Chapter 11: The Defensive Battle (Part I)

"Whoosh—"

Flocks of birds took flight from the dense forest at the foot of the Misty Mountains, and the trees swayed in waves despite the lack of wind. Allen knew that the event he had been waiting for was finally coming.

"Just how many are there?"

Allen, mounted on his horse on the east bank, looked at the movement in the dense forest on the opposite side of the river with a heavy expression. He calculated how much force the Orc King had gathered and weighed whether the strength he had prepared was sufficient to deal with such a threat.

At the very least, tens of thousands of Orcish lived in the 800-kilometer-long winding Misty Mountains; they might live in caves, dense forests, or the tunnels that stretched throughout the entire mountain range.

Their numbers were extremely vast, yet they were not unified, and sometimes they would fight among themselves over some trivial nonsense.

The Orc King was one such ruler. He directly ruled the Orcish living in Orc Town, and numerous small tribes in the surrounding area revered him as king and acknowledged his authority. Thus, he was called the Orc King, but in fact, he could not command all the Orcish living in the Misty Mountains; for instance, he and Azog likely had an equal relationship.

This was a giant Orcish, three or four meters tall. It would be difficult to find another of this physique even if one searched the entire Middle-earth. His intelligence was extremely high, and he was well-versed in experience, performing various etiquette gestures with ease. Judging by his attitude toward the sword Orcrist, he was likely an old Orcish who had lived since who knows when.

After learning that the Human captives he had offered to Sauron had been snatched away, a monstrous rage ignited in his heart. He stomped his feet and said hatefully to the surviving Wolf Rider, "Why did the tribute go missing, and you still have the face to return? Hmm!!" As he spoke, he slapped his subordinates, who wore expressions of panic, one by one, sending them flying into the dark crevices of the cave. He immediately issued an order, commanding messengers to go and summon the Orcish tribes that obeyed him, while simultaneously arranging for his fully armed guards to mount Wargs to scout these Humans who did not know death and dared to provoke his authority.

The Orc King's level of anger clearly exceeded Allen's estimation. After learning the specific situation of Allen's village, he gathered nearly two thousand Orcish soldiers. Although they were ragged and most held crude weapons, there were nearly two thousand of them, and quantity was their greatest weapon.

Besides this, the Orcish also sent messengers multiple times to talk with the leader of the Wargs, and after paying a certain price, invited over a hundred Wargs to cooperate with his elite guards in this attack. Not only that, he also took two Cave Troll from his collection, which cost him a great deal of time.

Preparing all of this took a full week. The angry but still rational Orc King ordered the gathered Orcish and Troll to avoid the sunlight and advance through the dense forest on the edge of the Misty Mountains. To prevent the sunlight from having too great an impact on their combat effectiveness, he required the leading officers to wait until the next day when it was completely dark before crossing the Anduin River from the shallows near the Carrock to launch an attack on Allen and his people.

The order given to the hundred-plus Wolf Rider was to delay their departure by one day, wait in the forest near the Old Ferry, and when evening arrived, move north along the river from the Old Ferry to launch an attack on Allen, giving Allen, who was resisting the two thousand Orcish, a surprise.

The Orc King did not directly participate in the command of this battle; his physique was too large, and it was no longer suitable for running between mountains and through dense forests. He only gave orders to the leading officers:

"Bring all those bold Humans back to me, whether they are alive or dead. Even if they have already been eaten into a wolf's belly, you must ride the wolf back to me, do you understand? If you fail to complete this, then go feed the wolves."

At night, under the illumination of the bright moonlight, large swaths of Shadow began to emerge from the pine forest a few miles west of the Carrock. At this moment, a nimble flying shadow streaked across the sky above the dense forest and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Cress, who had been staying on the Carrock for the past few days, was the first to discover these large swaths of Shadow. She knew she was finally free and would no longer be forcibly kept on the Carrock. She quickly took out a fire starter, lit the bonfire on the Carrock, slid down along the rope, and rode "Sapphire" back to the camp at full speed. Yes, she had given the white horse beneath her the name "Sapphire."

