The War Ram Knights' fighting spirit burned even fiercer upon hearing their King's battle cry echo across the battlefield.
And those Earthworms, indeed, were not skilled in combat, just as Dain had said.
They had only been following Azog's orders, suddenly awakening from their dormant state and slowly burrowing out from underground after sensing the strong vibrations caused by the dwarf army passing overhead.
However, when they actually appeared, they just stood there foolishly, with no further action.
The massive bodies of these few Earthworms stood still, as if completely oblivious to the battle raging around them. The dwarves' War Ram Knightss and Heavy Infantry were charging towards them, yet they still showed no defensive or offensive posture.
There was even one Earthworm that was leisurely chewing on a rock it had just bitten off, the rock crumbling into pieces in its mouth, before it slowly swallowed it, completely ignoring the dwarves charging towards it.
"Aim for the bodies of these giant worms!" the War Ram Knights at the forefront roared deafeningly.
Despite the bumpy charge of their War Goats, the dwarves remained agile, skillfully leveling the long spears in their hands.
The long spears gleamed with a cold light, shimmering with a chilling glow under the sunlight.
The War Ram Knightss, carrying the dwarves' wrath, thrust their long spears one after another fiercely into the exposed, massive bodies of the Earthworms. Each thrust was accompanied by the roaring of the dwarf Knights, unleashing a relentless barrage upon these Earthworms like a fierce storm.
"Screech—!"
The Earthworms felt the sharp pain in their bodies, emitting a piercing, buzzing sound that was like a sharp blade cutting through the sky.
They twisted their massive and clumsy bodies, forcefully flinging the War Ram Knightss away. The plate-armored dwarves arced through the air before falling heavily to the ground.
Immediately after, amidst a violent tremor, those Earthworms, which had only suffered superficial wounds, swiftly retreated back underground and hid.
This scene left the War Ram Knightss, who had been preparing for a counterattack, and the dwarf Heavy Infantry who had subsequently arrived on the battlefield, dumbfounded and incredulous.
Although Dain said they were not skilled in combat, the current situation made the dwarves unable to help but grumble inwardly: "These… these are too cowardly, aren't they?"
The War Ram Knightss who had just been forcefully thrown off by the Earthworms now picked themselves up from the ground. They were only a bit disoriented from the fall, their heads still spinning, but they were otherwise unharmed.
The only loss was perhaps the iron spears they had tightly gripped, which now remained embedded in the Earthworms' bodies.
Now, they only had the short blades forged from fine steel left to use.
Dain, at this moment, also urged his mount closer. He dismounted his boar, bent down, and pressed his ear to the ground, carefully listening to the sounds emanating from the tunnels left by the Earthworms, his expression growing solemn.
He spoke in a deep voice, "Don't let your guard down! Heavy Infantry, quickly move forward and set up a strong shield wall! War Ram Knightss, regroup and establish sufficient charging distance! An orc army is attacking us from the pits chewed out by the Earthworms!"
As Dain's words fell, the dwarf soldiers immediately sprang into action like taut bowstrings.
The Heavy Infantry, relying on the tacit understanding cultivated through long training, quickly and orderly formed a solid shield wall. They interlocked their heavy shields tightly, forming a sturdy protective barrier across the battlefield, ready to meet the enemy's charge at any moment.
The War Ram Knightss also quickly adjusted their formation. They sat steadily on the broad backs of their War Goats, gripping their reins tightly, their long spears once again leveled, their gaze fixed forward, maintaining an optimal charging distance from the pits.
The War Goats let out low roars, pawing at the ground with their forelegs, ready to charge alongside the dwarves on their backs. They awaited the command, prepared to sweep towards the enemy like a surging tide.
"Always pay attention to the ground! If you hear the same shaking sound we heard in the valley earlier, immediately move from your position!" Dain commanded loudly, his voice echoing like thunder across the battlefield, ensuring every dwarf soldier near Dain heard him clearly.
