People in the heavens are as rich as the enemies of the country

The path to the Lonely Mountain from the Woodland Kingdom is much simpler.

The Jungle River flows directly under the kingdom. Following the river, the team will soon reach the Long Lake, and through the Long Lake, the waterway leads to the Lonely Mountain.

The entire journey is by water, which is not only safe but also fast.

The elves are familiar with this route. The Woodland Kingdom is not a closed country. They produce fine wine and cloth, and exchange materials with the outside world through rivers. Not only in Changhu Town, but also along the dense forest river to the Anduin River. Up, and down the river, the furthest trading range reaches Gondor.

Therefore, there are still quite a lot of ships in the Woodland Kingdom.

More than a hundred people were divided into four boats, all of which were small merchant ships. They had sails to sail with the help of wind. Of course, there were also places to put oars on both sides for rowing when the wind was not strong enough.

These ships are naturally not as powerful as the ships in the Pirates of the Caribbean world, but the ships made by the elves are more beautiful, and they have one characteristic -

A ship built by the elves will never capsize unless destroyed.

Well, actually, let alone ships, even wooden barrels made by elves will not tip over as long as they are still intact.

Tang Sen and the dwarves were all on one ship. In addition, there were also the elf prince Legolas and several red-haired wood elves. The other elves were all on three other ships.

Of course Legolas didn't want to be crowded together with the dwarves, but there was no way. On the one hand, there had to be someone by Tang Sen's side to receive and convey the news. On the other hand, the dwarves didn't know how to control the elves' ships. If they could pick up the oars and show off their strength, they would be considered as not causing trouble.

Fortunately, it was all going downstream, so there was no need to control more complicated sails. There were only a few elves on the boat, which was enough.

"I saw Gushan!" Shalin shouted excitedly.

After leaving the dense forest, there was a flat river ahead. We could already penetrate a very long distance and see the lonely mountain peak standing at the end of the earth.

Shalin pulled on the side of the boat, trying hard to raise her head above the side of the boat so that she could better view the mountain. After all, the elf's boat was not very friendly to her height.

"I have seen her countless times in my dreams, and she is even more majestic than I imagined! Thorin! Come and see!"

Thorin ignored him. After coming out of the Woodland Kingdom, he had kept a straight face and was always on guard against the elves. Even though he saw the dwarf's home for a long time, it did not distract him.

"Traveler, the order we received is to escort you to the Lonely Mountain, but it does not include helping you deal with that evil dragon." Legolas didn't bother to pay attention to Thorin at all. He just walked to Tang Sen and said, "Wait a minute. After arriving at Gushan, we will wait for you at the foot of Gushan for two days. By then, whether you succeed or not, we will go back."

"War is coming, and the Woodland Kingdom needs our power."

"Of course." Tang Sen was not surprised by the attitude of the elves. As he had guessed before, borrowing troops was just borrowing troops, and he could not order these elves to be moved.

If it were a team of dwarves, Tang Sen could still operate it. As for the elves, their arrogance made it impossible for them to disobey the Elf King's order because of mithril or other things and turn their allegiance to them.

"Dealing with the evil dragon is a simple matter. I don't intend to borrow the power of the elves." Tang Sen said: "However, you don't have to rush back. Believe me, the army of the Woodland Kingdom will soon move towards Gushan. Come."

"Simple thing." The corner of Legolas's mouth twitched. It was impossible for him to believe what the traveler said. In fact, he already thought that the Elf King's behavior of sending himself to escort the other party was unwise. It was a waste of troops. There is no meaning outside of it.

And, traveling with these filthy dwarves!

He lost interest in continuing the conversation and turned his head to leave. At this moment, he was suddenly stunned. Then he quickly took off the bow and arrow from his back and drew the bow smoothly.

Thorin, who had always been on guard, was suddenly startled and almost drew his weapon. Fortunately, Legolas was very fast, and the arrow grazed the side of the ship and shot directly into the distance.

"Ocques!"

Legolas did not look at the results of this arrow, but quickly looked around: "There are quite a few!"

Tang Sen quickly looked around and saw dense black spots moving towards this side on both sides of the river, very far away.

"We are above the river, these Oaks are not a big threat." Tang Sen said.

"It really doesn't count, but this is not a good sign." Legolas frowned and said, "Occasions have actually appeared at this location, which means that their army is very close."

"They're coming faster and in greater numbers than we thought."

"Five days." He said solemnly: "In five days at most, they can trek to the foot of Gushan!"

"How long does it take for us to reach Gushan?" Tang Sen asked.

"If we keep walking by water, it will take two days." Legolas replied: "But the premise is that there will be no accidents on the way. Our enemies this time are not just Orcs."

