Chapter 191: Pelargir Amidst the Flames of War

Amidst the star-studded night sky, a swift Shadow streaked across the sky above the heavily guarded Pelargir.

As the Shadow flew by, it left behind a shrill, piercing cry, forcing the soldiers guarding the city walls to cover their ears.

It was a hideous and terrifying Fell Beast, and seated upon its back was a black figure wearing a steel crown.

The Shadow had a head of tattered long hair that emitted a grayish-white glow under the moonlight, and beneath that crown, there was no face at all, only a pair of deadly eyes that revealed a chilling evil in the pitch blackness.

He came laden with fear and despair, his black robes concealing armor filled with evil power.

This form was none other than the Witch-king of Angmar, riding his evil Fell Beast.

At this moment, he was watching the intense battlefield below with cruelty and delight.

The endless Orcish army on the ground had already tightly surrounded the Humans' camp stationed near Pelargir.

The wooden gate on the south side of the camp was being trampled underfoot by countless Orcs, and several squads of Humans in bright armor were fighting madly against the high-spirited Orcish army at the camp gate, blocking the Orcs' advance into the camp.

Behind the Human warriors stood an old man with white hair and beard, his stern face possessing a dignity far exceeding that of ordinary people.

Although his years were already advanced, this old man was still equipped in a full suit of silver-white Plate Armor, with a blue and white surcoat decorating the chest of the armor, and the bright red cloak on his back fluttering in the wind.

This was the twentieth Prince of Dol Amroth, Angalimir.

Facing the enemy's surprise attack, the Prince rode a tall, pure-white Warhorse, personally holding the great Flag representing the House of Dol Amroth, galloping around the camp and loudly encouraging those Human warriors whose spirits had been seized by fear to rejoin the battle.

His voice was full of courage and inspiration, and the silver swan ship Flag in his hand, which was breaking through the waves in the green surge, was emitting a silver-white light under the moonlight, snapping in the night wind.

The soldiers, who had been terrified by the shrill cries, heard this familiar voice and one after another summoned their courage to return to their combat posts, following the Flag that had guided them for countless years.

This was the family prestige accumulated by twenty generations of Princes of Dol Amroth over nearly three thousand years; even the Dark Magic of Angmar could not completely erase it.

And in the center of the camp, a squad of fully armed Knights was preparing for a charge; they were the most elite unit under the House of Dol Amroth, the Swan Knights.

As the commander of the Swan Knights and the heir to the next Prince of Dol Amroth, Adrahil was now fully armed; he would become the sharpest tip of the blade, leading the charge.

On the riverbank a few kilometers from the camp, a continuous stream of Orcish troops was disembarking from over a dozen pitch-black pirate Ships.

And on the distant river channel, there were still an unknown number of pirate ships rushing toward this side.

As early as a month ago, Sauron had assigned his most loyal and powerful servant, the Witch-king of Angmar, the task of attacking Pelargir.

After a period of marching and bargaining with the pirate leaders, the Witch-king of Angmar finally led the Orcish army that had originally been stationed at Minas Morgul to the coast south of Pelargir.

To avoid being discovered by the forces of the Kingdom of Gondor, the Witch-king of Angmar led his Orcs to march only in the pitch-black night.

They traveled all the way to the riverbank further south of the Poros River before boarding the pirate Ships, and then, under the cover of the dark night, sailed upstream along the Anduin River to reach the vicinity of Pelargir.

The caution of the Orcish army along the way finally erupted with unparalleled power at this moment.

The Human troops stationed in the camp had never imagined that such a massive Orcish army would take advantage of the night to suddenly strike from their south.

Their attention was focused mostly on the coast opposite them and the ships of both sides constantly entangling in the river channel.

Even though Prince Angalimir had deployed a considerable number of light Cavalry and hidden sentries around the camp, they were almost completely wiped out under the surprise attack of the Wolf Rider squads and the Fell Beast.

By the time the Human garrison reacted, the black, swarming Orcish army had already closed in on the south side of the camp.

And the Witch-king of Angmar drove the Fell Beast to circle above the camp for a long time, wearing down the Humans' will to resist.

