Chapter 113: The Front End of the Siege

At night, the dazzling and bright light of the Great Hope Star flickered in the sky, which meant that it was nearing dawn.

Allen lay on the hard bed frame, tossing and turning all night, unable to fall into a peaceful sleep; often, as soon as he closed his eyes, scenes of tragedy would emerge in his mind.

Fire, blood, corpses lying on the ground, crying children, women and children bound in shackles, and the arrogant laughter of the Easterlings made Allen's heart increasingly anxious; he calculated in his mind whether there was anything he could do to spare those Northmen under siege from a tragic fate in the future.

All night long, Allen kept calculating the strength in his hands, hoping to squeeze out some soldiers to rescue the besieged Iron Wall Town, but unfortunately, no matter how carefully Allen calculated, he could not scrape together enough reserve forces to save those people.

The location of Heidelberg was extremely important; stationed here were Allen's seven hundred soldiers, as well as more than three hundred militiamen assembled by Hank and the others. These thousand people needed to guard against the Easterling tribes currently living in Red River Town, so as to prevent the enemy from driving straight in and attacking the civilians still working in the fields.

In fact, these soldiers themselves were not enough; if not for the one thousand Woodland Elves that Thranduil had dispatched to the Mirkwood Mountains, Allen might have risked delaying the farming work to recruit more militiamen from the territory to carry out defense work here.

However, they were all new residents who had just joined Wilderness Town and had not received any relevant military training, and Allen did not have enough weapons and equipment to arm them. Under such circumstances, letting these people go to the battlefield to face the vicious Easterlings was not much different from treating human life like grass.

If he had a choice, Allen would absolutely not do this. In the past, when facing the meat grinders of the Second World War, those ruthless Western politicians would still allow new recruits to train for a month. Let alone Allen; he felt that although his ability could not compare to those big shots, his integrity was still stronger than those guys.

Now, Allen had arranged for Gangding, the captain of the Nord Royal Guard squad, to return to Wilderness Town to preside over the daily training work.

Once those militiamen had undergone a certain amount of training, and Allen found a way to purchase a batch of weapons and equipment for them, then when Heidelberg faced a moment of crisis, they could naturally help out and play a greater role, rather than dying meaninglessly in the hands of the enemy as cannon fodder.

The soldiers here at Heidelberg could not be moved; if this place could not be held, the entire Mirkwood Road would become an aid to the enemy. By then, if the enemies drove their War Chariots along this road and drove straight into the western part of Mirkwood, Allen would only be able to force all his soldiers and the people of his territory to retreat into Wilderness Town to wait for reinforcements.

But Wilderness Town was a civilian town, not a fortress like Helm's Deep or Minas Tirith, and it lacked such powerful defensive fortifications. Allen did not dare to guarantee whether it could be held. Moreover, by that time, the strength in Allen's hands would be unable to fight a decisive battle with the enemy in the field, and the enemy could trample the fields around the town as they pleased.

And then there were the horses; at the current stage, their numbers were already so large that they could not enter the town, and they would need to be driven into the forest to take refuge. In this process, there was no telling how many casualties there would be, and such a loss would be truly too tragic for Allen.

Therefore, whether for the safety of the lives and property of the more than ten thousand civilians behind him, or for the horses that could be used to build up more strength, Allen could not move the garrison at Heidelberg.

As for the three Skin-changers led by Beorn, they had been sent by Allen to the southern end of Mirkwood for reconnaissance work early on.

Although this forest was two hundred kilometers wide and extremely difficult to traverse due to its dense vegetation, Allen was still worried that small groups of enemies would pass through here to harass his rear. As it happened, Skin-changers could communicate with animals, and their combat power in the forest was also extremely formidable, so dealing with small groups of enemies should not be a problem.

Allen felt that such an arrangement was a bit of a waste of Beorn and his companions' combat power, but he had no other choice; he had no other suitable candidates on hand.

As for the fifty Cavalry brought to the vicinity of Heidelberg by Cress, Allen also prepared to leave them to Alayen, letting them assist in doing some reconnaissance work; whether choosing defense or offense, intelligence on the battlefield was extremely important.

As for the soldiers of Wilderness Town, they could not be moved, so after counting back and forth, the only ones he could mobilize were himself and the twelve Twilight Knights. Even so, the sleepless Allen still decided to do something.

The next morning, Allen yawned as he walked out of his barracks, then arranged for his personal guards to summon Alayen, who was presiding over the defense work.

A moment later.

Allen, who was eating breakfast at the long table in the camp, heard some movement; he looked up and saw the spirited Alayen. Allen waved his hand to signal Alayen to sit in front of him.

He opened his mouth and said: "I am preparing to go to Long Lake Town, and I intend to hand over full responsibility for everything here to you."

