Chapter 648
Supporting Gondor
Chapter 648 Supporting Gondor (Continued)
"I……"
Aragorn's life goal was to return to Gondor and restore his ancestors' glory, but he never expected that this opportunity would come so suddenly.
Just as he was about to decline as was his habit, the horns of the orc army's attack suddenly sounded in the distance.
Immediately afterwards, countless boulders fell from the sky, causing large areas of houses in the main city of Minas Tirith to collapse.
The sound of the boulder shaking and the screams of the people mingled together.
Even inside the kingdom's main hall, the commotion could be clearly heard.
"Catapults! The orcs have begun their siege!"
Gandalf went outside the Great Hall, used his magic to shatter several boulders that were flying toward the hall, and then looked at Aragorn, who was also coming out from behind, and said, "Don't hesitate any longer, Gondor needs you now."
The orcs' sudden attack not only threw the civilians into chaos, but even the kingdom's soldiers, after learning of the Regent's family's tragedy, were now running around the city like headless flies.
Clearly, the people, having lost their leader, desperately need another "hero" to appear and turn the tide to save the kingdom of Gondor.
"Please save Gondor!"
Faramiel, who came out next, knew that he was incapable of handling the terrible situation, neither in terms of ability nor in terms of courage.
So he knelt before Aragorn and offered the "loyalty" gift.
This signifies that the Regent's family has formally submitted to the House of Gondor, and at the same time, formally returned the reins of power to Aragorn.
Nearby, the Fellowship of the Ring, seeing the devastation in Gondor, also turned their attention to Aragorn.
Waiting for the other party to make a decision.
"Whoo~"
Aragorn, the person directly involved, took a heavy breath, drew his sword with a look of sorrow, and said in a deep voice, "In the name of the descendants of Isildur, I order the entire army to prepare and hold the orcs at the city gates!"
"In the name of my ancestors, I stand with all the people and soldiers of Gondor..."
As the descendants of Isildur raised their blades, the Gondorian soldiers seemed to have regained their morale.
Then, with the cooperation of Faramir and others, an army of tens of thousands was quickly assembled.
“Soldiers of Gondor, my name is Aragorn. My ancestor Isildur defeated the Dark Lord Sauron and protected the peace of Gondor…”
"Now the forces of darkness have returned once more. For the glory of Gondor, for the sake of all its people, let us follow the example of our forefathers and fight for peace..."
Before setting off, Aragorn, riding a tall horse, gave a pre-battle pep talk, then once again raised his blade and shouted, "Long live Gondor!"
"Long live Gondor!!" xN
"Fight for peace!!!"
"..."
With a tremendous roar, Aragorn pointed his sword forward: "Let's go!"
With the understanding that they would perish without fighting, the Gondorian soldiers, under Aragorn's leadership, slowly began to muster their fighting spirit.
The saying "an army driven by desperation is bound to win" is no more than this.
Just as the Gondorian army was about to reach the city gate, they suddenly encountered the fleeing city guards, followed by a team of mutated trolls and mammoths that looked like giant beasts.
Clearly, the city gates have been breached by the orc army, and the Gondor soldiers now have no city left to defend.
"Oops……"
Gandalf looked at the ferocious trolls and mammoth army, and his eyes began to worry. Without a main city to defend, could Gondor hold out until reinforcements arrived?
Aragorn, who was walking at the front, also felt that time was of the essence.
However, with Isildur blood flowing through his veins, he quickly regained his composure. After a brief analysis of the situation, he commanded, "Faramir, I order you to lead half the soldiers to help the ordinary people in the city and gather them at the kingdom palace..."
"As for me, I will lead the other half of the soldiers to rebuild the defenses there. I just hope it's not too late."
The fall of a city means loss of life, and shrinking the defenses again to protect the people is indeed the best way to minimize losses.
Whether Gondor can survive this ordeal depends on whether reinforcements arrive to disrupt the orc army's offensive from the rear.
……
"Those catapults are very powerful. Should we destroy them?"
In a crater not far from the gates of Minas Tirith, Éomer asked King Théoden in a low voice.
Because of their small numbers and the fact that they were all riding fine warhorses, Théoden's Rohan reinforcements arrived faster than expected.
In just one night, they traveled from the Rohan border to the capital of Gondor.
However, this hundred-strong reinforcement force was like a drop in the ocean compared to the tens of thousands of orcs in the army.
If it's not done well, it not only won't provide any support, but it might also get you caught up in it yourself.
"Wait a little longer, now is not the time."
An elder in the family is a treasure; although King Théoden is old, he has accumulated a wealth of combat experience.
By this time, White City had already fallen, and a large number of orcs were advancing into the city.
