Chapter 44: Respective Preparations

The revelry in the banquet hall continued; the Dwarves, along with the Hobbit, were still eating, drinking, singing, and dancing.

To the side, a smiling Yamila was silently calculating in her heart whether Allen's inventory was sufficient to host these Dwarves for three days of living here.

Meanwhile, Allen, Thorin Oakenshield, as well as Balin and Gandalf, had finished their meal and arrived at the conference room, preparing to discuss the Expedition's next plans.

With a Vitality Necklace hanging around his neck and his left arm in a sling, Allen stated his plan straightforwardly.

He would arrange for the members of the Expedition to follow the Wilderness Town caravan to the Woodland Realm in three days, a process that would take less than ten days in total.

Thorin Oakenshield expressed his opposition immediately upon hearing the plan, but he subsequently fell into silence.

His opposition was merely a subconscious reaction; after all, his impression of that Elven King, Thranduil, was truly too poor.

However, he understood in his own heart that Allen's arrangement was the best choice; other routes not only required a long time but were also exceptionally dangerous.

This Dwarf Prince was no longer the same as when he had just walked out of the Blue Mountains; the hardships and obstacles along the way, as well as the Lonely Mountain now close at hand, all inclined him to accept Allen's proposal.

Subsequently, under the persuasion of Gandalf and the elder Balin, Thorin Oakenshield reluctantly agreed to Allen's proposal.

Since the most difficult part had been completed, the remaining matters were much simpler.

Allen and Thorin Oakenshield agreed that the Dwarves would leave with the caravan in three days, and Allen would set out one week later to catch up with their pace.

After all, Allen was a patient now; one could not expect a wounded man to continue trekking over mountains and through water with them.

At this time, Allen would only be a burden if he followed the team.

Therefore, Thorin Oakenshield agreed to Allen's proposal and told Allen that they would head directly to the Lonely Mountain, hoping Allen would not delay too long.

Afterward, Allen spoke to Thorin Oakenshield in private about one matter: the wager between the two of them.

Thorin Oakenshield indicated that he was willing to accept the loss and would do his utmost to fulfill it.

Allen did not have any particularly difficult demands; he just said, half-jokingly, that he hoped Thorin Oakenshield would not provoke that King in the Woodland Realm.

This could potentially have some impact on the trade between Wilderness Town and the Woodland Realm.

Thorin Oakenshield pondered for a long time before agreeing; he was also concerned about how he should face that Elven King, as the relationship between them was very poor.

Thorin Oakenshield did not have any good methods either, so he could only take things one step at a time; now that Allen had raised the request, he thought about it for a long while and reluctantly agreed.

Of course, the real reason was certainly not a worry about his relationship with Thranduil turning sour.

If Allen sent the Dwarves to Thranduil, that King might even have to thank Allen.

It was just that Allen would need Thranduil's help for some matters in the future, so he had to improve the favorability between the two sides first.

Now that Thorin Oakenshield had agreed, Allen was very happy, as he did not need to maneuver between the bigwigs of two factions.

Therefore, Allen hosted the members of the Expedition very well over the next three days, allowing them to get a good rest.

Before they set off, he also helped Thorin Oakenshield and his party prepare supplies and horses for the journey, and even prepared some gold coins for them to facilitate purchasing supplies in Long Lake Town.

Soon, the time for the Dwarves to depart arrived, and they left Wilderness Town under Allen's gaze.

They would follow the caravan guarded by Desaiwei to the Woodland Realm.

And at this time, Lothlorien had already quietly gathered a great deal of power.

As early as last year, Gandalf had traveled tirelessly to Eriador, found the leader of the Dunedain there, and recounted the threat entrenched in Dol Guldur.

And now, the Dunedain Ranger had extended a helping hand to the White Council in order to oppose the darkness.

Saruman, who had long been guarding Orthanc, led a portion of the Bounty Hunters serving him and also arrived in this forest.

His original intention was not to oppose the darkness; he wanted to strike first and drive Sauron out of the vicinity of the Gladden Fields, as he still harbored hope that he could be the first to find the One Ring.

