Chapter 21

Not much was needed to describe how Gandalf saved Theoden. It followed the movie plot where he used the power of a wizard to expel Saruman’s control. The process was merely Gandalf waving his staff.

The king of Rohan looked like an eighty year old man. After Gandalf saved him from the curse, his body quickly recovered in a minute. His pale gray face slowly gained hint of blood. And he returned to the look of a middle age man.

Theoden was a strong cavalry. In less than three days, he regained the ability to use battle Qi and ride a horse. The intensity of his battle Qi surpassed that of Aragorn’s. He was still valiant despite being passed the golden age of a man. No one could ignore his presence.

The Fellowship and team China spent these several days resting. Theoden fell under control for so long that the political system and army of Rohan were now in a chaotic state. He used the time to recover his body and straighten out the political system. Gandalf felt pressed for time but he didn’t put much pressure on Theoden and helped him instead.

Team China didn’t only rest during these days. They obtained permission from Theoden then began gathering the civilians in the city. ChengXiao tested blood type of the civilians. He then chose the thirty strongest men, drew enough blood, and finally proceeded the surgery on Boromir.

Zheng defrosted with his Qi. YinKong acted as his assistant. This was a surgery covering the heart and lung under crude conditions. Ten hours later, ChengXiao announced success with an exhausted look. Boromir though had to recuperate for the next several months. In other words, he wouldn’t be of use in this war.

The other thing was that Gandalf had agreed to unbind the weapons they had. He decided to do it while they had the free time and the weapons would prove useful in the upcoming battles. The magic to unbind weapons were rather complicated. It needed large quantity of energy stones and he would be weakened for a few days. That was why he chose to do it now.

Team China originally planned to watch the magic but Gandalf drove them out of the room. He chanted in a strange language accompanied by explosions of lights. They realized this process was much more complicated than expelling the curse on Theoden. The lights lasted for an hour before fading away. Gandalf came out of the room exhausted. He handed the weapons to Zheng, returned to his room, and shut the door. He told them not to bother him.

“He seemed really tired.” Gimli said in a low voice after he saw Gandalf shutting the door.

Aragorn and Legolas nodded in agreement. They turned to the two weapons on Zheng’s hand. The invisible sword revealed itself. It looked plained. There was nothing really distinctive about it. Just a plain two handed sword, except for two lines of engravings on the blade.

The silver bow on the other hand looked fascinating. Symbols and characters exposed themselves on the bow, covering every bit of its body. Strings of silver light flowed among the symbols and characters. Zheng could not feel these light when he held the bow. The bow was attractive when unbound.

Without delay, he handed the weapons to YinKong and Heng. they dripped their blood on the bow. Excalibur turned invisible once more. The symbols and characters on the bow subsided.

Zheng let out a sigh of relief. “These soul bound weapons come with their own abilities. You have to learn to use them during these days. Or it will be too late when the battle comes.”

Heng naturally agreed. YinKong glanced at Zheng without a word, then she left with the sword. She was heading to the gate of the city. It looked like she was going to train outside the city.

Heng sighed with mixed feelings. “Can’t believe she’s girl. She always train so hard like she doesn’t know what tiredness feels like. People from the assassin’s clan are intrinsically different from us.”

Zheng stared at her back then sighed. “No. Assassin’s clan isn’t enough for that… she’s carrying too much. These burden are pressing down on her. She has to struggle with all she has to survive… It still comes down to power. We don’t have the power to seize our fate.”

YinKong’s back seemed so lonely. They almost couldn’t help but want to share that burden with her. Just so she wouldn’t feel lonely.

Several days later, the political system of Rohan came under control. Theoden called for the movie characters and the players.

He told them his thoughts as soon as they met. “Saruman’s army is looming. The scouts returned message that he sent an army of ten thousand Uruk-hai. These weren’t cowardice like the half orcs and orcs. The Uruk-hai will reach us in a few days. We don’t have the force to rival this army. I plan to migrate my people and army to Helm’s Deep. The natural defense of the location will help us defend against the Uruk-hai!”

