Chapter 61

The Kingdom of Erebor, also known as the Mountain Kingdom, was once one of the homes of the Durin Dwarves.

At this moment, on the plaza before its gates, several hundred Dwarf Heavy Infantry were fighting bitterly under the siege of countless Uruk soldiers.

They were the elite brought by Dain from the Iron Hills, the more than eight hundred Dwarf Heavy Infantry supporting Thorin Oakenshield.

In the preceding battle, they had been a rock standing in the path of the Uruk soldiers' advance, and with mutual support among comrades, they had stubbornly held on even when facing enemies several times their own number.

Moreover, while killing thousands of Uruk soldiers, their own casualties had barely reached three digits.

But all of this was ruined by three Trolls approaching them; their pride-and-joy shield wall had no power to resist the brute force of such monsters and was shattered in an instant.

In a very short time, the Dwarf Heavy Infantry in the middle of the shield wall were surrounded by the Uruk soldiers.

Many Dwarf warriors who could not react in time to the Trolls' attacks were knocked down by a large number of Uruk soldiers in the panic, and then countless weapons hacked or smashed into them, taking their lives.

The veteran Dwarf warriors, who were more experienced in battle, understood the current situation in that instant and shouted "Circle formation!" to the surrounding Dwarf warriors.

Then these veteran Dwarf warriors rushed out from the Dwarf ranks one after another, attacking the surrounding Uruks crazily, paying no heed to the weapons the enemies were hacking at them.

They were using their own flesh and blood to buy time for the other Dwarves to form up.

The Dwarves on the sides of the shield wall were not caught in the siege; at this time, most of the Uruk soldiers' attention was on the surrounded Dwarves.

Facing this situation, these Dwarf Heavy Infantry no longer maintained their formation, but instead brandished the weapons in their hands and launched a rescue toward their comrades in the middle.

Naturally, they could not stand by and watch their surrounded comrades die at the hands of the Uruk soldiers.

For a time, both sides fell into a chaotic, interlocking melee.

Having lost the aid of the shield wall, the casualty rate of the Dwarf Heavy Infantry suddenly became high; although they also killed many Uruk soldiers, this could not change the fact that they were surrounded.

And at this moment, the clear, melodious horn calls of the Woodland Elves and the dull horn calls of the Orcish sounded one after another.

Azog, on Ravenhill, saw the situation of the Dwarf Heavy Infantry and was now going to target the Dwarf Chariots.

He would prevent these fellows, who were closer to the Dwarf infantry, from supporting those Dwarf infantry.

The few Trolls that had just reached the middle of the field heard the horn calls and began to accelerate, charging toward the Dwarf Chariots weaving through the Orcish crowd.

They were following Azog's orders to intercept the chariots.

Under their brute force, two chariots were quickly intercepted by these Trolls while caught off guard.

The iron chariots were dismantled amidst the Trolls' frantic smashing, the Great Horned Goats fled wildly, and the Dwarves driving the chariots also died miserably at the hands of the Trolls.

The remaining three chariots saw the situation was bad, shot several Trolls charging at them with heavy crossbows, and retreated toward the gates of the Lonely Mountain, evading the Trolls while rushing to aid their comrades.

And in the clear, melodious horn calls of the Woodland Elves that followed, a wave of arrow rain shot from Dale first covered the Uruk ranks before the Dwarf circle formation.

This dense rain of arrows beat the Uruk soldiers' formation into a mess, and not only that, it also incidentally took away the three Trolls that had just dismantled the Dwarf Chariots.

And the King of the Woodland Realm, Thranduil, rode his Elk and led over a thousand Elven Sword-Shield Guards of the Woodland Realm, charging out along the bridge of Dale.

This Elven King had come to support the Dwarves, whether for the sake of victory in the war or for that contract already signed.

He could not watch these Dwarf infantry die miserably in the Orcish siege, no matter how much Thranduil had previously disliked these short fellows.