Alayen was stunned, and then an irrepressible excitement appeared on his face. He hurriedly stood up, coughed twice, restrained the expression on his face, and said seriously and solemnly: "My lord, I am very happy to receive such an important task. Please rest assured, I will definitely not let down your trust."

This young man, having suddenly obtained a territory, was extremely eager to be recognized and also hoped to do some great things to increase his reputation, such as leading the thousand soldiers stationed at Heidelberg to complete a beautiful defensive battle.

Allen naturally saw the change in expression on Alayen's face; he knew that although the young man in front of him looked serious, he was probably already overjoyed in his heart.

"Sit down and talk."

Allen waved his hand again, signaling Alayen to sit down, and at the same time said: "Tell me, how do you plan to handle the defense work here?"

As someone who had received a standard aristocratic education, Alayen still had some knowledge of war, and having followed Allen here and there over the years, he had also participated in many battles and accumulated some experience.

Facing Allen's sudden question, Alayen was not flustered at all; he himself had considered more than once how he should handle things if his territory were attacked.

"My lord, according to the information we have now, the enemy has no intention of launching an attack on us, so I think the most important thing now is to build defensive fortifications; many soldiers are actually already taking turns to help. Of course, we cannot let our guard down regarding the enemy's movements. I have already divided the Cavalry into several squads and sent them to scout the situation near the Running River. Once there is news of the enemy, they will return quickly, and by then I can be well-prepared for defense."

After finishing, Alayen paused, and after seeing Allen nod, he continued.

"According to the construction speed of the defensive fortifications, it will take at least several months or even half a year at the fastest. No one can guarantee that the enemy will not attack us during this time; after all, they are very close to us, only two or three hundred kilometers away."

"And then? If they attack us at this time, what do you plan to do?"

"My lord, if the enemy attacks, I will send a messenger to request the help of the Woodland Elves at the first opportunity. At the same time, I will use the reconnaissance capability of the Cavalry to try my best to grasp the enemy's movements, prevent the enemy from crossing the river, or lead the army to block their only path when the enemy is crossing the river. Even if they have a numerical advantage, it will be very difficult for them to cross the river under such circumstances."

Allen nodded again. Whether it was requesting support at the first opportunity or executing the strategy of attacking the enemy while they were halfway across the river, both were very correct approaches, but there was still one problem.

"If the enemy crosses the Running River far away and fights their way along the south bank, what do you plan to do?"

The Running River had already changed course to the south at the location of Heidelberg, so it did not completely protect the location of Mirkwood Road.

Alayen smiled confidently and said: "My lord, actually, I went to scout that place you are worried about a long time ago. The trees there grow very densely and are connected with the river; there is no road, and it is very difficult to walk, so it is simply not suitable for large-scale troop movements. If the enemy disperses, we, who are more familiar with the terrain, can completely kill them in batches in the forest. In fact, I have already asked Caroline to arrange for a small squad of hunters to be stationed there; if there is any news, it will be sent back very quickly."

This point actually surprised Allen a bit. Having just arrived at Heidelberg not long ago, he had been very busy and had not yet found the time to observe the specific environment of the surroundings. The work Alayen had done in advance made Allen feel very gratified; the child who used to follow behind him and would panic and get flustered if he lost track of him had already grown to this point.

【To be honest, I've been using Wild Fruit Reading to keep up with books recently. The source switching is fast, the reading voices are numerous, and it's available on both Android and Apple.】

This also allowed Allen to finally feel at ease handing over the defense work of Heidelberg to Alayen to manage, while he himself would leave here and head to the Iron Hills to see with his own eyes just how powerful his main enemy in the short term really was.

Five days later, Allen, traveling at full speed, had arrived near Long Lake Town with his twelve personal guards. Originally, Allen had wanted to bring Cress and Grim, but calculating the time, Thorin's coronation ceremony had been over for nearly half a month, so Bilbo Baggins should also be returning to Bag End from the Lonely Mountain soon.

Gandalf, who should have been traveling with Bilbo Baggins, had already set off some time ago to go to Rohan and Gondor to seek support. Allen did not hold much hope for Gandalf's request for aid.

The king currently controlling Rohan was Theoden's grandfather, named Fengel. In the past, when Allen was researching the kings of Rohan, he had the good fortune to glance at an introduction to this guy. Good heavens, this king was not only greedy for food and wealth but also had an extremely poor relationship with the various Marshals under his command. His son Sengel, who was Theoden's father, had run off to Gondor to serve the Steward of Gondor just a few years ago when he had just come of age.

It was evident how hated this King of Rohan was. Counting on him to lead troops to the rescue? Allen had long ago given up on that thought.

As for the current Steward of Gondor, Turgon, during this guy's reign, Gondor should not have had any major incidents, otherwise Allen would not have had no impression of him. It was just that Sauron, who had already begun to be active in Mordor, would inevitably keep Gondor busy, and whether they would have the spare capacity to send soldiers to support Allen was also an unknown.