Subsequently, this battle officially began amidst the sound of the Orcs breaking down the gate and the Humans' hurried preparations.

At this moment, the Witch-king of Angmar, flying high in the sky, drove his mount to dive toward a small boat gliding rapidly through the river channel.

As the Fell Beast approached, amidst the evil laughter of the Nazgul, the sailors struggling to row the boat had no choice but to jump into the water immediately to escape the enemy's brutal attack.

And with a "Crack!", this small boat tasked with seeking reinforcements shattered with a boom, leaving behind only scattered wreckage on the water surface.

This was already the second small boat that the Witch-king of Angmar had destroyed.

And Adrahil, who was commanding the Swan Knights, had long been prepared for the charge; they were waiting for a suitable opportunity.

As the figure of the Witch-king of Angmar disappeared into the sky, Adrahil casually lowered his visor, and then a blast of impassioned horn calls rang out over the camp.

The Swan Knights, already prepared for battle, led by Adrahil, reached their maximum charge speed after a short run-up and charged toward the north gate that had just been breached by the enemy.

The Orcish army, having knocked over the gate and preparing to rush into the camp, was met head-on by the crushing force of the charging Cavalry.

These filthy scum, in order to attack the camp, were equipped only with short and agile weapons, and there were few polearms capable of countering Cavalry.

Such weapons left them with no possibility of struggle before the Swan Knights; facing the Cavalry's charge, their thin bodies were like leaves, knocked flying into the distance.

And this squad of blue and white Cavalry, amidst Adrahil's loud shouts, was like a blue and white torrent, carving a path directly through the swarming Orcish army.

Their direction was none other than Pelargir, not far away.

The Human warriors following closely behind the Swan Knights also seized this opportunity and fought their way out of the Orcs' encirclement.

Prince Angalimir, leading an entire squad of Elite Infantry, fought and retreated within the camp, withdrawing all the way from the south gate to the north gate, preparing to break out from there.

At this time, the Witch-king of Angmar, having returned to the sky from the river channel, discovered the change on the battlefield; he certainly would not allow the besieged Humans to escape from his grasp.

Even if the direction they were fleeing toward was his next prey.

And the Prince of Dol Amroth, who was holding the flag and shouting, immediately entered his line of sight.

At this moment, Angalimir was hoarsely encouraging the soldiers to fight; suddenly, his voice was no longer loud, the swan Flag unfurled in the wind dropped directly, and the silver light flickering on it seemed to dim as well.

A terrifying howl descended from the sky, and with it came a mass of darkness, and that darkness was about to envelop Angalimir.

The soldiers standing around the Prince of Dol Amroth grew timid, and even the Orcs stopped their offensive actions.

As a gust of wind struck, the white Warhorse beneath Angalimir was the first to lose its footing, rearing up on its hind legs with a whinny.

Fortunately, it was precisely because of the white horse's action that Angalimir was thrown from its back, thereby allowing him to dodge the sharp claws of the Fell Beast.

However, his beloved white horse was not so lucky; its massive head was forcibly torn from its body by the claws, falling bloodily before Angalimir's eyes.

Yet the eighty-year-old Prince of Dol Amroth was not struck down by fear; struggling to stand up, he once again raised the Flag in his hand high and shouted loudly.

"Stand up, quickly stand up, soldiers, grip your weapons tightly, close in on me, and charge with me!"

"

Following the Prince's shout, the Human warriors who had been dazed in place gathered around Angalimir one after another, and under the Prince's leadership, they slaughtered the endless Orcs and charged toward the direction of Pelargir once again.

At this moment, Adrahil, who had already broken out of the encirclement, looked back at his father in the midst of the Orcish encirclement with extreme grief.

"Everyone, do not stop, follow me."

Afterwards, Adrahil, already shedding tears, led the Knights following behind him and charged toward the distant Minas Tirith.

The only order the Prince of Dol Amroth gave his son was to go and seek reinforcements.

As the camp was breached by endless Orcish, Pelargir had now become an isolated city, and what it was about to face was an endless army of Orcish, as well as the pirate Ship fleet besieging the port.

