Chapter 207: The End

From terror, panic, and helplessness to forced composure, and finally, the relief of a burden lifted.

It could be said that Sauron, situated at the pinnacle of Barad-dûr, experienced a mental journey from despair to hope in an extremely short span of time.

Because those who appeared from the white light were not Ainur, but a high-spirited heavy cavalry force composed of Humans.

Led by a flag with two lions, they urged their mounts forward, emerging one after another from behind the earthen slope with confident strides.

Once this heavy cavalry unit stepped out from the hillside, they charged toward the Easterling cavalry—who outnumbered them nearly tenfold—with almost no hesitation.

It was as if their Commander had issued the order to charge from a great distance away.

Every rapidly galloping Knight wore a barrel helmet with extremely high defensive capabilities; this type of helmet, which left only a single slit and a dozen or so breathing holes, could protect the wearer's head to the maximum extent.

As for their upper bodies, they were equipped with chainmail that could cover down to below the knees, and over the chainmail was a layer of Sleeveless Plate Armor.

In fact, this was a type of plate garment similar to a brigandine, where steel plates were inlaid with rivets inside red or black leather.

Under the protection of a layer of chainmail plus a layer of plate garment, these Heavy Cavalry could be immune to most slashing damage and crossbow fire on the battlefield.

Besides this, their hands were equipped with steel Gauntlets, and their lower bodies had Plate Boots that protected the entire leg.

Even the tall, fine horses they rode were equipped with metal Horse Armor capable of covering their entire bodies, allowing the horses to be immune to most damage aimed at them during the charge.

Judging from such equipment, this suddenly appearing cavalry could simply be said to be armed to the teeth.

Although they were a mere few hundred cavalrymen, they boldly arrayed themselves in a One-line Snake Formation on the vast plain.

And what was most astonishing was that the formation they held did not fall into the slightest disorder while running, and the long, sharp Heavy Cavalry Lance in their hands were lowered almost simultaneously during the charge.

At this moment, they were like a true forest of steel, charging with incomparable determination toward the Easterlings, who had turned to look behind them in confusion, amidst shouts of "For His Majesty the King!"

These five hundred Heavy Cavalry who suddenly appeared on the battlefield were naturally the "Lion Hunter Cavalry Regiment" that Allen possessed after becoming King on the continent of Calradia.

When Allen had just become King, the degree of loyalty this Knight Order held for the new King was open to question.

Even though Allen had inherited the throne through legitimate means and with great smoothness, his ability and character still required the verification of time.

Most importantly, whether he was generous to his subordinates! This was the fastest way to increase the loyalty of subordinates in a short period of time.

And Allen, after becoming King in Calradia, was undoubtedly generous, especially since this generosity carried a hint of utilitarianism.

Because Allen also wanted to make this Knight Order recognize him as quickly as possible, so that he could have the ability to summon this unit at any time.

And on the road south to Gondor, he had been working hard for this matter, and after that battle outside the city of Pelargir, he had successfully reached the standard.

Every day, the time Allen spent in the Simulator was extremely short, at most one to two days.

Because the time on the continent of Calradia was synchronized with Middle-earth, he did not need to conduct long-term simulations, which could also avoid consuming a large amount of mental energy in this regard.

And there were many ways to improve the loyalty of the Knight Order, such as painting a big picture, promising to grant them manors or small villages if they performed meritorious service in war.

Or a more direct method, which was to find an excuse and then grant monetary rewards; this method was very effective, very effective indeed.

And what was more troublesome was asking his Queen to host banquets and talk with the members of the Knight Order to close the distance between each other.

But in the general environment of the Middle Ages, this was a practice that was both energy-consuming and ineffective, because these Knights were very realistic.

Most of them were the pillars of fallen noble families, or the second sons of prominent noble families; only money and power were the best ways to move them.

Having received a certain education, they already had a set of values very suitable for the current society, which was generally difficult to be shaken by others.

This was different from the general environment of Middle-earth.

And the method Allen used the most was to make these Knights more loyal to him by granting them armor, weapons, and horses.

Not all members of the Knight Order had the standard equipment of a Swadian Knight, and a piece of high-quality armor or a weapon could allow these people to have a higher survival rate on the battlefield.

After receiving such rewards, it was an inevitable result that most people became more loyal to their King.

To them, armor was also heavy Dinar, and the equipment they discarded could be used to add another Swadian Heavy Cavalryman for their family.

It could be said that the King's generous Radiance was truly shining upon their families.

Therefore, in order to increase the most loyalty in the fastest time, Allen, while emptying the Royal Armory, also scattered large amounts of Dinar to purchase suitable armor from other nobles.

Through such an unsparing effort, he successfully transformed all members of the Knight Order into human tanks armed to the teeth in less than a year.

This kind of investment was a matter with an extremely high cost-performance ratio for Allen, because the armor he rewarded would eventually be used to serve his own battlefield.

