Wars of Light & Shadow--Warhost of Vastmark - finale CH VII, VIII, IX Spoilers!

[Alissa]

Aussie, hi! Yup, I got very curious about this, I really loved the book and I remember clearly that the ends tied up nicely and compellingly.

In the opening stages of the Havens it was indeed stated that landings by Lysaer's troops were happening in other coves than just the one chosen to stage Arithon's ambush. Of course Lysaer war host pushed the advantage of numbers, converging from multiple locations. So other ship landings went smoothly. Arithon picked up the Havens because it suited his purposes and his resources, it was easily handled.

As for the way Arithon recruited the Vastmark shepherds, I checked and it was mentioned twice there was a bargain, if they fought for him, he would plead his resources to help them overcome their poverty (which is very Arithon-like, he helps other find their way for themselves) and a link in Ithish to take their wool to market and as a result, no children were sold to Koriathain thereafter. Which latter fact has also consequences in further books, since the Koriani couldn't benefit any more from the desperation of the Vastmark tribes, and had to find alternatives.

One of the many details which reminds me how carefully planned the whole story is, along with the engagement of the story itself as it unfolds.

[Cody]

I'll have to go back and look before I start Book 4, but if Lysaer had a large portion of his army land in a bunch of coves, why was the narrative of the battle told as if the entire warhost came from the east, split into 3(Alestron in one valley, Jaelot in another, Lysaer's main host in the center)? Main host was avalanche'd, Alestron's was bamboozled, and Jaelot's was harried by Arithon and his shadows.

If a large enough portion of the warhost had landed in the coves, there was no way Arithon's forces could have retreated in the face of the warhost like they did.

But, like I said, I have to look over it again.

[Alissa]

Hi Cody!
A small force comes from the sea. The main force, led by Diegan, Keldmar and Jaelot's General comes by land. It is detailed at the beginning of the subchapter "Strike at the Havens", in ch VII.
"Their orders were simple: to cordon the territory in a living noose, then to engage and clean out any ally of the Master of Shadow."
They arrive to converge on the vale at Dier Kenton.

Lysaer main forces comes by land, "They came from the north, through the passes beyond Thirdmark" (north, near the cost), "From the walled city of Ganish, they came on by road, then by river" (north-east, from the flatlands), "They skirted the lower foothills of the Kelhorns from Forthmark" (south-east).
Then a little portion by sea "Like the closing fingers of a gauntleted fist wrought of forty thousand dedicated lives, they came also by galley and fishing boat [...] uncounted small fleets nosed up the shadowy narrows of South Sea and through the twisted straits into Rockbay Harbour."

About the numbers, a conversation between clansmen after the Havens massacre discloses "‘There were fourteen other inlets like this one,’ someone grumbled. ‘It’s a living oddity, why our prince should’ve left those alone. We had enough archers. Raids could have been launched on all of them, with three thousand murdering townsmen left lying as wyvern bait tonight."

On the map you can see than most of Vastmark is surrounded by mountains, and the company of survivors from the Havens took an "arduous trek through the high passes that lasted for fifteen days" to reach Lysaer host from the inner route. Only the part of the bay around Firstmark and Thirdmark presents better coasts, and the main route.
The "headhunters and town garrisons" who landed on the shores were not familiar with the inner passes, and they carried out their orders to join the main body of the host headed heading north, also, only Arithon's archers from the Heavens were near the shore, a small force able in any case to evade pursuit, the scouts observed the landings too.

At the beginning of ch VIII there is the description of the valley and the landscape, and Lysaer troops deployment, which plays the important part in the battle.

"His army had closed, and harried, and set cordons, until the vale of Dier Kenton lay bottled in, each goat track and pass leading over the peaks sealed off by hostile troops." You also read that their tactic was to "drive Arithon’s lighter forces before them like scrap sweepings chased by a broom", so when they think they are corralling their enemy they are, in fact, playing into Arithon's hand.

"The supporting forces from Jaelot and Alestron in position beyond the mountains of the rim wall. These would enact a simultaneous advance up the far slopes of the cliffs." The main forces are deployed in wedge formation with Lysaer at the centre, and that are the forces detailedly described here in ch VIII and at the beginning of the subchapter "Field of Fear".

