Infinity: Our Zhongzhou team is really amazing!

Chapter 166: Battle of Lonely Mountain (22)

Of course, no one in the Lonely Mountain team knew about Gandalf's tragic fate.

The dwarves were now very dissatisfied with the gray-robed wizard who did not keep his promise.

Without Gandalf and the humans of Lake Town, the dwarves can only rely on themselves to find a way to deal with the dragon.

After burying Bard, the Lonely Mountain team came to Riverdale.

In this city abandoned by humans because of Smaug, the Lonely Mountain team used some remaining building materials to build a temporary shelter.

From here, you can see the city walls of Gushan from afar.

I have to say that the dwarves' craftsmanship is indeed superb. Even without the right tools, the entire temporary shelter was built in an excellent condition.

The location of Gushan is very close to the northern wilderness and is already very cold.

Under the cold wind, the river in front of the ancient city was frozen into solid ice overnight.

A bonfire was lit in the shelter for warmth, and the Lonely Mountain team was sitting around the conference table, discussing how to deal with Smaug.

Thorin stared at the map and thought silently, Groin and Bofur argued fiercely, and Zheng Zha hugged Hupo and closed his eyes in silence.

At this moment, Kili rushed in excitedly, interrupting everyone's quarrel and shouting, "Thorin, they are coming! They are coming!"

Thorin slammed the table, his gloomy expression rarely showed a smile, and then he rushed out with everyone.

In the past two days, the raven messenger has been frequently delivering letters between Thorin and Dain. When he cannot borrow external help, he can only trust his dwarf brothers.

The west wind blew again today, and the sky became gray and gloomy. Thousands of dwarf warriors stepped on the frozen grass and appeared on the hills east of the Valley City.

This group of Dwarves from Durin's Iron Hills, led by Dain Ironfoot, came to support Thorin Oakenshield.

At the front were hundreds of dwarf cavalrymen riding big-horned goats. They were a rare type of cavalry among the dwarves.

The bighorn goat has the endurance and strength to carry a fully armored dwarf at high speed, knocking away any enemy that stands in their way.

At the forefront of the goat riders was a dwarf riding a wild boar and wearing a crown. He was none other than Dain Ironfoot, son of Nain and Lord of the Iron Hills.

Thorin saw the man coming and rushed forward happily: "Everyone, look at this heroic dwarf! He is my cousin!"

"Cousin!" Dain Ironfoot, who was riding a wild boar, also jumped down quickly and hugged Thorin tightly.

"Cousin, it wasn't easy to retake Lonely Mountain from that evil dragon. I was shocked to see the devastating state of Long Lake Town on my way here."

After the greetings, Dain took Thorin's hand and sat on a stone by the roadside.

Although he often gives people the impression of being irritable, arrogant and unreasonable.

But as the Lord of the Iron Hills, he successfully opened up a territory in the Iron Hills after the Dwarves of Durin fled the Lonely Mountain.

Over the past one hundred years, Iron Hill has been developing rapidly, and Dai Yin's ability and knowledge are definitely not bad.

Thorin stroked his frozen beard and analyzed calmly, "Lake Town must have been attacked by a dragon at night. Without any defenses, many people were burned to death by the dragon's flames in their sleep."

"We know the secret passage leading into Lonely Mountain, and we also know all of its buildings. As long as the dragon is inside the mountain, we have a chance to kill it by using the environment."

"Of course, the first thing to do is to confirm whether the dragon is awake."

The main reason why Thorin became so stupid in the original novel was that he had been supporting the exiled dwarf forces alone for a long time, with no one to help him, and the pressure was too great.

The dragon's sudden death suddenly removed Thorin's greatest enemy, causing him to lose his mind in ecstasy.

Moreover, Bilbo had been hanging around with the Lord of the Rings in front of him for a long time. Coupled with his ancestral madness and dragon disease, and the gold treasures in Lonely Mountain that would drive ordinary people crazy, his brain went offline.

Now, Bilbo did not find the Ring in the Misty Mountains.

Thorin was also frightened by Smaug and dared not enter the Lonely Mountain. At present, he is worthy of being the most wise prince of Durin's line, and he is still very rational and calm.

"Don't worry, I've brought with me the strongest and best men in Iron Hills this time. They will bravely raise their shields even in the face of dragon flames."

"But, Thorin, those long-eared men of the jungle have always coveted the treasures of Lonely Mountain. If by any chance we finally defeat Smaug, they--" At this point, Dain seemed unable to control his anger, and his eyebrows and beard kept shaking.

