Chapter 262: The Battle of the Five Armies (Part 1)

After returning from the Lonely Mountain, Wayne got another Master-level mission and an Epic-level mission from Thorin as he wished.

They were the Master-level 【Decapitation Operation】 and the Epic-level 【Defeat Enemy Forces】.

He originally wanted to get a few missions from King Thranduil to see if he could kill two birds with one stone or even three birds with one stone. As a result, the system did not let him drill this loophole. After testing a few times, he found that the same thing would not trigger similar missions even if he found other people, which made his idea of free-riding mission rewards fall through.

However, this was only impossible at the system level, but there was no such restriction in reality. Therefore, Wayne still obtained a contract in reality through the condition of assisting the Silvan Elf clan in fighting against the Orc army. The reward for the commission was the copying permission for the books collected by the Silvan Elves, which was not anything particularly precious.

Such a meager reward also made the Silvan Elves think that Wayne was just high-minded and unwilling to ask for too much, and was a friend worth associating with.

Soon, one month after obtaining the intelligence, the Orc army finally appeared.

They set off from the Grey Mountains and headed straight for the North. It was an elite Orc warrior force of about three thousand people, fully armed, equipped with Wargs, and clad in heavy armor. And the one who obtained this news was Lord Wayne.

In order not to waste time and actively improve his strength, in the gaps where all races were actively preparing for war, he simply accepted a mission to scout the enemy army every day, drove the Magic Flying Carpet, and went out to find the traces of the Orc army.

These were Expert-level missions. Although each scouting took two to three days, compared to completing Ordinary-level missions, the cost-effectiveness was still very high.

And after scouting the news of this Orc army, both the Dwarves and the Elves became nervous.

War is not child's play. Every war is accompanied by blood and death. All the races in the North, down to every individual, basically have relatives who died at the hands of the Orcs. This is their engraved hatred, which no one will forget.

And as this Orc army kept approaching, the eyes of the Elves and Dwarves were all focused on this army. Some brave scout teams were sent out to monitor the enemy's movements at any time.

However, at this time, Wayne did not have the idea of standing out.

The first reason is that the gun hits the bird that sticks its head out. Although relying on flight and shooting ability, he might be able to keep following this army and continuously consume their numbers. As long as the time is long enough, even killing them until they collapse, one person destroying an army is not impossible.

But in that case, he would become the focus of everyone's attention, be targeted by the commanders among the Orcs, and even affect his subsequent decapitation plan.

As for the second reason, as a hero, being too dazzling is not a good thing. Besides attracting the gaze of the Dark Lord Sauron, it will even attract the attention of the Creator God of the Middle-earth world, affecting the plans of this powerful deity.

Killing Smaug had already made him show a lot of limelight, and even changed the entire Battle of the Five Armies. At this time, it is not appropriate to do too much. Biding one's time is also a good thing.

Thus, Wayne just hid in the dark, paying attention to the movements of this army from afar, no longer showing his face too much, but lurking like a poisonous snake.

In this fantasy world, basically, one large-scale battle between the righteous and evil sides can determine the pattern of each other.

If he can catch them off guard, kill with one blow, and take down the enemy commander at the fastest speed, destroying the enemy's command system.

It can greatly strike the enemy's morale. Perhaps because he did not participate in the war in the early stage, there might be more casualties, but as long as the decapitation operation can be completed and this predetermined goal can be achieved, the role played and the lives saved will definitely be much stronger than being active on the battlefield from the beginning.

This elite Orc squad moved very fast, and everyone was equipped with a Warg. It only took about five days to travel from the Grey Mountains to the vicinity of the ruins of Lake-town.

However, what surprised everyone was that they originally thought this army would head straight for the Lonely Mountain to attack the Dwarf country and avenge the former Azog.

As a result, after resting for one night near Lake-town, this army set off in full force and headed straight for Mirkwood, where the Woodland Realm was located, as if preparing to attack the Silvan Elves first.

Such an action immediately put the Woodland Realm into a state of high alert. All the Elves were tightly organized, took their weapons, guarded their homes, and were ready to fight at any time.

Elf Prince Legolas and Elf King Thranduil did not flinch at all, stood at the forefront of the battlefield, and were ready to fight the Orc army to the death at any time.

Even the one hundred light crossbowmen composed of Lake-town refugees rushed to the battlefield enthusiastically and were arranged in a relatively safe defensive position, waiting for the arrival of the enemy.

And Wayne was not idle either. The Orc army would prioritize attacking the Woodland Realm, which was actually within his expectation.

Unlike the Dwarves who had high city walls for protection and huddled in the solid deep mountains, the Woodland Realm of the Elves was built in the forest and did not have too solid defensive fortifications.

Moreover, the Elf clan was mostly archers and light armor. Although the number of Silvan Elves was currently larger than that of the Lonely Mountain Dwarves, pre-processing the Elf clan who were good at long-range attacks and not letting them support the Dwarves would also reduce the trouble when dealing with the Lonely Mountain Dwarves later.

In just one day, this elite Orc squad had already arrived at the border of the Woodland Realm and blocked the palace of the Silvan Elves from the front.

