Chapter 633: Chapter 566 Ice Cold Chapter 633: Chapter 566 Ice Cold Rohan’s cavalry numbered over seven thousand.
While not a vast host, their charge across the plain was a dense and impressive sight.
“The horses’ abilities also surpass those of ordinary steeds, with extraordinary endurance, load-bearing, and sprinting capabilities.”
Tao Yu, adepts in riding, effortlessly sensed the strength of these horses while mounted upon one.
They were even more exceptional than the famed sweat-blood horses from the Great Tang World.
The key was that these horses were so easily mustered by Rohan to form such a large cavalry force!
Gondor also had their Swan Knights.
In terms of individual combat strength, the humans created by the Creator God in Middle-earth were indeed of quite an impressive average quality.
The grand army arrived near Hornburg, where Theodred, Prince of Rohan himself, came out with his personal guard to greet them.
Upon seeing Eomer, he gave a hearty embrace.
It was clear that the relationship between the cousins was good, with no succession disputes typical of royalty.
“I hadn’t expected you to come straight with a grand army…”
Theodred was also an outstanding commander.
Upon seeing the arrival of the army, he immediately grasped the situation.
They wanted to clear up any trouble from Arrodes!
Naturally, he was in full agreement with this.
In fact, after experiencing the enhancement to his command brought by Tao Yu in the previous river battle, Theodred somewhat wished for this person to help sweep through the enemy.
However, the man had already helped once and clearly had his matters to attend to; it would not be polite to ask for more.
He later wrote a letter, offering as much help as possible, on the chance that it might yield unexpected returns later.
To his surprise, the return on that gesture came so swiftly!
Tao, do you intend to deal with the threat before us directly?”
Although he had already made a guess, Theodred still asked with a touch of hope.
“Yes, the peculiarities of those creatures appeared similar to the Orcs; we could not simply stand by and ignore them.”
Tao Yu spoke with righteous conviction and followed with an additional comment,
“White Wizard Saruman has returned to his domain, and I think it would be best for us to join forces and assist him.”
“The impact of the previous assault posed a great threat to Rohan.
Tao is willing, I am prepared to relinquish command and provide assistance as best I can.”
Theodred had personally witnessed the strong support Tao Yu provided to the cavalry.
He was now thoroughly convinced.
His soldiers would likely not resist either.
As long as Tao Yu did not intend to lead an army against Rohan, the efficiency of the enhancement could be even higher this time.
“In that case, nothing could be better…”
Tao Yu would certainly not be modest at such a time.
Having only tried once before and managing to break through their river defense, the benefits were already notable.
If they were to initiate an offensive now, eradicating the stronger Orcs and Dunlendings, then perhaps the “Ironblood Knight” could be completely integrated at last!
“We’ve maintained surveillance on the opposite riverbank.
There seemed to be a severe disturbance, perhaps some sort of spell, after the White Wizard and his friend passed, and the activity of those creatures has drastically decreased since, possibly due to a strike.”
Theodred shared the intelligence from his side.
Though he was a capable individual, he was still a mortal without any distinct supernatural abilities.
Their spying on the opposition mainly relied on scouts.
The summoning of a flood by Saruman was impressive, blocked only by the subsequent glaciers, and his power was beyond question!
Had it not been for those who acted in secrecy, the flood alone could have decimated the river-crossing foes.
Such visual impact and shock were considerable to the Rohan soldiers.
Moreover, given Saruman’s already formidable reputation, they felt a sense of worship toward him.
In the past, they knew the White Wizard was powerful and shrouded in mystery.
“But this time, they truly experienced what is called the might of nature!”
“We just didn’t feel at ease about Sir Gandalf crossing over by himself, after all, there have been those who could stop him before, so we shouldn’t go about splitting our forces.”
Tao Yu’s words made Gandalf glance at him sidelong.
This guy—despite already having suspicions about Saruman—still spoke with such righteousness.
However, Gandalf too now had some doubts and didn’t repel the choice Tao Yu was making at the moment.
He just clicked his tongue and drew on his pipe…
As they were all cavalry of Rohan, and the lower-ranking commanders of both sides knew each other, there was no problem with coordination.
Under the condition of Prince Theodred being willing to relinquish command, Eomer likewise integrated his own troops into this force.
Thus, they formed a cavalry force exceeding ten thousand in number.
When the troops were arrayed, squadron upon squadron of cavalry formed ranks, their armor reflecting a silvery glow in the sunlight.
Riding at the very front of the formation, Tao Yu looked upon these squares and felt a touch of emotion.
This spectacle of ten thousand cavalry seemed utterly majestic, stretching further than the eye could see.
One could hardly fathom the sheer terror of battles in the age of cold steel that involved armies in the hundreds of thousands.
“Gentlemen, those mysterious Orcs and Dunlendings have been eyeing us greedily.
Let’s wipe them out in one fell swoop this time and rid ourselves of any worries from the rear—then we can go to Gondor’s aid and launch a counterattack against Mordor!”
Tao Yu didn’t speak these words particularly loudly, but the interconnectedness of the legion was already established and, although they couldn’t compare to the Fremen, relying on the legion’s interconnectedness, his message was instantly understood by the entire force.
All the cavalry roared in unison with immense vigor, boosting Tao Yu’s sense of coordination even further.
Possessing commanding abilities of a supernatural sort, he didn’t need an abundance of leadership qualities to integrate the troops with relative ease.
Even in the midst of battle, he could easily make each squadron understand the tasks required of them.
“We’ll cross the river directly, now is a good time as the upstream glaciers haven’t melted yet.”
Having finished speaking, Tao Yu turned his horse’s head and rode towards River Isen.
Prince Theodred, who rode as Tao Yu’s second-in-command, then leaned in and whispered to Tao Yu,
“The upstream glaciers haven’t melted, it’s true, but the river’s current is already fully connected below, we might not be able to cross directly.”
Tao Yu quickly understood what he meant.
At this moment, the waters of River Isen appeared to have risen considerably, after all, it was a flood summoned by Saruman, which had only been frozen over—now it was slowly thawing and releasing the floodwaters.
The river’s surface, more turbulent than before, occasionally had large chunks of floating ice drifting by.
Looking upstream, one could even see that wall-like glacier.
Coming to the river’s edge, Tao Yu simply shrugged his shoulders and said offhandedly,
“Actually, I too am a wandering wizard…”
While saying this, Tao Yu stretched out his palm towards the water, and soon a pale blue light appeared in his eyes, his hair flowing as if moved by an unseen wind.
As Tao Yu murmured softly under his breath,
Everyone who heard his voice suddenly felt a chill that seemed to emanate from their very bones.
The Witch Path’s control over ice and frost, powered further by the ‘Foul Speech’ Kaji,
Instantly caused the river in front of them to start freezing, using the floating ice on the surface as a focal point for spreading the freeze.
The sound of the water expanding and pressing as it froze kept emanating, and then it quickly extended upstream.
Until the entire river in front of them was enveloped by an icy seal.
Only then did Tao Yu lower his hand, the pale blue light in his eyes fading away.
“The cavalry won’t slip on the ice, will they?”