Chapter XXXIII: The Last Before the War

Early the next morning, the cavalry was ready to continue their journey. On this day, the sky was very dark, and the sun still cast its own sight in the sky in the early morning, but as the troops advanced, the air became heavier and heavier, and at noon, the dark clouds in the sky completely obscured the sun, and the thunder rolled in the dark clouds towering in the sky, and the only thing left as far as the eye could see was the blood-red brilliance left by the sun struggling on the earth.

There is not only one dark cloud, the dark cloud on the heads of Zhao Mian and the others comes from Mordor, Sauron's power obscures the sky, and the horses are all digging their hooves in fear. And where the sky meets the mountains, there is another dark cloud, where the Valley of the Wizards is, where Saruman burned the trees with the flames of industry, and where endless ashes enveloped it—a place where Saruman was happy to live, because for orcs the best place to live when they don't see the light of day.

The cavalry marched in silence, and even the horses under their seats seemed to be infected by this oppression from the sky, and lowered their originally proud and straight heads, carrying their riders, and scurrying along the road.

"There are about three to four hours left to reach the crossing of the Aysin River from this place, and the guerrillas are already on standby in the vicinity. They are battle-hardened warriors who know what they should do at that time, you just have to blow this horn and they will respond to your call. Xiudun took out a horn inlaid with silver and rubies from his horse, the white color should have come from a large elephant, and he handed this horn to Zhao Mian, "These warriors are entrusted to you, may the first king of Rohan be able to protect them, and may you be able to achieve victory." ”

At this time, it was already about two to three hours in the afternoon, and under the influence of the war horse, Zhao Mian and the others arrived at the Holy Helmet Canal - in this place, Xiyoton will lead most of the soldiers to join the army stationed in the Holy Helmet Valley, and Aragorn and others will also be stationed in this place with Xiyoudon. Zhao Mian will lead the remaining 2,000 cavalry to raid the camp of the orcs at the crossing of the Aishin River, where Saruman has stationed a large number of troops and established a simple military camp in order to ensure that his army can pass through there without sinking all of them in the Aishin.

"Rest assured, I may not be able to return to their homeland with these warriors, but the victory I promise them will surely be seen by them. Zhao Mian nodded, took the horn from Xiyuton's hand, and said, "However, King Xiyouton, before leaving, I am asking one last question, do you really not consider the tactics I proposed?"

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency Zhao Mian, I have seriously considered your suggestion, and I understand that it may be one of the more reliable ways to counter Saruman. "However, there are too many enemies for me to risk my soldiers abandoning their camps and becoming wolves on the steppe, they are all my people, and I can't watch them turn into characters after the war." ”

"Well, so be it. I will lead them to victory, and then return in all glory - and I hope you will reap the glory here, King Heyodon. Zhao Mian nodded, turned over on his horse, and then gently patted the mount under him with his hand - the war horse neighed loudly, and the bursts of light spread out in the dim sunlight, gradually spreading to all the cavalry standing behind Zhao Mian, they touched these lights curiously, and then it seemed that some kind of strange will brought them a gentle response, which made them extremely surprised. Zhao Mian moved the reins of the horse slightly, and the warhorse man with a strong heart stood up, with a little cheerful shout, and then it carried Zhao Mian all the way to the front of the cavalry.

"Listen up, warriors of Rohan, some of you may have seen me, but I'm sure many more of you have only heard of my name, and some of you have never even heard of my name. However, these things don't matter for now!You just need to know that my name is Zhao Mian, and that's enough!" Zhao Mian took off the war hammer that had been carrying his back all along, and then raised it high with his right hand - the light on the war hammer shone brightly, and the light pierced the dark clouds that had been hanging over everyone's heads, and those dark clouds attacked the light with rolling lightning at first, but quickly turned into a little ash in the light. The sunlight shone through the pierced hole, and it shone on Zhao Mian's body with the unique temperature and angle of the afternoon sun, as if the sun was also responding to Zhao Mian's call, he put down the war hammer in his hand, "You all who are standing here understand the situation of your motherland - The Saruman wizard who is your good neighbor has torn off his last mask, he has allied himself with the evil enemy of the East, he has sent the so-called allied forces of orcs and strong orcs, and even the barbarians of the mountains and the shepherds of Denland have joined his army, and this huge group is heading towards this place, they have plundered all the property of Rohan along the way, and their next target is this fortress next to us! I know you have great expectations for this fortress, but this time you will not be dealing with the savage savages, but against a whole army of sixty thousand well-armed men!"

There was a commotion. Sixty thousand, this is not a small number, in such an era, the Rohan state can only reach nearly 30,000 soldiers, and there are many troops composed of veterans who have already been discharged from the army and young people who have just begun to help their families with their work. This news is too frightening for these ordinary soldiers.

"Quiet. A small voice came out of Zhao Mian's mouth, as if he was speaking to the person next to him, but it seemed to have some kind of strange power to calm people's hearts, spreading throughout the place, and the soldiers stopped their whispers and turned their heads to look at Zhao Mian.

"I know that you are terrified of the situation, that the enemy is like the towering misty mountains, and that we are only mountaineers walking on it—perhaps with a shake of the mountains, we will fall off the cliffs and not know where we will be buried. Zhao Mian's tone suddenly rose, and the sunlight shining on him suddenly became more dazzling at this moment, as if some kind of will echoed his words, his voice became rumbling, and even covered up the real rolling thunder in the sky, and the huge and solemn voice spread throughout the wilderness, and even his voice echoed in the Holy Helmet Valley, "However, the human race has conquered the Misty Mountains!" Countless climbers stood on the summit of the Misty Mountains and overlooked the shape of the earth, and the map of Middle-earth they drew is still in the land of mankind today, and their descendants are also revered by thousands of people! We are not without hope, although the sinister and cunning Saruman sent such a large army, but the fast-flowing Aishin River is a force beyond his control, and he can only rely on the crossing of the Aishin River to transport his troops little by little. So he laid a heavy army at the crossing—more than 10,000 orcs were stationed there, and they had set up some simple fortifications to resist Rohan's iron hooves, but they would not succeed!Tell me, Rohan's warriors!Would you like to join me in witnessing a victory?!!" Zhao Mian shouted loudly.

There was silence, and no soldier responded to Zhao Mian's question, but the silence did not last long, and the sound of a clash of gold and iron pierced the silence - a cavalryman drew his saber and stabbed it high into the sky. Then second, third, fourth—a cacophony of metal grinding sounded through the wilderness, and weapons that might have been handed down from their respective fathers stabbed into the sky, and Rohan's cavalry raised their right hands and looked silently at Zhao Mian in front of them.

Zhao Mian nodded, turned his horse, and once again raised the war hammer in his hand high, the light illuminated the way forward, and also illuminated the faces of all the cavalry, "Knights of Rohan, follow me!

(Here is an explanation of the reasons why Zhao Mian led the team: first, Rohan's current generals are busy, Eomme is in charge of the defense of the Holy Helmet Valley, Okembran is defending the Holy Helmet Canal and the surrounding area, Hama is the personal guard of Xiyouton, Xiyoude was seriously injured and unconscious and was retreated, Grimber and Aheim are now the leaders of those guerrillas, and Gamrin is retreating to the front line of the Shumu River, so in fact, Xiyouton is now in a situation where no generals are available.) Second, Zhao Mian's strength he had seen in the leopard, and at least with the help of a giant dragon, it was worth a large number of troops no matter what. Third, Gandalf's influence in the human world is very large, and he strongly recommends Zhao Mian to lead the team, because he can see a lot of things that have not happened. ）