Gandalf shook his head. “This is but a taste of the terror that Saruman will unleash. He plans to break through Rohan and meet up with the army of orcs from Mordor. The several hundred riders you have will not hold against the ten thousand Uruk-hai even in Helm’s Deep. Ride out and meet him head on. You must fight.”

Aragorn said. “You have two thousand good men riding north as we speak. They were merely forced out of Rohan. Èomer is loyal to you. His men will return and fight for their king.”

Theoden sighed. “They are at least 1500km from here. We cannot get in contact with them. We cannot garrison here and wait for them. The Uruk-hai will slaughter all my people before they will be back. Loyalty is not the issue. I have decided to make for the refuge of Helm’s Deep.”

Gandalf and Aragorn sighed. They knew nothing more could be said.

Xuan said. “Do you have a hundred elite riders? I am referring to ones that possess battle Qi, the most elite of the Rohan riders. These riders also need to be proficient archers.”

Everyone was surprised. Theoden thought for moment before giving an answer. “These should be a hundred of elite riders aside from the royal guards. However, they can’t fight ten thousand Uruk-hai. Our numbers differ by too many.”

Xuan shook his head. “There is no need to fight, just delay them. You will move slow with the civilians. They will drag out a long line. When that happens, a small group of Uruk-hai can harass you. Instead, we can send out our army to harass their march. The goals of the hundred elite riders are to slow down their march, kill their scouts, burn their supplies, ambush their back line and their camps. They will arrive at Helm’s Deep exhausted.”

The movie characters’s eyes glimmered. Harassing with small groups existed in this world but no one treated it as a serious tactic. Guerrilla warfare was foreign to them.

Theoden stood up. He walked back and forth, pondering on the possibility of splitting forces. He clenched his teeth then said. “We will do just that. Losing a hundred elite riders weakens our defense in Helm’s Deep but they are worth if we can get my people into Helm’s Deep in safety. I have bring my remaining marshals along. Aragorn and Zheng, I need your help. Lead these hundred riders and shield our retreat. Delay the Uruk-hai until all the people enter Helm’s Deep. Then come to Helm’s Deep as soon as possible. Go. Lead the the brave warriors of Rohan to battle!”

Xuan’s guerrilla warfare tactic was to have a hundred elite riders each carry two horses and three days worth of ration. They took off their armors and only had their bow and large number of arrows as weapon. Everyone headed to the battlefield with light packs.

Aragorn questioned. “Will this actually work? The riders lose over half their strength without armors and spears. I don’t think these riders are elite anymore if they encounter the Uruk-hai. I don’t agree with your tactic.”

Zheng laughed. “I get his plan. You might think this is stupid but this type of tactic is terrorizing for the enemies. An ethnic group nearly conquered the world using this tactic back in my world. I can’t be certain of the strength of this tactic in this world but it won’t be far off.”

The movie characters did not understand but the players connected it with the rise of Mongolia. People familiar with history knew the destructive power this tactic brought and so they didn’t question it.

The riders prepared themselves in half a day. Gandalf went after the two thousand riders that left. Gimli, ChengXiao and YinKong accompanied Theoden to Helm’s Deep. Zheng, Xuan, Lan, Heng, Aragorn, and Legolas headed out with the elite riders to delay the Uruk-hai’s march.

Everyone was prepared to battle. Xuan planned to set out at night. They had one last hour of rest. Aragorn somehow got along with the princess of Rohan. She was a blonde, soldierly woman. She carried a sword and was preparing to protect the villagers to Helm’s Deep. As she spoke with Aragorn, she blushed mildly. Legolas and Gimli couldn’t stop their smiles watching on the side.

Team China was also holding a conversation. Zheng had ChengXiao protect YinKong to his best, even though YinKong was the stronger of the two. Nevertheless, ChengXiao took it seriously. “Protect yourselves. Some of the Uruk-hai could use Explosive Shots, so don’t show yourselves and fight face to face. Shield yourselves with the city wall. If the plot changed enough that you are forced to retreat, don’t drill on getting a victory. Your lives are the most important.”

ChengXiao laughed. “I know. You are not that old yet why are you suddenly speaking like that? Don’t worry. We won’t trade our lives for points.”

“You’re not wrong but…” Zheng was going to say something.

