Chapter 181: Counter-Charge

At this time, the war between Gondor and Mordor had reached the brink of a full-scale outbreak.

After defeating the ships of Gondor on the sea, the pirates from the port of Umbar began to frantically attack the Gondorian people living in Lebennin, and concentrated their main forces to begin the siege of Pelargir.

At the same time, they continuously dispatched small groups of warships to raid the coastal residents of Belfalas, obstructing the lords of the nearby fiefs from supporting Minas Tirith.

Ever since the Kingdom of Gondor experienced the "Kin-strife" and the baptism of the "Great Plague," it had become difficult to maintain control over the sea.

Coupled with multiple wars against the Easterlings, and with Mordor watching covetously from the sidelines, Gondor simply had no spare strength to develop its naval power.

Therefore, the fleet currently commanded by the Gondorian navy could not face the Umbar Pirates in a head-on confrontation; after all, the ships in the hands of these pirates were essentially inherited from the Gondorian rebels.

Thus, in this war on the sea, the Kingdom of Gondor was at an absolute disadvantage, with most of its ships retreating to Pelargir, where they were making their final stand.

Meanwhile, the Haradrim who had come from afar were currently stationed in the eastern district of Osgiliath, and with the cooperation of the Orcish, they were setting about repairing the giant bridge spanning the river that connected the eastern and western regions.

Once the bridge was repaired, that would be the moment they launched their general offensive.

At this time, guarding the western region of Osgiliath was Ecthelion, the son of Steward of Gondor Turgon; he led the troops of Minas Tirith to make defensive preparations in the western district, but his forces were far inferior to the Haradrim.

Cair Andros had fallen once again; even with the help of Saruman and the Dunlendings, the endless enemies had captured this island fortress in a short period of time.

Among them, the well-equipped and formidable Variags slaughtered the Dunlendings of Dunland, causing heavy casualties.

This caused the heavily battered Dunlendings to decisively abandon their boss, Saruman, and leave this cruel battlefield, while the humiliated Saruman, under this blow, prepared to return to Orthanc.

In the end, it was only due to the all-out entreaties of Lord Turgon that the White Wizard reluctantly stayed behind.

However, what was gratifying was that the elite troops of Rohan and Minas Tirith still managed to block the enemy's advance across the river in time, controlling the battlefield on the plains near Cair Andros.

But even so, everyone knew that this battle was not as easy as they had imagined.

As long as the Haradrim broke through the defense of Osgiliath, or the Umbar Pirates captured Pelargir, this fragile balance would be broken in an instant.

One must know that the current Pelennor Fields did not have the protection of the Rammas Echor; as long as the enemy gathered enough troops on the plains, they could rely on their superior numbers to force Gondor and Rohan into a decisive battle by besieging Minas Tirith.

And at this moment, the reinforcements from Mordor were still continuously gathering in the land of Emyn Arnen, and even the figures of the Easterlings had begun to appear.

The current Steward of Gondor, Turgon, naturally did not know that the majority of Mordor's army had already poured out in full force to head to the Brown Lands to intercept his reinforcements.

This extremely elderly man was still worriedly concerned about how he would resist an enemy with overwhelming numerical superiority on the plains if he lost the river defense line.

Under this worry, the old man's health was deteriorating day by day, and recently he could not even sleep soundly.

Even if another renowned Grey Wizard had arrived in his city, it could not bring him enough sense of security.

Moreover, after that Wizard stayed in Minas Tirith for a short while, he requested a good horse and left the city, heading in the direction of Rohan.

Such behavior by the Wizard could not help but make some of the despairing people begin to worry about the outcome of the war, and some had already begun to take their families and flee toward the distant valleys to avoid disaster.

The one leaving the White City was naturally the hardworking Gandalf; even though the Wizard's footprints had covered most of Eriador, he had not been able to ask about any trace of the Lord of the Golden Flower in the human settlements that welcomed him—which, of course, was impossible to find out.

Because the Golden Flower had already headed to Valinor to report the news of Sauron's resurgence; it was unknown how many years it would be before he returned again.