I loved the battles of this confrontation and the various tactics, very engaging and varied, starting with the Havens.

When you start Fugive Prince let us know how you like it. There is an in-story recap of the main events of Vastmark at the beginning, I liked to see the facts from a new angle and what Lysaer makes of them. He is brilliant.

[Cody]

Thanks for the clarification, Alissa!

The only thing I still don't understand is why - if there was a noose of soldiers around Arithon's forces, why there was never concern about the forces behind them - only concern for Alestron's, Jaelot's, and Lysaer's wings of the attack from the "front".

Was there some contingency in place to stop the soldiers or should we assume that if it took the Havens survivors 15 days to reach Lysaer that it would have taken any other invading army much longer and therefore not have been a consideration in Arithon's battle plans, since they would have arrived too late to be of any help?

Or, and this just occurred to me, were the Alestron and Jaelot forces meant to be the wings that closed the noose around Arithon? The descriptions, to me, felt like the 3 warhost armies were in parallel valleys with the intent of the Alestron and Jaelot armies to flank Arithon if they got that far.

[Alissa]

Hi Cody! This battle is very engaging and Arithon's strategy a long-reaching one, always happy to discuss it!!
Yes, the Alestron and Jaelot troops closed the noose and engaged the flanks of Arithon's forces, but they were not in valleys, but in "the slopes behind Dier Kenton Vale" (this quote is from ch VIII Interventions triplet). They are also referred to as "flanking companies across the ridgetops".
Then there are descriptions of the movements of Arithon/Dakar at the decoy knoll, and after the landslide of Caolle hunting the survivors, Dakar engaging the Alestron's troops.

Chapter VIII. STRIKE AT DIER KENTON

Before the landslide: when the warhost arrives in Dier Kenton Vale, which is surrounded by mountains, and lured towards the knoll with the decoy helmets, the forces of Alestron and Jaelot are "beyond the mountains of the rim wall".

"The elemental burst exploded in blinding force at the zenith to a blast of distant thunder. Visible for leagues, the signal would alert the supporting forces from Jaelot and Alestron in position beyond the mountains of the rim wall. These would enact a simultaneous advance up the far slopes of the cliffs. The steel ring that hedged Dier Kenton began its closing march to crush the trapped quarry"

After the landslide, there are these passages:

"Diegan forced himself to think beyond blinding self-pity. Twelve thousand men in the flanking divisions dispatched by Lysaer’s signal to spearhead the assault beyond the ridges might already suffer as dire a peril. Fear spurred his nerve to face downslope, to see whether his sovereign prince’s company had been spared at the mouth of the vale."

"At this critical juncture, while Arithon and the Mad Prophet abandoned their vantage overlooking Dier Kenton and shifted the thrust of the assault against the flanking enemies beyond the ridges, Caolle remained. His assignment was to track the movements of Lysaer. He must stand as his prince’s rear guard"

"A blue-tinged, premature twilight lapped the scoured face of the scarp, cloven down to its steely flanks of shale. The surface offered only brittle footholds. All the known, safe trails to the passes were utterly scoured away. [...] ‘No path, your Grace. The day’s lost. We’ve been blocked in by the slide.’"

"‘We must withdraw altogether from Dier Kenton Vale. Tomorrow we’ll seek another route past the ridge to regroup with Lord Keldmar s’Brydion and the garrison divisions out of Jaelot.’"


Meanwhile Caolle is in the north part of the valley "in a saddle between summits on the north spur of the vale, Caolle squinted through silting layers of dust to assess the moves of the enemies left standing".
Arithon and Dakar instead are those who prepared the trap at the knoll "Arithon and the Mad Prophet abandoned their vantage overlooking Dier Kenton and shifted the thrust of the assault against the flanking enemies beyond the ridges".

All of this before ch VIII subchapter "Field of Fear". There you get more detail about the position of Jaelot and Alestron troops:

"With the frontline threat of Desh-thiere’s curse thwarted through natural barriers, there now remained only the two garrison companies the Prince of the West had appointed to corner Arithon’s forces from behind. These were engaged in mounting a sweeping advance on the slopes behind the rim wall of the vale.
The commander entrusted with one arm of the flanking assault hailed from the city of Jaelot. Shadows and archers would hamper his bid to close access to the corries from the south.
To Dakar fell the joy of dispatching the north wing of troops, led onto the field by Keldmar s’Brydion, brother to the Duke of Alestron."