This Elven King, relying on his superb martial arts, rode his Elk and charged headlong into the ranks of the Uruk soldiers during the charge.

Thranduil gracefully brandished the Elven War Blade in his hand while mounted, coordinating with the Elk beneath him to slaughter the surrounding Uruk soldiers.

And the Elven Sword-Shield Guards who followed launched a charge toward the now-thinned Uruk soldier phalanx.

As the firstborn children of Eru, their various attributes were far stronger than those of Humans.

Even wearing Elven Plate Armor and holding huge Tower Shields, they were able to keep up with Thranduil's pace in a short time.

During the charge, they brandished their Elven War Blades as if dancing, killing the Uruks blocking their path along the way.

It was like a golden gale blowing away the black, withered branches blocking their path.

In this area, the Uruk soldiers, who had no absolute numerical advantage and were even at a disadvantage in numbers, simply could not stop the slaughter of the Elven Sword-Shield Guards.

Soon, the Elves killed their way through the Uruk ranks, forming a golden shield wall in front of the Dwarves, blocking the subsequent charge of the Uruk soldiers.

Immediately after, a large number of Elves charged toward the Uruk soldiers besieging the Dwarves; they were going to rescue the surrounded Dwarves.

At the same time, about five hundred Elven Archers launched a barrage on the bridge toward the subsequent Orcish army, covering their comrades who were engaging the Uruk soldiers head-on.

At this time, Allen, leading his personal guard, had already killed another Troll catapult squad and merged with Dain's cavalry.

In his spare time while hacking at Orcish, Allen shouted loudly at Dain, who was splattered with black blood.

"Where is Thorin?"

Dain, who had just smashed a Uruk soldier to death with his war hammer, had a face that was already extremely ferocious look even worse; he glared at Allen and did not answer his question.

Instead, he shouted loudly, re-gathering the Dwarf cavalry that had already suffered more than half casualties, bypassed the Elven shield formation, and charged back in again, hacking at the Uruk soldiers besieging the Dwarves to rescue his comrades.

Before long, these Uruk soldiers, isolated by the Elven Sword-Shield Guards, were slaughtered by the joint efforts of the Dwarves and Elves.

Having completed all this, the Elves retreated to their shield formation without a word, helping their comrades hold off the seemingly endless Uruk soldiers with difficulty.

The shield formation set up by the Sword-Shield Guards of the Woodland Realm could not compare to that of the Dwarves, and their two-meter-tall stature also gave the Uruk soldiers too much room to attack.

In a short time, they suffered some casualties.

And Dain Ironfoot, having rescued his comrades, took a deep look at Thranduil, who was still wantonly slaughtering in the Uruk phalanx; the thoughts in his heart were known only to himself.

And at this time, Allen, leading his personal guard, ran back into Dale.

The city wall, jointly defended by Humans and Elves, was currently undergoing a fierce battle for control.

Although Allen had killed those two Troll catapult squads in a very short time.

The flying stones they had poured over still smashed the two sections of the city wall they were guarding to pieces, while also injuring a large number of Elves and Humans.

On the already damaged city wall were large patches of bloodstains, and severed limbs and corpses could be seen everywhere.

And the attacking Uruk soldiers were still coming in an endless stream; they even used the corpses of their own comrades and the rubble scattered outside the city wall to pile up a slope more than two meters wide and nearly three meters high.

At this time, they were still fearless of death, attacking the defenders on the city wall along this slope.

Facing such a dangerous situation, the Elven Spearmen, as the firstborn children, showed the demeanor of the eldest.

Their golden figures took the initiative to take on the most dangerous areas, holding spears and shields to engage in close-quarters combat with the Uruk soldiers.

And Allen's Heavy Infantry Regiment, having suffered nearly half casualties in the fighting with the Uruk soldiers, was finally replaced by the Elves, exhausted.

Their shields were covered in scars from curved blades and spears, and stained with large patches of blood.

