Before the smoke of Ravenhill had dispersed, the Red Lion Legion's war horns had already turned towards Dale.
While Radahn and his forces attacked Ravenhill, Arthur, Jerian, leading the main force of the Red Lion Legion, along with Thorin and Dain's dwarves army and Bard's Lake-town Guard, had also arrived not far from the outskirts of the Dale ruins.
Arthur did not bring the Storm Legion this time; instead, he left them in Lake-town as a precaution.
After all, Bard had brought out about half of the Lake-town Guard members, so Lake-town's defenses could not be left vulnerable.
Who knew if orcs might suddenly emerge from other directions?
Currently, only Millison was with Arthur; Bernal and Igon also remained in Lake-town. The former was having a headache dealing with the Storm Legion who wanted to attack the Dale ruins with Arthur, while the latter was meditating atop Lake-town's tallest bell tower, just in case Smaug suddenly flew out of the Lonely Mountain to destroy Lake-town.
Jerian approached Arthur and said, "tarnished… Lord Arthur, regarding the attack on the Dale ruins, I would like to ask that you and Lady Millison not participate directly, but merely oversee from the rear. The Red Lion Legion will personally proclaim the name of the Erdtree for you and General Radahn."
Arthur paused for a moment, then nodded, "Of course."
Seeing Arthur agree, Millison naturally consented as well.
Thorin then came over, looking at Arthur and Jerian: "The scouts are back. The widest gap is on the west side of the city wall, but the Goblins have blocked the passage with rubble. So, as we discussed, Arthur, you will be responsible for a feint attack at the main gate of the Dale ruins to draw the Goblins' attention, while Dain and I will breach the wall from the west."
"Feint attack?" Jerian chuckled hoarsely: "The Redmane never feigns."
As Thorin and Dain led the dwarves' army to separate from the marching column and advance towards the west side of Dale, Jerian stood on a hillock outside the southern perimeter of the Dale ruins, his gaze sweeping over the Goblin-infested ruins not far away.
At the broken gap in the city wall, rubble and rotten wood were piled up like mountains, and the shifting figures of gray-green skins were faintly visible.
Those were countless Goblins, foul-smelling mucus dripping from their dirty fangs, and the short blades hanging from their waists reflected a cold glint in the murky air.
The Goblins were now like a swarm of enraged hornets, restless due to the Red Lion Legion's approach.
Jerian raised his withered finger, pointing towards the collapsed south gate of Dale, his hoarse voice laced with killing intent, shouting loudly: "Load the fire oil, adjust the firing angle."
Ten catapults slowly raised their winches amidst the Lataan Soldiers' horn blasts, the clattering of chains and gears meshing like a giant beast grinding its teeth.
Inside the projectile bags, crimson grease sloshed in earthenware pots. This was the Red Lion Legion's secret recipe fire oil, once used to resist the spread of Scarlet Rot.
But to put it plainly, it was essentially an oversized Redmane Flame Pot that a catapult could launch.
The Lataan Soldiers responsible for ignition rubbed their palms over flints, sparks leaping into oil-soaked hemp ropes, instantly igniting the fuses.
"Fire!"
The moment the ropes snapped, ten fire oil jars tore through the sky, trailing crimson tail flames like meteors plummeting towards the ruins.
The first one struck the gap in the city wall directly, the booming explosion of the earthenware pot shattering the silence of the Dale ruins. A crimson fire wave, like a venomous snake, burrowed into the Goblins' hidden cellars through the stone cracks.
The Goblins' screams surged from underground, charred limbs trailing flames crawling out of the holes, only to be extinguished by the second fire oil jar poured directly onto them.
The abandoned well in the center of the plaza became the core of a fiery inferno, flames plunging down the well walls to the depths, roasting the Goblins huddled within into curled charcoal.
Thick smoke, carrying a pungent smell of burning, rose into the sky, dyeing the entire sky above the Dale ruins a murky grayish-yellow.
Then the Goblins rioted.
It wasn't because they weren't afraid of the Red Lion Legion's recent attack, but because they discovered two very familiar-looking humans at the front of the Red Lion Legion.
When those dwarves broke into their underground kingdom, these two humans were also present, and they knew the dwarves who killed their king. Moreover, they killed many of their kin while escaping!
Thus, anger overcame fear.
"Avenge the King!!!"
A gray-green tide surged from the gap in the city wall, the Goblins' hunched bodies twisting like specters in the faint sunlight.
The pain of burns and their hatred for Arthur drove them utterly insane, their rusty short blades wildly flailing as they shrieked and charged towards the Red Lion Legion's formation.
A bunch of fools, daring to emerge from behind cover in groups.
"Ballistas, triple shot!"
Jerian sneered, his command cold as iron.
Twenty ballistas simultaneously tightened their sinew strings, and heavy arrows, thick as arms, whistled out with the tremor of mechanical propulsion.
Arrowheads pierced the chests of the front-row Goblins, and with undiminished force, impaled the skulls of their kin behind them, stringing dozens of corpses like meat skewers onto the still-burning scorched earth, adding fuel to the flames.