About your first question, at first Arithon's forces simply fled from the enemies, while Lysaer enacted in corralling strategy. Their plan was to be surrounded in Dar Kieton Vale, so they were not immediately concerned about the soldiers in the flanks at first, or the fringes of Lysaer warhost moving to join Lysaer. Whether they arrived in time or not, Arithon knew they won't make a difference.

"‘I don’t care how many shepherds’ tents our patrols counted out on the heights. Those tribesfolk can move like wind itself and today’s shown no movement to report.’ Diegan lifted his chin to scan the peaks which ringed the vale like the glistening, crusted teeth of a wolf’s jaws. ‘Either nothing’s up there, or they’re holed up like stoats, just watching us work up a lather.’
Lysaer smiled. ‘Did you truly expect this would be easy?’
‘Never.’ But through the past weeks, riding in exhausting zigzag patterns up and down rocky corries as strike teams were dispatched to drive Arithon’s lighter forces before them like scrap sweepings chased by a broom, Diegan found his temper worn to breaking. Too many of the unseasoned garrison men boasted on their successes, that the archers always broke and ran under attack. If today the prince’s troops held the Shadow Master’s encampments surrounded, the creeping suspicion lingered that they were for a surety being led.
[...]
‘Your Grace, my Lord Commander, we’ve made contact.’ He unfisted a hand from his reins and pointed up the vale toward the stony rim of the knoll which divided the swale of the valley."

But after the landslide they are forced to fight, the ploy was needed only to reduce the numbers, but even if it succeeded, they knew they were going to face bad odds. Then the flanks became a dire problem for Arithon.

[Cody]

So what about all of the supposed forces that landed in the coves other than Haven?

It sounds like the descriptions of the battle plans entirely forgets that there were still 14 other inlets like Haven that Lysaer's soldiers landed at. Were they just there to make sure if Arithon slipped out of the Warhost noose that he'd find himself up against a cordon of soldiers blocking his escape to the sea?

[Alissa]

Hi Cody! From the quoted passages you get all the elements: the troops landed on the shore in the coves would have joined the main troops - pushing what encampments of shepherds they found along the way, and harrying them ahead. So they would have merged, eventually, with either the main body of Lysaer's army or the flanking ones, under Keldmar or Jaelot. S'Brydion had boats/ability on the sea, they won the support of Merior's fishing fleet, and there would have been hired merchant shipping as transport, after Lysaer's main effort to move the troops was smashed at Werpoint.

Arithon's ship is the Khetienn, Lysaer has been in Merior, he knows Arithon is basically without ships, no point in trying to find one in that terrain. From the clansmen's conversation, the numbers landed in the coves were too little to effectively patrol the coast to prevent an escape, and their orders were to go towards the main body of the warhost. They push on. Arithon traveled for 15 days with wounded survivors who slowed the march, plenty of time for the relatively small numbers who came by sea to follow orders at best of their capabilities considering the haphazard landscape.

Hope you liked all the phases of the battle as much as I did! I loved the carefully planned strategy, of Arithon, and the contingency reply of Lysaer, considering the advanced season and the s'Brydions demands. A good portion of the whole campaign is in direct consequence to the dialogue Lysaer has with Duke Bransian in Southshire:

" ‘I’m going to need help from Alestron to defend my supply lines.’
[...]
‘Arithon’s training the archers of Vastmark, at a guess. We’ll have to prepare very well to wage a campaign in those mountains.’
The duke’s furred eyebrows gathered over the bridge of his nose. ‘That’s a sharp move. Very.’ The territory had no roads, no ports, no safe harbours; not even trees to break the weather or hide scouting forays and encampments. ‘A defender’s paradise,’ Bransian allowed. ‘You’ll see your men get picked off like a lady’s wing-clipped song sparrows.’
[...]
‘I’ll hold your supply lines on express condition that my mercenary troops and half of my garrison shall battle at the forefront in Vastmark.
[...]
The alliance with s’Brydion threw strain in the weave, as Duke Bransian’s vociferous letters urged action despite the thorns of statecraft.
‘I’m aware large campaigns can’t be fought in the mud,’ came Lysaer’s reply, consonants pinned through vowels like welded rivets. ‘Nonetheless, I gave my royal word.’ "

