Chapter 62: The Battle of the Lonely Mountain (Part II)

At this moment, regarding the situation of this battle at the Lonely Mountain, anyone with a modicum of military common sense knew that the decisive battle was right before their eyes.

Alayen, Bandak, and Gandalf led a mixed force of over a thousand Humans and Elves, standing in battle formation to the west of the Orcish forces.

The Human troops in particular were weaker; although their morale was passable, everyone looked nervous. In the cold winter, their faces were covered in sweat, and their hands, gripping their weapons too tightly, had veins bulging on the backs of their hands.

To the east of the Orcish forces were nearly four hundred Human Cavalry led by Fatis, about two hundred Dwarf Cavalry led by Dain, and three Dwarf War Chariots.

They occupied the eastern hillside, watching the Orcish army with predatory eyes, ready at any moment to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy.

Directly to the north of the Orcish forces was a shield formation composed of over a thousand Dwarves and Elves, who had already been locked in fierce combat with the Orcish forces on the front lines for a long time.

Yet, their fighting spirit remained high, and under the leadership of their respective kings, they stood fearlessly directly in front of the Orcish forces.

At this time, Allen, with his personal guard and two Skin-changers, was arguing with Thorin Oakenshield and Thranduil about when to launch the decisive battle.

The current battlefield was like the calm before a storm; the commanders on both sides seemed to be waiting for the other to make the first move.

Allen did not know what Azog was thinking, but he knew that the longer the time dragged on, the more advantageous it was for his side.

After all, on this battlefield, most of the friendly soldiers still standing had been fighting intensely for a long time.

At this moment, even if they could rest for one more minute, the recovered stamina might allow them to survive the coming decisive battle.

Meanwhile, Azog's Orcish troops had all emerged from the tunnels; there were nearly eight thousand Uruk and over a dozen Trolls.

They gathered in the open space in front of the tunnels, arranging themselves into three dense phalanxes: one large and two small.

Under Azog's command, over a thousand Uruk soldiers, holding polearms over two meters long, stood in three rows to the east of the Orcish phalanxes, guarding against the more than six hundred mixed Cavalry on the hillside.

As long as the enemy dared to charge, they would use their flesh and blood to entangle them.

The remaining six thousand-plus troops were arranged into two extremely dense phalanxes, one large and one small, confronting the coalition's two One-line Snake Formations.

The smaller one, consisting of over a thousand men, would be responsible for entangling the mixed force of Elves and Dwarves.

The larger one, with four or five thousand men, would be responsible for charging the formation composed of Humans and Elves.

It appeared that the widths of both sides were similar, but the Orcish phalanxes were far thicker than the Humans' and Elves' One-line Snake Formations.

The massive, dark mass of Uruk soldiers standing before them brought immense pressure to the coalition warriors; under these circumstances, the Elves and Dwarves could still hold their ground.

However, Allen's men, primarily Spearmen and Archers composed of Woodland Residents, were already starting to buckle under this immense pressure, slowly retreating.

At this time, Allen, with his personal guard and the two Skin-changers, had moved along the phalanx composed of Dwarves and Elves to the rear of the Human soldiers.

Allen knew that his own soldiers were the weakest part of this battle.

Sure enough, the moment Allen stood firm, he discovered this situation and shouted loudly at the rear of the ranks.

"Hold the line, not a single step back!"

Upon hearing Allen's shout, the officers in the ranks began to stabilize the soldiers' confidence.

Coupled with the fact that their own lord was watching from behind, the soldiers were able to regain their spirit and stabilize the formation.

Seeing all this, Allen quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

The current situation was so tense that if his soldiers broke without a fight, the resulting chain reaction could very well lead to the failure of the entire battle, and then no one would survive.

But Allen could also understand them; facing an enemy several times their own number and still being able to regain their spirit, they could already be called very good warriors.

And this psychological pressure was all within Azog's calculations.

He intended to use his superior numbers to defeat them one by one; he would not allow the enemy infantry to unite, and as soon as they did, he would issue the order to charge directly.