The support brought by Lord Elrond could be called luxurious; he brought a team of elite Noldor Elf Warriors stationed in Rivendell.

Some of these warriors had even participated in the Last Alliance of the Second Age; their weapons and armor could be traced back to Eregion, which was a renowned city of craftsmen in the Second Age, where the Rings of Power were born.

These Elf Warriors would be the backbone of this battle.

Not only that, Lord Elrond also invited a legendary Elf, the Lord of the Golden Flower who had just returned to Rivendell, Glorfindel.

This bigwig of the Elven world had once scared off the Witch-king of Angmar just by appearing during the Battle of Fornost.

In ancient times, in order to cover for his kin, he had perished together with a Balrog while fighting single-handedly.

Finally, he received the grace of the gods, walked out of the Halls of Mandos, returned to the world, and possessed even greater power; as a messenger of the gods, he returned to Middle-earth once more.

Lothlorien would send over a thousand fully armed Silvan Elves, led by Lady Galadriel, to participate in this battle.

At this moment, they had already made preparations for battle and arranged for scouts to observe the movements of Dol Guldur day and night.

And at this time, on the second day after the banquet ended, Gandalf refused Allen's suggestion to send troops to assist and rode his horse toward Lothlorien.

The Pale Orc Azog had returned to Dol Guldur one step ahead of Gandalf and, at the request of his master, began to organize an Orcish army, preparing to march toward the Lonely Mountain.

The Orcish here were not the Snaga living in the Misty Mountains, but the Uruk race cultivated by Sauron using Magic.

The combat effectiveness of these fellows was quite terrifying; their height was even comparable to Humans, they knew how to obey orders, and they had good discipline; even the sun could not weaken their power too much.

On the battlefield, they were sufficient to compare with ordinary Human warriors, and Sauron had also prepared crude iron armor for them, while their numbers exceeded ten thousand.

Not only that, in order to seize the Lonely Mountain, an important strategic location, Sauron also dispatched to Azog over a thousand Wargs from the Misty Mountains, as well as dozens of Trolls from Dol Guldur.

These Trolls were also a new breed cultivated by Sauron, called Olog-hai; although their strength was uneven, they did not fear sunlight, which made them exceptionally terrifying.

Once these soldiers were ready, Azog would lead them, obeying Sauron's orders, straight to the Lonely Mountain.

Besides this, Azog also dispatched his own kin, carrying Sauron's orders, to head to the Misty Mountains to summon the Orcish living there.

Tens of thousands of Snaga gathered from all parts of the Misty Mountains along the dark tunnels toward Gundabad, and after being armed there, they would also march toward the Lonely Mountain.

With such strength, even if Smaug had not been driven away by the Dwarves, Sauron would have had enough confidence to force away that stupid and greedy evil dragon.

Of course, Azog had not given up on hunting down Thorin Oakenshield; he had already ordered his son, Bolg, to take his personal guards and gallop toward the Woodland Realm.

As for Allen, during this one-week period, he met with the various Captains of his legion and participated in a battle in the forest with a small portion of them.

It was one morning when villagers who came by horse reported that those spiders had appeared again in the forest near the logging site.

This kind of thing could not be tolerated; if Wilderness Town let them be, they would soon spread everywhere.

In order to clear them out, Fatis, after requesting permission from Allen, sent out his personal guards to spread the information to all parts of the town; he prepared to conscript one Spearman company and one Gongjianshou Dadu.

One hour later, the Spearmen and Gongjianshou gathered on the parade ground under the leadership of Alayen and Bandak; Fatis gave a brief explanation of the mission and then led them along the road toward the logging site.

Allen, with his left arm in a sling, also followed along.

The 200-plus people jogged along the road, yet they were still able to maintain a basic formation.

After entering the forest, the Spearman very experiencedly dispersed into ten-man squads; one of these squads, along with the Nord Royal Guard, protected Alayen, while the others, with every three squads staying close together to coordinate with one another, tracked the footprints in the forest and searched forward slowly.

The archers, meanwhile, had three squads following behind the Spearman to support them at any time.