This is a bad thing, but it's also an opportunity.
When the number of orcs outside the city has decreased to a certain level, that will be the time for the Rohan cavalry to launch an attack and destroy the catapults.
"Hold on! We have unarmed compatriots behind us, and we have nowhere to retreat!"
On the Gondorian palace side, Aragorn climbed onto the makeshift protective wall and loudly encouraged the soldiers.
Fortunately, he made a decisive decision beforehand, and before the orc army could invade, he had Faramir gather most of the people in White City to the palace.
This action undoubtedly reduced many casualties.
However, the situation remains dire. Many of the modified ogres that previously breached the White City gates have had their heads fitted with battering rams, and their arms replaced with giant iron hammers.
In addition, there was the massive mammoth army, whose entire bodies were covered in thick armor.
The temporary protective wall in front of Gondor Palace could not hold them off for long.
"Legolas, do you have any way to deal with those big guys in the sky?"
After encouraging the soldiers on the protective wall, Aragorn turned his attention to the Elf Prince.
Compared to the threats posed by the modified trolls and mammoth squads, the nine corrosive dragons hovering above the palace posed a far greater danger to the ordinary civilians and soldiers hiding there.
Those corrosive dragons, which are tens of meters long, can take away dozens of lives with each dive.
It also caused greater panic among ordinary people.
I'll give it a try.
As a corrupted dragon swooped down again, Legolas drew his Kel'Thuzad bow to its full extent, and the arrow shot out like a meteor.
Just as the arrow was about to pierce the Corrupted Dragon's head, the Ringwraith riding on its back swung his cursed sword and instantly deflected the Elven Prince's attack.
Missing his first shot, the Elf Prince fired several more arrows in succession.
However, those arrows were either blocked by the Ringwraiths or only managed to hit the corrupting dragon's body.
Unfortunately, the Corruption Dragons are enormous, and arrows of normal length are like toothpicks to them, posing no fatal threat whatsoever.
"Unless I can defeat the Ringwraiths first, I'm completely helpless against those Corruption Dragons." After trying several attacks, Legolas shook his head helplessly.
At this moment, the temporary protective wall also began to crack under the impact of the modified ogres and the mammoth team.
This instantly brought the situation in Gondor to an extremely bad point.
"Here it comes~"
When even Aragorn felt a pang of despair, Gandalf, gazing at the distant sky, suddenly smiled.
"唳~"
Accompanied by birdsong and howling, dozens of giant eagles descended from the sky, some rushing towards the modified ogres and mammoth teams outside the protective wall.
The other group was locked in combat with the corrosive dragons in the air. Amidst their howls, large amounts of blood splattered down...
After several of the giant eagles fell, the flock finally managed to bring down all nine corrosive dragons in the air.
On the other side, the swooping giant eagles temporarily repelled the modified trolls and mammoth squads.
Soon, however, an orc unit emerged from the orc army, armed with powerful crossbows.
The modified and strengthened crossbows instantly inflicted heavy losses on the giant eagle formation.
Seeing that things were not going well, the giant eagle leader, Zorondo, immediately summoned his companions to fly into the sky.
The whole process was quick in and quick out.
However, their arrival did indeed reduce a lot of pressure on Gondor.
At the same time, the Rohan reinforcements outside White City finally got their chance to attack.
After the main orc army entered White City, Théoden led the Rohan cavalry out to attack, their target being the catapults brought by the orcs.
After a blitzkrieg, almost all of the dozens of catapults were destroyed.
Back at the Gondorian palace, Aragorn, who had once again climbed the protective wall, noticed that no more boulders were falling from the sky.
This finally allowed the Gondorian soldiers to show their faces openly.
"Our reinforcements have arrived, everyone hold on!"
Having gained a brief respite, Aragorn also noticed a disturbance behind the orc army.
So they roused the Gondorian soldiers once more with great enthusiasm.
Then he turned to Gandalf and the others and said, "Those modified trolls and mammoth squads are too much of a threat to us. We must find a way to deal with them, otherwise our temporary defenses will be breached sooner or later."
The combined number of the modified trolls and mammoths is probably over a hundred, although the giant eagles previously killed some of them.
But seventy or eighty survived.
By this time, these behemoths had rallied and were crashing into the protective wall once more.
The protective wall was about to be knocked down by them.
I've heard it said that the best defense is a good offense.
Legolas, who hadn't been of much help in dealing with the Corrupted Dragon, lightly leaped off the protective wall, raising the Kel'Thuzad Bow.
After several leaps, it landed on the trunk of a mammoth, and then, taking advantage of the mammoth shaking its head, it jumped again to the top of the mammoth's head.
