Chapter 169: The Request of the Dunedain

"Allen, what is your take on this war between Mordor and Gondor?"

Thorin, having just sat down in the tent, asked this question with some impatience.

Allen, who was preparing drinks for his guests, turned back and looked in surprise at the solemn-faced Thorin, feeling a bit of confusion in his heart.

According to what he knew, Durin's Folk had always been on good terms with the Northern Men; they had no particular friendship with Gondor!

Why would they be interested in this current war??

Of course, this slight confusion did not hinder him from answering his good friend's question.

"I cannot analyze why this war started, as the information I have is far too little, but I do have some speculations regarding Gondor's current situation."

As he spoke, Allen took an exquisitely decorated Elf water skin from his waist; this item was actually a piece of Magic, and the golden liquid poured from it was still emitting a wisp of heat in this cold season.

This liquid was Miruvor, a specialty of Rivendell, a type of nectar infused with precious medicinal herbs that could effectively help people recover their Vitality and hope.

Allen had once possessed a small pouch of it, but during that battle in Long Lake Town where he slew the dragon, he had poured it all for Holimion, who had been severely wounded by Smaug.

And this bit in his hand was what Lindir had specifically left for Allen to guard against emergencies after learning of the wounded's condition.

If wounded soldiers could still possess Vitality and hope while in a near-death state, they could naturally better resist the erosion of pain and survive in critical moments.

When treating the wounded earlier, Allen had actually used up most of it, and the little bit remaining would not be needed later, so he intended to use it to treat his two friends.

In truth, there really wasn't much left, probably only enough to fill a small wine cup like those of the Hobbit, not even enough for a hearty gulp, but paired with the Honey Mead produced in Wilderness Town, it could at least ward off the cold and warm the body in this chilly weather.

"If it were just resisting Mordor alone, Gondor's pressure would not be very great with the help of the Wizard. If the timing is ripe and Prince Sengel can convince the other commanders of Rohan, then with the help of the horse-lords, the heroic people of Gondor could even suppress the Orcish of Mordor and retake Ithilien, which was occupied by the enemy. After all, our great enemy has only just returned to his lair a few years ago, and the power he holds in his hands is not all that strong."

As Allen spoke, he poured a full cup of the "upgraded" Honey Mead for himself, as well as for Abinas and Thorin II, and then sat down at the table in the tent.

In his impression, before Sauron returned, Mordor had always been managed by the Nazgul, and the Ringwraith playing the leading role there was very likely the Witch-king of Angmar.

Allen held the management ability of the Witch-king of Angmar in high regard; this leader of the Ringwraiths had once led the armies of his own Witch-realm to destroy the kingdom of Arthedain, which, in Sauron's eyes, should have been a great merit.

Thus, under this one's management, it was quite normal in Allen's view that the forces of Mordor alone could entangle with Gondor for so many years, especially with the help of such terrifying Spirit as the Ringwraiths, which allowed the Orcish armies to easily gain the upper hand on the battlefield.

However, the Witch-king of Angmar was not quite qualified to defeat the powerful combination of Saruman, Rohan, and Gondor.

Thorin had already picked up the fragrant Honey Mead before him, drank it all in one go with "glug, glug, glug" sounds, and after letting out a hearty sigh, he passed the cup to Allen, signaling his friend to pour him another.

At the same time, he asked: "Then why would the Elf send so many reinforcements to support Gondor? When I lived in Eriador, I had never seen so many Elf Cavalry gathered together. To be honest, this makes me feel a bit of pressure."

After continuing to pour a cup for Thorin, Allen took out the blood-stained Letter from his bosom, handed it to Thorin, and replied: "This Letter is a request for aid urgently sent by the Lord of Minas Tirith, the Steward of Gondor, Turgon, to Lord Cirdan. I think you should know the identity of Lord Cirdan."

Seeing Thorin nod and open the Letter, Allen also picked up the cup before him and took a sip, comfortably feeling the warmth brought by the fine wine, while simultaneously nodding with a smile to Abinas at his side, signaling him not to be reserved and to be at ease.