Their armor was soaked through with sweat, their hands gripping their weapons trembled slightly, and the moment they stepped down from the city wall, they sat directly on the ground.

They had not yet collapsed for many reasons, the most significant likely being that Alayen stood at the very front of the ranks with the Nord Royal Guard, fighting to the death and refusing to retreat.

And behind them, Bandak watched like a tiger eyeing its prey, keeping a constant watch on them.

Those soldiers who were injured but still persisting in the fight were also carried or supported by the militia of Long Lake Town and sent to the makeshift hospital.

These militiamen from Long Lake Town had already run back and forth hundreds of times; in the cold winter day, their bodies were also soaked through with sweat.

As for the Spearman who had exhausted their arrows, they stood on both sides of the Elven Spearman, using their longer reach to assist the Elves in killing the Uruk soldiers who stepped onto the city wall.

In order to contest these two walls with the Uruk soldiers, Alayen's Buping Jun Tuan and the Elven Spearman had already paid an extremely heavy price.

Even the Archer who had run out of arrows had picked up the spears of fallen comrades to fight the enemy alongside the infantry on the city wall.

But the Uruk were still endless; the black, dense mass of enemies continued to emerge from the tunnel, attacking toward this side.

Facing this situation, Fatis had once thought about leading the troops back into the city to defend, but was stopped by Gandalf, who had been helping nearby.

This Grey Wizard saw the battle more clearly.

If the Humans and Elves truly abandoned these two walls, they would lose their ability to pin down Azog from the front.

With these walls, the coalition of Humans and Elves could both attack and defend; if they gave them up, they would likely be trapped in the urban area by the more numerous Orcish army, unable to move.

Without the distraction of this portion of the enemy, Azog would be able to free up more troops to head to the main battlefield.

Once the Dwarf and Elf forces could no longer hold out, the defenders of Dale would be on a path to certain death.

Looking at the solemn-faced Gandalf, Fatis dismissed the idea of retreating from the walls and continued to constantly dispatch soldiers on the battlefield to resist the Uruk soldiers' offensive.

At this moment, Allen had returned to the command post on the city wall with his personal guard; having stopped, he shouted loudly: "Fatis, assemble the Cavalry."

Then Allen turned his head and shouted to Bandak, who was holding a Siege Crossbow: "Continue to hold the wall; if there are any problems, you can consult Gandalf."

Subsequently, Allen, while on horseback, nodded to Gandalf.

Immediately following, without waiting for a response from Gandalf, Allen headed toward his own Cavalry camp together with Fatis.

It was fortunate that Fatis had not abandoned the wall, otherwise these four hundred Cavalry could only have been used as infantry.

At this time, the Cavalry had long since made combat preparations and, under Allen's orders, were assembling toward the gate of the Lonely Mountain.

And in front of the gate of the Lonely Mountain, the rescued Dwarf gathered together once again, and three War Chariot also crashed out from the enemy's ranks.

The casualties of the Dwarf Heavy Infantry were exceptionally heavy; in the short time after being surrounded, the death rate of the Dwarf Heavy Infantry accelerated significantly, and at this moment, fewer than five hundred Dwarf remained who could still stand.

And the Dwarf Cavalry led by Dain also numbered only around two hundred; they had paid such a huge price in exchange for thousands of Uruk lying on the ground, but their bodies were exhausted, and their hearts had begun to waver.

Dain looked at everything before him, glared angrily at the gate of the Lonely Mountain, raised the war hammer in his hand once more, scanned the surviving Dwarf, and shouted, "Durin's Folk."

Responding to him, besides the Dwarf's cries of "fearless of death," was the resounding sound of horns echoing from the Kingdom of Erebor.

Having discarded his crown and taken off his cloak, Thorin Oakenshield led the twelve members of the Expedition and charged out from the gate of the Lonely Mountain.

