Chapter 253: Untitled

As sporadic cavalry squads constantly gathered toward Lulunsi, joining the cavalry units to complete pre-battle training, a few birds that violated the seasonal laws also flew back from the other side of the Red River, providing some intelligence that Allen was very interested in.

That was, during the period when Fatis was gathering troops, where exactly did Baal's messengers go to negotiate the matter of Dwarven slaves.

And from the numerous pieces of parchment, Allen picked out one. The content written on it happened to have a silver cold dragon, which matched the situation Tiehaer reported to Allen.

When he led his kin toward the Lonely Mountain, it was this Easterling tribe that attacked them. A portion of his kin died in battle, and a portion were captured. The number should be around fifty.

And with a specific target, the remaining things naturally were easy to handle. The beginning of this war was pinned on this tribe.

It was night. The moon, which was emitting a faint light, was decorating the spring night sky and also barely illuminated the wilderness where the snow had already melted. This moment had already reached the new day of the year, which was January.

Due to being close to the cold Northern Wasteland, the Rune region at this time was not as good as the Calenardhon where the Rohirrim lived, and couldn't even compare to Rhovanion in the Running River waters. There was still no sign of green grass sprouting.

The earth was also mixed with large patches of pitch black amidst the endless withered yellow. This was because the slaves driven by the Easterlings had harvested all the fuel and pasture that could be used nearby, just like a middle-aged man, there would always be a patch on the top of his head that was different from the rest.

And in areas further away, unless large-scale warriors were organized to protect the slaves, otherwise, in the winter that was extremely difficult to endure, small squads wouldn't leave the tribe too far, because nobody knew what kind of existence was in the dense withered grass.

For countless years, quite a few people had died in the mouths of hungry wolf packs and leopards in winter, among whom there was no lack of Easterlings holding weapons. After suffering enough losses, they naturally wouldn't make too many similarly stupid mistakes.

At least this kind of mistake wouldn't be made by many people. After all, harvesting the withered grass nearby was enough for the entire tribe to use.

At this time, a patch of grass half a person high suddenly shook violently. A moment later, a shrill, short wolf howl rang out. Subsequently, the night became quiet again.

Allen, squatting in the grass, pulled his longsword, which was shimmering with cold light, out of the neck of a lone wolf, and then gave Holimion, who had quickly arrived nearby, a look, indicating that the crisis had been resolved.

The lone wolf that ambushed Allen was just an old wolf driven out of the pack and didn't cause any trouble for Allen. The only thing that was a bit surprising was that this beast could actually approach Allen's side without making a sound.

It could only be said that these animals, in order to survive, mostly had their own unique abilities.

Of course, this was also related to Allen putting most of his energy into observing the Easterling tribe.

As early as before the decisive battle with Ashur, Allen had observed the Easterlings' way of life. When migrating, these relatively backward savages mostly used vehicles to carry materials. After choosing a piece of land, they would quickly build a tribe. Initially, they maintained life by grazing, and later, they developed into a semi-farming and semi-grazing lifestyle by plundering and enslaving the surrounding residents.

And the tribe that appeared before Allen's eyes was just like this. Through the binoculars, he could clearly see the land around it that had already been taken care of, just waiting for the spring of next year to plow. And the livestock raised were mainly sheep, with a small number of horses.

Compared to the Rohirrim who were good at grazing horses, the Easterlings were obviously lacking in this aspect. Perhaps, in this place of Middle-earth, those horses with great spirituality were unwilling to be with these humans bewitched by darkness. Whether the ones that could be tamed by the Easterlings were just some breeds with poor bloodlines was also unknown.

After all, even Sauron wanted the steeds grazed by the Rohirrim, and didn't hesitate to come up with some conspiracies.

However, this time Allen wasn't here to write a "Record of Easterling Life" for the area occupied by the enemy. He brought knives and swords, blood and fire, a warning to the Easterlings, and revenge filled with anger.

It was just that before the battle started, he needed to do some intelligence gathering. In the area occupied by the enemy, one absolutely couldn't fight a battle without certainty.