As for why Gandalf did not go to Lothlórien and Rivendell to request the help of the Elves, Allen also had some guesses. As for Lothlórien, even without the constraints of Dol Guldur, it had the existence of Moria behind it; they would not easily leave their base camp and run so far to support Humans.

As for Rivendell, it went without saying; Lord Elrond actually shouldered the mission of resisting the dark forces of Eriador. How could they possibly protect such a large area of land relying solely on the small number of Northern Rangers? One had to know that the most stable and happiest people were probably the Humans living in Bree and the Shire.

Even if the hope was slim, Gandalf had still proposed this idea. Facing this old man who would do whatever he had an idea for, Allen did not want to dampen his enthusiasm. What's more, Allen might not necessarily be able to persuade Gandalf; no, he would definitely be persuaded by Gandalf instead.

As for Bilbo Baggins, he had been sent to the Shire by Kili, Gloin, and Bofur. Allen had long ago sent out Cress and Grim, letting the two of them wait in the Shire to send his Hobbit friend to Bag End. Allen was not very at ease sending others, and Cress also bore the task of finding Manid.

Now that the war had broken out, it was impossible for Stephen to purchase the grain Allen needed from the eastern part of Rhovanion anymore, so Manid's task had also changed due to the arrival of the war. In addition to the supplies needed by the Dwarves of Erebor, Manid also needed to find a stable grain supplier in Eriador for Allen.

This point was not particularly difficult; the Shire was a place with abundant produce, and there was no shortage of grain. The difficulty was that the journey in between was too long, with the Great East Road being several hundred kilometers long. How to transport grain efficiently was something Manid needed to think about carefully himself; Allen no longer had the time or energy to pay attention to these matters.

After galloping for several days, Allen met up with Fatis at Long Lake Town. After a simple rest for one day, Allen led all his subordinates across the Running River and headed in the direction of the Iron Hills.

Under Fatis's guidance, the group finally arrived near Iron Wall Town a few days later, and at the same time, Allen also saw the Easterling camp.

Even though he had already prepared himself mentally, the boundless camp of the Easterlings still gave Allen's heart a strong shock.

"Just how many people did Sauron send over? This is definitely more than ten thousand."

It was indeed more than ten thousand. As the leader of the Bartra people, the clansmen led by Ashur alone numbered nearly ten thousand, not to mention that he was also leading the clansmen of Kurda and Hamish at this time; the entire camp was home to over fifteen thousand Easterlings.

Cavalry were patrolling everywhere around the camp from time to time, preventing Allen from approaching the camp. Moreover, facing an enemy of such a massive scale, Allen did not dare to act rashly. He only had two hundred Cavalry with him; killing a small squad of Cavalry wandering in the Wilderness was fine, but if he dared to attack the main camp, the enemy's archers could make Allen suffer a great deal with a single volley of mounted archery.

At this time, the Easterlings were already attacking the town. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that Ashur did not want to suffer too many casualties, Iron Wall Town would have been breached long ago.

This fortress, built between two cliffs, had stone walls six meters high, complete with watchtowers and arrow towers; conversely, there was very little arable land in the surrounding area, and outside the walls, there were some civilian houses that had already been demolished.

At this time, in order to cope with the attack by the Easterlings, several leaders of the Northern Men had concentrated almost all the soldiers under their command, as well as all the able-bodied young men capable of fighting, into this small, sturdy castle, with the number of people reaching over a thousand.

According to the past experience of these leaders, these Easterlings who frequently came to Rhovanion to raid would naturally leave after failing to take such a fortress after a long siege, at which point they could return to their respective settlements and resume their lives.

Now, this method no longer worked; the Easterlings who came this time were not just plundering slaves and supplies, they were seizing land and intended to live here for a long time, so they naturally would not leave at the first sign of difficulty as they had in the past.

Ashur ordered his soldiers to launch several probing attacks, and after leaving behind the corpses of over a hundred soldiers, he stopped this method of attack that could cause massive attrition, instead ordering his tribesmen and slaves to cut down trees in the surrounding area; he wanted to build siege engines to completely breach this fortress.

After seeing the actions of the Easterlings, those guarding inside the castle naturally understood Ashur's intentions; besieged, their morale did not drop, but instead grew even higher, and under the leadership of their various chiefs, they swore to fight the enemy to the death.

Their families were currently hiding in concealed places, and they could only try every possible means in this defensive battle to inflict more casualties on the enemy and then force the enemy to retreat so that they could reunite with their families; even if they died in battle, they could still eliminate as much of the enemy's strength as possible, thereby making their families safer.

And this siege battle had already begun two days before Allen arrived here.