Chapter 165: The Crushing Battle (Part 1)

At this moment, Tark the raven, who serves King of the Lonely Mountain Thorin II, was struggling to fly through the sky; even though it had grown up in the Lonely Mountain and experienced many cold winters, it had no way to fly normally in such weather.

Compared to the morning, the weather was even colder at this time.

Tark's mission was simple: to observe when the two armies below began to engage, and after that, fly toward the north to report to Thorin II.

Although the mission was very simple, it could only be done by a raven with a larger build and greater resistance to the cold at this time; those smaller birds were already unable to withstand the increasingly cold air currents in the sky.

And the two armies below Tark were indeed, just as Thorin had told it, getting closer and closer; it was estimated that it would not be long before they made contact.

Coming from the east toward the Easterlings were, naturally, the joint infantry army of Dwarves and Humans. At this time, the Elite Infantry of Dwarves stood at the very front of the phalanx, carrying sturdy Steel Shields and sharp Steel Axes. As the toughest frontline troops of the phalanx, they were ready at all times to meet the enemy's charge. Of course, if the Easterlings on the opposite side did not charge, they might also turn into a heavy hammer to strike the enemy, because the brave and battle-hardened Dwarves never feared war.

And leading them was none other than the former King of the Iron Hills, now the Second-in-command of the Lonely Mountain, Dain Ironfoot.

The Elite Infantry under Allen stood on the flanks of the Dwarves, guarding the Dwarves' sides as auxiliary troops. In every respect, their combat effectiveness was far inferior to the Dwarves, though they were much stronger than the Conscripts standing behind them.

The nearly three thousand militiamen were only equipped with Leather Armor, but the Spears in their hands were sharp enough to fully reap the lives of the enemy under the protection of the Dwarves.

As for the Easterlings, under the orders of Ashur, they had gradually gathered together. The soldiers he brought this time numbered over ten thousand, so Ashur did not intend to cluster the soldiers together; that would be a waste of combat power.

Ashur, who was rich in battlefield experience, divided his soldiers into four parts and placed them in front of the Human and Dwarf army.

His main formation consisted of over a dozen ready-to-go Two-wheeled Chariots. Each chariot, in addition to the driver, had four members: two were Archers holding Longbows, and the other two were soldiers holding extra-long Spears.

Besides this, they all wore Short Swords at their waists, so even if the chariots stopped, they had enough strength to engage the enemy in close-quarters combat.

Distributed around the chariots were over three hundred Easterling Cavalry, who would guard the rear of the chariots during the battle.

Ashur, who had many years of combat experience, knew very clearly that when chariots charged the enemy, they were easily harassed by enemy cavalry due to a lack of flexibility, especially by Horse Archers, so a small number of his own cavalry were needed to entangle those enemy cavalry who came to harass.

For the middle phalanx, Ashur placed heavy-armored soldiers equipped with full armor, numbering over two thousand. They were equipped with metal armor that looked like it was made of bronze; large, solid plates protected their chests and backs, while their legs and arms were made of small overlapping plates, sufficient to defend against the hacking of ordinary weapons.

Their full-face helmets had a peculiar design, revealing only the eyes and the bridge of the nose. Some battle-hardened Easterling elites would decorate their helmets with trophies from prey or enemies, mostly sharp teeth and claws, and some were human fingers; these things would display the owner's combat record while forming a certain deterrent to the enemy.

In places where the armor could not cover, these Easterling soldiers wrapped themselves thickly with cloth similar to silk to guard against some tricky attacks and arrows.

The weapons in their hands were uniquely shaped Spears and Large Square Shields inlaid with copper nails. Some of the soldiers wore Dwarf-style Short Swords at their waists—clearly the result of captured Dwarf slaves—while others had short and strange Iron Short Swords.

The only parts of their bodies exposed were their eyes, and at this moment, their eyes were filled with a thirst for blood and slaughter.

These soldiers were the elites Ashur had cultivated for many years; only in moments of battle crisis would Ashur dispatch them, and now was the time.

The mission Ashur assigned to them was to charge the front of the Dwarves and entangle the powerful Dwarves. Because he knew that he could only use elites to entangle these little Dwarves; if he arranged for those cannon fodder to meet the well-equipped and high-morale Dwarf infantry, they might collapse in a short time. At that point, it would not only strike a blow to the morale of his own soldiers, but if the victorious Dwarves then made a breakthrough in the center and surrounded the flanks, it would very likely lead to a situation unfavorable to him.

In any case, his numbers were three times those of the opposite side. As long as he used his elites to entangle the Dwarves, the overall situation would be settled. His other two phalanxes each had four or five thousand soldiers; letting them charge those Northmen with poor combat power should be a very easy matter.

And when the battle reached a stalemate, Ashur planned to drive the chariots around to the enemy's rear and then charge into the phalanxes of those Northmen. However, he found it a bit strange why the enemy would set up such a hedgehog-like formation; this was clearly not wise.

Not to mention anything else, the over one thousand Archers he placed at the very front of the phalanx would cause massive damage to those poorly equipped Northmen once the two sides were close enough.

