Chapter 255: Purpose

Summer, for the semi-nomadic and semi-agricultural Easterlings, had never been a season suitable for migration and launching wars.

Livestock had to replenish the fat they consumed during the cold period when all things were growing, and people also had to serve most of the crops at this moment, hoping that the land could produce enough harvest in the autumn.

It was just that this year, the Rune region was a bit abnormal. At first, those Easterling tribes closer to the central area discovered that there would often be refugees who were terrified and lacking food and clothing heading toward the east.

Taking this opportunity, many leaders took in some people who had lost their homes, adding to their own rule. Even more, they took this opportunity to directly organize slave-catching teams, selling those isolated personnel to the more central areas to exchange for a considerable amount of wealth.

But as time passed, this situation changed. Armed personnel of over a hundred people began to appear fleeing. Some of the leaders of the refugee teams were even Easterling leaders driving chariots. They led their personal guards to flee in formation, starting to cause chaos in this land that was still relatively stable.

Because when these people fled on the battlefield, besides weapons, horses, and themselves, they almost didn't bring any supplies. Now, wanting to survive, they could only rely on plundering to fill their stomachs.

Several tribes that got along relatively harmoniously jointly dispatched some tribal warriors to encircle and suppress this chaotic army on the wilderness, and after the battle, they questioned the captives who luckily survived about what exactly happened in the west.

"Those... those humans living on the west side of the great river formed a cavalry unit, launched a sneak attack on us in the name of revenge, yes, that's right, launched a sneak attack on us. But they were too powerful, just like, just like they didn't fear death at all. A few hundred people dared to charge at our army of nearly ten thousand people gathered together, and then everything ended, ended..."

The captives' words were like a joke after drinking, making the Easterlings present unable to believe it. Even the steel chariots pulled by four warhorses couldn't ignore the difference in quantity of ten or even twenty times, directly charging at the phalanx gathered by the infantry.

Because that was naked suicidal behavior. Such an absurd thing had almost never appeared in the war history of the Easterlings.

Therefore, most of the people watching the fun just laughed and mocked the losers who were muttering to themselves, thinking that this was just an excuse. And the captain who thought more comprehensively passed the information to his leader.

Even if the enemy wasn't as powerful as the captives said, being able to crush the allied forces gathered by several tribes was enough to prove that this enemy army fighting under the banner of revenge had extremely powerful destructive power.

Soon, those few tribes that got along relatively well dispatched a large number of scouts to strictly monitor the pastures they used for grazing, so as to avoid their own property suddenly being attacked by the enemy, and incidentally solve the problem of more and more refugees.

At a position about two hundred kilometers east of the middle of the Red River, a huge military camp was stationed there. Tents of all shapes and sizes were all over the camp. The soldiers and horses shuttling through it strictly followed military orders as a part of the camp, completing the work that belonged to them.

And the very center of the camp had the largest tent. The young King wearing silver armor and a crown sat on a wooden chair, holding a pipe and filling it with tobacco. And an Easterling with a shaved head and relatively neat clothes was kneeling on the ground, crying and begging for mercy.

"Great King of Rhovanion, powerful Dragon Slayer, you have already expelled all my kin nearby. Could it be that the next tribe about to suffer this disaster is mine? But I have never offended your territory, nor have I participated in this battle against you, and I have maintained a good trade relationship with the Count of Lulunsi. I am innocent!

! I don't expect to be able to continue staying here, but I hope you give me a chance to leave this place. Please, please!"

The Easterling begging for mercy was naturally Baal. His face was full of panic and unease at this moment. It was also impossible for him not to be afraid. A perfectly good Dwarven trade suddenly turned into a direct conflict between several Easterling tribes and this King before him.

If they had won and driven the Rhovanion people away, that would be fine. Everything could barely return to the way it was at the beginning. But the result was that the Easterlings lost. The confrontation between ten thousand infantry and over a thousand cavalry was broken by the heavy cavalry of several hundred that suddenly appeared behind them.