After all, in the eyes of the dwarves, it was the elves who broke their covenant and caused them to lose their homes.

"I have already communicated with Thranduil, and now that Smaug is still here, those timid long-ears dare not set foot in the territory of Lonely Mountain." Thorinha let out a breath of hot air and comforted Dain Ironfoot.

Thorin called the dwarves of the Iron Hills over, one to deal with Smaug, and the other to guard against Thranduil, the Lord of the Forest.

There was no trust left between the dwarves and the elves, and Thorin was worried that he would be backstabbed by the elves when he fought Smaug.

But he understood that now was not the time to provoke the elves, and his biggest enemy was still Smaug.

Thorin is a dwarf who will never back down in the face of any difficulties.

The former home of Durin's clan was occupied by Smaug, and his father, Thorne II, King Under the Mountain, was tortured to death by Sauron. It was Thorin who turned the tide and led the remaining dwarves to migrate and survive.

For more than a hundred years, although he did not have the title of king, he had the responsibilities of a king.

At least now, he still has the responsibility of a king.

While the two dwarf kings were talking, Zheng Zha carefully looked at the Iron Hills Dwarf Heavy Infantry behind Dain Ironfoot.

Each dwarf was clad in knee-length mail of pure steel, and his legs were covered in soft armor of fine, flexible metal mesh, such as only the dwarves of Dain could forge.

Dwarves are unusually strong for their height, but these dwarves are among the strongest among dwarves.

They fought in the field with heavy mattocks in both hands, but each had a short sword at his waist and a small round shield at his back.

Their beards were divided into several strands, braided into plaits, and then tucked into their belts.

Everyone wore iron helmets and iron boots, with a solemn and murderous look on their faces.

This is an army armed to the teeth, absolutely the elite among the elite.

Most of them are veterans who have seen blood in hundreds of battles. Dai Yin, the Iron-foot, has emptied out all his family assets.

If this group of people were lost at the foot of the Lonely Mountain, the dwarves would probably be severely damaged within 500 years, and there would be no possibility of retaking the Lonely Mountain.

It seems the dwarves have risked everything to get home.

But the dwarves alone are no match for Smaug.

Zheng Zha is not so unwise. If it were his old self, he might have rushed into Gushan without caring about anything and fought Zhang Jie to the death.

But he now understood that problems had to be solved one by one, and if Smaug was not solved, the main task could not be completed.

Perhaps the evil dragon will also be controlled by Zhang Jie and become his helper.

So, now that Gandalf is not here, can he kill Smaug by himself and these dwarves?
Just then, a flock of crows flew across the sky, cawing, interrupting Zheng Zha's thoughts. "Something strange must have happened," Thorin observed, his expression growing serious. "The migratory birds' migration time has passed. These birds should have flown south, but now they're circling here. It sounds like a major battle is imminent."

Until now, they looked at the lonely mountain and found no signs of danger.

However, the flocks of birds were gathering more and more densely, and the crows around the lonely mountain were circling and crying in the sky.

Dain also sensed something was amiss. He immediately mounted his boar and shouted to the dwarven warriors behind him, "All soldiers, stand guard. Prepare your shields and spears!"

At this moment, darkness came over at a terrifying speed, and black clouds instantly covered the sky. Winter thunder and strong winds rumbled in the mountains, and lightning illuminated the mountain peaks.

Amid the rumbling thunder, another dark shadow came whirling and rushing, but it was not blown by the wind, but came from the north, like a huge cloud made up of birds, so dense that no light could penetrate their wings.

"Rumble"

"Rumble"

A huge rumbling sound like an earthquake and thunder suddenly came from a distance, and Zheng Zha first looked towards the source of the rumbling sound.

The dwarves of Dale immediately revealed expressions of surprise, uneasiness, and so on. Even Thorin and Dain Ironfoot had ashen faces and were filled with confusion.

"Rumble"

"Roar"

The sound became more and more shocking, and seemed to carry some kind of huge roar, continuing to come from the direction of the huge bare and seemingly normal hillside.

Immediately afterwards, several huge earth-eating insects crawled out amid the earthquake.

As a huge hole appeared, they quickly retreated back into the mountains and disappeared.

Uluru——

Everyone heard a dull horn sound coming from the mountain, and all eyes immediately turned towards Raven Ridge.