Abinas understood the goodwill Allen was showing and likewise picked up his cup and took a sip. The fragrant taste made his brows arch, and he looked at the golden liquid before him in surprise, taking another sip. By this time, Thorin had also roughly finished reading the Letter.

"Allen, just tell me your plans. These Haradrim and Umbar Pirates mentioned in here—I have only heard of them, I don't understand them at all."

As he spoke, Thorin threw the Letter back to Allen.

"My plans? My plan is to take all the Cavalry I can bring to the battlefield, head south to support Gondor, and help this country survive this catastrophe. Lord Turgon is an old man worthy of respect; he once promised to extend aid to me at the request of Gandalf. Although I no longer need it, this sentiment is enough for me to make such a decision at this moment."

Upon hearing Allen's words, a smile also appeared on Thorin's face. He said: "Allen, we of Durin's Folk do not have much friendship to speak of with Gondor, but if we are talking about resisting the darkness and thwarting the great enemy's plans, we Dwarves will be extremely willing. So this time, I also intend to send some troops to support Gondor. It is truly a happy thing that you and I can think alike."

At this moment, Abinas, who had been silent, also stood up and began to speak.

"If you don't mind, I also have a request I hope Lord Allen can consider. Actually, before this, Lord Lindir brought a Letter from Lady Gilraen. The Letter mentioned that our young chieftain has issued his first order to me: if we do not suffer heavy losses in this war, he hopes we can go to support Gondor. In fact, Estel is currently by the side of Lord Cirdan."

Speaking to this point, a look of helplessness appeared on Abinas's face. He did not quite understand why the two guardians, Lord Elrond and Lady Gilraen, had not stopped Aragorn's willfulness and mischief.

After all, this young chieftain of his was only fifteen years old at this time, and the most dangerous thing he had ever done was to slay a few wandering Orcish near the Misty Mountains with the twins, Elladan and Elrohir.

Going to Gondor at this age was truly quite dangerous for this last remaining royal bloodline.

"Abinas, what do you need me to do? Just speak up."

Although Abinas's words were very cryptic and did not reveal any information about their people, Allen still understood the meaning behind them: the Dunedain had already decided to head south to help Gondor.

"In fact, we hope to participate in this war as your subordinates, Lord Allen. You also know that it is inconvenient for us to expose too much information in the south; it is too dangerous."

Hearing this, Allen nodded and fell into deep thought. He did not reject Abinas's idea; in his view, the more troops going to support Gondor, the better.

He was just wondering, what exactly were Lord Elrond and Lady Gilraen thinking? What was their motive for letting Aragorn go to Gondor at this moment?

But soon, Allen did not want to continue thinking about it. After all, this was a matter for Arnor and Gondor. Even if he relied on the memories in his brain to sort out their mutual relationships, Allen felt it was very, very troublesome; thinking too much would really make his head ache.

And what else could it be? Either it was to accumulate prestige for inheriting the throne, or to have Gondor help out when rebuilding Arnor. Allen felt the latter was more likely.

"No problem, I am very willing to provide this help. In fact, with your help, I feel much more at ease."

Allen agreed to Abinas's request. This was a matter beneficial to both sides, and Allen was also prepared to speak up for the Dunedain. When the time came to clarify this matter, his stance should carry the most weight.

"Thank you for your generosity." Saying this, Abinas bowed to Allen, and Allen waved his hand to indicate it was nothing to worry about.

Thorin, who had been drinking without stopping, had no interest in the riddles between Abinas and Allen, but he also had some matters he needed his friend's help with. However, before that, he had one more question that needed Allen's answer.

"Allen, what do you think are Gondor's chances of winning with our support?"

"Very high."

Allen gave the answer without hesitation and told Thorin his reasons.

"Actually, we can roughly estimate the strength of both sides. Gondor now has the support of the horse-lords, as well as the assistance of Saruman, the master of Orthanc, so their own troop strength is not small. Now there are over three thousand Elf Cavalry, plus the over one thousand Human Cavalry that Abinas and I have gathered. Because the journey is long, we have brought only the elite of the elite, which is already a very powerful force. This is not even counting your Dwarf troops. And what about the enemies we face?"