Previously, Azog had probed the Human commander once or twice; both sides knew that any movement meant the start of the decisive battle.

Now, under Azog's command, the Uruk were arranged in a very dense formation.

Azog believed that when the decisive battle began in a moment, the dense, swarming charge of the Uruk would bring even greater pressure to the enemy.

After all, the Humans' and Elves' arrows were exhausted, and Azog no longer had to worry about the enemy's covering fire.

If the Uruk soldiers could break through the enemy's formation in the coming battle and surround them, Azog could already declare victory.

At the very least, he could force a stalemate and wait for the second legion's reinforcements.

This Orc commander had previously considered whether to set up a loose formation to directly surround the enemy's One-line Snake Formations from both sides.

But those six hundred-plus Human and Dwarf Cavalry were watching the Orcish troops from the side with predatory eyes.

The range that the thousand-plus Uruk soldiers holding polearms could intercept was insufficient.

Therefore, Azog abandoned this idea, believing that a dense formation would be more advantageous in the coming battle.

However, Azog was still somewhat puzzled; he could not understand, were these Humans, Elves, and Dwarves not afraid of death?

Why would they voluntarily walk out of the city walls and choose to fight a decisive battle against him on the plains?

Although hiding within the city walls could not avoid the outcome of death, at the very least, they could live a little longer.

One must know that the force he possessed was three times theirs, and they were all Uruk—on the battlefield, one Uruk was worth five Northern Orcs.

Not to mention the dozen or so Trolls.

Although he could not quite figure it out, Azog did not hesitate for too long.

He slowly raised his arm, opened his mouth in a cruel grin, and prepared to issue the order for the Uruk and Trolls to charge; he wanted to completely crush the enemy in this single offensive.

Just as he was about to say "All forces, attack," some figures suddenly entered his vision—those were blue-white and golden figures.

This discovery made Azog's eyes widen, and in an instant, his heart fell into a panic.

For a moment, he even forgot to issue the order.

Just as Azog was in a state of panic, Lord Elrond, with the Elves who had come to support, climbed over the hill and suddenly appeared behind the Uruk soldiers.

Coming with Lord Elrond was Legolas, who had come to support his father.

This Elf Prince, after receiving news of the Orcish forces, had gathered the few remaining Elven Archers of the Woodland Realm.

They rushed toward the Lonely Mountain without sleep or rest, and on the way, they joined up with Lord Elrond's troops.

As soon as they appeared behind the enemy, they unleashed several volleys of arrows at the caught-off-guard Orcish phalanxes.

The Orcs' dense formation at this moment caused them to suffer heavy losses under this wave of long-range strikes from the Elves, with over a thousand Uruk and most of the Trolls falling instantly.

The Uruk, suddenly under attack, fell into chaos.

Immediately following, a dull sound of a horn came from Ravenhill; Azog issued a new order, and he actually did not let the Uruk soldiers fight to the death with the enemy before them.

A dense mass of Uruk actually began to break through toward the direction of Ravenhill along the large gap in the center of the two One-line Snake Formations.

Yes, Azog on Ravenhill had issued the order to break through; after seeing the reinforcements brought by Lord Elrond, he subconsciously believed this was a trap.

After all, he himself had the same idea, and those twenty thousand plus armed Snaga would arrive soon.

A somewhat panicked Azog suddenly felt that the Commander on the opposite side was actually so excellent, having the exact same thoughts as his own.

Moreover, at this moment on the battlefield, the situation had also undergone a subtle change.

Originally, Azog had nearly eight thousand fresh troops in his hands, and facing the nearly three thousand exhausted troops of the allied forces, he still held an absolute advantage.

But now it was different.

After his gathered troops were struck by the rain of arrows, their numbers were reduced to only over six thousand, while the number of the allied forces had increased to over five thousand after receiving reinforcements.

With one side decreasing and the other increasing, Azog's numerical advantage was reduced to only a few hundred men.