Just like now, five hundred Swadian Knights armed to the teeth, tireless and unfeeling of pain, fearless of life, death, and terror, gradually approached the Easterling formation amidst the thunderous sound of hooves.

At this time, the Easterlings were truly caught in the predicament of being attacked from the front and back, because this suddenly appearing cavalry was closer to their position.

And Sengel, who led thousands of Rohirrim, had already led his troops and was galloping toward them on the road of the charge.

At this moment, the Easterlings had been fiercely sandwiched between the enemy's two cavalry teams.

If they dared to change direction at this time, then under the extremely hasty change of formation, the speed of the horses galloping would definitely slow down.

And at this time, slowing down was fatal for cavalry; if such a low-level mistake was made, the only ending left for the Easterlings was to be pierced through by the two enemy armies from front and back, and then miserably defeated on this plain.

The Easterling leader, who understood everything in an instant, hurriedly issued the order to divide his troops to resist, which was also the only way out of a desperate situation.

If it were on a vast plain, facing the five hundred Heavy Cavalry behind him head-on, he could take his own light cavalry to lead the opponent until they were exhausted, and then ride them down.

But the current situation simply did not allow him to think too much, and the pincer movement of the enemy's two cavalry units did not leave him room to maneuver.

At such a volatile moment in the battle, it was already quite good that he could make appropriate commands.

In his view, as long as he could block the Heavy Cavalry behind him, he still had a chance to work with the Haradrim to finish off the Rohirrim in the middle first; in this way, the victory of this battle would still belong to himself, and to the great Emperor Sauron.

Following a burst of impassioned horn sounds, the Easterling cavalry guarding around the Golden Dragon Flag lowered their speed one after another, and then turned their horses' heads in the fastest way.

This was a direct unit serving the Easterling leader, with a strength of over a thousand, and its combat power could be called elite among the Easterling cavalry.

After turning their horses' heads, they gathered for a short time and immediately spurred their horses to charge toward the rear.

Because that forest of steel composed of lances was only a few hundred meters away from them.

Some Easterlings with better eyesight could even see the dazzling Radiance on the tips of the enemy's lances.

This surprise force of the enemy had not left them much time to accelerate their horses.

However, facing the enemy's interception, the charging Swadian Knights still maintained a constant speed, as if they did not need to consider the horses' stamina at all.

The faces hidden behind the helmets were completely expressionless; except for the initial cheers shouting for the King, they maintained absolute silence.

Only the sound of hooves that shook the earth announced their arrival.

Soon, the barded Swadian Knights crossed paths with the intercepting force of the Easterlings.

All five hundred Swadian Knights remained in their charge formation, having drawn their melee weapons—either maces or Knightly Longswords.

The number of Easterling Cavalry intercepting them was instantly reduced by nearly half.

Only when truly facing these heavy cavalry did the Easterling Cavalry feel just how powerless their attacks were.

As the elite among cavalry, these Easterlings did not simply engage in head-on attrition; instead, they adopted a coordinated method to attack the heavily armored cavalry.

They would gather in groups of three or four to form an interlocking attack squad, each holding various weapons such as spears, Curved Blades, heavy axes, and maces.

Such a configuration in a high-speed cavalry duel was sufficient to cause damage to ordinary heavy cavalry.

This was a technique the Easterlings developed during their civil wars, and they had also used it to fight the Rohirrim, having an extraordinary effect especially against those Eored wearing chainmail.

During a head-on charge, the spear would first attract the opponent's attention, forcing them to block with a shield or weapon, while the following Curved Blade would slash at the Rohirrim's horses.

The Rohirrim viewed their horses as importantly as their own lives, and in most cases, they would do their utmost to dodge or block.

Because even the most elite Eored of the Kingdom of Rohan only draped their horses in a layer of leather or silk, barely defending against some arrow fire that had already lost its momentum.

The Kingdom of Rohan was truly poor; the idea of draping horses in Iron Armor was something they dared not even imagine.

And while the opponent was dodging the Curved Blade attack, the Easterling Cavalry holding heavy weapons would use the powerful kinetic energy of their axes or hammers to deliver a fatal blow to the Rohan elite wearing chainmail.

Just now, in the duel with Sengel, they had used this method to finish off quite a few Eored; of course, the spears in the hands of the Rohirrim were equally lethal, and the Easterlings also paid with an equal number of deaths, but the Easterlings could afford the cost.

However, when facing the Swadian Knights, the method the Easterlings had always used to great effect completely lost its utility.

Their strange, long spears, which were far longer than a Heavy Cavalry Lance, would be lightly knocked aside by the heavy cavalry before them with shields, and the following Curved Blade attacks could not break through the defenses of the horses and knights at all.

Those seemingly sharp Curved Blades could only powerlessly slice a long gash on the surface of the leather, revealing the steel armor plates beneath that shone with a bright white light.