Second and third waves of arrows followed closely, specifically targeting the gaps in the Goblin's clustered charge, tearing their formations to shreds.
Dismembered limbs and internal organs spread across the wasteland, forming a viscous carpet of blood, but more Goblins still surged forward over the corpses of their comrades, their murky eyes showing only a thirst for revenge and slaughter.
"Shield wall, advance!"
Jerian issued the command again.
The front-row Redmane Soldiers roared in unison, their tower shields slamming together to form an impenetrable metal wall. Long spears, gleaming with cold light, protruded from the shield gaps like the fangs of a giant beast.
The Goblins' short knives struck the shield surfaces, sparks flying and not yet extinguished, when spear tips accurately pierced their throats.
Soldiers in the rear rows raised Redmane Flame Pots overhead. The flame pots hissed and burned, then arced through the air, thrown at the Goblins outside the shield wall. The moment the fire wave exploded, the Goblins' charging formation was scorched into a scattered ant colony.
Through the pungent smoke, the Red Lion Legion's war boots steadily pressed forward over the embers. The gray-green tide of Goblins could not halt the advance of this crimson-flamed army.
Before long, the gap in the city wall was within striking distance.
"Battering rams!"
Five iron-clad battering rams were pushed out of the formation by the five Troll Knights, their iron-covered pointed ends glinting dark red in the surrounding firelight.
Winches turned, chains tautened, and the battering rams, with a roaring momentum, slammed into the rubble barricade hastily piled by the Goblins.
Rotten wood and rocks splintered and flew under the iron cones, and the Goblins hiding behind them were crushed into pulp by the battering rams before they could even raise their weapons.
A few minutes earlier, just as the Troll Knights pushed the battering rams to the city gate, three colossal, silver-maned, black-bodied shadows suddenly burst forth from the Red Lion Legion's formation.
The roars of the Lion Guard rumbled across the wasteland like muffled thunder, their massive bodies transforming into three afterimages in their charge.
They didn't even need the battering rams to clear the way. Their hind leg muscles bulged and swelled, and the giant cleavers strapped to their right forelegs trailed cold light as they leaped over the city wall.
The first Lion Guard leaped onto the battlements, its claws embedding into the stone cracks. The cleavers strapped to its forelegs swung in a half-moon arc. Four Goblins hiding behind the battlements, along with the bricks in front of them, were cut in half at the waist.
And while their upper torsos were still spinning in the air, the second Lion Guard had already leaped into the inner wall, stepping on crumbling bricks. Its blade light swept across the plaza like a silver storm, instantly transforming several gathered Goblins into a fountain of blood and gore.
The third Lion Guard, after leaping into the ruins of Dale, charged directly towards the Goblin-infested tower near the city gate, from which they were continuously drawing short bows and firing arrows at the massive body of the Troll Knight.
The sturdy body of this Lion Guard actually directly collapsed the tower's base, which had been eroded by over a hundred years of time, sending rotten wood and dismembered Goblin limbs flying like rain amidst the dust of bricks and tiles.
"Don't be foolish and engage in close combat with these beasts! Fire arrows, understand! Fi—"
The roar of the Goblin King's Guard, who had once conversed with Azog, came to an abrupt halt as the first Lion Guard's fangs crushed its spine, and its saber sliced through the Goblins attempting to surround it.
As the blade of the first Lion Guard, carrying fragments of Goblin bone, embedded itself into the flagstones, the second was already leaping with incredible agility onto the roof of a dilapidated tavern.
It swooped down from the eaves, its silvery lion's mane flowing like molten silver, and the saber in its right forelimb, leveraging the force of its descent, swept horizontally, leveling seven or eight Goblins who had just drawn their short bows, along with the beams beneath their feet, their severed limbs and internal organs scattering like harvested straw.
At this moment, the third Lion Guard shook its massive lion's head and rose from the ruins of the tower, letting out a dissatisfied roar as it looked around.
This was because the nearby Goblins had been almost completely slaughtered by its two compatriots, and the remaining Goblins were continuously being hunted down and massacred by other Lion Guards.
Returning to the present, the moment the city gate of the Dale ruins was breached by the battering ram, the Red Lion Knights, who had long been prepared, pulled their reins, and their warhorses neighed as they leaped over the crumbling walls.
The Red Lion Knights, clad in crimson armor, held their broad-headed spears like a forest, and their warhorses' iron hooves crushed every Goblin that dared to block their path.
The Goblins' madness finally crumbled before the iron tide.
"Three men to a team, clear street by street, leave no survivors."
Under Jerian's command, the Red Lion Knights split into dozens of crimson formations, interweaving and dividing in triangular formations, their spear tips flinging up greenish-gray bodies, and their horses' hooves trampling the fleeing into mud.
The Red Lion Knight's warhorse's iron hooves crushed the cover of a roadside cellar, and a long spear pierced the Goblin curled up inside.