He had not forgotten that the Earthworms had only hidden, not truly fled.
At the same time, the dwarf messengers reacted quickly, blowing their war horns forcefully to convey Dain's command.
A hint of vigilance appeared in Dain's eyes as he scanned the surrounding ground, knowing that these Earthworms could reappear at any time, bringing unexpected trouble to the army.
Damn Azog, if only our dwarf chariots were still here.
Dain's face was ashen as he stared intently at the pits created by the Earthworms, thinking angrily.
His fists involuntarily clenched, his knuckles turning pale, as if he was using all his strength to suppress the fury in his heart.
Those pits seemed like Azog's mockery, making Dain feel a deep sense of powerlessness. How he wished those formidable dwarf chariots, once so imposing on the battlefield, could reappear here to help them turn the tide.
The terrain left by the Earthworms was like a natural cage, forming a perfect trap. If the dwarf chariots' crossbows were still here, they could precisely target those pits and fire thick, sharp bolts.
Those bolts would be enough to completely suppress the orcs hidden in the pits, making it impossible for them to escape. They would only become living targets for the dwarves in the narrow pits, utterly helpless.
However, now Dain could only order the Heavy Infantry to form a shield wall in place, which was already a gamble that the Earthworms would not burrow out again in a short time.
(Shield Wall: )
If he had absolute certainty that the Earthworms would not appear immediately, he would have directly ordered the Heavy Infantry to charge forward and firmly block the tunnel entrances. Instead of, as now, only being able to watch the entrances, waiting for the orcs to rush out from inside.
After all, if the Earthworms reappeared and launched a surprise attack from underground, the Heavy Infantry blocking the entrances would fall into an extremely passive situation, not only unable to effectively stop the orcs but also potentially suffering a double pincer attack from the Earthworms and orcs.
So Dain could only choose to have the Heavy Infantry form a formation and wait, hoping that the Earthworms would not cause trouble again for now, while also preparing to deal with various unexpected situations at any time.
As for retreating, Dain had certainly considered it. But judging from the sound of footsteps he heard, his army would not have enough time to reorganize its formation and retreat before the orcs would pursue them like a tide.
At that time, their own army's formation was only halfway adjusted, and the soldiers were still in a state of chaos, with disordered ranks and inevitably affected morale.
If attacked by orcs at this moment, the dwarves' army would fall into extreme passivity, with unimaginable casualties, likely being routed and even annihilated by the orcs.
Therefore, Dain dared not easily order a retreat and could only brace himself for battle, hoping to find a glimmer of hope in this fierce fight.
"Kill the dwarf scum—!"
As expected, while Dain's thoughts were still swirling in his mind, the roars of the orcs, like a sudden thunderclap, abruptly entered his ears, pulling him back from his brief contemplation into the cruel reality.
At the pit entrance left by the Earthworm, a large group of orcs, noticeably more robust than any orcs Dain had seen before, could already be seen.
They wore well-crafted and ferocious black iron armor, sported uniform iron helmets, and wielded large scimitars in their hands.
The black iron armor on the orcs, illuminated by the sunlight, made them appear like emissaries from hell, their blades glinting with a bloodthirsty light.
Upon seeing the dwarves, they roared deafeningly as if they had found prey, their shouts filled with endless killing intent and hatred towards the dwarves, especially those of Durin's line.
However, compared to the orderly and well-prepared dwarves, these orcs had no formation whatsoever.
These orcs were like a group of irrational beasts, rushing out of the pit in a disorganized manner.
But for Dain and his army, even without any formation, that chaotic charge was still a dark torrent, surging towards them with an aura of destruction.
"Rakan, Bekar! (Weapons ready!)"
The dwarf Heavy Infantry commander, leading the right flank, shouted loudly, his gaze fixed on the orcs about to crash into their shields, tightly gripping the heavy tower shield, almost as tall as a dwarf, and firmly bracing it in front of him.
"Hey! Ho! Ya!"