Thorin Oakenshield had finally completely shaken off the Dragon Sickness and had once again become that brave, composed, and resilient Dwarf Prince.

Charging out from the Kingdom of Erebor, his gaze remained fixed on Ravenhill.

Allen, meanwhile, led all his Cavalry and the two Skin-changer who had not transformed, converging at the entrance of the Kingdom of Erebor at a gallop.

Upon seeing Thorin Oakenshield, Allen stopped, while the remaining Cavalry, under the leadership of Fatis, continued to converge toward the east side of the gate of the Lonely Mountain.

Allen did not dismount, but instead looked from his horse at the now-recovered Thorin Oakenshield.

Even though the battle was so tragic, Allen still smiled with relief.

He was happy for his friend, and also happy for the Dwarf who had fought so hard on the battlefield until now.

Allen said loudly from his horse: "Welcome back, noble King of the Lonely Mountain, Thorin Oakenshield."

Thorin Oakenshield looked up at Allen on his horse and also smiled, shouting loudly: "Allen, my friend, congratulations on earning the title of Dragon Slayer. Regardless of my status, I will represent Durin's Folk and thank you for your constant help."

Upon hearing this, Allen did not answer, but instead looked around and asked: "Where is Bilbo?"

Thorin Oakenshield shook his head and said: "You and I both know that no matter how skilled a Burglar is, they are not suited for the front lines of a battlefield; I have already arranged for him to rest."

After hearing this, Allen said nothing, but after nodding to Thorin Oakenshield, he took his personal guard and quickly caught up with his Cavalry unit.

Dain likewise nodded to Thorin Oakenshield and led all the Dwarf Cavalry and the three Dwarf Chariot to follow in Allen's footsteps.

Thorin Oakenshield, left behind, looked at the surrounding Dwarf infantry, raised the weapon in his hand, and shouted loudly: "Sons of Durin, in the name of the Longbeard, raise your weapons and follow me in the charge."

As soon as he finished speaking, this Dwarf Prince charged first toward the west side of the Elven shield wall, and behind him were hundreds of Dwarf warriors following their King.

Once they charged out, they engaged in fierce slaughter with the Uruk soldiers, and with morale high, they actually joined the Elves in pushing back the Orcish army.

Today, with the alliance broken, the Dwarf and the Elf were once again united, fighting against the forces of darkness.

Azog, on Ravenhill, was caught a little off guard after seeing this scene; he had thought the Uruk soldiers should have been able to suppress the opposition the whole way, but he had not expected them to be counter-attacked.

This Orc commander, after a brief moment of thought, decided that he should no longer let the Uruk attack in a continuous stream; the current situation was no longer suitable for such a method of attack.

Having thought it through, he issued an order to assemble in front of the tunnel; Azog wanted to accumulate a wave of power at the tunnel entrance and then launch a decisive battle against the charging Elves, Dwarf, and Humans.

Although nearly seven thousand of the Uruk he had brought had already died, and more than half of the Troll had perished, leaving only a dozen or so, he was not in the least bit panicked.

Because the sporadic bats flying in from the northwest had already told him that the second Orcish army had approached this place and would soon appear in the vicinity of the Lonely Mountain.

When that time came, simply letting them charge into the main battlefield where the decisive battle was taking place would be enough to deal a heavy blow to the enemy.

Azog believed that he had already won this battle.

Allen, leading the Cavalry unit amidst the dull sound of horns, discovered Azog's intentions at the first opportunity.

He abandoned the original plan to cut off the enemy forces and instead led his Cavalry to crash fiercely into the Uruk soldiers in the center of the field, brandishing the weapons in their hands and leading the Cavalry in a frantic sweep of the enemies trying to retreat.

Dain, leading the Dwarf Goat Cavalry and War Chariot, coordinated with Allen, and soon they cleared the enemies in the center of the field.

At this moment, the Uruk soldiers had also gathered a massive force in the open space outside the tunnel; the number looked to be four or five times that of the Elves and Dwarf, and from within the tunnel, black figures were still emerging in a continuous stream, as if there were no end.