If there were no reinforcements, everyone would be on a path to death, even the defenders of Pelargir.

Therefore, no matter how reluctant he was, Adrahil had only one direction: to the north, toward the White City.

The Witch-king of Angmar, having returned to the sky, soon saw this phenomenon, but his attention remained on Angalimir.

He knew that the old man holding the Flag was the greatest threat in this battle, and as for those Humans on horseback, there would naturally be others to deal with them.

Subsequently, Angmar urged the Fell Beast to dive toward the ground again, and amidst his shrieking, a troop of Wolf Rider rushed out from the Orcish ranks, quickly catching up to Adrahil who was fleeing north.

At this moment, the gates of Pelargir opened, and the first to rush out from within was a troop of light Cavalry armed with sharp Spear.

After rushing out of the gates, they chased directly toward the Wolf Rider in the darkness; their goal was to intercept the pursuit of the Wolf Rider and use their own lives to increase the possibility of the Knights successfully seeking reinforcements.

Following behind the Cavalry came troop after troop of Elite Infantry in full armor; they marched quickly to strike at the gradually closing-in Orcish army, preparing to rendezvous with the surrounded Prince of Dol Amroth.

At this time, on the river of Pelargir, three Small Sailboat appeared once more, like sharp arrows, sailing upstream along the river.

Amidst the successive attacks of the Orcish, the warriors around Angalimir grew fewer and fewer; having lost his horse, the Prince still held the Flag high, encouraging the soldiers who were breaking through the encirclement.

Without his encouragement, under the aura of fear from the Nazgul, these Human soldiers would likely not even have the possibility of taking a single step forward.

But the Shadow once again loomed down from the sky; Angalimir did not cower or dodge, but instead let out a loud shout, using the family Flag in his hand to meet the swooping Fell Beast.

With a flash of a Shadow, the clash between the Prince of Dol Amroth and the leader of the Nazgul ended in an instant.

The sharp spearhead carved a long wound across the chest of the Fell Beast, and the pained Fell Beast shrieked, its figure becoming unsteady as it took flight again.

And amidst the shrill cries of the beast, the incredibly brutal flail in the hand of the Witch-king of Angmar tore through the surcoat on the Prince of Dol Amroth, and its immense power knocked him to the ground.

Lying on the ground, the Prince coughed twice and then went still, while the unsteady Fell Beast carried Angmar and landed in the distance.

The blood-soaked wound on its chest indicated that it would be impossible for it to fly again for a short time.

The process of the Prince and Angmar's battle was only for an instant, but to the Human warriors nearby, it felt as though a long time had passed.

Angalimir's fallen body filled their hearts with grief, and this sorrow turned into raging fury in the blink of an eye, wanting to burn the surrounding Orcish to ashes.

The Human warriors who had rushed out from Pelargir also quickened their pace, charging toward the position where the Prince of Dol Amroth had fallen.

Finally, the two groups gathered together, and in the process of breaking through, they fought off wave after wave of Orcish, arduously arriving beneath the walls of Pelargir.

At this time, the archers stationed on the city walls began to use their bows and arrows to cover their own retreating infantry, and the soldiers operating the Ballista finally had targets to attack.

A dense rain of arrows, along with several thick Arrow, directly routed the Orcish army that was charging at the front.

And after the Human soldiers outside the city had killed the enemies around them, they finally returned to Pelargir successfully.

Watching the steel gates before them slowly close, the Orcish also stopped their advance.

Their goal for this evening had been accomplished; the Human camp outside the city would become the campsite for the Orcish tonight.

The Orcish, no longer fighting, began to clean up the battlefield inside and outside the camp, and from time to time, several Orcish would fight over the spoils of war.

The Human warriors who had been stripped of their equipment were piled up before the Fell Beast, becoming food for this flying beast; it also needed such food to recover from its injuries.

And those Orcish who had not participated in the battle began to use the materials available in the camp to start building crude siege equipment.

As for the Ship in the distance, besides more Orcish disembarking, parts for some siege weapons were also carried to the shore.

And when the next night arrives, it will be the moment for Angmar to lay siege to the city.