Azog knew that this small number could not be considered an advantage at all, because the combat effectiveness of the Elves far exceeded that of the Uruk.

On the current battlefield, the strength possessed by the allied forces of Humans, Dwarf, and Elves actually exceeded Azog at this moment.

Facing such a situation, the Pale Orc actually abandoned the decisive battle and issued the order to break through.

Azog was afraid; he was afraid that Lord Elrond, leading the reinforcements of Elves, would head straight for Ravenhill to break his command post, so he gave the order for the Uruk soldiers to break through.

Allen, who was currently leading his personal guards and Skin-changer while galloping toward Ravenhill, saw this scene and knew that Azog had already lost on the main battlefield.

Allen believed that if Azog had issued an order to fight to the death, these six thousand plus Uruk might still have caused great trouble for the allied forces.

But Azog, in order to preserve some strength, or more accurately, this Orcish Commander hoped that these Uruk could hold the road to Ravenhill.

Azog had no other choice; he did not want to retreat, as he still had another powerful trump card that would soon arrive on the battlefield.

But Allen would not give him this opportunity; relying on the superb speed of the Elf Horse, he had already galloped to the foot of Ravenhill in a short time.

Yes, the moment Allen saw Lord Elrond, he knew the opportunity to ambush and kill Azog had arrived.

Although he was also very surprised to see Lord Elrond's reinforcements, because this was not at all like the plot he knew.

But Allen reacted in an instant, realizing that this was the opportunity to change the course of the war; he let out a whistle and led his elites to charge toward the direction of Ravenhill.

Because Allen knew that the appearance of Lord Elrond must have attracted all of Azog's attention; if he didn't go now, then when would he wait for?

Following closely behind Allen was Thorin Oakenshield, leading more than twenty elite Cavalry.

It was clear that this Dwarf Prince had the same idea.

At this time, Azog had not discovered that two small teams were already rushing toward his direction.

In fact, being cautious, he had hundreds of elites guarding him, and several Trolls were also standing by in this place.

All his attention was now on the main battlefield, or more accurately, on the reinforcements brought by Lord Elrond.

As an excellent Commander, Azog realized something was wrong after issuing the order to break through.

He was indeed afraid at that time, afraid that Lord Elrond's army would charge directly toward his position.

In that case, he would be forced to leave his command post and retreat toward the rear, being chased and killed by the Elves all the way.

That way, having left Ravenhill, he would also lose the ability to command his other trump card.

By then, the twenty thousand plus Snaga in the north would only be able to fight on their own, and relying on the discipline of those guys, there was almost no possibility of winning.

Then in the end, he would only be able to sneak back to the Misty Mountains under the protection of a portion of the Orcish, waiting for Sauron's disposal.

It was just that Lord Elrond, who had arrived, did not have this thought.

The troops led by this Lord of Rivendell set out on the second day after Gandalf left Dol Guldur.

Although they were half a day's journey behind Gandalf and were traveling on foot, they were all Elves, and traveling light, they ran extremely fast on the plains.

To make time, when tired, they slept while running; when hungry, they ate a little Lembas; only when absolutely necessary would they rest for a while.

They arrived at the Lonely Mountain in this sleepless, tireless gallop.

As a Commander with rich battlefield experience, the moment Lord Elrond climbed over the hilltop, he saw the current situation clearly.

The allied forces of Humans, Dwarf, and Elves had less than three thousand troops at this time, while their enemy, the Orcish, had nearly eight thousand troops.

But for some reason, it was the Orcish phalanx that was vaguely surrounded, and the force of over two thousand men he led was behind the enemy.

Isn't this a situation of being surrounded on all sides? This battle could be fought.

So after preparing slightly, Lord Elrond issued the order to fire.

After several rounds of arrow rain, Lord Elrond decisively led his soldiers from the hillside and charged down toward the largest Orcish phalanx.

At this time, the Uruk soldiers had already fallen into panic; attacked by bows and arrows, they easily discovered the Elves who had come to support.