Lysaer had s'Brydion holding his supply lines because the clansmen supporting Arithon won't push them hard enough....and there were lots of clansmen sent by Lord Erlien from Selkwood to support Arithon against Lysaer (without spoiling further books, I only tell, mark this part, who supported Arithon in this endeavor, who was present ;)

I loved the way Arithon's stroke thwarted the whole strategy of his enemies (starting with the double-ransom, the delays to avoid an engagement in summer, to what he accomplished with Talith), how the campaign was developed and defeated. There were two other main forces of Lysaer's aimed to sweep up the slopes from behind and (meant to) drive Arithon into Lysaer's main troops. But with the landslide decimating and cutting off the survivors, those two forces were foiled from closing. After the main battle there were still troops of Lysaer's actively hunting shepherds and Arithon's forces in the region....and they were still highly problematic, as you see from the actions happening after the main battle (VIII subchapter "Field of Fear" onwards) where shepherds are moving their families frantically out of the way, and Arithon's forces are standing rear guard - holding the stand off, as it were, until the supply lines can be cut - which was his purpose in capturing the s'Brydion brothers, all of them.

The final blow being - cutting supply lines as the season turned (ch VIII Interventions triplet). You'd see the lead up to this when Lysaer and the s'Brydion duke meet and Lysaer secures the promise of s'Brydion support with the supply lines in the dialogue above, and Bransian says how hard the terrain will be, and that he will commit to the supply only if he can use his troops on the lines in battle to keep them sharp. He had a dual role in that campaign, and that led to the consequences you read about at the end of the book (look to the follow up scene when his support of the supply lines are revoked :).

One of the things I like most, about the whole series, is how carefully the books are planned out, geographically too (battles, tactics on the terrain, how long it took troops to move how far over what terrain at what season and how much supply, what messed with that and so on).

I take it you are a military buff like I am. You'll find plenty of varied action ahead, too :D

[Aussie500]

I got the impression the ones who landed at the coves, were the flanking arms that were moving towards each other, and the main body of the army with Lysaer landed else where and marched though the more accessible entrance to Dier Kenton Vale. Be a bit impracticable to march such a large army through mountains and hills. The smaller more spread out forces that landed at the coves went through them. They were never meant to regroup till after the battle was finished. The north and south arms could not see what the much larger warhost in the middle was doing.

So presumably yes, their final task was to stop Arithon's forces from escaping once Lysaer had them trapped.

[Cody]

Haha, Not necessarily a military buff, Alissa, but I have a mind for logistics. I must also read a bit too fast to not pick up on things since I entirely missed that there were a bunch of soldiers in the coves and not just those that got wrecked at Haven. The rest of the battle I had down, I just wasn't sure where the cove attackers came in since they had no screen time, really.

[Alissa]

Then you'll find interesting battles/skirmishes ahead as well, in the books several details and scenes have a direction based upon the realism of logistics and timing, more than table-turning heroics. But there are no repeats :)
And throughout, some parts are told straight, others are pieces of a puzzle, that's true for revelations as much as action parts. Snipped and hints usually play a part, cross-books, as for example in this case, note who aided Arithon in this battle, who was there ;)
Considering the fate of Lysaer's ships, just as good that he found enough to have at least a few thousand townborns coming from sea landings, those who were not massacred at the Havens followed the closing-jaw strategy as ordered, they didn't pose much of a threat so they were not missing from the picture (the clansmen had them sighted and tallied), only those who joined with Jaelot's or Alestron's troops, which instead gave a bloody fight to the bottled-up defenders, did have a consequence.

When I started Fugitive Prince, and saw what Lysaer invents from the debacle in Vastmark, I thought he was truly brilliant. At the end of this book he's just hatching the idea. Let us know what you think!
It is also a stage-setter for the new Arc, though the stage broadens, it's slow-paced compared to Warhost of Vastmark.