Not to mention that such a formation would also be easily surrounded in the middle by his own superior numbers, forming a dead end.

Ashur was somewhat puzzled; could the Commander on the opposite side not think of this? But to him, this was a good thing; he had no obligation to remind the opponent, and he would never show mercy to the enemy.

At this time, the distance between the two sides had become closer and closer as time passed, so close that it was the distance where Elven Longbows could barely launch ultra-long-range shots. Bandak, who was responsible for commanding the Archers, quickly waved the red Flag in his hand after calculating the distance between the enemy and himself. Following shouts, the entire advancing army suddenly stopped just like that.

Ashur, who was constantly staring at the battlefield, naturally saw the movement on the opposite side, but at this moment, the distance between the two sides had not entered the range of his own Archers, so he did not issue an order to stop. The several phalanxes of the Easterlings were still slowly pushing forward.

Soon, Ashur's sharp eyes saw a scene that left him extremely stunned: in the enemy's phalanx, nearly a thousand soldiers who were originally holding Spears took out Longbows with distinct Elven characteristics from their backs. Then, he seemed to hear a faint roar of "Fire arrows" in the wind, followed by a sky-covering rain of arrows attacking his Archer troops.

And those Easterling Archers standing at the very front of the team looked at the arrows flying in the sky, most of them showing an indifferent expression.

They did not believe at all that the enemy's shooting could hurt them, because the distance was simply too far; the Longbows in their hands would even require them to walk dozens of paces forward to barely reach the point where they could shoot.

But there was also a small portion of Archers who looked at the arrows in the sky with expressions of terror. They curled their bodies as much as possible behind others and continued to walk forward, because there was no horn sound to stop behind them, and no one dared to defy military orders under Ashur's nose.

And no one noticed that a gray raven was flying toward the north at this time.

Soon, this wave of arrow rain, carrying the "whoosh" and "whoosh" sounds of the wind, arrived in front of these Easterlings. Immediately after, the Easterling Archers at the very front of the phalanx lay on the ground like wheat knocked down by hail, followed by cries of disbelief and a large amount of wailing.

This wave of arrow rain from the Conscripts caused at least a quarter of the Easterling Archers to lose their combat effectiveness.

Being able to unexpectedly cause such huge damage to the enemy at the very beginning of the battle was also thanks to Allen reallocating the Elven Longbows originally assigned to the Northern Rangers to the Woodland Residents among the Conscripts who were good at archery, replacing their Hunting Bows.

After seeing this scene, Ashur immediately issued an order for the Archers to disperse, and then had his personal guards sound the drums for an all-out assault.

He knew that his Archers had suffered a loss in range and could not cause any damage to the enemy in a standoff. In such a situation, giving up shooting and letting the infantry charge directly to interrupt the enemy's shooting was the correct approach.

"Woo, woo-woo-woo-woo..."

Amidst the sounds of horns, the Easterling Archers, who had suffered a brutal blow but were still moving forward, showed expressions of relief on their faces and moved their feet away from the people behind them to continue advancing.

The more dispersed they stood, the more likely they were to survive the dense covering fire.

And at this time, the second wave of arrow rain launched by the Woodland Residents attacked the Easterling Archer troops again, but this time the covering fire was far less effective than the previous wave; instead, many Easterlings who were lying on the ground due to injuries lost their breath in this strike.

"Boom," "Boom-boom," "Boom-boom-boom..."

And with the increasingly intense drumbeats, the three infantry phalanxes that were originally lined up in front of Ashur's main formation and moving slowly also gradually accelerated their pace. Those two thousand-plus heavy-armored soldiers equipped with full armor quickly passed through the loose formation of the Easterling Archers, and incidentally raised the wide Shields in their hands to block the third wave of arrow rain ordered by Bandak.

Seeing that the arrows were ineffective against those heavy-armored soldiers, Bandak quickly had the Archers change targets, aiming at the enemy phalanx further to the south. At this time, the distance between the two sides was close enough, and with his sharp eyes, he could already clearly see the large clouds of white breath exhaled by the enemy.

"Right side, fire at will."

Bandak roared the order, then chose a suitable target for the Siege Crossbow in his hand and pulled the trigger hard.

At this moment, amidst the increasingly rapid drumbeats, the running speed of the Easterling infantry became faster and faster, especially the soldiers on the flanks; their armor was relatively light, and they quickly overtook their own heavy-armored infantry, charging toward their targets.

Facing the shooting of Allen's Archers, these Easterling soldiers also had their own way of dealing with it. Their originally dense formation had become extremely loose during the run, and at the same time, these people used a Light Round Shield tied to their arms to protect their vital areas.

It was just that this crude defensive method could only ensure that those targeted by the Archers would not die on the spot from the arrow attacks.

And in the dense rain of arrows, there were always people getting injured. The phalanx of over five thousand soldiers on the south side of the Easterlings had a quarter lying on the spot, wailing while clutching the places hit by arrows; some were even trampled to death by companions running rapidly, losing the ability to wail.