Without any verbal communication, the two sides started fighting with real swords and guns as soon as they met.

The city wall of the Elf clan was not high, about the height of three or four floors, which could not be compared with the high walls of dozens of meters like the Lonely Mountain city wall, but even so, it was not a height that the Orcs could climb with their bare hands.

However, in the thousands of years of confrontation with Elves, humans, and Dwarves, the Orc clan had long since skillfully used various war means. Although they were savage and cruel, they were not stupid people without intelligence. This elite Orc force of about three thousand people carried many siege ladders and a large number of shields. They wore heavy iron armor with strong defensive power, and each of them was a strong and huge man, obviously well-prepared to attack the city under the arrow rain.

After the battle started, these elite Orcs immediately grouped in sevens or eights, holding huge shields while carrying long siege ladders, and rushed toward the Elves on the city wall.

However, the archers of the Elf clan were not to be trifled with. Under the leadership of Elf Prince Legolas, they all changed to burning arrows that were burning fiercely, and sent a large number of Golden-armored Elf Guards to guard the city wall, guarding the archers behind them.

Besides, on the city wall of the Elf clan, there were many defensive measures used for defense. Although their city walls were not high enough, in terms of the ingenuity of the design, they were more practical than many human city walls.

After the siege started, both sides soon entered a state of stalemate.

These well-equipped Orcs were fierce, thick-skinned, and carried shields with quite large defensive areas, which seriously affected the lethality of the Elves' arrows. Most of them could only rely on the burning of flames and the precise attacks of the archers to cause casualties.

And the Golden-armored Guards on the city wall were all excellent warriors with high martial arts and well-equipped. With them guarding the city wall, without quantity suppression, the Orc warriors could not rush onto the city wall at all.

Back and forth, both sides fell into a state of consumption. The warriors of the Woodland Realm consumed arrows and stamina, while the Orcs consumed their lives.

These savage creatures seemed to have no fear, or rather, their lives were not worth mentioning at all. Even if they suffered not small casualties, they still did not have any cowardice, continuously holding shields and charging toward the city wall.

The battle started for only twenty minutes, and the force of three thousand people consumed about five hundred, piling up a whole circle of corpses under the city wall of the Elves.

However, this advantage did not make Wayne, who was watching the battle from a high place, feel satisfied. Instead, a trace of doubt arose in his heart.

He remembered that in the movie of the original work, the Orc army was still very strong.

In the Battle of the Five Armies, the Orc army not only had a large number of Orc legions, but also a large number of Wargs and six or seven-meter-tall Trolls fighting together. The most terrifying thing was that they seemed to be able to control a super giant monster called a Were-worm, directly digging a passage on the ground, and could even span a long distance to create an underground passage, reaching the battlefield directly.

And currently, although these elite Orcs were well-equipped and had high morale, their combat effectiveness was indeed not very good, and they could not be counted as the main Orc army at all.

Moreover, Wayne observed for a long time and did not see their commander or high-level generals, nor did any brilliant figures appear.

Could it be because after he killed Azog, the Orc army had no successors?

Holding such doubts, Wayne turned his head to look at King Thranduil, who was sitting on a huge elk beside him, and reminded cautiously: "Your Majesty Thranduil, I feel something is wrong. The Orc army is too weak."

"Such a force of three thousand people, whether attacking the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain or dealing with your Woodland Realm, seems too weak and does not conform to common sense."

"They must have hidden means, we must be careful."

King Thranduil's handsome face was also heavy. After listening to Wayne's words, this Elf King also nodded in recognition and said: "I feel the same as you, Wayne."

"We have been at war with the Orcs for thousands of years and have some understanding of their power."

"The army that is attacking the city is definitely just their bait. Their main force must be lurking somewhere."

"Therefore, I did not send out all the troops. Those on the city wall are only a very small part. Currently, my Guard Captain Tauriel is leading most of the troops, waiting at any time, ready to deal with any accidents that may occur."

Seeing that the Elf King was well-prepared, Wayne also felt relieved in his heart. He had no experience in large-scale operations and was a complete novice in military actions. The only thing he could master was his own strength.

Soon, the battle lasted another twenty minutes, and the number of the Orc army also dropped from 2,500 to about 2,000, suffering nearly one-third of the casualties.

But even so, they still could not rush onto the city wall, and even the siege ladders used for the siege were burned down by more than a dozen. The siege operation was obviously destined to fail.

However, just when Wayne and the others were becoming more and more confused, a rapid and sharp horn sound suddenly came from behind them, and mixed with it were a large number of noisy and loud roars.

Hearing these sounds, Elf King Thranduil's face changed, and he immediately pulled the reins of the huge elk under him and said to Wayne:

"Please come with me, Wayne."

"It should be that the Orcs have launched an attack behind us."

Saying this, he did not care whether Wayne agreed or not, shook the reins in his hand, gave a look to Legolas who was standing on the city wall responsible for command, and flew away riding the huge elk, running toward the battlefield behind him.

Wayne took a look at the battle on this side of the city wall, which was basically destined to end, and also jumped down, rode a warhorse, followed behind the Elf King, and rode toward the battlefield over there.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 263 =====