That seemingly very thick anti-cavalry formation, after suffering a sudden attack, was pierced through mercilessly as if it were a forest ignited by a raging fire—and it was pierced through repeatedly, twice, leaving behind only a ground covered in mangled, blood-soaked corpses crushed into the earth.

And those knights who were fully armed and even had their mounts armored were like they never knew fatigue, and after losing one-third of their comrades, they reorganized their formation again, using an unstoppable momentum to launch a charge again at the infantry phalanx that could only defend passively.

At that time, the poorly equipped Easterling soldiers had never seen such a tragic scene. In previous battles, it wasn't that they hadn't encountered cavalry raids, but the thick phalanx could always force the fast-moving enemies to stop, and a large number of archers could also rely on a longer range to leave behind the lives of a portion of the enemy cavalry.

This was a process of mutual consumption.

But the situation in that battle was not like that at all; the enemy's heavy cavalry simply ignored those spears gleaming in the sunlight, charging directly into the phalanx, and then trampled right through. The charging horses unstoppably knocked aside one infantryman after another blocking their path, and only death could make them stop.

And the knights wearing heavy armor, after falling off their horses, would fight to the last moment. Before death, the two-handed swords in their hands would at least take away several enemies who surrounded them. These lunatics who seemed to be burning with fire seemed to only have killing enemies in their hearts, and didn't care at all whether they would be injured.

Therefore, the Easterling soldiers who witnessed such a terrifying scene, after discovering that the enemy had actually started a third charge, inevitably showed signs of collapse. Even the captain responsible for battlefield discipline killed a large number of deserters with his own hands, but still couldn't stop the subordinates who were unwilling to hold the formation from fleeing.

And just after the Easterling soldiers had just shown signs of collapse, the 1,500-plus cavalry who had been eyeing them covetously immediately launched a charge. Then, the huge anti-cavalry formation could no longer be maintained, turned into scattered sand, and was crushed by the enemies.

And all this happened extremely quickly. The Easterling leaders who were watching the battle on the side with their personal guards had just reacted, only to find that they had already failed. After repeated hesitation, they could only flee with the cavalry around them.

Baal didn't see that scene with his own eyes. Although he also received an invitation to encircle and suppress the invaders, in order to ensure that he could still smoothly obtain goods in the future, he refused very decisively.

At that time, he was still thinking happily that if his kin won this battle, those captured Rhovanion people should be able to exchange for more goods.

Unfortunately, not long after, the leaders who ran back from the battlefield told him that the enemy's strength exceeded everyone's imagination, and the battle failed. Then, this place couldn't be stayed in anymore. Then, they used the few valuable items on their bodies to exchange for a portion of supplies from Baal and then ran away overnight.

After that, a large-scale cavalry army soon arrived near Baal's tribe, cutting off the last glimmer of hope for this Easterling warlord to run away.

Baal had accumulated too much family property in these years. Packing up these things wasted a lot of time for running away. Of course, just like his begging words at this moment, Baal had a fluke mentality in his heart, thinking that this powerful King before him needed him and wouldn't kill him all.

Allen naturally hadn't thought about killing this Easterling all. Baal was indeed right. Not all Easterlings had the head for business. Compared to this complex form of profit-making like trade, these savage guys were more willing to carry knives to rob and enslave others.

If he killed Baal and then wanted to find a merchant who wasn't so loyal to Sauron and could bleed for his own kin for the sake of profit, that would be too difficult. Allen didn't come here to eliminate Baal. If he wanted to kill him, he would have killed him long ago. It was just a beating and then completing a transaction.

"My subordinate Brendon told me that you rejected my proposal and raised the price of the trade?" As he spoke, Allen snapped his fingers, and a wisp of flame appeared on his right hand, lighting the pipe hanging by his mouth.

This was an ability Allen had obtained in the simulator recently. It wasn't particularly powerful, but it still deterred Baal, who was kneeling on the ground.

"My lord, it was my mistake. I am willing to give compensation, gifting the hundred-plus Dwarves in the camp to you for free, only hoping you can forgive me this time."

