Dense armies of orcs poured out from the holes drilled by the earthworms, instantly turning the slopes of Erebor into darkness.

Seeing this scene, both the human army and the dwarves of Lonely Mountain and Iron Hills could not help but cry out in surprise.

Gandalf sighed and said to Dain, Lord of the Iron Hills, who was riding on the back of a heavily armored porcupine: "The orcs have joined the war, and much faster than I expected. Azog, the King of the Orcs in the North, has personally led his army south. Facing the real enemy, there is no need for humans and dwarves to quarrel again. Come on, Dain, join our army while we still have time!"

"Join your army?"

Dain sneered at the scattered human army, immediately pulled the reins, turned his mount around, looked at the dwarf army behind him, waved the iron hammer made of fine steel in his hand, and shouted loudly in the dwarf language: "Son of Durin!"

“Always be prepared!”

The dwarven armies slapped their shields in response, and the deep sound mixed with the sound of metal clashing echoed over the Lonely Mountain.

Dain showed an arrogant smile on his face, holding the reins with his left hand, and swinging the sledgehammer with his right hand towards the densely packed orc army in front of him.

"The central army attacks!"

“Wow! Wow!”

Three hundred dwarf soldiers armed with spears and steel shields suddenly stepped out. They were all wearing chain mail that reached their knees, steel helmets with nose protections, and leg armor woven with steel rings below the knees. Their entire bodies were almost covered in steel, and even their beards were braided and locked with steel rings. This kind of heavy infantry armed to the teeth could only be assembled by dwarves who were good at forging.

Most of the dwarves are short and stocky. These veterans of the battlefield are much stronger than ordinary dwarves. Even when covered in armor, they are still agile enough to move. With stern looks on their faces, they pass by the human army with spears and steel shields in hand.

Faced with the powerful dwarf army, the human army was shocked and retreated to the rear.

Bard rode on his horse and shouted to everyone to make way. Then everyone came to their senses and hurriedly made way.

Looking at the dwarf heavy infantrymen who marched straight ahead, in neat formation, and through the human army like a torrent of steel, Bard sighed in his heart.

Changhu Town is not large in size, and the previous mayor was a good-for-nothing who only cared about making money and never cared about the development of the town. The town guards have less than three weeks of effective training each year. How can they be compared with these battle-hardened dwarven armies?

Soon, three hundred dwarf heavy infantry stood in front of the human army. The dwarf heavy infantry in the front squatted with steel shields raised, and the dwarf heavy infantry in the second row moved forward with steel shields raised. The two rows of steel shields formed an indestructible shield formation.

Countless spears emerged from the gaps between the shields, adding a layer of steel spikes to the entire shield formation.

"kill!"

Accompanied by fanatical shouts and cries of killing, the surging black orc army collided with the dwarfs' heavily armored shield formation.

The orc in the front was instantly pierced by a spear and hung on the spikes of the steel shield like fruit on a tree.

The orcs who followed ignored the bodies of their companions, shouting wildly and wielding their weapons to hack at the shield formation.

“Ding-Ding-Dang-Dang—”

Countless teeth-grinding sounds of metal clashing continued to ring out, and sparks flew all over the steel shield formation.

The dwarf heavy infantry holding steel shields stood with their feet apart, leaning on their shoulders and the ground to withstand the impact of the Orc army.

Behind them, hundreds of their companions, armed with spears, kept charging at the orcs above who were trying to climb over the shield formation.

“Puff—Puff—”

Countless spears continued to pierce the bodies of the orcs, and the smelly blood splattered in large patches above the shield formation.

Even though there was a huge disparity in combat power between the two sides, the dwarf shield formation could not hold out for long against the orc army that was as numerous as locusts.

Soon, some orcs climbed over the shield formation and rushed into the dwarf army behind the shield formation, wielding inferior weapons.

Seeing this, the dwarven infantrymen in the last row immediately threw away their spears, drew their daggers, or drew their hammers, and shouted "Long live Dain" as they rushed towards the orcs who had climbed over the shield formation.

For a moment, blood and limbs flew everywhere, and screams and the sound of metal clashing were endless.

Seeing this, Bard gritted his teeth, drew the sword from his waist, and retreated into the ruins of the Valley City while shouting.

He knew that his human army would never dare to launch an attack on the overwhelming orc army, so he found another way to help these brave dwarf armies.

Coincidentally, not far from Gushan City is the former River Valley City.

