to accept the punishment."
Tywin waved to Dao: "Go and count the surviving soldiers. When we get back to Casterly Rock, I'll personally reward them."
"Yes, sir." Adam's expression relaxed, and he went to do his work.
Tywin was not lying; leaving the wounded soldiers behind was the best course of action.
But at the same time, he felt a deep sadness. Of the army of more than 20,000 men, including the Western Frontier army led by Jaime, which totaled nearly 40,000, less than 2,000 remained. He felt as if his heart was bleeding.
After traveling for another two days, Tywin saw many ravaged villages along the way, and even saw corpses abandoned by the roadside, left to be fought over by wild dogs.
In a daze, he thought he had returned to the Riverlands.
The fact that what he had done to the Riverlands people was now being brought back upon the Westerlands people made him feel very uneasy.
Tywin clutched his chest, pondering to himself, "Could it be that I'm getting old, and that's why I'm becoming so soft-hearted?"
No, that's not all. His three children are now all in enemy hands, and this Lord of Casterly Rock may be going to be childless.
Before long, Tywin's army arrived at a sizable market town. Just as there is a " Winter Town " near Winterfell, there are also towns of varying sizes surrounding the lord's castle fortress.
Not to mention powerful and wealthy lords like Lannister.
The army Tywin led out of the West was mostly recruited from these towns and farms.
Just as Tywin was leading his army through the town, a group of civilians, though cleanly dressed, gathered on both sides of Dao Road with sorrowful expressions.
They were reminding Tywin that this was not a triumph.
Suddenly, a child's voice rang out from the crowd and asked Dao, "Mother! Where's my brother? Why can't I see him?"
The child's voice was like glasses colliding, crystal clear, yet also jarring.
Tywin instinctively wanted to turn his head to see where the sound was coming from, but he forced himself to stay still.
Because he saw more civilians searching for their sons, brothers, and fathers in their own ranks.
Soon, more people couldn't hold back any longer. They turned to Tywin and asked Dao, "Sir, is my son still alive? Is he behind your troops?"
"My lord, where is my husband? Is he injured?"
"My lord, how is my brother? He is a spearman and also very skilled with a bow. He said you praised him."
"grown ups----"
With each question asked by the Western Frontier civilians, Tywin felt as if another brick was being pressed down on his shoulders. One question after another, the invisible bricks piled higher and higher, and he felt his back was about to give way.
Just then, Tywin heard someone in the team respond.
"Mom! I'm here!"
It was a young voice, a call that made countless longing mothers crane their necks in anticipation, but in the end only one person got their wish.
Tywin glanced quickly at the mother and child embracing, and he thought of his brother Kevan.
They were brothers for life. Kevan's wife, Donna, might be in Casterly Rock right now. How should he face Donna?
Finally, Tywin could no longer maintain the dignity of a duke. He spurred his horse, and the steed, understanding, galloped off towards Casterly Rock.
When Tywin arrived at the foot of Casterly Rock, it was already afternoon.
But at this time, Damion Lannister, the acting lord of Casterly Rock, had already prepared a welcoming ceremony for the true lord of Casterly Rock.
Damion is Lannister The branch of the family, about ten years younger than Tywin, also appears to be a shrewd and capable person.
Daven, the son of Tywin's cousin, was defending the city alongside Damion.
Daven's face was covered with a golden beard, which he grew to express his determination to avenge his father, who died in the Riverlands.
In addition, there is Damon, who also took responsibility for the safety of Casterly Rock.
Lannister is a large family; they don't need someone like Stark or Arryn. Like a family, key positions such as castle steward or captain of the guard are given to people outside the family.
Everyone working at Casterly Rock is blonde.
Looking at these Lannisters, Tywin's face tightened even more. Take Daven, for example; he had lost not only his father, but also his two younger brothers, who were now imprisoned in the Riverrun dungeon.
Led by Damion, the group bowed to Tywin. After the bowing, Damon looked up and said, "My lord, please lead us and help Lannister overcome this crisis! We will definitely avenge this blood debt from the pirates of Stark and Iron Islands!"
"My lord, please lead us to avenge our blood debt!" Damion stepped forward and spoke up.
"Please, sir, lead us to avenge this blood debt!"
Led by the two men, the crowd bowed to Tywin once again, like a pride of lions bowing to their king.
Seeing everyone's support, Tywin felt a surge of strength returning to him. He placed his hand on his sword hilt and addressed the group of blond-haired men before him: " Casterly Rock, never to fall! Let's go home!"
The group of Lannisters set off towards Casterly Rock on the rocky hill.
As mentioned earlier, Casterly Rock is a castle carved out of a rocky mountain, almost blending into the entire mountain.
Along the way, you can see arrow towers built at all sorts of tricky angles, especially in places with huge elevation differences. Each generation of Lannister has made them even steeper, so that people can only cross by lowering the drawbridge.
And suspension bridges like these are practically everywhere you go.
Castles and fortresses like these have almost no drawbacks, except that the rocky mountains are too high to dig wells.