Allen, who had been waiting for this moment for a long time, discovered the firelight on the Carrock and immediately ordered all personnel to enter combat status. Allen knew that this kind of defensive battle was a brute-force fight, seeing whose will was firmer, who had more trump cards, and whose strength was more profound.

For this battle, he had prepared many gifts for the Orc King's troops, such as the hundred or so Archer currently guarding behind the wall, the fifty-plus professional infantry guarding the gate, and the fifteen Heavy Cavalry ready to charge at any moment. He needed to commit these forces at the right time to win this battle. He believed that the Orc King could never have imagined that a village of five hundred people would actually have nearly two hundred professional troops.

Yes, both sides had an information gap. The Orc King truly did not expect that Allen had so many soldiers here. He arranged so many troops to attack Allen, on one hand, because Allen's actions had indeed angered him; he wanted to wipe everyone here out in one fell swoop, and he needed a quick victory, as he did not want to have any conflict with the Elf living in Mirkwood;

On the other hand, the tribute he offered to Sauron had been snatched away right under his nose, which was undoubtedly a provocation to his authority. He needed to display his power; he needed to tell all the surrounding Orcish that he was still the most handsome guy in this area.

And Allen, for his part, truly did not expect the Orc King to gather such a massive army to attack him. In his thoughts, five or six hundred Orcish infantry plus a hundred or so Wolf Rider would be the limit. His early preparations were all made according to this level of threat. But as time ticked by and the Orcish attack was delayed, Allen knew he had guessed wrong. He became increasingly restless, trying to prepare one trump card after another to deal with a crisis that had completely deviated from his predictions.

The moonlight tonight was beautiful and bright. Borrowing the moonlight, Allen looked with a grave expression at the Orcish crossing the Anduin River; they were boundless and endless, stretching into the night in the distance.

Similarly, after the Orcish officer led the team across the Anduin River and climbed the hillside toward Allen's village, they also saw the guards waiting in full battle array behind the wall. The officer did not pay attention to these people; he himself was one of the Wolf Rider responsible for scouting and knew that this village had at most forty or fifty professional soldiers. The others were either the old, weak, women, and children snatched away before, or bumpkins responsible for chopping wood and repairing fences. These people had no combat effectiveness. They were very experienced in attacking such villages; as long as they killed the soldiers responsible for fighting, the rest were fresh meat on a plate for them to take as they pleased. Moreover, this time he brought nearly two thousand Orcish plus two Troll. He felt he could steadily complete the mission and had even thought of the Orc King's reward for him after winning.

The increasingly excited Orcish officer waved the whip in his hand, lashing at the slow-moving Orcish nearby, shouting loudly: "You scum, lazybones, waste-of-food trash, walk faster for me, faster!"

The Orcish who were whipped shuddered, let out whimpering sounds, and continued to move forward, only faster than before.

Just like that, when the Orcish troops reached a position five hundred meters from the wall, the officer stopped, pacing back and forth. This time he whipped the Orcish who were running fast, shouting as he whipped: "Why are you running so fast, do you want to be shot to death? Stop advancing, those in the back, stand to the sides, hurry, hurry." Amidst the "snap," "snap" of the whip, the Orcish in the back began to gather toward the sides of the team. This officer was also very experienced and knew that at this distance, Human long-range weapons would find it difficult to attack his troops.

In Allen's eyes, the Orcish who had advanced to five hundred meters away began to stall, and the troops gradually spread out to the sides, forming a horizontal line two hundred meters long, thick in the middle and thin on the sides. Then, the entire team was directed by an Orcish holding a whip, shouting something, and swarmed toward the camp. The thickest part of the team attacked toward the gate, and the thin parts on the sides began to rush toward the flanks of the camp.

The view from the camp wall was excellent because from this side of the wall to the Carrock was a gentle slope with a certain height difference. We often say that when a thousand people gather, they are boundless and endless; in fact, as long as you stand high enough, you can still see the edges.