When Smaug descended on the Lonely Mountain, he destroyed Dale City, killing or injuring more than half of the humans in the city. The humans who managed to survive had to evacuate because Smaug often flew here to hunt humans for food.

Since then, River Valley City has changed from a prosperous city to a dead ruin.

But even though it is a ruin, River Valley City was once a prosperous and huge city.

There are thick and tall city walls, streets that extend in all directions, and buildings that are as dense as a honeycomb.

All of these can maximize the combat effectiveness of the human army and cover up their shortcomings in training.

At the same time, the withdrawal of the human army will definitely attract the attention of the Orc army. These bloodthirsty and murderous Orcs will never let go of the fat meat that is already in their mouths. They will definitely send out a group of vanguard troops to pursue humans, so that humans can share the frontal pressure on the dwarf army in another way.

Sure enough, seeing the human army rushing towards the ruins of the Valley City, the Orc army immediately split up most of them and chased after the humans.

The biggest reason why the Orc army has extremely low combat effectiveness is their bloodthirsty, warlike and disobedient nature. Because of this, Azog, the King of the Northern Orcs who possesses command capabilities, becomes the most important chess piece in Sauron's hands.

But even Azog made the common mistakes of orcs.

Standing on a distant watchtower and in charge of command, he clearly saw the front army's pursuit in batches, but he did not issue an order to stop it, because the orc army he brought with him was more than 25,000 people. Even if he divided several thousand to pursue the human army, it would not affect the final outcome of the battle.

But at this moment, Dain swung the hammer in his hand again and shouted loudly.

"Goat Riders, go!"

The goat cavalry guards nearby immediately took out their horns and blew them with all their strength.

The deep sound of a horn echoed over the lonely mountain, and a thin line composed of silver and white appeared from the top of the hillside. They were the 300 goat riders that Lord Dai of the Iron Hills had secretly brought with him on this trip.

Three hundred goat riders appeared at the top of the hill, holding lances, shouting "Never forget Moria" and "Long live Dain" as they rushed down the hillside. Like a sharp arrow, they instantly pierced the flank of the Orc army, disrupting the Orcs' front army and causing it to become in chaos like a tsunami.

The sturdy goat used its two sharp horns to repeatedly knock the orcs in front of it away. The cavalry on its back vigorously waved spears and hammers, and the orcs kept charging into the not-so-reliable front army formation.

Seeing this scene, Dain laughed loudly, pulled the reins, and rushed towards the orcs under the protection of a dozen goat rider guards.

The dwarf will never avoid any war, and he will join the battle with his soldiers!

In the generally short battlefield, the tall gray-robed wizard, holding a staff and a sword, charged alone into the Orc army. The sword in his hand was like the scythe of the god of death, constantly reaping the lives of the surrounding Orcs.

Although there were many orcs besieging nearby, none of them could survive a single round from the gray-robed wizard.

Looking at the gray-robed wizard who was invincible like a god of war, Lord Dain of Iron Hills could not help but be stunned.

When he came to his senses, Dain laughed and pulled the reins, charging forward on his heavily armored porcupine, smashing the orc's head behind Gandalf with the steel hammer in his hand. His strong muscles instantly dented the iron helmet worn by the orc, along with the head under the helmet.

Dozens of goat riders followed closely behind, knocking the orcs around Gandalf to the ground.

Dain grabbed the reins and stopped in front of Gandalf. He looked at this old man who didn't look like a wizard at all and said loudly: "Gandalf, why don't you retreat with those humans?"

"Because I'm waiting for you to make a decision."

Gandalf wiped the blood off the blade, looked at Dain and said softly, "Dain, come with us to retreat to Dale. There are too many orcs. Even if your warriors can fight ten to one, it is impossible to kill them all. It is better to retreat to Dale with me. There are tall and thick walls and streets extending in all directions, which can maximize our combat power..."

"Impossible!" Dain refused without hesitation. "There is no word "retreat" in the dwarf's dictionary. Besides, the Lonely Mountain is behind me, and the King under the Mountain is in the Lonely Mountain. Do you want me to abandon my king and live alone?"

"Then where is your king?" Gandalf asked. "Dwarves never avoid any war, so why hasn't your king appeared yet?"

Gandalf's sharp words caused Dain to look hesitant and uncertain.

Yes, we have been fighting for so long, why hasn’t Thorin appeared yet?

Had he, like his grandfather, been consumed by the dragon disease?