The other seven squads, under the leadership of Bandak, followed behind the infantry and kept watch over their flanks.

While advancing, they called out to each other from time to time to confirm their respective positions, so as to avoid anyone falling behind.

Allen, along with Fatis and his personal guard, followed at the very rear of the troop.

Usually, Fatis would walk at the very front of the troop, but now that Allen was a wounded man, he felt a bit uneasy; after all, Holimion had taken Allen's personal guard and had not yet returned from Horse Pasture Village.

They had not gone deep into the forest for long before the front of the troop was attacked by over a dozen Great Spider.

These things were said to be the descendants of Ungoliant; they were massive in size and possessed a certain level of intelligence, but they were not clever, otherwise they would not have jumped out to attack so many people.

Allen's Spearman clearly knew how to deal with them, and upon seeing those spiders run out from the shadows, they did not panic.

Instead, they formed groups of several people, raised the sharp Elven Spear in their hands, and joined forces to confront a single spider, forcing the spiders back.

The archers also drew their bows and shot arrows one after another, providing cover for the Spearman engaged in close-quarters combat with the enemy.

They targeted mainly those spiders hanging in the air and climbing on the trees; once those spiders chose a target and pounced down from a height, it was easy to cause casualties to the troop—these were lessons learned from blood.

As for the large group of archers led by Bandak, once they had taken up their positions, they fired freely at the spiders that had not yet engaged the Spearman; wave after wave of arrow rain soon slaughtered these dark creatures to the last.

After killing the dozen or so Great Spider, everyone began to clean up the battlefield and collect the arrows that could still be used.

This was a simple battle, and Allen was very satisfied with their combat effectiveness.

The day after returning from the forest, Allen organized a meeting before the departure.

The attendees included Yamila, Fatis, James, Bandak, Alayen, Desaiwei, Holimion, Artimenner, and Cress.

Cress, this young girl, had become much more steady and was no longer as mischievous as before; Allen had always treated her as a junior.

Now she occasionally helped Yamila, responsible for the contact with Beorn's family and hosting the Great Eagle on the Carrock.

This meeting lasted from noon until evening before it concluded.

At the very beginning of the meeting, Allen explained to everyone the necessity of participating in this war, as well as the benefits it would bring to Wilderness Village after victory.

At the very least, they could obtain one-fifteenth of the wealth of the Lonely Mountain, and at the same time, it would deepen the friendship between Humans, Elf, and Dwarf, open up trade checkpoints, and increase the trade activities of Wilderness Town.

If the battle went smoothly, in the next ten years, Wilderness Town would also enter a stage of rapid development; with no more containment from the Orcish, many of Allen's plans would also be able to be carried out.

Not only that, if they played a huge role in the war, then the names of Allen and Wilderness Town would also resound throughout Rhovanion, and even reach Rohan and Gondor.

These, whether for Allen or for Wilderness Town, were huge gains.

Finally, Allen also emphasized the danger of this battle, and then asked everyone at the meeting if they had any questions about participating in this war.

All of them looked at Allen quietly, with nothing but determination in their eyes.

In the subsequent meeting, Allen decided on the war plan for Wilderness Village.

First, Allen would take his Twilight Knight Guard and set off ahead of time to Long Lake Town to rendezvous with Thorin Oakenshield; once the secret door was found at the Lonely Mountain, Allen would leave the Lonely Mountain and head to Long Lake Town to lie in wait.

Because by that time, the work belonging to Allen would have been completely finished, and the rest would be the business of the Burglar and the Dwarf.

Allen could not participate in the battle between the Dwarf and Smaug inside the Lonely Mountain, because it was too dark inside the Lonely Mountain, and Allen, as a Human, would easily die there.

Allen had to find a combat environment more suitable for himself; he would wait near Long Lake Town with his personal guard, gathering Bard and the guards of that town to confront the evil dragon Smaug.

Allen had also thought about it; even with the Noldor Rune Bow plus Noldor Arrow, he had no confidence in being able to cause any fatal damage to Smaug; it mainly depended on that Black Arrow of Bard.

Therefore, if necessary at that time, Allen could become bait to create an opportunity for Bard to land a fatal blow; he had already prepared himself mentally.

