Arthur's words startled Dain, and he subconsciously glanced at Thorin, inquiring if Thorin knew the General Radahn.
Thorin shook his head slightly. He knew Nepheli Loux, and he knew Bernal, and even Rogier and D, but he had never heard of anyone named "Radahn."
Could he be a fellow countryman of Arthur who just arrived in Middle-earth?
Thorin thought to himself, while giving Dain a look that said he didn't know.
Dain noticed Thorin's gaze, cleared his throat, and directly voiced his concerns: "Arthur, I know that anyone who can lead this legion must be a brave general, but no matter how powerful, there are at least a few thousand Goblins in Ravenhill. I'm a little uneasy relying only on your general and a squad of Red Lion Knights."
"Ah, no need to worry about that. If our opponents are as Arthur described, then no matter how many Goblins there are, they won't be a match for Lord Radahn and us." A boisterous female voice accompanied by several footsteps drifted over.
Dain and the others looked over, finding a sturdy woman wearing a helmet and covered in muscles.
To her right, a Red Lion Knight and an old man whose beard was almost as long as the dwarves' followed.
Freya, Ogha, and Jerian. When General Radahn was not present, they three were responsible for commanding the Red Lion Legion and obeying Arthur's orders.
Dain and the others immediately saw that these three were also powerful warriors. Thorin's eyes flickered slightly as he asked, "Arthur, who are these three?"
Arthur stepped aside, motioning for Ogha and the other two to come over, and introduced them: "The one who just spoke to you is Freya, Radahn's personal guard knight. The one with the long beard is Jerian, the lord of Radahn's city. The remaining one is Ogha, who has followed Radahn in battle for many years."
Freya boisterously found a spot to sit down, took off her helmet, revealing an equally simple and sturdy face.
Then she noticed that everyone else was looking at her, and waved her hand: "Hmph, why are you looking at me? You all continue talking, don't expect me for anything that requires thinking. Once you've decided, just tell me where to fight, who to fight, and how to fight."
Ogha was much the same, except he still maintained the Redmane's etiquette and did not sit down directly like Freya. Instead, after nodding to Dain and the others, he stood behind Freya and Jerian.
Jerian, meanwhile, came to Arthur's side and said to Dain and the others: "General Radahn is not here now, but he entrusted me with full responsibility when he left. Lord Arthur has informed me of the situation here. Do you have a detailed map of Dale, and do you know where it's easier to break in?"
Thorin nodded, stepped onto a stool, and spread out the simple map drawn by Balin on the table in front of them.
Originally, Balin and the others had intended to find out where Dale needed simple repairs, to facilitate their later construction of defensive works.
As it turned out, they didn't expect the Goblins to suddenly break in, and this simple map they had drawn instead became a good tool for attacking Dale.
Thorin leaned over, pointing to two places on the map circled by Balin in blue ink: "These two places, one is the original city gate of Dale leading towards Lonely Mountain, which was destroyed by Smaug during his attack. The other is this section of the city wall…"
He paused here, subconsciously glancing at Bard, and then continued: "This section of the city wall was built by humans back then, so it's more severely damaged than other places we dwarves helped build, and it can't withstand shaking."
Jerian nodded: "Do you have information on the enemy's defenses?"
Thorin shook his head: "No, the enemies are Goblins. Their brains don't have such a thing as defenses; they only know to swarm when they see an enemy. Maybe if I just show myself in front of these Goblins, they'll run out of Dale to chase me."
Bard, who had been silent until now, spoke up: "But there are too many of these Goblins, and they are very small. Besides the houses, Balin also mentioned that they even burrow into wellheads. I think the biggest difficulty in Dale is not how to attack it, but how to completely clear these Goblins out after we attack it."
Dain nodded in agreement: "Bard is right. I don't want to be fighting Azog and also have to worry about a few Goblins popping out of a wellhead or latrine behind me to throw stones at me."