[Aussie500]

But they nearly all arrived in Vastmark by sea, there was not enough time to march from Etarra all the way down to Vastmark. Only the headhunters from Forthmark and Ganish were locals.

Lysaer started from Avenor and marched his army through Camris, through the pass to Atania. Maenalle objected and was executed for it. Lysaer crossed Instrell Bay by boat and marched up to Etarra to join the Rathain forces gathered there.

The combined warhost then marched along the road through Valleygap, where Rathains clans had their go at slowing them down and killed some off. They eventually reached Werpoint and the trade fleet gathered to ship them down to Merior, Arithon then tricked Lysaer into burning the ships. Most of the army disbanded for winter, marching back to Etarra.

Lysaer then with the one ship Diegan got him by murder then went to Alestron to gain an alliance with the s'Brydion who had ships and men. Alestons mecenaries I think did not march all the way down to Merior, but maybe got dropped off at Telzen. The mercenaries then marched through Selkwood, where Shands clans had their go at slowing things down with a bit of sabotage. Alestrons mercenaries were presumably cutting of Arithon's escape back to clan territory.

Lysaer and Alestrons fleet then landed at Merior, but Arithon had already escaped to the Cascain Islands, he burned one ship, but never got what he wanted. Lysaer having made an impression on the folk of Merior, then wintered in Southshire and wooed them to his cause, gaining more ships, men and help. During that time Lysaer's army was moved to Jaelot, where Aleston's galleys then moved them all south. They were probably spread out between the towns, being too big to all be in Southshire.

Talith who thought it safe to join Lysaer at Southshire, then gets kidnapped by Arithon, and the ploys with the ransom then delay Lysaer till late summer, which only gave him a short time to engage and win the battle, and made supply for such a large army harder.

Meantime over winter Alestrons forces had been searching the coast for Arithon, and once the weather cleared up searching the Cascains. Eventually the rumors lead to an area in Vastmark. Arithon spent his winter getting to know the shepherds and amassing a fair bit of knowledge about the land he had chosen to defend, he later also explored the coves to the west of his original landing. He then mapped that all out which he passed on to the clans. While Lysaer had been partying in Southshire, Arithon had been busy.
Mind you someone on Lysaers behalf had also been busy recruiting in Shand.

At summers end Lysaer had forces marching though the passes beyond Thirdmark, so they would have been landed by ship along the coast line in that area, the headhunters marched from Gannish and came down the river by boat, and part of Lysaer's army came from the direction of Forthmark those probably were landed at Ithish and joined the Forthmark headhunters. They had the summer to get into place to cordon off Dier Kenton Vale from that side.

Once they were all in place the smaller forces then landed at the coves along the coastline they were mainly headhunters and town garrisons, transported by galleys and fishing boats. They came from both the narrows of South Sea (south and behind) and Rockbay Harbor, north. A better map showing the battle front would have been nice, so we knew exactly where everyone was. Either way the smaller forces went through and scoured the hills to kill of drive forward what ever was in them. It took them only a few weeks to get into place just beyond the rim wall of the vale where the main battle was. Janny mentions that among a hundred such landings Arithon singled one out, which was the Havens. Arithon was attempting to turn them back, he wanted to save lives with that horrific example, so one was all he needed.

Apparently in the area of the Havens there were 14 other coves, which 3,000 landed at. So Arithon chose a large group to mow down. 28,000 were in the central warhost, 12,000 in the hills along the sides of the vale. So must have been a lot of ships. Both parts of the main warhost could have been landed earlier in the year and at different times, but the ones landing in the coves would be around the same time, so they could close in and tighten the noose. The shale slide that blocked the passes through the hills prevented anyone passing that way, and meant Lysaer and the survivors had to go back the way they came, before they could join up with either of the other groups beyond the rim wall. Which gave Arithon a bit of leeway with the curse, Lysaer could not get any closer for a while.

Lysaer being able to raise and co-ordinate that many townborn from different kingdoms to help in his feud was no small achievement, even if it was for the wrong cause.