Meanwhile, Fatis would lead the majority of Wilderness Town's army to set out for Long Lake Town, arriving there in mid-October.

This included 400 light and heavy Cavalry personally commanded by Fatis, 100 Heavy Infantry commanded by Alayen, 500 light Spearman, and 200 archers and 100 Crossbowmen led by Bandak.

They would pass through the Woodland Realm and head to the forest near Long Lake Town to station themselves, waiting for Allen's summons.

After solving Smaug, they would follow in Allen's footsteps and set out for the Lonely Mountain.

After arriving at the Lonely Mountain,

Allen's idea was to play it by ear; if Thorin Oakenshield could successfully leave the Woodland Realm, then Allen would enter the Lonely Mountain to assist the Dwarf in defense.

If not, then Allen would lead the troops to station in Dale, and defend that city together with the Elf.

The apprentices that James had been training during this period would form a medical team to follow the army to the battlefield.

They would set up a medical room at the rear of Dale to treat the soldiers injured on the battlefield at the first opportunity.

Allen strictly ordered James not to participate in this war, which made this doctor very unhappy.

Allen had no choice; James was very important to Wilderness Town, and his own combat effectiveness was still very weak—it was truly too dangerous for him to go to such a war.

As for all the logistics work required for the troops to set out, it all needed to be prepared by Yamila.

Whether it was the preparation of tents, rations, and equipment, or the recruitment of auxiliary troops, this was all work for Yamila in the coming period.

These auxiliary troops would carry supplies and head to Long Lake Town together when the main army set out.

When they had finished building the camp, they would leave there and head to the Woodland Realm to take refuge.

Allen did not want them to stay on the battlefield for too long; it was simply too dangerous.

The villagers living in Horse Pasture Village to the north of Wilderness Town would also enter Wilderness Town during the war.

Once all the residents had entered Wilderness Town, the entire town would enter a state of martial law.

Desaiwei would also continue to maintain the patrol work around Wilderness Town to avoid sudden attacks by the Orcish.

In order to guard against the Orcish sending small units to harass Wilderness Town during the Battle of the Five Armies, Allen left behind 100 archers and several hundred reserve soldiers.

In fact, Allen was not particularly worried about the defense work on the side of Wilderness Town; he believed that Sauron would definitely gather all his strength to attack the Lonely Mountain, and he estimated that he, this small fry, would not necessarily be paid any attention.

Besides this, Allen also intended to invite the kin of Beorn to assist him in participating in this battle.

Allen's plan was to have Beorn and Wulf, these two adult Skin-changer, go to the Lonely Mountain with him and act together with the Cavalry.

The remaining four would temporarily live in Wilderness Town for the sake of looking after one another.

However, the prerequisite for all of this is the consent of Beorn.

On the last day before leaving Wilderness Town, Allen headed to Beorn's estate to visit his friends, the family of Beorn.

Arriving at Beorn's estate, Allen looked at Marian, who was smiling and stroking her belly, and forcibly suppressed the words on his lips.

Allen knew that this battle would likely drag on until winter, at which point Marian would be close to giving birth.

As a husband and a father, Beorn would not be able to stay by his wife's side.

This gave Allen some concerns; he turned the thoughts over and over in his mind, wondering how to tactfully propose his request and have Beorn help him.

Beorn saw Allen's hesitation; he had already learned of Allen's upcoming battle plan from Cress.

This Skin-changer was not a man who liked pleasantries; looking at the troubled Allen, he spoke very directly.

"Allen, there is no need to be troubled. Wulf and I will certainly participate in this battle. This is not just about the friendship between you and me, but also about the hatred between our kin and Azog. We will be very happy to be able to ruin his plans."

After speaking, this sturdy man over two meters tall scratched his head and continued somewhat embarrassedly: "Allen, you also know Marian's situation. Could you please ask James to take good care of my wife when the time comes? His medical skills are superb, and if he helps, I won't have to worry too much about things at home."

Allen naturally had no reason to refuse Beorn's request, and after discussing the departure time with Beorn, he left his estate.