Upon hearing this, Jerian let out a hoarse laugh: "To completely eradicate those little things that like to hide in the shadows? Well, our Red Lion Legion is very familiar with that job. Don't worry, after Dale is taken, not a single living Goblin will be hidden inside, I guarantee you."
Freya and Ogha also showed confident smiles after hearing Jerian's words.
This made Thorin, who witnessed this scene, couldn't help but ask curiously: "What method do you plan to use?"
Ogha, the old veteran of Radahn, said briefly and powerfully: "Fire."
"Fire?" Bard subconsciously repeated, then reacted and immediately said: "That won't do. What if a big fire destroys Dale?"
Before Jerian could speak, Arthur spoke first, saying to Bard: "Don't worry, in my homeland, because the enemies the Red Lion Legion faces are quite special, every one of them is skilled with fire. They definitely won't simply burn Dale down with a single large fire."
Freya also said: "Yes, those Goblins can't be more troublesome than annoying insects."
After they finished speaking, Thorin thoughtfully said: "So now we just have to wait for my father's army, and the General Radahn that Arthur mentioned, to arrive, and then we can officially go to war with Azog?"
Dain snorted: "Azog has already declared war on us. It should be said that it's time for us to punch Azog's ugly face hard."
Thorin smiled: "You're right. Dale and Ravenhill are like the fangs of Lonely Mountain. Let's fiercely break Azog's fangs."
Gandalf, who had been silently listening to Arthur and Thorin's discussion and had not spoken, finally spoke up: "I think we shouldn't just wait idly in Lake-town for Thráin and Radahn to arrive. Azog must have used some sweet talk to deceive them into Lonely Mountain. If those Goblins come towards Lake-town, things will become troublesome."
Dain grumbled in confusion: "What's troublesome about that? If Goblins come, we won't be afraid of them!"
Jerian, however, understood Gandalf's meaning and said, "Lord Arthur' friend probably means that the enemy named Azog might just want to see the Goblins and us fight first. In their eyes, the Goblins are not their soldiers, but rather cannon fodder specifically sent to exhaust and tie up our strength and energy."
Thorin volunteered, "Then I'll pick a few warriors to patrol outside Lake-town. As soon as Goblins are spotted approaching, I'll lead them to a more distant location and then return."
Bard frowned, "But won't that put you in danger?"
Thorin said calmly, "This is my responsibility."
Arthur cleared his throat, "I will have Igon follow Thorin to protect him. It was Igon who killed the Goblin King, so those Goblins must remember his face and he might be more effective at attracting their attention."
Why didn't you say so earlier?
Thorin raised an eyebrow, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, wanting to speak but holding back.
However, since he had already spoken, there was no way he could go back on his word.
Fortunately, the Goblins seemed to completely believe what Azog said, only staying in the Dale ruins and Ravenhill, and not going anywhere else.
The most miserable creatures these days were the rats and insects in the Dale ruins and Ravenhill; they were almost completely eaten by the Goblins.
It was a pity that Arthur and the others didn't know this, otherwise, by simply waiting in Lake-town, they could have waited for this group of Goblins to exhaust themselves due to lack of food.
Three days later, at dawn, General Radahn arrived as promised.
The Lake-town fishermen, who had risen early, had not yet cast their nets when they heard an unprecedented whistling sound from the sky.
Again?
They looked over curiously, thinking they certainly wouldn't be as shocked as they were a few days ago when the Red Lion Legion arrived.
After all, it was too much trouble to jump into the lake in such cold weather to retrieve a fishing net that had accidentally slipped from their grasp.
Then the fishermen's eyes widened again, and their mouths dropped open, as they watched war machines, obscuring the sky, flying towards Lake-town. At the very front of these war machines, a burly man flew in the air with his arms crossed.
That was Radahn. He was not riding any mount, but rather hovering in the air, surrounded by powerful purple magical fluctuations.
And these war machines included huge battering rams, siege towers, catapults, and ballistas. They were slowly moved through the air by Radahn using gravity magic, like moving fortresses.
