Chapter 200: The Horn of Counterattack

The Mouth of Sauron's manner of leading his army in flight was so panicked, so authentic, that there was not a hint of pretense in it.

His master, the Dark Lord who was currently using a Palantir to stare intently at the battlefield, was precisely seeking this effect.

The power struggle following the Battle of the Lonely Mountain had made Sauron no longer dare to underestimate Allen, who was leading his army here at this time.

The crushing defeat and flight of Ashur, and Angmar scurrying back to his master in a panic, all indicated that this Human who had suddenly established a kingdom in the North was an extremely formidable enemy.

At this moment, Sauron finally realized that he should not have focused all his attention regarding Humans solely on the kingdoms of Rohan and Gondor.

It was also time to pay attention to this young Human who, while not possessing great strength, was jumping about quite actively.

Therefore, at a place called Emin Arnen, Sauron laid out this chain of stratagems he considered quite clever.

First, he used the Mouth of Sauron to lead an army sufficient to carry out an ambush, waiting here for the elite troops led by Allen.

If it succeeded, that would naturally be good; if it failed and they encountered even a slight emergency, then his lieutenant, the Mouth of Sauron, would certainly choose to flee at the first opportunity.

Sauron had calculated this point, and at the same time, he knew that the Crossroads, which were very close to Emin Arnen, were also surrounded by vast forests and hills.

There, Sauron had ambushed two even more powerful forces, just waiting for Allen to lead his troops in pursuit.

The Dark Lord's stratagem was vicious and meticulous; regardless of whether Allen saw through it, someone would inevitably enter his trap.

The hot-tempered Elf Prince did not see anything wrong at this moment.

Moreover, the Silvan Elves living in Mirkwood could trace their hatred for the Orcish back thousands of years.

In their view, the fewer Orcish living in this world, the better.

Seeing that the majority of the routed enemy forces were about to flee toward the north, Legolas, leading a portion of the Elf Warriors, pursued them without a second thought.

Because this place was very close to Osgiliath, if the Haradrim there were alerted, it would be difficult to kill the filthy enemies before them.

However, they were soon intercepted by Allen, who had arrived on horseback.

In Allen's view, this battle was somewhat wrong.

Although there was no other movement in the northern direction besides the fleeing enemies.

And the Mouth of Sauron's manner of fleeing did not look like a feigned rout, but Allen just felt that something was not quite right.

Because this ambush was too clumsy; it did not quite match the Dark Lord's level.

If he were to put himself in the other's shoes, Allen would not let the Mouth of Sauron, a waste who only knew how to talk, serve as the commander of an ambush force.

Was Angmar not useful? Even if the chief of the Nazgul had not yet recovered, sending any two Ringwraiths would be better than the Mouth of Sauron.

At the very least, after being discovered, the aura of fear possessed by the Ringwraiths themselves would have the ability to turn the tide of the battlefield in an instant.

Furthermore, a more important point: Allen would not choose this place as an ambush site.

Because the current battlefield was the only path to Osgiliath; anyone with even a little military common sense would know to conduct some reconnaissance before passing through here.

How could a qualified Commander lead his men into a dangerous area without reconnaissance?

How much time could it take to dispatch scouts to explore?

That was exactly what Allen did; before his main army passed through here, he had commissioned members of the Ithilien Rangers to conduct a reconnaissance of the area.

The members of the Rangers, who were familiar with the terrain and extremely skilled at concealment, discovered the enemies hiding there at the first opportunity and relayed the information back.

At that time, Allen had already sensed that something was wrong, but the enemy had already made a move against him, and so clumsily at that, so Allen could not fail to make some response.

Unless he wanted to turn around and return to Pelargir in disgrace, he had to eliminate the enemies on the path ahead in order to rendezvous with his allies.

Under the surprise attack of the Elves, and coupled with the fact that the Mouth of Sauron truly lacked command talent, the battle ended quickly.

After forcing the Mouth of Sauron to retreat, Allen immediately dissuaded Lindir, who was preparing to pursue, and simultaneously spurred Zhuilieh to catch up with Legolas, who was still chasing the enemies closely.