Another Goblin King's Guard attempted to rally his scattered compatriots but was shot through the throat by a skilled Red Lion Knight on horseback.
As Lataan Soldiers entered Dale, flames spread among the ruins, forcing out the Goblins ambushing behind various crumbling walls, their sword blades sweeping across their necks like harvesting wheat.
The sword and shield wielders kicked open the dilapidated tavern door, firing their short crossbows in rapid succession, pinning the Goblins between the beams to the mold-stained wall.
Flame pots were also precisely thrown by the Lataan Soldiers into every dry well, and in the blazing fire, the Goblins' charred limbs curled like roasted shrimp, falling into the dry well bottom.
When the Red Lion Legion, under Jerian's command, directly broke through the south gate, the dwarves also encountered an active attack from the Goblins on the west side of the Dale ruins.
After all, compared to Arthur and Millison, these two humans, they harbored more hatred for the dwarves who had been closely following the executioner when their king died.
When the dwarves' army had just appeared on the west side of Dale, and their formation had not yet been set, the Goblins, upon discovering the Dwarven army, erupted in vicious roars, becoming exceptionally brutal, and then an seemingly endless stream of Goblins poured out from the breach in the west city wall.
The dwarf Soldiers, who were on the verge of forming their ranks, saw this scene, and their pupils suddenly contracted, yet not a single dwarf retreated in panic.
The shield-bearers in the front row slammed their tower shields, as tall as themselves, heavily into the ground, their iron boots crushing the ice and snow on the ground, and the shield wall slammed together with a roar at Dain's shout.
Amidst the flying dust and snow, spear tips protruded from the gaps in the shields, revealing a chilling gleam.
"Hoo! These lads are even more enthusiastic than our drunken banquet guests!"
Dain's loud laughter drowned out the Goblins' shrieks as he swung his warhammer, smashing a leaping Goblin in mid-air into a meat patty, black blood splattering onto his shoulder armor.
He even had the leisure to turn his head and loudly tease Thorin: "Thorin! They wouldn't want to use your bones as a teething toy, would they?"
Thorin, at this moment, held his frozen shell axe, and a frost stomp froze all the charging Goblins in front of him; these newly formed ice sculptures were then shattered by the surrounding dwarf Soldiers with their weapons.
He didn't really want to bother with Dain, this somewhat noisy relative on the battlefield, but he couldn't ignore him, so he could only reply loudly and helplessly, "Mind your own warhammer, Dain."
No matter how the Goblins charged, the dwarf Soldiers' formation remained as steady as a reef parting the waves.
Meanwhile, Fili and Kili, two Praying Masters skilled in Beast Prayers, led hundreds of War Ram Knightss in a swift charge from the flank into the breach in the west city wall. Under the cover of the War Ram Knightss, the Beast Claw of Beast Prayers were continuously cast by the dwarf brothers, tearing the breach in the west city wall along the cracks in the wall until it was large enough for the dwarf army to enter.
On Thorin's side, Goblin corpses piled up into a slope before the shield wall, yet they failed to budge it in the slightest.
Dain crushed a Goblin's head, pointed his warhammer at the breach in the city wall created by Fili and Kili, and shouted, "Sons of Durin! Let these ugly brutes see what a dwarf's return gift is!"
At precisely noon, the Dale ruins fell silent.
On the charred city walls, the Erdtree's banner and the Redmane's battle flag slowly rose simultaneously amidst the smoke of battle.
Jerian stepped on a charred Goblin head, his gaze sweeping across the chaotic battlefield.
At this time, the Red Lion Legion's soldiers were using their sword tips to poke through the piles of corpses, ensuring that no green-skinned stragglers were feigning death to counterattack.
The dwarves, seeing the actions of the Red Lion Legion soldiers, also followed suit, searching for those stragglers.
Bard and the Lake Town Guard, who had been waiting in the back for half a day expecting to help, looked at the Red Lion Legion soldiers with eyes full of respect and awe, secretly swallowing their saliva, stunned by the others.
Then, under Bard's command, the Lake Town Guard quickly joined the battlefield cleanup, cooperating with the Red Lion Legion soldiers and dwarf Soldiers to find the Goblin survivors hiding in various dark corners of Dale.
After Arthur entered Dale, he couldn't help but marvel at the power of the Red Lion Legion.
Although their opponents were merely weak Goblins, and the town they occupied was an almost abandoned ruin, their crisp and decisive coordination still opened Arthur's eyes.
After all, when he was in The Lands Between, he had never seen so many Red Lion Legion gathered together for battle.
Jerian returned to Arthur's side and respectfully said, "I have not failed in my mission, tarnished... Lord Arthur."
Arthur smiled and patted his shoulder: "You've worked hard, Jerian. If you really find Arthur difficult to pronounce, it's fine to call me tarnished as before."
Then Arthur looked towards the direction of the Lonely Mountain, his gaze seemingly penetrating the thick mountain wall, searching for the Dragon: "But we cannot relax yet, Jerian. The Goblins are just a minor skirmish, and the real war is only just beginning."