Allen broke into a cold sweat as he watched the rushing Orcish. He carefully observed his subordinates around him and found that they seemed calmer than one another. Cress even made a face at him. Could they not see how many attacking enemies there were (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻?

Allen, having no heart to complain, raised the War Bow in his hand and began to try to shoot the increasingly close Orcish. His archery was extremely precise; if put into a game, it would be at least 400+ archery proficiency, and the range of the War Bow was also sufficiently far.

Allen's shooting speed was extremely fast, firing seven or eight arrows in a very short time, and each arrow could knock down an Orcish running up the slope. However, the enemies he killed were not even a splash to the main enemy force; soon more Orcish would fill the positions of the dead soldiers. Soon, Desaiwei also joined the ranks of shooting with a Hard Bow in hand.

This was not the best time for the Crossbowman to shoot. The range of the Crossbowman was very short; the sharpshooters holding the Siege Crossbow had an effective range of no more than 120 meters, the Skilled Crossbowman holding ordinary Crossbow had an effective range of no more than 80 meters, and the light Crossbow had an effective range of only 50 meters at most. However, their effective lethal range could reach over 100 meters. They waited in silence for Allen's order.

The Orcish troops were getting closer and closer to the camp wall. Allen could already clearly see the ugly faces of the Orcish. Allen felt the time was about right, so he fired a few fire arrows that had been prepared long ago.

Seeing these few fire arrows streak across the night sky and accurately hit the pre-prepared woodpiles, which had also been sprinkled early with the Fire Oil Allen had purchased, the rising firelight dispelled the darkness within a radius of dozens of meters. This was the order for the Crossbowman to shoot, and the Orcish, who did not like light, bypassed the fire, which made them gather even more densely.

With a "hum," over a hundred crossbow bolts shot into the attacking Orcish ranks, and immediately dozens of Orcish fell under this wave of fire.

This caused the attacking pace of the nearby Orcish to stall for a moment. The Orcish officer saw this scene, understood in his heart that he had underestimated the opponent's long-range power, and shouted loudly: "Faster, all of you run, hurry, hurry, hurry."

In fact, the speed at which these Orcish ran was not slow; after all, they were attacking uphill and climbing a slope. But under the officer's order and the threat of death, the Orcish around the officer ran even faster.

Allen had been looking for this Orcish officer holding the whip. Originally, in Allen's eyes, the Orcish all looked the same. This officer was stuck in the pile of Orcish, and in the middle of the night, Allen couldn't tell who was who. Now that he had jumped out on his own, Allen locked onto him at a glance, pointed his bow toward the officer, and shot an arrow with a "whoosh."

At this time, the Orcish officer did not notice the danger at all. He was waving his whip, lashing at the two Cave Troll crawling forward not far from him, shouting for them to run and smash the camp gate. Just as the whip fell, the first arrow pierced his palm. In extreme pain, the officer hurriedly ducked his head, covering his pierced palm with his other hand. At this moment, the second arrow Allen fired as a follow-up brushed past the Orcish officer's scalp. Knowing he had been locked onto, the Orcish officer hurriedly hid behind several Orcish soldiers and disappeared from Allen's sight.

At this time, Allen could not care about this Orcish officer. He saw something unexpected again: two Cave Troll were crazily accelerating toward the camp gate from a hundred meters away. The number of Orcish they trampled to death along the way reached more than a dozen.

"Everyone, focus fire on those two Troll first."

Allen shouted loudly, and the bow in his hand also continuously poured firepower toward the Troll. Although the others did not know what a Troll was, seeing two three-to-four-meter-tall behemoths rushing crazily toward the gate, they naturally knew who to attack first.

The constantly attacked Troll knew they were being targeted. Crossbow bolts and arrows kept shooting into their bodies covered in green scales. Although they could not cause too much damage, it hurt! Although their brains were not good, they knew to take some measures to avoid being attacked. One of them casually grabbed a few Orcish and held them in front of his head and chest, rushing toward the gate with his head down. The other, seeing this, wanted to imitate his companion, but suddenly found that he had rushed out of the Orcish ranks. He was stunned for a moment, stopped in place, reached out and scratched his head, thinking about whether to turn back and grab a few Orcish before charging.

