Chapter 19 The Horrifying River Water

(My apologies, I mistakenly wrote Andes River instead of Anduin River in the previous chapter.)

The terrifying river water swept over them, surging and turbulent, churning with murky yellow mud as if countless enraged monsters were hidden beneath, waiting to devour people.

Because they were completely unprepared, the river was covered with drifts of dry alfalfa leaves, timbers from houses, and woven reed mats characteristic of Gondor, all bobbing in the white foam. The river's surface even reeked with an astonishing stench, almost making them vomit.

This scene was a stark contrast to the previous impression of the Anduin River, with its blue sky, white clouds, sails dotting the water, and mirror-like surface! Fortunately, although the flood seemed overwhelming, inundating the wide Pelennor Fields, the water level wasn't deep. In shallow areas, it only reached the shins; in deeper areas, it was at most waist-high. To be honest, a flood of this magnitude probably posed the greatest threat to Gimli; the rest only needed to avoid being knocked over, and the chance of drowning was small.

Ultimately, the Anduin River was the longest river in Middle-earth, on par with the Mississippi, Amazon, and Nile rivers on Earth. Therefore, diverting its flow without heavy construction equipment to flood an army of hundreds of thousands was unrealistic.

In fact, back in the Nightmare Space, Jazz and his think tank had proposed a plan to dam the river and breach the dikes, but it was rejected because their calculations and analysis showed that water attacks had to be kept secret. Trying to create a large-scale breach under the surveillance of two hundred thousand Orcs was practically impossible. At best, they could only use the annual flood channels of Minas Tirith to water and fertilize the Pelennor Fields once.

What good would that do?

It seemed amusing to have the Orcs drinking water and rolling in the mud, but don't forget that a very important reinforcement for the Human Alliance was the Rohan cavalry. Without them, the Human Alliance would never have held out until Aragorn led the army of the dead.

So, for the Human Alliance, a small-scale irrigation of the Pelennor Fields would only disgust the Orcs. Conversely, it would be extremely detrimental to them!

Imagine the pathetic sight of the Rohan cavalry losing their momentum and floundering in the swamp. Therefore, when Jazz's think tank proposed this plan, it was quickly rejected, and they were asked to keep it strictly confidential. These people even begged the others not to think of this crucial factor.

The flood crest roared past, and the morale of the remaining soldiers of the Human Alliance gradually recovered. They felt that the flood had only washed away a few dozen people in the initial waves, and then it became weak. Even at its peak, the water level only reached their waists. Thus, their hearts, which had been suspended in terror, slowly began to calm down.

However, as the saying goes, the less you know, the happier you are. At this time, Jazz and his team were even more gloomy. In fact, they already knew that these guys would definitely have a backup plan, and it would be like a chain, with each link interconnected and extremely vicious!

Soon, those struggling in the mud saw swarms of sampans and rafts approaching from afar! These small boats probably had a very shallow draft, so they could travel freely in swamps. Without exception, they were all filled with pirates, yelling and cheering excitedly!

These pirates were dressed in grotesque ways, with messy hair and mostly black, tattered clothes. Because a parasite similar to fleas was prevalent in Middle-earth, liking to hide in hair, causing great trouble and spreading disease, about thirty percent of the pirates were bald, having shaved their heads to prevent the breeding of these parasites.

However, the pirates also wore standard leather armor, which showed that the Corsairs of Umbar had almost formed a nation. Those leather armors were made of two layers of tanned animal hide with a pad of local red coconut tree fiber in between, providing excellent protection against arrows and swords. They could also prevent the spread of fire. Some of the boats even had blazing fire barrels, which seemed to be used to light torches and fire arrows.

For the confidants left behind by Fang Senyan, persuading these highly suspicious pirates to act was very smooth and natural. They still felt that the method of building dams to weaken the enemy was the most cost-effective compared to going to the battlefield and shedding blood face-to-face. In fact, if it weren't for the belief in the Dark Lord Sauron spurring them on, this group of shameless guys might have scattered long ago.

It was evident that the pirates' greatest weakness was their lack of organization and discipline. In a contest with regular troops, such rabble would often be underestimated. Under normal circumstances, if these tens of thousands of Corsairs of Umbar fought the remaining thousands of elites in Minas Tirith on land, they would inevitably be defeated. No wonder the Corsairs of Umbar had such a weak presence; being underestimated by everyone was not without reason.