They saw three enormous flags that had been erected at some point on top of a tall, steep, and dilapidated stone temple at the end of the southern branch of the Lonely Mountain range.

"It's finally here." Zheng Zha whispered with a determined look in his eyes.

Beneath the flag stood several orcs in armor.

One of the orcs, who was tall and pale, stood at the edge of the stone hall, gazing towards the Lonely Mountain, standing proudly.

"Azog" Thorin Oakenshield spoke slowly, looking at the pale figure from afar, his tone as cold as the ice in the northern wasteland.

At this moment, from the six huge and dark caves left by the giant worm monster, half-orc warriors in tattered armor rushed out, and more than a dozen huge ogres also walked out slowly with catapults on their backs.

Seeing these old enemies, the dwarves finally reacted.

Orcs

"Oh my god, it's an orc."

"The Orcs Are Coming"

"Damn, it's the orc army"

A flurry of exclamations rang out from the dwarves of the Lonely Mountain team.

There is no need to say much about the feud between the Turin dwarves and the orcs. It is a deep hatred that will not stop until the other side is killed once they meet. The hatred between the two sides for thousands of years is deeper than the sea.

As soon as Dain Ironfoot saw the orcs, his eyes turned red and he rode on his armored boar, ready to charge up the hillside.

But Thorin quickly grabbed him and shouted, "We are outnumbered! Quick! Hold the defense of the valley!"

If they rushed forward at this moment, it would undoubtedly be like an egg hitting a rock, and they would be directly trapped in the tide of orcs and swallowed up.

Dain cracked his whip in anger, but still followed Thorin's advice and shouted to the dwarf army, "All soldiers, enter Dale and build fortifications quickly!"

Azog stood on Raven Ridge and had a panoramic view of the entire plain in front of the Lonely Mountain.

He certainly discovered the two thousand dwarf troops in Dale City, but he didn't care.

He has tens of times more troops than them, and if these dwarves set up defenses on Lonely Mountain, he might have to worry about something.

After all, Lonely Mountain's thick walls and excellent terrain are enough to make up for the difference in military strength, but the dwarves only have an abandoned city with no strategic location to defend.

In any case, it's fifty or sixty thousand versus two thousand, the advantage is on his side!
He dreamed of crushing these hateful Durin dwarfs. He had not forgotten that these dwarfs suddenly broke into his house (Moriya) one day and made a big fuss, and even cut off one of his arms, which was a great humiliation.

As the leader of the Orcs, Azog is a rare talent among the Orcs. He is both civil and military, and has a clear understanding of the battle to capture Lonely Mountain.

While other generals only knew how to go all in, he knew how to fight on two fronts and encircle the enemy, and he could also occupy the commanding heights and use flags and trumpets to give commands.

The key point is that he can even make an orc like this follow orders, which shows that he is a good trainer.

Compared with other generals' operation of having cavalry guard the city walls and elves engage in close combat, this is simply a dimensionality reduction attack.

However, Azog also had his own difficulties. He didn't want to pursue Durin and his clan to the Lonely Mountain. It was far away from his home ground, the Misty Mountains, and it was also an away game for him.

But some time ago, the Balrog underground in Moria went crazy for some unknown reason and attacked them crazily after waking up.

The Orc tribes had no choice but to flee in panic, and ended up in the same miserable situation as the dwarves of Lonely Mountain, unable to return home.

However, his master had changed a lot in recent years. He had not contacted their wandering orc tribes for a long time and had devoted himself to the construction and large-scale construction in Mordor.

Azog had no place to sue, and just then he heard that the dwarves of Durin were planning to return to Lonely Mountain to rebuild their kingdom.

He immediately led his army of wandering orcs to follow, intending that even if they could not live in the Lonely Mountain, they could at least occupy a piece of land in the valley, so that they could capture human and elf slaves more easily in the future.

After all, Smaug should be easier to get along with than the Balrog who is unable to communicate.

I heard that as long as you offer it enough treasures, it won't care what you do, but gold and treasures are completely useless to orcs.

"I have completed my master's mission. Here, I will exterminate the lineage of the Durin dwarves!" Azog showed a cruel smile, pointed his prosthetic limb made of iron hooks forward, and the three giant flags on his back began to change into command shapes again.

"hold head high"

"hold head high"

"hold head high"

The desolate and deep sound of the horn also sounded.

In front of Gushan, the battle between the two armies began.

(End of this chapter)