It was this fleeting opportunity that Cress seized. She raised the heavy javelin in her hand and threw it with all her might. This javelin went straight for the Troll's confused large eyeball and then pierced deeply into it.

"Awoo."

The Troll, whose eye and part of its brain were severely damaged, raised its head and shouted loudly. Then another javelin pierced into the Troll's mouth, coming straight out from the back of its head. Having suffered severe damage again, the Troll kept clawing at its mouth, and after struggling for a long while, it fell heavily to the ground.

At this time, the Cave Troll that was holding several Orcish as shields had already rushed to the front of the gate. At this moment, thinking of using long-range weapons to solve it was no longer a realistic idea. Allen stabilized his breathing, released the War Bow in his hand, extended his right hand to grasp the Heavy Cavalry Lance beside him, pressed his left hand on the wall, exerted force with his whole body, and stood steadily on the wall. He reached out and snapped the Great Helm he had carried on his back onto his head, staring fixedly at the Troll charging with its head down.

Just as the Troll rushed to a distance of four or five meters from the gate, Allen took a deep breath, gripped the lance with both hands, and kicked off the wall with his legs. Wearing full heavy armor, he leaped out just like that, meeting the charging Troll head-on in the two-meter-high air. The Heavy Cavalry Lance in his hand pierced through the abdomen of an Orcish and stabbed heavily into the Troll's chest. "Crack!" The old lance that had been with him for only a few days broke just like that. He was also heavily knocked out by the Troll's charging body, rolling until he hit the camp gate before stopping. He flipped over, supported himself with both hands, shook his head, and stood up. He reached behind his back, unbuckled the latch, pulled out the Greatsword fixed behind him, and rushed toward the crazed Troll. (A slot can be opened on the scabbard in the direction opposite to drawing the sword, making it very easy to draw, and then a latch can be made at the scabbard's throat so it won't fall out normally.)

The suddenly severely wounded Troll stopped its charge in the collision with Allen and staggered back a few steps. Seeing the enemy rushing over, it used the Orcish in its hand as a throwing weapon and smashed it toward the rushing Allen. Allen dodged it, rushed to the Troll's feet, brandished the Greatsword in his hand, and slashed heavily into the Troll's left leg. The Troll felt the pain and sat down, waving the Orcish it held tightly in its hand to smash at Allen.

Allen, having succeeded in one strike, quickly retreated, not only pulling out the Greatsword that had slashed into the Troll's leg but also dodging the Orcish smashed over by the Troll. Then, with one stride, he arrived at the side of the Troll sitting on the ground. Before the Troll could react, he gripped the Greatsword with both hands and thrust it with all his might, inserting the Greatsword into the Troll's head from the side, and even stirred it forcefully, before being slapped away by the crazed Troll.

Allen, who staggered to his feet again, saw that the Troll was slowly becoming motionless and knew that the camp wall was considered saved for now. He walked to the Troll's side, pulled out the Greatsword inserted in the Troll's brain, waved it to shake off the debris of unknown color on it, and raised the Greatsword to rush toward the Orcish who had already climbed over the trench and pressed to the front of the wall.

At this time, the gate behind Allen opened, and fifty-plus Rhodok Skilled Spearman walked out from inside. Following Fatis's order, they held their Broad Shield and ran quickly, forming a shield wall about forty meters long at a position two meters from the wall. They stared fixedly at the rushing Orcish, gripping their spears tightly. Ten Nord Royal Guards threw all the Flying Axe in their hands, jumped directly from the wall, and raised the Great Axe in their hands to hack and kill the Orcish who had already rushed to the sides of the shield wall.

The Orcish who were originally surrounding the flanks of the camp saw that the enemy had actually taken the initiative to come out, so they hissed and surrounded the enemies who had come out. And at this moment, our protagonist Allen was already in the midst of the Orcish crowd, killing to his heart's content.