As he spoke, Allen took four cups and used them to illustrate: "Besides the Orcish of Mordor, the enemies include the Variags living in Khand. They are a little-known Human people, well-equipped but likely not numerous. Then there are the Easterlings we just defeated, as well as the Haradrim further south, and the Umbar Pirates formed by the Haradrim."

But at this moment, Allen took away three of the cups before him and continued: "The power of Mordor should have been partially consumed in previous battles, so it is not too great a threat; as for the Easterlings, the battle we just fought has effectively weakened their power, and the number of soldiers the Rhun region can field should not be many. And as for the Variags, I just said, their numbers are not large."

Why was he so certain that the number of Variags was not large? Because in Allen's memory, the Variags did indeed appear during the War of the Ring, but on the battlefield, they were chased around by the Swan Knights of Dol Amroth, so in Allen's view, they should not be considered too great a threat.

Recalling the memories in his mind, Allen pointed to the last cup and said: "Therefore, the greatest threat we face in this battle is actually the Haradrim."

"These fellows living further south are very difficult to deal with, warlike and cruel, and can even fight to the last man on the battlefield. Besides possessing a large number of Cavalry, they also raise a significant number of Mumakil."

"Mumakil?" Hearing this name, Thorin was a bit curious; he had only heard of this creature in the poems of the Hobbit.

"Yes, Mumakil, a type of massive creature. They are quite difficult to deal with on the battlefield, but that is not all. The greatest threat of the Haradrim is that they have sufficient warships. The Umbar Pirates can land at any point along the coast of Gondor and bring us huge trouble, but none of this matters."

Allen said confidently to Thorin: "Because the Haradrim were already severely crippled by Gondor and Rohan decades ago. In such a short time, they should not have fully recovered. Moreover, we are only helping Gondor protect their homeland, which is not a particularly difficult task. We have a large number of Cavalry that can provide rapid support to counter the harassment of the Umbar Pirates. The archery skills of the Elf can perfectly hit the eyes of the Mumakil. In fact, I speculate that the most likely result is that as soon as the enemy sees our arrival, they will quickly stop the war and restore peace, because there is no possibility for them to go any further, and a stalemate would not be beneficial to either side."

After listening to Allen's words, Thorin fell into deep thought. In fact, this time he did not intend to go to Gondor himself, but was preparing to send his heir, Fili, to make this trip.

As Thorin's heir, Fili was already nearly 90 years old this year. Of course, for the Durin's Folk with royal blood, this was merely just entering the prime of life.

But Thorin had always felt that Fili's experience was insufficient, because after his nephew was born, he had always lived in the Blue Mountains, and the only long journey he had taken was following him to reclaim the Lonely Mountain. For an heir to the throne, this experience seemed somewhat lacking.

Furthermore, ever since Fili lost an arm, although he had matured a great deal, he had also become increasingly reclusive and insecure, even going so far as to find Thorin one night to propose transferring the right of succession to the throne to Kili.

In Thorin's view, this was a display of cowardice, and he would never pass the throne to a Dwarf who had fallen in love with an Elf; it was simply too absurd.

Therefore, Thorin could not stand by and watch his heir continue to degenerate. However, as an uncle, it was very difficult for him to comfort his nephew, and he was also extremely inept at such matters.

Originally, Thorin's plan was to have Fili go live with Bilbo for a period of time after this war, hoping that the positive and optimistic Hobbit could provide some inspiration to Fili, but now there was a better opportunity, which was the war itself; the battlefield was the best place to forge a man, and Thorin intended to let Fili lead a Dwarf army alone this time, allowing him to regain some self-confidence while commanding the troops.

In fact, Thorin had another option, which was to write a letter to his sister Dis, letting Fili's mother come to counsel her son, but Thorin did not know how to write this letter.

Should he say that after your son came out with me, he lost an arm and became degenerate, and now he needs your help? Thorin's pride would not allow him to write such content.

"Allen, actually, I also have a matter that requires your help."