The front of the battering rams was equipped with sharp iron horns, the ladders of the siege towers gleamed with metallic luster, the giant stones from the catapults arced through the air, and the arrows from the ballistas shimmered with a cold light.
All the humans and dwarves in Lake-town were astonished. They stopped their work, came out of their houses, gathered in the streets and alleys, or stood on the towers, staring dumbfounded at the sight in the sky.
Thorin and Gandalf and the others also stood among the crowd, their faces filled with surprise.
When everyone was speechless, Bilbo Baggins broke the silence.
The lovely hobbit looked up at the war machines in the sky, scratched his head, and said, "This is more magnificent than anything I've ever seen in the Shire. It seems we've come to the right place this time."
Then Bilbo stood on tiptoe and patted Bofur and Bombur, saying casually, "If I had known that fighting would involve flying so high, I should have swapped my breakfast bacon toast for ginger biscuits. But seriously, these machines float much more steadily than Old Took's tea party cakes. Oh, you haven't met Old Took yet. When the war is over and we return to Hobbiton, I'll introduce you."
The hobbit's joke brought Thorin and the others back from their shock.
And Radahn, as if responding to Bilbo's playful remark, suddenly released his gravity magic control over the war machines.
The thousand-ton war machine group plummeted suddenly, women screamed and clutched their children, and the dwarves instinctively lunged towards nearby houses for cover.
However, these war machines all stopped simultaneously three zhang above the ground, and a purple gravity magic aura spread out like ripples, gently lifting each machine.
"Don't worry! These are our allies, General Radahn from the Erdtree! He has come to kill Smaug!" Bard's voice rang out near the dock, reassuring the somewhat panicked townspeople.
Subsequently, General Radahn slowly descended with the war machines, landing steadily on the ground outside Lake-town.
And the Red Lion Legion soldiers, who had already noticed General Radahn's arrival, quickly moved forward to set up these war machines, ready to be deployed in battle at any moment.
"Hoo, this is practically a mini-giant."
When Radahn rode his beloved horse, floating down to stand before Arthur and the others using gravity magic, Dain exclaimed as he tilted his head and still couldn't see the other's face.
Thorin and Balin and the others all nodded as well; there was no denying that dwarves were indeed too short.
Then Dain cleared his throat and shouted, "Hey, big guy! You're so tall, how are we supposed to talk to you face-to-face?"
Arthur promptly introduced Radahn, "The dwarf speaking to you now is Ironfoot Dain, King of the Iron Hills."
"Mm." Radahn nodded calmly, his arms crossed, and the purple glow of gravity magic flashed briefly.
Amidst the strange cries of the dwarves and a hobbit, they were steadily lifted by gravity magic, rising to a position where they could look Radahn in the eye.
Subsequently, chairs, tables, and other objects on the ground were also made to float by Radahn using gravity magic. Chairs supported Thorin and Bilbo's bodies, and the tables remained perfectly stable in the air.
After doing all this, Radahn then looked at Dain and nodded slightly, "That solves it, King of the Iron Hills."
Dain curiously patted the chair beneath him, finding it completely still in mid-air, and exclaimed admiringly, "Just call me Dain!"
Arthur then spoke helplessly, "There's no need for you to lift Gandalf and me as well, is there? We can both see your face."
But Gandalf chuckled, "I rather like it. It's rare to experience this feeling of floating in the air."
Arthur rolled his eyes at the sometimes-unserious wizard, then composed himself and briefly and effectively explained the recent situation to Radahn.
After listening, Radahn's tone remained calm, "I understand. That means we need to take Dale and Ravenhill first."
Then his voice rose a few octaves as he shouted to his subordinates, "Ogha, Freya, I command you two to immediately lead a squad of soldiers with me to Ravenhill and take it. Jerian, you lead the rest of the Red Lion Legion and obey Arthur' orders to take Dale."
"Yes!"