"Dulin's Day is two days later." Thorin finally let go of his attention from the elf and looked at Tang Sen. "If we miss this day, then we may have to dig through the main entrance of Erebor."

"That's equivalent to knocking on the door of Smaug." Tang Sen shook his head: "We can't lure Smaug out, we must enter the interior of the Lonely Mountain. That is Smaug's lair, but it also restricts its movement. It can only be in specific places within the Lonely Mountain. , my plan can succeed.”

"Even now, you're still unwilling to tell us how you plan to deal with that evil dragon?" Thorin asked dissatisfied.

"You'll find out soon enough."

The four ships put down their oars and accelerated their speed. Along the way, scattered Oaks and other dark creatures could often be seen on both sides, while the docks along the river were completely deserted.

"I'm afraid everyone nearby has taken refuge in Chang Lake Town." Legolas looked into the distance and said with some worry: "Only Chang Lake Town can be considered a safe place for the time being."

Tang Sen remembered this small town that appeared in the original work. It was located in a long lake and could only be entered by boat. When Oak's army did not prepare a boat, as long as the gate was closed, it would be difficult to get there. Invasion.

Of course, this is only a temporary situation. If the entire Gushan area falls, then Changhu Lake will become a natural cage, and the humans in Changhu Town will be nothing more than turtles in a jar.

"Their target is us." Tang Sen said, "I think no matter how slow the person in charge of this army is, he should know our whereabouts."

"Don't worry, they can't catch up with our ship." Legolas said:

"The most dangerous place is under the lonely mountain. There must be a large number of enemies waiting for us there. As long as we are delayed, we will be drowned in the ocean of enemies."

"Anyway, the comfortable journey is over." Tang Sen said: "Cheer up, I have a hunch that even on the boat, it will not be so stable."

In the evening of the next day, Chang Lake finally appeared in front of everyone. Under the shining of the setting sun, this vast lake was like a dim mirror. The ancient well had no waves and was completely silent.

No more fishermen would dare to go fishing before the war. In fact, there are already many Oak camps on the shores of the Long Lake, and there are even trolls looming in the jungle. They all come from the Misty Mountains. , is the vanguard of the dark army.

The atmosphere in the fleet was very stagnant, and even the dwarves had no intention of confronting the elves. They did not have as long a lifespan as the elves. In fact, the most brutal battle the dwarves present had ever experienced was in Moria. The battle with the Pale Orcs took place on the battlefield, and Sauron, the great enemy who almost swept across the entire Middle-earth in the previous era, only stayed in the legends of the dwarves.

It wasn't until this moment that they truly realized why Gandalf changed his mind when talking about Sauron. He and the enemies the dwarves had encountered in the past were not at the same level at all. For a day and a night, there were almost no Oaks on both sides of the dense forest river. It has never disappeared, this is it, it is just an advance army.

The dwarves could not imagine how huge that real army was, and then they realized in despair that this was not all of Sauron's army, but just random soldiers gathered temporarily, most of them without armor, and Sauron's The main force has always been in Mordor.

That enemy is something that no race can fight against. Let alone a single iron hill, even if all the dwarves in the entire Middle-earth continent appear on the battlefield, they may not be able to match it.

Only humans, elves and dwarves united can they have the power to resist each other.

"Tang Sen, we can win, right?" Even the always lively Shalin became unusually confused: "As you said, travelers always have a way."

"I have already told you my method."

"Taming Smaug?" Shalin patted his forehead: "Although I believe you, well, I can't believe you."

She said discouragedly: "How is it possible to do such a thing? You can't use mithril to buy the dragon, right?"

Without waiting for Tang Sen to answer, she lay directly on the deck with her head up and said to herself: "Forget it, I don't need to use my brain for things. Anyway, I am only responsible for protecting your safety. At most, I will die. If I can I will be content to see the Lonely Mountain and Erebor before I die.”

She muttered like this and suddenly narrowed her eyes.

"I seem to see something flying in the sky?"

"No! It's flying over!"

A frightening sound came from high in the sky, and all the elves felt a thrill at the same time. The sound was like ten thousand desperate women screaming at the same time, making people feel cold from the tail vertebrae to the sky.

"Dragon! It's a dragon!"

Someone shouted in fear, "Dragon attack!"

Tang Sen looked up and saw three ferocious-looking, giant winged and scaleless creatures attacking the fleet with sharp roars.

"This thing can't be called a dragon."

"The minions of Sauron and the mounts of the Nazgul, I knew they would not be absent."

He shouted: "Meet the enemy!"

Smaug is on his way! Posted at night!