And the Heavy Cavalry Lance in the hand of the Swadian Knight would, at the first moment, pierce through those enemies holding heavy weapons, and then, relying on their tonnage far exceeding that of light cavalry, knock aside the enemies or horses before them.

Although they had engaged with the intercepting enemies and wiped out at least half of the opposing cavalry.

The Swadian Knights' charging speed did not decrease by even a fraction, because they simply did not have feelings like fatigue or pain.

And this result left the Easterling leader shocked, because it far exceeded his expectations; who could have imagined that his most elite subordinates would not even have the ability to block the enemy for a moment?

However, it was already too late for the Easterlings to split their forces to intercept at this time, because the Rohirrim had already arrived at their side, especially that white figure charging at the very front of the formation.

Snowmane, galloping at high speed, carried Sengel to the vicinity of the Golden Dragon Flag once again, and this time there were no Nazgul here to cause trouble.

The Easterling leader, who had just recovered from his shock, was the first to see a longsword glowing with a chilling light.

And following Sengel's loud shout, a swift flash of sword light streaked through the air; the Easterling leader's head, wearing a look of terror, rolled to the ground, and the Rohan Prince, having succeeded in one strike, did not stop his pace but swung his sword again to cut down the Easterling flagpole.

And the Rohan elite, following closely behind Sengel, were like an unstoppable torrent.

With the death of their leader and the repeated toppling of the great flag, the morale of the Easterling Cavalry being attacked by the Rohirrim had completely plummeted to the bottom.

And all the surviving Easterling Cavalry began to flee frantically toward the northeast, because that was where their home, Rhun, lay.

The Swadian Knights, charging from behind, quickly passed through the battlefield where the Rohirrim and Easterlings were entangled and charged toward the Haradrim who were close at hand.

Compared to the Easterlings' combat strategy, these southern barbarians wielding Curved Blades collided fiercely with the charging Swadian Knights while caught off guard.

The neighing of horses colliding with horses, the sound of weapons clashing against weapons, and the unintelligible screeching of the Haradrim were completely mixed together.

Seeing the Easterling flag fall once again, Allen could no longer spare the effort to command the Swadian Knights in battle, because that Black Serpent flag had already arrived at his side.

At this moment, Allen, about to engage the enemy, could only issue an order for free-willed combat to the Lion Hunter Knight Order, while he himself held a Giant Lance and charged toward the Black Serpent under the harassment of two Nazgul.

When a forked lightning bolt repelled the two Nazgul in the sky, the Black Serpent leader, shocked by the lightning, could not even last a single round in Allen's hands; the Giant Lance, carrying immense power, knocked him directly off his horse.

Even though Allen had only struck the round shield painted with the Black Serpent, its powerful force still sent the owner of the shield flying, who then rolled to the ground and died under the trampling of hooves.

With the destruction of the Black Serpent flag, Allen had originally thought the battle would end immediately at this moment, but the Haradrim before him seemed to show no signs of collapsing; instead, they glared with scarlet eyes and launched a counter-attack toward the force led by Allen.

Soon, the Dunedain and heavy cavalry under Allen's command collided fiercely with the blood-crazed Haradrim.

Seeing this situation, Allen knew in his heart that he had been very unlucky to encounter a Harad tribe that fought to the death without fear.

Because the Haradrim were not a single nation, but a force composed of various tribes; their ways of doing things were all different—some tribes would quickly scatter after their leader died, while others would fight to the bitter end and never retreat.

However, the troops Allen led at this time were fully armed elites; even facing the endless Haradrim, they still fiercely cut through the enemy's formation and charged out from the encirclement of the Haradrim.

It was just that in the process of charging, Allen's subordinates also paid an extremely tragic price.

And the Elf cavalry led by Lindir also split into two units, appearing simultaneously on the enemy's flanks and launching arrow attacks while on the move.

The dense rain of arrows was like hail, knocking down many Haradrim who had gathered together.

And after the arrow rain attack, the Elf cavalry charged directly from the flanks into the Haradrim's formation, interrupting their pace in pursuing Allen.

The cavalry unit led by Allen galloped all the way, not caring at all about the Haradrim pursuing behind them, but instead took a wide turn in front of the Black Gate and charged directly toward the Orcish archer unit.

Those Orcish holding pitch-black longbows had been continuously firing at the center army composed of Gondor soldiers, and many poorly equipped militiamen died under the arrow attacks.

The Kingdom of Gondor had suffered extremely heavy losses in this battle, and the Orcish units, which far outnumbered them, had gradually surrounded the struggling Humans warriors.

The center army commanded by Ecthelion was in a precarious situation at this time; if there were no help, collapse would likely be a matter of time.

And following the rout of the Easterlings, Sengel looked at the Swadian Knights entangled with the Haradrim and shouted with a serious expression.

"Assemble, assemble, we must support Gondor immediately."