Baal, who was covered in sweat, admitted his mistake extremely decisively. He knew that no amount of sophistry and begging words were useless. It was better to take out compensation that would make the other side's heart move, perhaps he could exchange for a chance to survive.

"Kill you, and then slaughter your tribe. Those Dwarves will still be mine."

Allen, smoking his pipe, said words that made people's hearts tremble, with no fierce expression on his face at all.

But Baal didn't doubt the truth of this sentence at all, because he heard rumors that more than a month ago, the cavalry of Rhovanion broke through a tribe in the north in a morning with a surprise attack, without any effort.

It was said that the blood shed in that battle gathered into a small stream, dyeing the nearby river red. All those who surrendered suffered the punishment of beheading, and those who could escape were few and far between, telling the terror of the enemy on the wilderness. This also led to the alliance of several tribes.

So, Baal, who felt that he was about to face death, was even more afraid, trembling all over and lying on the ground, still making his last efforts in his mouth.

"You still need me, need me."

Looking at Baal's reaction, Allen knew that his beating was about enough. If there was no help from Sauron, I'm afraid it would take a long time for this Easterling to get rid of the shadow he left in his heart. 【255-

But Allen did not speak immediately. Hesitation can bring people hope, but it can also make them let their imaginations run wild. Let the fear in Baal's heart brew for a while longer, and let the memory be even more profound.

Of course, Allen had also anticipated part of Baal's reaction at this moment, because the rumor about blood staining the river red was something Allen had deliberately released. What gathered into a stream was actually sheep's blood, and those who were beheaded were all Easterlings who had died in battle.

In his previous life, Allen had seen a very sensible saying in a book: "War is the continuation of politics." The purpose of provoking a battle is never for the sake of simple slaughter; there is always a goal involved.

Feanor declared war on Morgoth because he wanted revenge and to reclaim the Silmarils; Morgoth provoked strife to defy the will of Eru, while insisting on his own discord and defiling the beautiful Arda; Sauron waged war against Men, Dwarves, and Elves several times, using all sorts of schemes and tricks, ultimately to conquer the world with fear and become the true Lord of the Earth and King of Men.

The purpose of Allen provoking this battle is not as grand as those big shots; it is to save the dwarves, help Fatis and his own knights get revenge, and finally, to make the Easterlings begin to fear Rhovanion, and make those naturally savage Easterlings fear him.

Do not be like before, where small groups of troops would cross the Redwater River to launch raids and harass the residents who had already settled down.

Although Allen had the idea of having them defend against the Easterlings at the first opportunity when he moved the population to East Rhovanion, that was while recuperating and building up strength, to guard against a future large-scale invasion by the Easterlings, not to fend off harassment that was like flies.

This kind of situation is actually very difficult to handle. Allen's ancestors, in order to guard against this situation, spent enormous manpower and material resources to build one Great Wall after another, and only then did they barely manage to solve this problem.

In the letter Sengel sent to Allen, it was mentioned that under the call of Ecthelion II, Gondor was already doing this kind of thing. While guarding Osgiliath, they were preparing to build an outer wall nearly fifty kilometers long on the Pelennor Fields as a defensive force for Minas Tirith; it is said that it was proposed by Denethor.

Allen does not have such strength; he cannot build a city wall along the Redwater River from north to south, so he can only adopt some relatively extreme methods to make the Easterlings fear him, so as to avoid this endless, sporadic harassment.

In fact, for the first tribe that was breached, the rescued slaves and prisoners of war were all sent to the west side of the Redwater River by the horses brought by the cavalry, which is why there was the rumor that no one survived.

However, the second camp Allen breached did indeed kill many people who were unwilling to lay down their weapons, and he did not control all the enemies, allowing many people to flee from the battle, which also indirectly corroborated the previous rumor.

Then, the decisive battle began. Allen, having mastered the summoning ability and new power, quite easily routed the gathered enemy forces, which led to the situation where Baal was kneeling on the ground.

War is always ever-changing; no one knows how it will end. Even Allen can only strive to make the situation develop in a direction favorable to himself.

The current outcome is, all in all, still quite good.