In fact, as early as when he was in Fislate, Allen had observed this tribe with his abilities. This kind of thing was very simple for him. As long as Tiehaer provided a portrait and a unique Dwarven name, Allen could see this place.

But the area his ability could observe was just the area around this tribe, and which direction of Rune this area was located in could only rely on the sun or the stars in the sky as indicators.

When Allen was looking for Gandalf, he did just that. In Eriador, where darkness was about to disappear, Allen could run around with a small squad. There were no enemies there that could threaten his safety.

In Rune, it wouldn't work. Even if Allen already knew where the Dwarves were locked up, he still needed Baal's messenger to lead the way, only then could he accurately find the door.

The spring night was still very cold. Allen wasn't wearing his silver-shimmering armor, but was draped in an Elven cloak that was the same color as the grassland, which effectively resisted the bone-chilling cold on the wilderness. And the firelight shining in the Easterling tribe gradually subsided, leaving only a pitch-black shadow standing there.

Dots of light kept wandering on the shadow. Very obviously, living in an environment with fierce competition, most Easterlings had the good habit of keeping watch at night.

Seeing the tribe slowly enter into silence, Allen decided to approach this semi-permanent settlement that occupied a huge area, looking for a direction favorable for launching an attack. And Holimion discovered Allen's move and also slowly followed.

As the two kept approaching, that pitch-black shadow gradually became clear. It was actually a wall three meters high, mixed with mud and wood, and on the wall, there were Easterling soldiers wearing armor and holding torches and weapons one after another.

As Allen slowly approached the tribe and kept observing the area where the Easterlings lived, the general situation of the entire tribe gradually became clear.

The entire tribe was built on the sunny side of a low hillside. A small river spreading from the north to here flowed past the east side of the hillside, becoming an important reason why these Easterlings built their tribe here. And the land around the riverbed was very muddy, with a large number of footprints of humans and livestock.

Very obviously, at a fixed time, the Easterlings would let the tribe's livestock drink water here, and at the same time, the water source for life also relied on this river.

If Allen were that kind of general who would stop at nothing, then as long as he put a few dead livestock in the upstream, and then poured a large amount of feces and various toxic substances.

And then wait for the rabbit at the upstream, ambushing the Easterling troops coming to investigate, then this battle would probably be much easier to fight.

It was just that although Allen could think of this kind of sinister and poisonous trick, he wasn't willing to use it. On one hand, this didn't fit his temperament.

On the other hand, in this place of Middle-earth, only Morgoth's branch would actively pollute the beautiful earth and rivers. If Allen did this, nobody knew whether he would be on the blacklist of the Valar. After all, this was a world with gods, and rivers and lakes were also protected by Ulmo.

And the wall mixed with mud and wood was in a semicircle, providing the outermost protection for the entire tribe. And inside the wall, Allen could still see shadows connected in a piece, not knowing whether it was a second wall or simple houses built by the Easterlings.

However, what could be clearly observed was that there were roads extending in all directions in the entire tribe, wide enough for five or six horses to gallop at the same time. And this road went upward from the gate of the wall, leading to the highest point of the low slope. If according to the habits of the Easterlings, the leader of this tribe and the most elite soldiers lived there.

It was convenient for them to observe the situation of the tribe at the first time in a crisis, and make correct responses in time.

And on this extremely cold night, not everyone could rest behind the wall. As Allen and Holimion kept moving, they discovered that there was a large area for raising livestock in the south of the tribe. The fence built there, although it could block animals, couldn't block the bone-chilling cold wind at all.

Borrowing the moonlight that was gradually moving west, Allen vaguely saw countless human slaves with tattered clothes huddled together with sheep, relying on the fur of the animals to resist the cold wind, barely resting on this night that made people shiver.

Only in the daytime when the sun rose could these people without enough warm clothes have a better time. It was just that it was only just entering the early morning, the Great Hope Star was twinkling in the sky, and the east barely revealed a white shadow.

And around the livestock pen, there was a house with horses tied around it that was still shining with light. From it came the sound of drinking and chatting. And dozens of hunting dogs tied up made Allen, who was checking the situation, stop his steps in time.