And the disheartened Gandalf had no choice but to head to Lindon to seek some support from Cirdan, as the relationship between the two of them was still quite good, even if Gandalf refused to become the leader of the White Council.

But just as Gandalf arrived at Mithlond, he heard some inspiring news: the Elves of Lindon had already gathered and, under the leadership of Cirdan, had headed to Rivendell, preparing to support the endangered Gondor together.

Such news made the anxious Gandalf calm down as if he had taken a reassuring pill; with the help of the Elves, Gondor could at least turn danger into safety.

After receiving the news, Gandalf set off from Mithlond without stopping, and after reaching the Shire, he stepped onto the North-South Road and hurried all the way back to Minas Tirith; however, when he arrived at the White City, he learned that no one had seen the Elven reinforcements.

Gandalf, who was extremely experienced in wilderness travel, guessed in a very short time that the troops led by Cirdan had likely chosen the road through Rhovanion, because that area had already been occupied by an emerging human kingdom, and there was no longer the threat of evil minions in the surroundings.

That road could be said to be the best choice at present.

As for the North-South Road, some of the roads had already been submerged by floods, making it difficult for large-scale armies to pass through.

Having guessed some of the truth, Gandalf set off from the White City again, hurrying in the direction of Rhovanion; he wanted to see why the speed of the Elven troops was so slow.

Because even if they passed through Rhovanion, the Elves should have arrived long ago, and the situation in Gondor at this time could no longer wait.

And by the time Gandalf ran all the way and entered the territory of Rohan, he happened to catch up with the Rohirrim from the east migrating toward Edoras.

The Grey Wizard, who also had extraordinary prestige in Rohan, easily learned from the herdsmen that the Orcish were stationed in the North Highlands.

Gandalf did not need to think much to know that the goal of this Orcish army was naturally to intercept the reinforcements crossing the river.

This series of events left Gandalf, who had been running for months, physically and mentally exhausted; however, the Grey Wizard's determination to resist the darkness was incomparably firm, and even if faced with more difficulties, this old man with long white hair and silver beard flying would charge to the front line without hesitation.

And in order to deal with the Orcish army in the North Highlands, Gandalf believed that the next place he should go was Edoras, located not far from the valley.

Gandalf knew that he needed a flexible Cavalry unit to deal with the current situation, and the House of Eorl living in the Golden Hall could provide him with help, but this required his efforts.

However, when the Grey Wizard arrived at the high-reaching Meduseld, what first caught his attention was not the gate inlaid with bird and beast patterns made of jewels and gold flakes, nor the tapestries woven with Eorl and Felarof, but the gloomy and dark clouds under the setting sun.

Gandalf felt the evil of the Great Enemy from those dark clouds; it was clear that the army supporting Gondor had suffered an attack by the enemy in that place.

This made him even more anxious while waiting to be received, and at this moment, a moth happened to come to his side.

And under these dark clouds, countless Orcish, under the guidance of the Nazgul, were advancing toward the North River-lands.

And under the protection of Dark Magic, the marching speed of these Orcish had been enhanced to an unprecedented level.

It was just that the discipline of the Snaga was extremely poor, and from time to time, they would cause wave after wave of chaos because of some trivial matters.

And often at this time, it was the more powerful Uruk who would come out to intimidate the scene, allowing the team to advance smoothly.

And in the ranks of the Orcish, there were also thousands of grey Warg mixed in; they ran silently through the Orcish army, and from time to time, they could obtain some Snaga corpses as food to satisfy their hunger.

And the Cavalry of Humans led by Allen had at this moment joined forces with the Elven Cavalry.

To their north were the dark clouds covering the sky, to their south were countless Warg, to their west was the surging Anduin River, and the only road was to the east, but everyone knew that it was closer to Sauron's base camp and was a dead end.

"Lord Cirdan, the road ahead is blocked; the path across the river is obstructed by thousands of elite Orcish soldiers, and countless Warg are moving toward our direction. I think the Great Enemy entrenched in Mordor has likely grasped our precise location and dispatched his minions to attack us."