But under Fang Senyan's plan, even scrap iron would shine, and even a tissue would be used to wipe the face, then the table, and finally the buttocks before being discarded, making sure to maximize its usefulness!

The Corsairs of Umbar were indeed chaotic at this time, but were the defenders of Minas Tirith, washed away by the flood and resembling mud monkeys, any more disciplined? Fang Senyan had no way to make the Corsairs of Umbar abide by discipline and order in a short time, but he could find a way to mess up the well-trained enemy!

This was precisely using one's own chaos to fight the enemy's disorder. Moreover, the pirates were arriving by boat, which gave them a natural advantage and compensated for their lack of combat power.

Even more viciously, the amount of water accumulated in this short time was ultimately limited. They only needed to wait another ten minutes or so, and the water flow would slowly recede from the higher ground of the Pelennor Fields, turning it into a temporary large swamp in two or three days!

This meant that when the pirates saw things going wrong and their morale collapsed, they would not be able to escape by boat. In this muddy environment, the mobility of both sides was weakened to the extreme, so once a battle broke out, the weaker party would have a low chance of escaping, and they would be destined to fight desperately!

What Fang Senyan wanted was such a chaotic battle! He wanted to use a trade-off approach to engage in a brutal war of attrition with the enemy. Remember the battle plan Fang Senyan initially drafted? Personal power was insignificant in the face of the power of war. The power of Fang Senyan's team was like a small wave in a battle of thousands or tens of thousands of people, and it would be quickly annihilated, at most affecting a single area. However, when this battle was over, the team's own strength plus their contribution points would be crucial!

The grand strategy of the endgame that Fang Senyan initially conceived had already begun to take shape!

Of course, as the saying goes, "One general succeeds on ten thousand bones," as for how many of the Corsairs of Umbar would be left after this battle, he had not considered it. Of the tens of thousands of pirates, it would be enough to have a thousand or so left to provide faith for the Dark Spring Hall. He believed that the great Dark Lord Sauron would not bother with these trivial details.

This bloody battle might not have been exciting enough compared to the previous battles, but the atmosphere of tragedy was incomparably bleak!

Under Fang Senyan's calculations, neither side had much room for retreat, so they could only detonate a fierce fight. On the Pelennor Fields after the flood receded, the high ground was extremely muddy, but the low ground would leave puddles. However, these puddles were full of pools of shockingly red blood, and everywhere they could see the terrifying scene of both sides being injured in mutual fights.

In this muddy environment, it was truly a paradise for ranged attackers. Their attacks were difficult for the opponent to dodge, and they were almost always hit. However, if one was attacked, then this place was a nightmare-like hell.

In this environment, Fang Senyan could not do anything about Legolas, the Elven Prince. His sharp longbow almost had the upper hand, and even the Sea Alliance and the Blue Light Team, who had rushed over after hearing the news and wanting to beat a drowning dog, had more than a dozen people killed by his arrows!

It should be known that those who could survive to the present were all core members of the team! The deaths of more than a dozen people in these two teams could be said to have greatly damaged their vitality. Of course, Aziz, Zi, and Aldaris in Fang Senyan's team also gained amazing benefits.

Finally, relying on the Elven Prince's solo performance and Jazz's adaptability, using several contractors who were good at earth-based magic and abilities to create a dry road, one or two thousand people ultimately escaped into Minas Tirith. However, most of these warriors were exchanged by contractors.

Compared to regular troops, the biggest disadvantage of these exchanged soldiers was that they belonged to a large number of different masters, fighting their own battles. War meant death, but the selfishness of the contractors was often much greater than that of others, often letting the plot soldiers take the lead. Because of this, it could be generally acknowledged that the combat power of the soldiers exchanged by the contractors was 2/3. Three hundred soldiers exchanged by contractors could only match two hundred plot soldiers. Therefore, the more soldiers belonging to the contractors escaped, the more Fang Senyan was happy to see it.

In comparison, nearly three thousand Corsairs of Umbar had survived, and it could not be said that this muddy area was like their home field, with great advantages. Fang Senyan was not blindly cruel and oppressive. He did not let these guys who could survive become cannon fodder to attack the city, but only asked them to defend. Their role was to provide faith for the Dark Spring Hall and keep it unbreakable, which was okay.