Allen, who had stopped with his Cavalry in the center of the field, was considering whether to retreat to Dale or the Lonely Mountain to continue holding out.

Subsequently, Thranduil and Thorin Oakenshield, who came to his side, both rejected his proposal.

Their reason for refusal was simple: they could not outlast them. The nearly ten thousand Uruk soldiers before them were lined up in dense formations; once these fearless fellows pressed down to the foot of the wall, both sides' troops would enter an endless war of attrition.

The arrows brought by the Woodland Elves have been exhausted, and Allen's Archers have also run out of ammunition.

Without the support of bows and arrows, Allen and his men would be facing a naked meat grinder; in that case, the first to be wiped out would certainly be Allen's Humans army, as they are far less elite than the Dwarves and Elves and simply cannot afford the attrition.

Next would be the already exhausted Dwarves, and finally, the Elves, who are still in relatively good condition.

But even if they won the final struggle, there would definitely not be many people left alive.

This is not even considering the situation of a morale collapse; after all, Allen and his men are not facing Goblins now, but a more disciplined army like the Uruk, and it is not certain who would collapse first.

Allen himself also knows that soon, more than twenty thousand armed Goblins will arrive from the direction of Ravenhill.

As for whether Radagast and the Great Eagle can fly over before the army of Humans, Dwarves, and Elves is wiped out, Allen has no confidence in his heart.

Even if the Great Eagle flies over to support, Allen remembers that whether in the original work or the movie, the Orcish only began to collapse after their leader died.

It is not to say that the flying Great Eagle can solve everything; the most important thing is that Azog must die.

At this moment, the three leaders of the Humans, Elves, and Dwarves looked toward Ravenhill, the location of Azog, at the same time.

They all know that they must kill this ringleader; only when the Orcish lose their command and realize their leader is dead can this battle be considered over.

But they still need an opportunity, an opportunity that can better attract Azog's attention; they cannot just raid Azog in such a naked situation.

After all, the number of the Orcish army still occupies an absolute advantage, and being surrounded during a raid would be too dangerous.

Therefore, the three leaders consulted briefly and believed that the opportunity lies in the moment of the decisive battle.

Soon, the Dwarves and Elves both blew the horn of the decisive battle.

On the battlefield at this time, more than seven hundred Elven infantry and less than five hundred Dwarf infantry were advancing neatly amidst the loud and melodious sound of horns, gradually approaching the extremely numerous Orcish ranks.

Although they are already exhausted and their armor is no longer shining, their hearts are still full of fighting spirit, and their weapons are still incomparably sharp.

Without any fear, they set up a half-silver, half-gold One-line Snake Formation in front of the Orcish.

At the same time, more than five hundred Elven Archer rushed out from the bridge of Dale; having shot all their arrows, they stood behind the One-line Snake Formation holding battle blades.

At this time, the infantry led by Alayen, in coordination with the defending Elves, had just finished killing the Uruk who were attacking the city wall.

Hearing the sound of the horn, the Elves immediately assembled and walked from the gentle slope built by the Uruk soldiers toward the Orcish army.

At this time, Gandalf walked over; this Grey Wizard was not polite at all, and he raised the Gramdring in his hand.

That Longsword released a brilliant light under the winter sun, seemingly able to evoke the courage of the surrounding soldiers.

He shouted loudly, and that voice could spread throughout the entire city.

"Soldiers, now is the moment of the decisive battle. Pick up your weapons, leave this city wall that is no longer important, and go support your lord."

Hearing Gandalf's words, Alayen did not think much more, but pulled a Flag from the city wall and held it high; it was Allen's Crown Three-Star Flag.

"All soldiers who can still move, please gather under this Flag. Follow me, follow this Flag, we will rush to the front battlefield, we will support our lord, the decisive battle is at this moment."