But even so, it was still a step too late. The barking of dogs, one after another, soon rang out.

And amidst the cursing sounds, the door of the wooden house was pushed open roughly. A team of Easterling soldiers holding torches poured out of the door one after another. However, they didn't focus their attention on the direction where the hunting dogs were howling, but looked at the livestock pen where the slaves were resting at the first time.

Because according to the past experience of these Easterling guards, at this time, there were always slaves who didn't know whether to live or die thinking about escaping. It was just that how could two legs run faster than four legs?

And the smell on the slaves was so obvious that it was impossible to hide from the tracking of hunting dogs. Such behavior just brought trouble to the Easterlings who were watching them. So the Easterling soldiers who came out of the wooden house were cursing while patrolling the livestock pen.

And the situation tonight was not like this. The livestock pen was quiet, while Allen and Holimion, who caused the disturbance, took advantage of this opportunity to leave here quickly, leaving only the whimpers of hunting dogs being kicked angrily.

In fact, if Allen wanted to, he didn't need to do this kind of scouting work himself anymore. He had subordinates who could see at night and were also proficient in scouting.

It was just that Allen paid extreme attention to every battle, and in the war of this era, most arrangements were made before the battle started. Once the soldiers started charging, it was impossible to make too many changes. Only by relying on the loud horn sound or drum sound could the soldiers make some simple responses.

For example, charging, for example, retreating. More detailed changes could only be done by the Knight Order summoned by Allen. They could use their will to command.

So Allen, who was responsible for formulating the combat plan, ran this trip himself. And Fatis, under the cover of warships, led more than 1,500 cavalry stationed on the west side of the Red River, only less than 100 kilometers away from here.

If needed, they could completely rush here within a few hours. As long as they rested for a period of time in the middle, it wouldn't even have too much impact on the combat effectiveness of the cavalry.

Just as Allen was rendezvous with other Twilight Knights, preparing to leave here, the sky was already bright. Cautiously circling around the enemy also indeed cost Allen a considerable amount of time.

It was just that on the way back, a bird with grey and green colors fell from the sky. Not long after, the young secret agent riding beside Allen shouted loudly: "My lord, the Easterlings seem to have escorted many Dwarves out. There are about a hundred people guarding forty-plus slaves."

Hearing this news, Allen decisively pulled the reins of the "Pursuit," and after thinking for a few minutes, said to the young secret agent: "Holimion will go back with you. Let Fatis bring a cavalry team to rendezvous with us. Tell him one person, three horses, try to be fast."

"And the others,"

Allen said, observing the Twilight Knights following behind him, and found that their eyes were looking at him calmly, waiting for the next order.

"Follow me to kill those Easterlings. Can't let them send the Dwarves to Baal, otherwise, I will be blackmailed by that guy who looks shrewd but is actually stupid to the extreme."

As soon as the words fell, Allen clamped the horse's belly and headed toward the wilderness where he came, and the Twilight Knights followed closely behind Allen.

After determining the target, Allen arranged for a few birds to fly over the tribe flying the silver cold dragon banner at all times, just to avoid their transaction with Baal being reached and suddenly sending the Dwarves away.

Since Baal asked for a lion's share from him, Allen didn't intend to pay this money. If it weren't for considering that he would still need this merchant to provide manpower for his kin in the future, Allen would have already had the thought of wiping him out.

Holimion led the young secret agent and rushed toward the west. On the strange wilderness, the young secret agent might not necessarily be able to take good care of himself, so he needed Holimion's nursing.

And Fatis's support needed animal guidance to accurately find Allen on the boundless wilderness.

As for whether he could rescue the Dwarves, Allen had sufficient confidence in this.

Because he had already loosened the Noldor Composite Bow in his hand during the high-speed charge, and an arrow shot and killed an Easterling general driving a chariot like lightning. And those who had relatively equal treatment were the few Easterlings riding horses among the enemies.

The battle started just like this. ===== CHAPTER 254 =====