During this time, he used his elven bow to shoot down the orc who was in charge of commanding the mammoth.
"Cool~"
Although the dwarf Jinpei disliked all elves except the Elf Queen, he couldn't help but cheer when he saw Legolas's series of smooth movements.
Then, he raised his giant axe and jumped off the protective wall.
On the other side, the elf prince, who had reached the top of the mammoth's head, had already drawn two arrows and was about to stab the mammoth's eyes with them.
Amidst the billowing dust, the mammoth, struck a fatal blow, staggered a few steps before finally collapsing heavily to the ground.
"A very good idea!"
Seeing this, Gandalf praised him and then jumped down from the protective wall.
While the Elf Prince's method was a drop in the ocean, it did slow down the efficiency of the modified trolls and mammoth teams crashing into the protective wall.
If enough people were to attack, they might even be able to completely annihilate the modified trolls and mammoth squad.
"Merry, do you think we should go and help too?"
On the other side, Piping, standing on the protective wall, watched as the dwarf Jinpi chopped off the legs of a modified ogre with a giant axe and began to feel eager to try it himself.
"Um, I think we need to think about it some more..."
Seeing that he and his companions only had a dagger as their weapon, Merri wisely chose to wait and see.
It can be said that his approach was correct. Two hobbit children who had never experienced hardship would only cause trouble if they jumped off the protective wall.
"Faramir, the task of guarding the protective wall is entrusted to you. Also, keep an eye on these two little guys for me..."
Seeing the effectiveness of the "decapitation strike," Aragorn also organized several special operations squads equipped with chains.
However, before setting off, he still gave special instructions to Pippin and Merry, the two hobbits.
Then, Aragorn, who jumped down from the protective wall with his special forces team, used the chains in the hands of the team members to trip up several modified trolls.
Just as the situation was gradually improving, the orc army finally couldn't sit still any longer. Under the command of their leader, the powerful orc army, together with the modified trolls and mammoth squads, launched an attack on the palace's defensive walls.
In an instant, the densely packed Orc army overwhelmed Legolas, Aragorn, and the others.
Left with no other choice, everyone had to retreat back to the protective wall.
"Damn it!"
As he watched the modified trolls and mammoths crash into the protective wall once more, Aragorn clenched his fists and roared in frustration.
Clearly, the situation in Gondor worsened after the orc army joined the attack.
All of Legolas's, Aragorn's, and the others' previous efforts were in vain.
After all, the number of mutated trolls and mammoths they had modified was simply too large; even with their previous impressive results, they had only killed a dozen or so.
Now that half of this behemoth remains, with the help of the powerful orc army, it's only a matter of time before it breaches the protective wall.
On the other side, the Iron Cavalry that came to reinforce from outside Baicheng also fell into a stalemate.
With only a hundred men, they were quickly surrounded by the returning Orc army after destroying the Orcs' siege tower.
To make matters worse, the nine undead Ringwraiths who had lost the Corrupting Dragon also retreated outside the city.
Subsequently, the Ringwraiths joined the siege of Rohan's reinforcements.
"You are so insignificant, why do you still resist? Why not join us and serve the Demon Lord together..."
Seeing that the dark forces were about to take over Gondor, the Witch-king of Angmar, the leader of the Nine Ringwraiths, was in a good mood and even had the leisure to chat with the relatively thin Rohan reinforcements in front of him.
Feeling slighted by the Ringwraiths, Princess Arwen harbored a deep resentment and silently searched for an opportunity.
One party is willing, the other is unwilling...
Soon, the Witch-King of Angmar paid the price for his carelessness, as Princess Arwen seized the opportunity to knock the cursed sword from his hand.
"It's no use, no man can kill a Ringwraith..."
After the cursed sword was deflected, the Witch-King of Angmar opened his arms wide without any defense, expressing his disdain.
Ringwraiths, possessing abilities based on the laws of nature, are essentially "immortal" as long as their corresponding Rings are not destroyed.
"Death~"
However, Princess Arwen completely ignored the Witch King Angmar's ramblings and, seeing that her opponent was off guard, immediately plunged her sword into his brain.
“I told you, no one can kill…”
The Witch King of Angmar had intended to mock the skinny warrior before him, but with a single sword strike from the girl, the black aura around him began to dissipate, and his body became increasingly ethereal.
"Why...why is this happening..."
Before he died, the Witch-King of Angmar still couldn't understand how he could have ended up in such a place.
"I'm sorry, I'm not a man... but a woman..."
After confirming her opponent's death, Princess Arwen removed her helmet, revealing long, golden hair.
Under the sunlight, it shimmered like gold.
……
(End of this chapter)