But that doesn't matter, as their coastal location means that the year-round rainfall can replenish their water supply.
Lannister's favorite claim was that Visonia, one of Aegon the Conqueror's wives, upon seeing the grandeur and formidable defenses of Casterly Rock, remarked that it was fortunate King Casterly Rock had surrendered; otherwise, even Dragon Flame would have been powerless against it. He used this to prove to the world that no one could conquer Casterly Rock.
Of course, whether it's true or not is impossible to know.
Finally, the group climbed to a relatively flat area.
Tywin saw wide steps and a gate carved with the image of a roaring lion.
They need to get into Casterly Rock through the lion's mouth.
In fact, this gate was only changed to this shape more than two hundred years ago, perhaps because the Lannister ancestors who visited Dragonstone wanted to imitate the castle of Targaryen.
Tywin looked up and saw a clear blue sky. Compared to King's Landing, home felt much better.
The air was fresh, the road underfoot was clean, and the view was a bright yellow.
Soon the group passed through the golden corridor, which was indeed made of gold leaf.
The reliefs on the corridor are all by Lannister. Family's illustrious history.
From the time their clever ancestors, the "Lan'en," conquered the Casterly Rock Family thousands of years ago to the present day.
The gold spent on this corridor alone is almost equivalent to Casterly Rock's annual tax revenue.
The group continued forward and arrived at Lannister. Valhalla of Family.
Hundreds of suits of armor were neatly arranged in the Hall of Heroes, and all the damaged parts of these suits were repaired with gold.
These are the armors worn by Lannister's ancestors, as if molten gold were flowing through Lannister's body.
Tywin deliberately chose this location for the meeting, as if he could receive the blessings of his ancestors.
"Tell me, how can the Lannisters overcome this crisis?" Tywin addressed the group of Lannisters.
At this moment, Damion, the former acting lord of the city, stepped forward and said, "My lord, the Lannisters have thrived in the West for over a thousand years. The West only recognizes us. Although Stannis succeeded by chance with that bastard, his own strength has been severely weakened. I think we might be able to pay a sum of gold to ransom our families, and at most, forgive the loan to the royal family. Perhaps Stannis will accept peace talks." Seeing that Damon was about to speak, Damion said again, "Of course, my lord, I'm talking about a bloodless method. For the Lannisters, gold is as precious as blood. If war really breaks out, we are not afraid! Casterly Rock is easy to defend and difficult to attack; it's like an insurmountable barrier. Stannis absolutely cannot break through!"
The relatively experienced Damion analyzed for everyone the possible consequences of choosing between war and peace.
At this moment, Daven spoke up: "My lord, the Stannis are also exhausted, but peace cannot be begged for; it can only be won with iron and blood. We can continue to recruit Soldiers and fight them!"
Let them know, Dao, that we in Lannister simply didn't win, we didn't lose!
"Yes! We just didn't win, it doesn't mean we lost!" Everyone agreed with his statement.
Despite failing to win the war and paying a heavy price, the Lannisters remained full of confidence.
The West and Casterly Rock offer them a very high floor, while the North and Riverlands have been exhausted after playing for more than half a year.
Stannis's Stormlands also suffered heavy losses, with his most relied-upon fleet being burned to ashes.
Even if House Tyrell were to negotiate with them, he certainly wouldn't offer any manpower or resources.
In their view, the worst outcome is simply living a closed-door life, nothing to be afraid of.
Confirming that the Lannisters showed no intention of surrendering, Tywin grew resolute and said to Dao, " Damon, immediately gather and train another 10,000 Soldiers, and recruit all the free riders and warriors you can at double the price."
"Yes, sir."
" Damion, once again conscript the nobles of the West, ordering them to undergo a second round of conscription and training, and then send one-third of the Soldiers to Casterly Rock, and one-third of the Soldiers to Casterly Rock."
"Yes, sir."
" Daven, gather supplies, gold, and food for us. Also, have all our Gold Mine mines increase their mining efforts. Gold production must double in the next few months!"
"Yes, sir!"
With each order issued, Tywin rediscovered his feeling of being the lord of casterly rock.
After everyone left, he returned to his room. Through the window, Tywin could see the sunset over the sea. The golden sun gradually sank into the sea, casting dappled golden light on the surface.
"So beautiful."
Tywin sighed, watching the flock of seagulls take flight, and suddenly thought of his wife Joanna.
Suddenly Tywin chuckled.
His father, Titus, known as the "Laughing Lion," never gave up no matter how much he was offended. He also made many ridiculous investments, all of which resulted in him losing everything.
Joanna, look at me now! I'm not even as good as my father. Not only did he throw away the three million gold Dragon like it was nothing, but even our three children—
Three million gold Dragons, over 30,000 soldiers, three children—these cold numbers seem to mock Tywin's incompetence.
But the tycoon quickly regained his composure, looking out the window at the slightly curved horizon, a beautiful sight that could only be seen from a certain altitude.
A typical castle will appear flat when viewed from a distance.
The rocky hill beneath Casterly Rock is the foundation of this castle, ensuring it will never fall.