[Alissa]

Hi Aussie! Thank you! You summed up all the movements ever since the very beginning of the campaign, including what happened before Minderl Bay forced the change of plans. Just reading this, it's truly impressive, not only the battle parts in themselves, but all the alliances, the strategic moves, the anticipating, the winning of allies, the ability of both bothers to adapt, and so on!

We noticed the same facts exactly, the relevant bits for the movements of Lysaer troops in Vastmark are, as noted, those at the beginning of the subchapter "Strike at the Havens", in ch VII.

Let me only stress two points, when you say "passes beyond Thirdmark so they would have been landed by ship" I think instead it's by land, only Lysaer comes on his state galley from Cheivalt in Carithwyr, Havish ("For Lysaer, the pastoral peace of Cheivalt sawed like the cut of a canker. [...] For him, in that summer of Talith’s captivity, the city was a cage in which he was fed a steady diet of bad news." Ch VI triplet "Ways and Means" and Ch VII "Grand augury", "...not when the Khetienn was engaged in a race to reach Shand ahead of Lysaer’s galley.").

Second is when you say "Both parts of the main warhost could have been landed earlier in the year and at different times". The warhost is mostly there, no need for sea transport, because they are already stationed in Shand. They had all the time to move there during all the time bought by Arithon with his stalling tactics and ever since Lysaer turned towards Merior and then started to brilliantly win allies in Shand, city by city.
Minderl Bay happens in year 5645, late season. This battle occurs after Talith is returned, in year 5647 at fall. Plenty of time for Lysaer maneuvering and deployment.

"They came from the north, through the passes beyond Thirdmark" (north, near the cost), "From the walled city of Ganish, they came on by road, then by river" (north-east, from the flatlands), "They skirted the lower foothills of the Kelhorns from Forthmark" (south-east).
Then a little portion by sea "Like the closing fingers of a gauntleted fist wrought of forty thousand dedicated lives, they came also by galley and fishing boat [...] uncounted small fleets nosed up the shadowy narrows of South Sea and through the twisted straits into Rockbay Harbour."

We also know from other references that the bulk of the army moved mostly by land, and from which directions:

Ch VI subchapter "Ways and Means" (the very last part) "While Avenor’s royal galley rows north bearing Princess Talith back home to the towers of Avenor, her husband drives south with all speed; and like darkening storm, his armies mass on the borders of Vastmark to wreak vengeance and death upon the Master of Shadow before the onset of winter"
The warhost is composed of the original troops from Tysan and Rathain, Jaelot's and Alestron's forces, and the allies garnered in Shand.

Ch V subchapter "On Manners" "quarter portions of his warhost at Atchaz and Innish" (note the positions of those Shandian cities)
Ch VI subchapter "Sorrow" "Yet haste was what Lysaer required. For each day that passed, by diplomatic constraint, his massive war host stayed paralysed in Shand. Summer reached its splendid fullness and mocked him..."


"A better map showing the battle front would have been nice, so we knew exactly where everyone was" I totally agree, it would be great, a battle like this, with so many stages and fronts, would benefit from a map with the deployment, or even more considering all what passes!

[Aussie500]

Well the combined army that originally arrived at Werpoint, ended up marching to Jaelot and being moved by ship down to Shand(pg 206 mass market edition). They were the major proportion of the army. So however they got to Shand it was by ship. Despite what the timeline seems to show there was less than a year between Werepoint and the battle of Dier Kenton Vale. Lysaer could not take his foreign army though Melhalla at that point, could not go through Havish. More of Alestron's mercenaries could have marched down to Atchaz or the ones that went to Merior could have marched up to Atchaz for the winter.

There was nothing mentioned about any portion being housed over winter near Thirdmark, the headhunters alone would not be classed as an army, and snapping pennons and lances are not really their thing. Lysaer had to have had some of his army with them. Maybe the army was spread between Southshire, Innish, Atchaz, and Thirdmark (or Firstmark)? The Atchaz forces could have gone up the road to Gannish and come down by river with the headhunters and what ever town forces they came with, but the group coming from the north through Thirdmark would have been a separate group. Apart from Alestron's mercenaries, and Shands headhunters and town garrisons, they all had to get to Shand by ship.

