The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 431 Orc Assault

"Whoa! Whoa!" Suddenly a noisy sound came from outside.

"What the hell? Why is it howling over there?" Thorin looked displeased.

"Something terrible has happened..." A dwarf stumbled in.

"What's wrong?" Thorin asked, startled.

"The orc army is coming from the north!" A sentry on the outer perimeter sneaked in through a side path and said breathlessly to Thorin.

"Damn it! The orcs beat Dain to it!" Thorin's expression changed as he looked at Balin, who was leaning on his cane.

"We need to strengthen our defenses! This group of orcs may be from Gombarda or Dolgodor! The orcs in these two fortresses are not easy to deal with!" Thorinbalin and his group had fought against orcs from both places and knew how troublesome the orcs in these fortresses were.

"They'll probably attack soon!" Dwarin said worriedly.

"Prepare for battle!" Thorin sighed. The arrival of the orc reinforcements ahead of everyone else had impacted the dwarves' overall strategy.

"Yes!" everyone responded, and then went down to prepare to depart.

……

"What happened? Were you attacked by dwarves?" The orc legion besieging the Moria dwarves was shocked to see the dusty and weary Dolgodor legion. The army in front of them looked as if they had just been brutally beaten and humiliated in the dark sewers.

"No, it's those damned elves of Lorian!" the Dolgodar orc commander said with lingering fear. Only he knew what it felt like to be attacked while the enemy was crossing the river... It was too painful... The rain of arrows seemed endless, and all the orcs floating on the water had nowhere to hide. Countless arrows were fired at the orcs, and the dark red blood instantly stained the Anduin River with a few streaks of ink...

"Why would the elves ambush you?" The orcs tensed instantly. They would gladly welcome the support from the Dolgodar orcs, but if the reinforcements brought an elven army... well, that was a different story...

Elves are far more troublesome than dwarves. Their long lifespans mean that almost every elf is a professional, with rangers making up the majority. This versatile profession, capable of both close and long-range combat, is wielded with unparalleled skill by elves. Like the world-renowned knights of humanity, elven rangers are a signature skill. A well-organized group of elven rangers is fully capable of kiting and killing many times more orcs without incurring any cost.

"They ambushed us as we were crossing the river, so we circled around from upstream!" said the Orc commander of Dolgodo.

"...They didn't follow, did they?" The orc lord and officers of the Misty Mountains hurriedly said. If the elven army was really behind them, then they should consider whether they should retreat. The elves of the Golden Forest were notoriously difficult to deal with. At this moment, the orcs of the Misty Mountains looked at their fellow orcs of Dolgodor with a different expression. How could they be so foolish as to pass through the elven defense zone of the Golden Forest?

“No…” the orcs of Dolgodor denied, of course they didn’t know why the Lorian elves, who routinely monitored the Dolgodor fortress, wouldn’t track down the orcs’ whereabouts.

In fact, a small group of elves was hanging not far behind the orc, closely monitoring his movements.

"What are these orcs planning to do?" an elven ranger asked, puzzled.

"The orcs have besieged the Moria Mines. There was a fierce battle going on here the other day!" a ranger muttered. "Huh? Shouldn't we stop this orc army? And let them pass?" another elf asked, somewhat surprised.

After all, the elves had given the orcs a huge scare and didn't launch a full-scale attack to hunt them down. Instead, they drove the orcs out of their territory and sent a squad of rangers to keep them at bay. The elves didn't want to cause any more trouble.

"The alliance has long been defunct, and we have no reason to shed blood for the dwarves..." The elves of the Golden Forest are xenophobic, so it's normal that they are unwilling to fight for the dwarves.

"But the situation of the dwarves is not optimistic..." an elf said with a heavy heart.

"That was their own choice!" The ranger captain gestured to silence the murmurs. When the dwarves chose to reclaim Moria, they should have foreseen the predicament they would face now. Moria's defensive advantage came at the cost of being surrounded on all sides. No reinforcements could arrive quickly to support them, and the only two allies they could rely on—the elven forces—were sidelined due to direct conflict with the dwarves. (Of course, the elves were unaware that Sauron had returned to Middle-earth. If they had known of Sauron's return, the Elven Queen and Elrond would have risked their lives to rescue Moria, given that the Great Mine was a shortcut connecting east and west.)
……

"Drive them back!" the dwarves roared, driving the orcs out of the cave and then quickly retreating back inside.

"Thorin, the orcs have attacked our lines several times already!" Dvalin noticed a significant increase in the orcs' attack frequency.

"Their reinforcements have arrived, and their attack intensity is increasing!" Bahrain said, looking at Sorin, slightly out of breath.

"Thorin, you have to make a decision. The orcs' all-out attack is coming soon, and they are currently wearing down our soldiers' strength and morale! You need to decide whether we should stay or leave!" Balin looked at Thorin. When the king of the mountain was here, all dwarves had to obey his orders, including Balin, the king of Moria.

"We will fight here! Our ancestors stained this land with their blood, and we will not! We cannot give up this place! There are no cowards among the dwarves! Let them come if they want! The pale orcs have already fallen at the foot of Lonely Mountain, and the land of Kazardom should also be stained with the blood of the orc king!" Thorin's eyes were filled with ferocity, and no one doubted Thorin Oakenshield's determination. This resolute dwarf king would defend Moria to the death, just as he said.

"In that case, we'll hold Moria to the death! Ori! Oyin! Take men to repair the tunnels and bridges at the west gate! Even if we have to defend the Moria mines to the death, we must leave ourselves a way out!" Balin was mature and prudent. Even if they were ultimately defeated, the dwarves could still preserve the flame of their race, instead of all of them being trapped and dying in Moria.

……

"Thump!" The mountain shook violently, and everyone looked at each other in astonishment as the shaking began.

"It's a Behemoth! These damned orcs have brought a Behemoth!" The dwarf on guard outside stumbled in, only to fall flat on his back after a few steps.

"Damn it! Go out and check!" Thorin said hastily. The appearance of the Behemoth cast a shadow over everyone's hearts.

If the arrival of the orc reinforcements only surprised the dwarves, then the appearance of the Behemoth was enough to terrify them.

Thorin and a few others quietly slipped out to take a look, then retreated.

"We're in trouble!" Thorin said with a dark face as soon as he returned.

(End of this chapter)