Then Xuan interrupted him from the distance with a yell. “Time’s up. Everyone depart!”

Zheng looked at the two of them and said. “Just, be careful.” He mounted on the Nightmare then followed after Xuan.

This group had abandoned everything that made them heavy cavalries, the heavy armors, the barding and the spears. The only close range weapon they carried was a broadsword. This group can only be categorized as light cavalries.

In return, they gained swift movement speed. The riders entered the darkness of the night like wind. People in the city could no longer see them.

Lan’s abilities shined in this situation. She was inexperienced in riding horses. However, the psyche scan was the most useful ability in this tactic. As dawn of the second day came, the group ran through distance that would have taken them two days. The psyche scan detected the front most group of Uruk-hai. It was a group of three hundred Uruk-hai riding on wargs. These were probably the scouts in the movie.

“Use night arrows…” Xuan commanded.

Xuan taught them basic commands after the group was formed. He also had people painted some of the arrows black. Due to the lack of time, each rider only received ten of such arrows.

The riders came near the camps. The horses were trained so that they wouldn’t make any noise. Legolas an Heng fired their arrows. The riders then lobbed arrows at the camps.

The structure of the Uruk-hai army was fairy crude. There were no such positions as lieutenants, marshals. The groups tended to be led by a single leader. But due to their strength, the lack of a structure wasn’t prominent.

The first wave of arrows killed dozens of Uruk-hai. Xuan then commanded a wave of fire arrows. It ignited the camps and killed thirty more Uruk-hai. On the third wave, the riders used night arrows again while the Uruk-hai was paying attention for more fire arrows, which led to even more casualties. The Uruk-hai was in a chaos. Only ten of them mounted on the wards and ran out from the camps.

However, what awaited them outside were the riders with their bows ready. Numerous arrows pierce through these ten Uruk-hai. Xuan commanded the riders to lower their bows then had Zheng lead thirty riders charge into the camps. The rest of the riders began retrieving useable arrows.

And so, they wiped a group of Uruk-hai without any casualty. Although ambush was also a factor to the result. It was almost miraculous compared to the riders’ previous tactic of charging straight in.

“Get on your mount. March at normal speed. Twenty minutes of eating. Two hours of rest on the horses. Lan, expand the psyche scan its largest size. Rest when you are tired.” Xuan commanded then mounted on his horse.

The riders quickly followed his commands. They talked and laughed loudly while they ate. The riders wouldn’t fear the Uruk-hai but the feat they accomplished would normally require five hundred elite riders, and not without casualties. This achievement gave them faith in this journey.

Three after noon on the same day, Lan detected another group of 1500 Uruk-hai. This group were carrying loads of spoils. It appeared that they raided a village. Xuan inquired the situation then commanded the riders to ambush the Uruk-hai.

Zheng was nowhere near Xuan’s ability when it came to commanding a group of more than thirty people. He was only experienced with small groups. So Xuan naturally became the leader here. Zheng worked under his commands.

The riders caught up to the Uruk-hai right as dusk fell. Sunlight was dimming but their views were still clear. The Uruk-hai were unrest upon seeing the riders but when they realized the small number, they became careless. Three hundred Uruk-hai raised their spears. And two groups split up to surround the riders.

The riders didn’t charge at them as usual. They shot arrows at the split up groups. Three waves of shooting later, a hundred of the armored and shield Uruk-hai fell. This enraged the rest of them. Five hundred Uruk-hai charged at the riders.

The riders stopped shooting and retreated. However, they stopped at fifty meters and shot another wave of arrows. They continued to retreat then shoot. Hundreds of Uruk-hai fell down before they became aware of the situation. Their archers countered, taking down several riders that didn’t dodge in time.

Xuan brought Heng and Legolas for times like this. The two of them had greater range and accuracy than the Uruk-hai. They sniped the archers. Any Uruk-hai that came close were shot down by the riders. Yet, they couldn’t outrun the horses when they retreated. The Uruk-hai scattered and the riders shot freely.

The time reached two after midnight. The last Uruk-hai died at the cost of four riders. “Get on your mount. March at normal speed. Twenty minutes of eating. Six hours of sleep on the horses. Then we will continue the attacks!”