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

Chapter 563 The Fall of Lulong City
Pulled by two mountain rhinoceroses, Grond's hammer was slowly propelled forward by giant trolls. This thirty-meter-long heavy battering ram was arguably the most formidable can-opener in Middle-earth. The wolf-headed battering ram, imbued with dark magic, was a sensation during the War of the Ring. On the battlefield, Grond ram ramded the gates of Minas Tirith four times. The first ramming failed, so the Witch-King of Angmar chanted a spell during the subsequent three rammings. The gates of the White King were ultimately shattered into pieces by the combined effect of the battering ram and the spell…

It's easy to imagine that even the mighty gates of Gondor's capital were smashed to pieces, and the situation at Lulong Fortress was probably not much better than that of White City.

The mountain rhinoceros, heavily armored, panted as it wielded the Hammer of Grond, the clattering arrows striking its body without even causing a scratch.

"Shoot those two giant rhinoceroses! Don't let them get any closer!" Renault frowned. The Meteor Dragon Tower couldn't shoot down the Hammer of the Dragon, so it couldn't shoot down the monster that was wielding the hammer?
"Bang! Bang!" Without any resistance, the heads of the two giant rhinoceroses exploded, and huge magic crystals rolled out of their heads. Their protective battle aura as high-level magical beasts was useless in front of the Meteor Dragon Tower. The magic crystal armor-piercing arrows fired by the Meteor Dragon Crossbow pierced through their battle aura shields with almost no resistance. With the death of the two war behemoths, the Hammer of Grundde slowly came to a stop.

"Well done! That's it, don't let that thing get close to us! We can hold out in the outer city for a long time!" Lafitte Anthony excitedly pumped his fist.

"Damn it! It looks like our hopes are going to be dashed!" Luke Leopold shrugged helplessly.

Upon closer inspection, everyone realized that while the war behemoth was dead, the giant trolls were far from extinct! A group of giant trolls were hiding under and behind Grond's Hammer, diligently propelling it forward. Although the speed was slow, it was indeed moving.

"Tsk! Tell everyone to prepare to retreat to the central city!" Renault waved his hand dejectedly, unable to stop Grond's approach and unable to protect the gates of the outer fortress.

……

After about half a day, the Hammer of Grundr finally arrived at the foot of Lulong Fortress. Everyone's hearts were in their throats as the giant ogre struggled to pull the siege hammer.

"Boom!" The blazing wolf head of the Grundr suddenly crashed into the south gate of Lulong Fortress, and layer upon layer of magical runes emerged from the gate.

"Buzz!" Like ripples on water, circles of magical waves spread out from the protective magic on the city gate.

As if an eternity had passed, Geron was finally lifted up again and slammed into the city gate a second time.

"Bang!" A few fine cracks appeared on the shield, while the rest of the magic runes flickered and disappeared rapidly.

"Thump!" The third impact came, accompanied by the sound of the magic shield shattering. The several layers of magic shields protecting the gate were all pierced through.

If Roland were here, he would definitely be cursing. This time, the Ringwraiths have learned their lesson; they actually activated the magic spell on Gromund's Hammer right from the start, delivering a critical hit right off the bat...

"Boom!" Grund's wolf head slammed into the steel gate of Lulong Fortress for the fourth time. The terrifying impact, combined with the power of black magic, caused the heavy gate to tremble!
A long, resounding clang rang out. While the shield was still struggling to recover, the fifth impact tore through the thin barrier and slammed into the city gate! A section of the gate immediately caved in…

“We can’t hold on!” Lafitte Anthony’s eyes glazed over.

"Order the Swift Infantry and archers to retreat first! All melee classes, protect them during the retreat! We're preparing to retreat to the central city." Renault's pupils contracted. "Damn it! Retreat!" Luke Leopold grabbed a Swift Infantryman who was already red-eyed from stabbing him and threw him to the back.

"Withdraw! Stop attacking!" Merck Leopold notified every soldier he saw.

Everyone silently put away their weapons and threw down anything they couldn't take with them from the city wall to block the orcs' attack. Pots of boiling water mixed with logs and rolling stones were thrown down by the soldiers, and the orcs who were still struggling to climb down below immediately began to howl in agony. The orcs' attack was caught off guard by this burst of human energy and was temporarily halted.

"Boom!" By the sixth strike, the entire gate had begun to twist and deform, the magical runes on it had begun to flicker, and the thin, transparent shield had begun to shimmer.

"Boom!" The seventh strike! After enduring seven strikes, the city gate finally burst open, the two steel doors collapsing weakly before crashing to the ground with a thud...

“The city has fallen…” Renault gritted his teeth, took one last look, and then resolutely turned and stepped onto the drawbridge.

"Close the passage! Seal off the central city!" Renault gritted his teeth as he watched the orcs pour into the city through the broken gates.

“Fortunately, we’ve already blocked the other passages!” The Leopold brothers, Merck and Luke, exchanged a glance and said with lingering fear.

"The problem is that our battle lines have been stretched too thin! Now we have to defend all four walls!" Lafit Anthony's face was somewhat grim. The influx of orcs into the outer city had directly put the entire second-tier fortress area within their attack range. Overall, the area of ​​our defensive zone had actually increased rather than decreased...

"Then let's fight them to the bitter end! The Hammer of Grond can't get into the fortress! They can't break down the gates of the central city!" A smile finally appeared on Renault's face.

Because of the narrow passageway inside the fortress, the ground passage between the middle city and the outer city did not allow the orcs to get close enough to break down the door. As a result, the orcs lost their chance to break down the door. Moreover, because the defensive line contracted, the power consumption of the magic shield was reduced again, allowing them to hold out for longer!

"Take a headcount of casualties!" Renault shouted, looking at the bustling crowd.

The result was very satisfactory. Apart from a few unlucky soldiers wounded by stray arrows, most were unharmed. Even those injured were the bloodthirsty swift infantry. (One soldier, in his excitement, leaned out of his shield's range and was wounded in the arm by a stray arrow…)
"Alright, get some rest! The orcs will need some time to get familiar with the situation! Eat something to replenish your strength!" Renault instructed everyone.

It wasn't that Renault looked down on those orcs; even if a map of the fortress were laid out in their faces, they'd still have to figure out their way around carefully, let alone the fortress they'd just breached. Its automated defense system and other traps would give them plenty of fun. This time, in turn, allowed the exhausted defenders to rest, replenish their strength, and improve their combat readiness.

Finally caught up, Chapter Two!

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(End of this chapter)