The dwarf Heavy Infantry responded with powerful shouts to their commander, their voices like surging waves, one higher than the last.
The dwarves responsible for forming the shield wall leaned slightly, their feet in heavy iron boots rooted to the ground as if they had become one with the earth, making them impossible to budge.
And those dwarves who extended their long spears through the gaps in the shield wall pressed their palms firmly against the ends of the spears, their arm muscles tensed and veins bulging beneath their armor.
From above, the clash between the dwarves and the orcs resembled the violent collision of a silver-gray coastline with a black tide.
The right flank commander's eyes widened, staring intently at the orcs less than ten meters away by his estimation.
At this critical moment, just as the two sides were about to collide, he roared, "Spearmen, attention!"
The right flank commander's voice was like a lightning bolt of command, cutting through the din of the battlefield.
Upon hearing this command, the Spearmen tightened their grip on their spears even more, as if pouring all their strength into them.
Finally, the black tide crashed violently against the silver-gray coastline.
The orcs, like surging waves, slammed into the dwarves' shield wall.
However, the dwarves' shield wall stood firm like solid reefs, steadfastly resisting the orcs' impact. Under the cover of the shield wall, the Spearmen precisely thrust their spears, each attack making the orcs pay a heavy price.
The black tide was shattered into pieces before the silver-gray coastline; the orcs' first assault was successfully repelled by the dwarves' army, their bodies scattered across the battlefield like broken spray.
From the performance of these orcs, it's not hard to see that even Azog could only get the orcs to obey basic commands like when to attack and when to retreat.
As for more intricate tactical coordination, it was completely impossible to expect these simple-minded orcs to achieve it.
They were like a herd of driven beasts, only knowing to charge forward by instinct and brute force, completely ignorant of tactical coordination or formation changes.
In Middle-earth, whether in terms of individual combat prowess or military discipline, orcs were far inferior to Humans, dwarves, and Elves.
However, the reason orcs became a major threat to the various races of Middle-earth was not their individual combat prowess or military discipline, but their sheer numbers.
They multiplied like weeds, numerous and seemingly endless. On the battlefield, orcs often relied on human-wave tactics to overwhelm their opponents. Their tactics were simple and brutal, often swarming in, using numerical superiority and brute force to compensate for their inherent deficiencies in combat ability and tactics.
The first wave of orcs had just fallen under the dwarves' spears, their bodies not yet cold, when the second wave of orcs immediately followed, trampling over the flesh and blood of their comrades to reach close quarters.
And the third wave of orcs was also on its way, continuously pouring out of the pit left by the Earthworm, seemingly endless.
At the same time, the fourth wave of orcs had already appeared inside the pit entrance formed by the Earthworm, poised and ready to join this bloody battle at any moment.
Not only orcs, but the roars of wargs also emanated from the deep pit, clearly reaching the ears of the dwarf soldiers, causing their hearts to sink.
In this black torrent of orcs, sudden black-gray "tributaries" rapidly branched off from the sides—those were wargs from Mount Gundabad!
Their figures weaved through the orc horde with astonishing speed.
"Awoo—! (Crush the dwarves—!)"
The wargs roared and communicated with each other in their unique language, the orcs on their backs gripping the reins tightly, circling with the wargs to the flank of the dwarf Heavy Infantry's solid defensive line.
Noticing this, Dain did not hesitate; he immediately raised his warhammer high, letting out a deafening roar: "War Ram Knightss, charge with me! Maintain the line! Command the center to quickly support our comrades on the right! And command the left flank to counter-encircle these warg pups daring to flank us!"
"Woo~ woo—!"
The dwarf messenger, mustering all his strength, pressed his lips tightly against the horn and blew it forcefully, making the stirring horn call resound across the entire battlefield once more.
Dain, riding a sturdy wild boar, led the charge against the wargs and orcs, his figure like a flash of crimson-gold lightning.
The War Ram Knights followed closely behind their King, roaring in unison and without hesitation.