Soon, the distance between the two sides was close enough to see the angry faces on the opposite side. The Easterlings' counterattack also began at this time; Javelins, Throwing Spears, and even large stones were thrown from their hands at those Northern Archers who were aiming.

These miscellaneous items thrown by the Easterlings disrupted the rhythm of most of the enemy Archers for a time, and taking advantage of this opportunity, these Easterlings quickly crossed the last ten-plus meters and collided with the enemies who were also rushing over.

Charging toward the Easterlings were, naturally, the Elite Infantry under Allen wearing Chain Mail, followed closely by the Conscripts holding Spears. Alayen could not let his own infantry passively meet the impact of the Easterlings.

Because the number of enemies was simply too large, standing in place and defending passively would only result in being squeezed by more and more Easterlings until there was no combat space left. He needed to let the infantry charge out to compete for some space with the enemy and wait for the turning point of the situation.

Allen equipped each of his Elite Infantry with Heavy Broad Shields with a large defensive area, as well as Sharp Chopping Knives conducive to close-quarters combat. At this moment, they were constantly fine-tuning the Shields in their hands, resisting the insidious attacks launched by the Easterlings with their Short Swords and Spears. While the Chopping Knives in their hands moved up and down the Shields, they hacked at the enemy's arms, shoulders, and legs through the gaps, and large amounts of the enemy's blood splashed onto the front of the Shields.

As for the Conscripts, under the protection of the Elite Infantry, they kept stabbing the Spears in their hands at the enemies opposite, pulling the Spears back amidst wails, and then stabbing them out again. Repeating this, through this fighting style, they caused massive casualties to the Easterlings in a short time.

But the number of Easterlings was simply too large, more than three times their own. Even the Archers, whose arms were already starting to ache and go numb, picked up Spears and joined the defensive line, but they could not stop the Easterlings from gradually surrounding them.

At this time, the three infantry phalanxes of the Easterlings had fully engaged with the joint army of Humans and Dwarves, especially Ashur's two thousand elites and the one thousand heavy-armored Dwarf infantry; the battle between them was incomparably intense.

When these elite Dwarves were struck by the Easterlings, they did not launch a counter-charge like Humans; their sturdy builds and extremely stable center of gravity allowed them to block the Easterling soldiers' charge with the Steel Shields in their hands with the utmost ease.

Some Dwarves, after parrying the enemy's weapons, would immediately swing their sharp axes with all their might, cleaving directly through the soldiers' breastplates, followed by their ribs and hearts.

Other Dwarves used their shields to strike the enemies directly in the abdomen; although this could not cause direct injury, the immense force still rattled the internal organs of these Easterlings, the intense pain causing them to double over, and then a sharp axe would grow larger and larger before their eyes until it took their lives.

The moment the two sides made contact, the Dwarves occupied an absolute advantage, battering the enemies before them into disarray.

Yet these heavily armored Easterlings were also elites who had survived a hundred battles; seeing that a frontal confrontation was ineffective, they began to utilize their own large shields to resist the Dwarves' hacking, while simultaneously using their Short Swords and Spears to insidiously attack the Dwarves' unprotected faces—a situation they were quite helpless about, as attacking anywhere else was almost entirely useless.

Faced with the large shields inlaid with copper studs, the Dwarves could no longer strike the enemy in a short time as they had at the start, and could only wait for opportunities to attack the increasingly defensive-minded Easterlings while ensuring they revealed no openings themselves.

At this point, the battlefield became deadlocked, but the scales were gradually tipping toward the Easterlings, because the Easterlings were now constantly expanding their battle line, attempting to use their numerical advantage to complete an encirclement of the enemy, or even to break directly into the enemy's rear to form a pincer advantage, just as Ashur had planned.

To prevent this from happening, Alayen continuously sent out the dwindling number of reserve troops at his side to block the Easterlings who were constantly pressing forward, while he, in between giving commands, kept looking toward the north.

It was almost time; he was about to be unable to hold on.

At this moment, seeing that the general trend was set, Ashur led the dozen or so Two-wheeled Chariots of his main formation and several hundred Cavalry, slowly pressing toward the battlefield; he wanted to watch the scene of the enemy's defeat from close range.

Seeing that the infantry could not hold, the few Dwarf Chariots on the Dwarf side finally moved, accelerating to their limit within a dozen seconds and charging toward the Easterlings in the north, wanting to alleviate the pressure on their own phalanx, but the Cavalry following alongside hesitated again and again, and ultimately did not move.

Ashur did not care about those few Dwarf Chariots; he was an expert in using chariots, and with a wave of his hand, more than a hundred Cavalry armed with short bows moved out, charging in the direction of the Dwarf Chariots; as for the motionless enemy Cavalry, Ashur also had sufficient force to deal with them.

And just as this Easterling commander was feeling smug, the rumbling sound of hooves rose from the north, and a vast expanse of Cavalry suddenly appeared in the north, charging at full speed and quickly approaching this battlefield.

But the person charging at the very front of this wave of Cavalry was actually Ashur's Captain of the Personal Guard, Made, who, while galloping his horse, shouted loudly: "Ambush, it's an ambush, Lord Ashur, run!"

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