A portion of the Uruk soldiers in the largest phalanx had already engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Elves brought by Lord Elrond.

But there were also some Uruk soldiers who luckily survived the arrow attack; their hearts were filled with fear at this moment, and they knew that this battle might not be won.

Especially with Azog's order, this portion of the Uruk immediately charged toward the direction of Ravenhill.

This action directly stimulated more Uruk; before long, some of the Orcish in this phalanx could no longer maintain their basic formation.

Driven by fear and orders, they frantically lunged toward the gap in the middle of the allied forces.

Their target was Ravenhill, located between the city of Dale and the Kingdom of Erebor.

Alayen noticed this situation immediately, and he and Bandak quickly exchanged a firm look.

Subsequently, Alayen held high the Crown Three-Star Flag in his hand, shouted "Charge" loudly, and took the lead, bringing hundreds of Human soldiers to charge toward the Orcish phalanx that was ten times their size.

The Elves standing with them also followed closely behind under the call of the Elf horn.

This allied force of over one thousand Humans and Elves thus slammed into the west side of the Orcish phalanx.

At the moment of contact, they caused huge casualties to these Uruk soldiers who were intent on leaving this place.

This made the enemy force, which was barely able to maintain its formation, even more chaotic, and there were already faint signs of collapse.

And the phalanx composed of Elves and Dwarf also charged toward the enemy before them.

On one hand, they had to stop these people from retreating; on the other hand, Thranduil had already blown the horn of charge.

This was the signal for the decisive battle, issued to Dain and Fatis.

Although Dain did not particularly care for Thranduil, he also knew that this was the best moment.

Riding a Wild Boar, he raised the warhammer in his hand, drawing the gaze of all the Dwarf Cavalry, and then shouted, "Sons of Durin!"

Amidst the echoing cries of "Fight for the King!", he and the host of Dwarf Cavalry charged fiercely from the eastern slope into the Orcish spearmen units.

Following closely behind were nearly four hundred Human Cavalry led by Fatis, who formed into a wedge formation after starting their charge.

At this moment, Fatis, as the Commander of the cavalry, charged at the very front of the ranks; he wore a barrel helmet and Sleeveless Plate Armor, rode a warhorse clad in Iron Armor, and held a lance in his right hand as he charged toward the enemy.

Beside him were dozens of similarly equipped Heavy Cavalry, forming the tip of the wedge formation.

And behind the Heavy Cavalry were hundreds of Khergit Riders; a portion of them drew javelins from their backs and, while galloping, threw them in the direction of the enemy.

In an instant, a large number of Uruk soldiers died under this dense wave of javelins, causing their spear formation to thin out.

Subsequently, Fatis and the Heavy Cavalry beside him slammed into them fiercely.

The immense impact force directly pierced through the already thinned formation of the Uruk soldiers.

The Light Cavalry that followed along this gap, trailing Fatis, charged toward the north without stopping.

These cavalrymen brandished the weapons in their hands and slaughtered their way toward the more than one thousand Orcish phalanxes that were battling the Elves and Dwarves.

Under this wave of impact, this Orcish phalanx began to collapse directly; the surviving Uruk soldiers began to flee frantically, being hunted down by the Elves who were tightly entangled with them.

Some Orcs even ran toward the direction of the tunnel, only to be chased down by the dispersed Light Cavalry and killed on their path of escape.

The Dwarf Heavy Infantry no longer maintained their shield wall, but instead charged toward the Uruk spearmen who were entangled with the Goat Cavalry.

Meanwhile, the Elven Sword-Shield Guard, who had been clearing the enemies before them, charged toward the large Orcish phalanx under Thranduil's command, then slammed fiercely into their eastern flank.

At this moment, this Orcish phalanx, which originally numbered four or five thousand, was facing attacks from three directions and had completely collapsed.

Desperate to survive, they were already in total rout, all running toward the gap in the northwest.

However, how could the more than five hundred cavalrymen on the field let them escape smoothly?

Death would sooner or later descend upon these sprinting Uruk soldiers.