Chapter Fifty-Eight: Giving Up Glory

"General, the first line of defense has been rearranged, and the new volunteers you brought have filled many vacant positions, but our arrows are still insufficient, if the enemy breaks through the first line of defense on the bank of the river, then we may not be able to hold the enemy's next offensive after losing a dangerous position. One of the three warriors who had returned to Minas Tirith at the same time as Faramir lowered his voice and said to Faramir as he spoke, looking at Zhao Mian who was leaning against the ruins from the corner of his eye, but he couldn't get any of the information he craved from the thick armor.

"I'll think about it. Faramir nodded, his gaze not on anyone present, but buried deep under the thin eyelids, tiredness leaving a deep mark on his face, but he still waited.

After waiting quietly for a while, making sure that Faramir had no other instructions, the warrior gave a gentle salute to Faramo, whose eyes were still closed, and then turned to leave the place. Once again, there was silence in the ruins, but it was only such a place, and if you listened closely, the sound of the blade rubbing in the distance and the pulling of the bowstring never stopped.

"Osgillias will be breached. It may have been ten minutes, but it can't be denied if it was an hour later, and another voice sounded in the ruins—Zhao Mian spoke.

"But we're not going to back down. Faramir opened his eyes and looked at the knight standing opposite him, in his eyes, there was no hesitation, no hesitation, there was only firmness with the weariness, "If they want to cross the Anduin River, then they must pay the price." ”

"There are tens of thousands of people on the other side, and there are only a few hundred of you. Even if you defend the danger, how much wear and tear can you inflict on the other party?" The solemn gaze met Faramir through the opening of the helmet's eyes, and in those black pupils, something no less powerful than the dragon tightly grabbed Faramir's mind, making it impossible for him to escape - but he did not intend to escape, the warriors of Gondor were never afraid, and since this ancient kingdom was founded on bravery, even its twilight was never cowardly. "At most, there are more than a thousand, right?"

Faramir didn't reply, such questions didn't need to be answered, the answers to the questions were clear from the beginning. The Demon King never forgets hatred, and the city recaptured by his brother is bound to fall. Faramir gripped the hilt of his sword, his eyes still firm.

"yes, you know that. Zhao Mian nodded, withdrew his gaze, and Faramo, who had been suddenly released from the oppression, gasped slightly, but his gaze did not take his eyes off Zhao Mian's body - the knight followed him all the way to Osgilias, while his dragon still hovered over Minas Tirith, bringing little peace to the inhabitants of the White City. Faramir didn't really treat him as a soldier to be sent, and he didn't give him any position, which goes without words, and the reason is well known.

"Osgillias will be lost, and the enemy will cross the Anduin and fall under the White City—this cannot be changed, nor can it be suppressed. Zhao Mian looked up at the sky—there was not a ray of sunlight, all the light was obscured by dark clouds, and the roar of the Ringwraiths often descended from the sky, wiping down the will of the people—he looked straight ahead, Faramir standing in the ruins, "But I can offer you another option." ”

Faramir frowned, still not replying, but he was ready to attack.

Naturally, these actions did not hide from Zhao Mian's eyes, he shook his head, "Don't get me wrong, I'm not a lobbyist of the Demon King, nor am I a messenger of some gods, the monarch of Mordor now sees me as a thorn in his side, and those sub-gods are also monitoring my whereabouts day and night - I'm just a traveler." A shrill cry came from above, it was the cry of the Ringwraiths, but they did not appear in the sight of the people, as if they were just passing by, and they departed with the sound as if they were just passing by, "But I have a suggestion that the scales of victory may be tilted a little in the direction of Gondor - remember, this is for the whole campaign, and Osgillias will fall, and even if I do my best to help you, there is no way to undo it." ”

“…… Let's hear it. Zhao Mian's words fell to the ground, and the weeds that had grown on the white stone ground that had long since lost their white stone absorbed the echo, and under the light of the torches, Faramir thought for a long time, during this time, his eyes did not leave Zhao Mian's body for even a second, even though he could only see a pair of cold armor, and then he spoke.

"It's a simple method, it's just a trap. Zhao Mian stretched out his hand, and then threw himself into the space bag, in Faramor's opinion, the man in front of him put his hand into something unknown, and then took out a roll of parchment from the object that I don't know if it was invisible or more incredible, and spread it on the stone between the two - this white stone was crawling with vines, and the exquisite patterns were still vaguely recognizable, and it was printed with the emblem of the past nobles, proving that this was originally the mansion of a certain nobleman. Zhao Mian spread out the map, then raised his head and glanced at Faramir not far away, the other party was approaching step by step.

It was a map of great detail that Faramor had not yet recorded, not only in the White City and Mordor, but also in the library of Minas Tirith, where the barbarian camps from the east, the coast where the Umbar pirates had temporarily stationed, and even the lands of Rohan in the distance. But that wasn't enough to surprise Faramor so much, he wasn't even surprised by how the other party knew the size of the camp beyond the Black Gate, where he was looking, a small mountain bag with a hidden sign: Sunset Window.

"We, or rather, you are too small to be much combat strength compared to the enemy's troops, and if I were the enemy, we would choose to launch an attack at about four o'clock in the morning. Zhao Mian took off his helmet, and the slightly long ends of his hair touched the edge of the armor - maybe a little longer, I will cut it a little shorter later, and wait until the next modern civilized world - Zhao Mian thought so, and pointed to the middle of the map of Osgillias, where the Anduin River crossed the ruins of this ancient city," At this time of year, fog naturally develops on the surface of the river in the early hours of the morning, and the enemy's sorcery may make this advantage even greater, and in that fog, even if we can detect them in advance, we will probably only have enough time to extinguish the torches on the wall over there - and then, the enemies are so numerous that even if they pile up a beach with their own corpses, it is still within their reach. And we can't. Zhao Mian raised his head and glanced at Faramo, he was frowning at the map in front of him, perhaps sorting out what he wanted to express little by little with Zhao Mian's words.

"We can't hold this place, we can't resist the other side coming ashore, and even if the other side is willing to attack, then we don't have much power to fight back - we have too few people. Zhao Mian moved his finger and pointed to the wide plain beyond Osgilias, and then slammed his hand on it - the sound of the clashing of gold and stone told Faramir that that was the center of gravity, "But we can think about it from another angle, if the enemy captures Osgilias, then they will inevitably take the Paliano plain, and the army will move forward, and if there is a road, no commander will be willing to let the army cross the wilderness." Just like the instinct of wild beasts, they always choose the nearest distance and the least effort-saving distance, and do not deliberately take a long detour. ”

"Now there is only one problem. Zhao Mian didn't raise his head, but just squinted at Faramir with his eyes, he knew that he only had to say this, the general in front of him was not an ignorant fool, on the contrary, in many ways, the other party even had more knowledge than himself, his fingers tapped the map gently, and the sound of armor and stones colliding here sounded from time to time, "How much are you willing to give up for Gondor?"