And Janny seems to have skipped a year, despite what the Stormed Fortress timeline says about 5646. Arithon spent the winter in Vastmark with the shepherds, the same winter Lysaer was at Southshire. Talith was not held for over a year, there was a sense of urgency in all that amassing of armed forces.
Talith was kidnapped in spring and ransomed in Summer and then both Arithon and Lysaer raced off to Shand, so where did the extra year go? Pretty sure there was only the one winter between Werpoint and the eventual start of the battle at Dier Kenton Vale. The new year starts in winter.

I will go read them again when I get a chance and see if I can see where we seem to have lost an entire year.

[Alissa]

Hi Aussie! My bad, thanks for pointing out! It's one year from Minderl Bay to Dier Kenton Vale.

Fall/Winter 5645
Ships of Merior, ch XIV:
"...warmed to the belief that they were invincible under the steady blaze of Lysaer’s confidence. Against all adversity they had made the port of Werpoint before the winter storms closed the harbour."

Ships of Merior, ch XIV, subchapter "Reckoning":
"‘What use to give chase?’ cried Werpoint’s withered harbourmaster. ‘The winter’s upon us.’"

As Warhost of Vastmark opens, it's still late autumn/early winter.
Ch I, "Second Convocation":
"Its master tested the fault lines in the slopes, that shepherds too poor to survive losses not pen their flocks through the winter in valleys prone to shale slides."
Ch I, subchapter "Tharrick":
"Talliarthe carved into tropical waters two weeks shy of the winter solstice."

Winter 5645
Ch I, subchapter "Duke and Prince":
Lysaer goes to Alestronn. "The only one likely to commiserate with a foreigner dragged headlong through raw weather and winter fields, he apologized for the barren hunt."

Ch I, triplet "Lane Imprints":
"the Prime Matriarch curses timing, that First Enchantress Lirenda’s trial to regain the order’s Great Waystone cannot take place any sooner than spring equinox"
This tell us the events of of ch IV, subchapter "Springtide" happens during spring 5646

Spring 5646
Towards the end of ch IV, subchapter "Messenger":
"Spring equinox was two days hence", a few paragraphs after, "Night lay like dusky velvet over the torchlit spires and steep, shingled roofs of Southshire. Lysaer s’Ilessid stood with his hands on the alabaster railing of the Supreme Mayor’s south-facing balcony."

Arithon kidnaps Talith

Ch V, subchapter "On Manners":
"Already the highborn city officials in Alland languished in recoil from the driving, persuasive brilliance of the s’Ilessid request to quarter portions of his warhost at Atchaz and Innish. His Grace’s tireless dedication through the weeks since spring equinox had ensured that no citizen in Shand remained uninformed of the Shadow Master’s murderous history."

Summer 5646
Ch VI "Ostermere":
"Even Arithon’s ingenuity could no longer forestall the brunt of Lysaer’s muster in the south. Once the princess’s ransom was accomplished, bloodshed must inevitably follow. Armies massed on the borders of Vastmark, thick as the lines of summer anvil heads. Caolle’s shepherd archers set stone breastworks in the passes, and prepared points of ambush to stall the mighty army that threatened any day to roll over them."

Ch VI subchapter "Sorrow":
"For Lysaer, the pastoral peace of Cheivalt sawed like the cut of a canker. [...] For him, in that summer of Talith’s captivity, the city was a cage in which he was fed a steady diet of bad news."

Fall/Winter 5646
Ch VII, "Strike at the Havens":
"Summer’s end saw Lysaer’s proud warhost in their closing march upon Vastmark."

Ch IX "Counterploys":
"Winter had crept in, all unnoticed, while one fragment of prophecy had unforgivably slipped his attention."


As for how the troops reach Shand from the moment Lysaer heads south, gains again Alestron' support, goes in Merior by the sea, gather allies in the Shandian cities, we are saying the same thing. There are two moments. One is how the army got from Werpoint to Shand. The other is where they stationed and how they moved from various locations of Shand to reach the region of Vasmark.
All the passages I've cited in my various post concentrate on this second moment.

It's admirable how Lysaer handles all the setbacks, truly, and manages to turn is losses in opportunities, I shouldn't have been surprised at the refined statecraft he shows in Fugitive Prince, but I was. He plays the cold game superbly, but in step with his nature and with the curse standing!