Allen told the Lord of the Grey Havens, Cirdan, who had ridden to his side, about the current predicament at a very fast speed; in fact, Allen already had a plan.

On the way here, he used the Nazgul in the sky as a target and used his ability to check the situation of the entire enemy army.

At this moment, the tens of thousands of Orcish rushing out from Mirkwood were far from blocking the road for the Cavalry to go north; at the very least, the area close to the Anduin River had no sign of enemies.

After all, the number of Orcish was still too small, and the Brown Lands were a vast, barren plain, not only without trees and grass, but even without broken trees and residual stones.

In such terrain, the highly mobile Cavalry still held the initiative on the battlefield, and Allen's idea was to take all the Cavalry back to the north to first get rid of the predicament of being flanked from left and right.

But to complete such a move, one had to be fast, very fast, because the Warg rushing from the south were extremely fast; if they were entangled by them, it would be impossible to leave at that time.

And upon hearing the news, Cirdan pondered for a moment and asked Allen with a smile: "Little friend, so what is your idea?"

Even though the Cavalry of the Elf race made up more than two-thirds of the entire force's strength, the Humans and Dwarves were also indispensable combat forces within the troop.

And Allen alone represented the Northern Men, the Dwarves of Erebor, and the Silvan Elf of Mirkwood; Cirdan believed that when making decisions, he must seek Allen's opinion.

And at such a critical moment, the thoughts of the two of them completely determined the fate of the entire troop.

"I do indeed have a thought; in fact, I have already obtained some intelligence from the north. Currently, there is no sign of the enemy on the east bank of the Anduin River. We can completely cross it quickly and return to Lothlorien to obtain the help of the Galadhrim. Lord Cirdan, what do you think of this plan?"

Although Allen's mood at this time was far from impatient, he truly could not maintain the same elegant demeanor as Cirdan, so he spoke extremely quickly and did not pay as much attention to his wording as usual.

"This is indeed a very good idea, but I have a few other opinions that I hope you, my young friend, can consider."

Cirdan first praised Allen's plan, then stated his own thoughts.

"Allen, your idea is very sound, but have you considered that the Galadhrim are also separated from us by a wide river, and in their haste, it is difficult for them to gather a decent army in a short time to assist us in battle? Of course, we can also continue north to return to your territory and borrow more strength there."

This remark also touched Allen's heart; his original intention was the same. If the support from Lothlorien was not timely enough, he would mobilize the armies within the kingdom and notify the Dwarves of Erebor and the Elves of Mirkwood to engage the enemy in a decisive battle in the Anduin Valley.

Allen believed that if he could hold off such a massive Orcish army in the area of the Golden Iris River, he would naturally achieve the goal of supporting Gondor, and whether he personally rushed to Minas Tirith was no longer important.

"Actually, our situation is not as perilous as it appears, because our true enemy is not at all the tens of thousands of Orcish behind us, for even with the protection of the dark clouds, they will never be able to catch up to us. What can truly hinder our steps are precisely these Warg coming from the south."

As he spoke, Cirdan looked toward the black dots in the south that were getting closer and closer, as if calculating the number of the opposition.

"I think you have seen the terrain of this wasteland, Allen; it is completely our home field, and the only threat is those Warg rushing toward us. I just observed them, and their strength is actually not to be feared; it is merely a bluff under the enhancement of evil Magic."

Having said this, Cirdan stopped speaking, for his meaning had already been expressed quite clearly.

Allen also looked out toward the south; in fact, among Humans, his eyesight was already second to none, but under the setting sun, he could not count the number of Warg at all.

However, Cirdan's words made Allen think of another possibility. As the Lord of the Grey Havens said, if they could take out the agile and swift Warg, then in this battle in the Brown Lands, his side would occupy absolute initiative.

What's more, possessing a large amount of Lembas, they did not need to worry about supply issues in the short term, and the Elves could even sleep while on the move.

With such an advantage, this battle seemed not to require a breakout at all.

Having grasped something, Allen looked at the smiling Cirdan and said firmly, "Then, my lord, I think I will accompany you."