While stopping the Elf Prince, Allen told Legolas that if the enemies ran, they ran; it was nothing of great importance.

His own act of leading the army into Ithilien was no longer to prepare for a surprise attack on the Haradrim, but to engage in a decisive battle with the Dark Lord in a fair and square manner.

Before departing from Pelargir, Allen had considered relying on the speed of his Cavalry to launch an attack on the Haradrim stationed in Osgiliath by surprise.

But the situation soon changed.

Because the war at sea had been won within half a month.

With the cooperation of the Gondor navy and the Elf fleet, the pirates entrenched on the east bank of the Anduin estuary no longer had any Ships that could leave that crude camp.

The war they launched against Gondor this time encountered an unprecedented situation; the sea itself seemed to loathe them. During the battle, it was either unfavorable winds or fog in broad daylight.

Fighting the enemy at sea was truly too difficult.

In the past, these pirates were always crushed by Gondor's powerful army after landing, and finally, they would drive their Ships and flee with the plundered wealth.

Being forced by the enemy to the point of not being able to leave their own doorstep at sea was a first.

And when all the Ships were concentrated in a crude harbor camp, fire attacks became the most convenient means.

The deliberately ignited sky-high fire, coupled with what seemed to be a sudden sea breeze.

This raging inferno burned most of the pirate Ships docked together.

A large number of pirates died in their sleep from the smoke produced by the fire, and some were burned beyond recognition by the flames.

As for the Haradrim who were lucky enough to escape with their lives, they fled from the harbor to South Gondor behind them and returned to their homeland in terror.

And the harassment the pirates brought to the kingdom of Gondor came to an abrupt end at this moment.

And this, just as Cirdan had said, changed the war situation between Gondor and Mordor.

Upon learning this news, Allen always felt that something was not quite right.

This battle at sea had been too smooth; he believed that certain gods whose names could not be spoken might have quietly helped Cirdan from the sidelines.

Otherwise, the pirates should not have been so easily crushed by their own navy; could it be that Berilach, the naval commander who had been defeated by the pirates, was truly that incompetent?

However, such a result was naturally a good thing for Allen, and it also made him abandon the plan for a surprise attack; since he could assemble all the strength of Gondor, why take the risk?

After the day Allen and Cirdan's troops departed from Minas Tirith, the Gondor soldiers from Belfalas, Pinath Gelin, and Anfalas no longer had the worry of pirates, because the Elf fleet from the Grey Havens had cleared the sea area in that region.

These troops, who were originally going to support the White City, followed the orders of the Steward and rushed to Minas Tirith after simple preparations.

Even moving along the wide South Road, this would still take a week or two.

As for Pelargir, after Cirdan led the fleet back, following a war council.

Allen then led the elite Cavalry across the bridge spanning the Anduin River and entered Ithilien.

He wanted to make preparations in advance in this Emyn Arnen to cover the Gondorian fleet setting out later.

And the dozens of large ships departing from Pelargir, plus the countless small boats, carried the soldiers who had originally guarded Pelargir.

Of course, there were also a portion of the militia gathered in Pelargir.

The militia from the western region of Lebennin, led by the "Fearless" Antonius, traveled north along the Anduin River to support Ecthelion in Osgiliath.

And incidentally, to tell the people of Gondor in Minas Tirith about the victory in the south.

The horn of Gondor's counterattack against Mordor was also officially sounded at this moment.

What Allen did not know was that the situation at Cair Andros had also undergone a series of changes due to the arrival of reinforcements.

Gandalf, who did not go south with Allen, traveled along the South Road to Anorien after departing from Minas Tirith, where he assisted Sengel and Alger.

The Grey Wizard, worried about the entire battlefield, knew that Allen and Cirdan did not need his help or advice, and he himself was unwilling to go to Osgiliath to face his colleague.

Therefore, Anorien became one of his few choices.

And when the reinforcements from the western fiefs of Gondor finally arrived at Minas Tirith.

The aged Steward Turgon, with great decisiveness, handed these reinforcements over to Gandalf to lead, letting this renowned Grey Wizard help him resolve the enemies threatening the Pelennor Fields.

Just like that, under Gandalf's suggestion, the Gondorian army, several times the size of the Variags, surrounded the fortress where they were stationed, which also included Alger, who had been wanting to do something.

Sengel, meanwhile, led the Rohirrim cavalry, crossing the Anduin River directly from the island of Cair Andros, and began to harass the Orcish camps covering the Variags.

At first, facing the Gondorian army's siege without attacking, the Variags did not care at all, because they had confidence in their sturdy city defenses to hold out for a long time, and their allies were not far away.

But as Sengel's cavalry unit crossed the fortress and entered the back of Ithilien, the Variags could no longer sit still.

Most crucially, the Gondorian army had besieged the fortress for several days, and there was still no news of support from Minas Morgul, which gave the garrison holding the fortress an ominous premonition.

Moreover, there was no movement from the direction of the Black Gate either.

Not wanting to become a turtle in a jar, the Variags attempted a breakout within a few days, but they were all forced back into the fortress on the island by the fierce Rohirrim cavalry.

Although the Variags were a fully armed elite unit, their combat effectiveness could be considered formidable among Sauron's subordinates.

But after stepping out of the castle, they had to face Gondorian infantry several times their number, as well as the Rohirrim cavalry that might appear behind them at any time.

Facing this kind of pincer attack, their small numbers were always the fatal weakness of this unit.

And the Orcish camp led by the Nazgul did indeed make a gesture of meeting their allies.

But with Gandalf's help, the heroic Rohirrim crushed the army composed of Uruk on the riverbank.

The panicked flight of the Orcish also completely shattered the Variags' hope of escaping Cair Andros.

And this rapidly deteriorating battlefield situation was naturally seen by the recovered Sauron.

The failure of Angmar at Pelargir made the Dark Lord entrenched in Barad-dur realize that he was losing the advantage he originally possessed.

Sauron would naturally not watch all this happen just like that.

Under his command, the Nazgul who originally guarded Barad-dur were now flying all over Mordor, summoning those Snagas living in dark places.

Leading them to gather in Wudun, the valley behind the Black Gate.

And the Easterlings coming from the north were also constantly gathering near the Black Gate, setting up camp after camp.

These troops would become Sauron's means of defending the Black Gate, and also his confidence to launch an attack again.

And in order to deal with the enemy coming from the south, Sauron also set up a chain formation; as long as the elite led by Allen were crushed, then this war could still be fought.

And as his number one subordinate, the Witch-king of Angmar was indeed not by his side at this time.

At the same time, Sauron also sent the deputy leader of Minas Morgul, Gothmog, to act as the deputy to the Witch-king of Angmar, assisting in completing the second ambush.

However, the Dark Lord's scheme was seen through by Allen, and his ambush near the Crossroads became a joke.

He could only watch helplessly through the Palantir as Allen, who had won the battle, joined up with the fleet behind him near Emin Arnen.

And that mighty fleet also made Sauron dispel the idea of continuing the ambush.

Because after those fleets unloaded a portion of the soldiers on the east bank of the Great River, they headed straight for Osgiliath in the middle of the river.

And, with the help of the wind, they soon approached the sparsely defended eastern district.

At this time, Ecthelion, who had been guarding the western district, discovered that the ships floating on the river were his own fleet; while overjoyed, he decisively issued the order to counterattack.

This son of the Steward arranged for hundreds of Gondorian elites to row dozens of small boats, passing through the pier by the riverbank to step into the eastern district.

And he himself led the Royal Guard, marching all the way along the bridge the enemy had repaired, killing toward the Haradrim guarding the opposite side of the bridge.

The remaining Haradrim in the city, facing the sudden attack, could only abandon the defense of the bridge and dive into the ruins within the city district to defend on the spot.

If they did not leave, they would soon be surrounded by Gondorian warriors rushing in from other directions.

Only those Haradrim archers standing in high places kept causing some trouble for Ecthelion's troops.

However, the Ithilien Rangers holding Fir Bows, after crossing the bridge, soon cleared them out in the exchange of fire.

After a brief battle, the eastern district of Osgiliath returned to the embrace of Gondor once again.

And the pressure came to Sauron, who had failed the ambush and lost the city.