The Battle of the Crossing of Poros
Chapter
10: After the Battle
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Here must be told how the events came about. The
Haradrim stirred by the emissaries of Sauron were almost forced to do
battle with Gondor. But the counsels of the dark side were not limited
with that. They were to ally themselves with the kingdom of Khand and
were to invade Ithilien and only Ithilien with their combined forces;
they planned to keep their forces secret.
But they did not know about Gondor's elaborate spy
network, which ranged from Arthedain to beyond the sea of Rhun. They
mustered a force of about fifteen-thousand. The armies of the Haradrim
and Khand were to meet and merge at the crossings of the Harnen.
Meanwhile they were warned of Rohan's alliance with Gondor and were
advised to learn anti-cavalry tactics. But the Haradrim could not
master it. for there were few horses in their desert land, and their
cavalry force came only from Khand, where there were plenty but not
half as many as in Rohan. Their muster began the 17th of April in the
Shire
reckoning.
Their army left three days later and reached Harnen
in ten days, where they camped for almost three days waiting for their
allies. The combined host then set forth at great haste towards the
Poros. They reached the sight of the river by the night of the 14th of
March and condented with the army of the guards of the Poros.
The men of Gondor were quickly and easily slain
because they were surprised by the strength of the Haradrim. The
Haradrim made the army of Khand enter the fray first and take the
losses in the first battle of the invasion of Ithilien. The Haradrim
retreated across the river and waited for the gathering of the entire
army and then marched into Ithilien. The men of Gondor who had survived
the conflict had fled towards the Harost, but they could not take the
road because they feared to be hunted down by their enemies. So they
went to Harost from the eastern side of the Belegond. But if they had
taken the road, they might have met the Rohirrim and much might have
been averted. But still they warned the wardens of the Harost about
their plight and quickly mustered the army that they had.
Thankfully, Lord Turin had sent them an army
consisting of Hador of which only a few had joined the guards of the
Poros. They began to muster their army. Then scouts spotted the
Rohirrim pouring from the north for they had come ahead of schedule.
But to their dismay they turned not towards the Harost but kept going
towards the river. Galdor, Lord of Harost, seeing their plight,
resolved to send their host south to fight along the Rohirrim lest they
perish. Their scouts soon met with Ceorl and his men who had stayed
behind to guard the road. He also sent messengers to the men from
Lebinnin who were marching south.
They informed them of the situation and together
they set toward their friends but this was slow, because the riders and
the men had to go together lest they be ambushed, for they did not know
what the Haradrim were doing. They thought that their foes had already
crossed the river and had killed the
Rohirrim, for they had brought pikemen and probably had attacked them
in the middle of the night in their camp. They did not know that the
Haradrim had planned to cross the river after dawn to get the Mumaks to
the other side.
But since their stealthy scouts sighted the
Rohirrim, they had to drastically change their plans. They were still
in their camp. So instead of sending one combined army, they decided
send a host to finish their enemies quickly with the power of surprise.
They marched in three separate hosts with the Mumak between the last
two hosts. For Ceorl, Hador and Galdor it was different. They had just
sighted the men from Lebinnin. They were obliged to stop and merge
again. But before that hey had already seen the retreat of Hallas and
joined with him. The rest for them is history….
For the battle, the Haradrim alone had around
ten-thousand, with their allies comprising almost five thousand.
Together they had about fifteen-thousand, along with ten mumaks.
The men of the guards of Poros had around
four-thousand. They were mostly destroyed. After the first battle, the
Haradrim had about twelve to thirteen-thousand remaining. The Host that
the Sons of Folcwine brought to the river was around six-thousand and
the ones he left with Ceorl numbered around fifteen-hundred.
The men that Hador and Galdor brought from Harost
numbered two-thousand five-hundred, as did the number of the men from
Lebinnin. But if Hallas had not had retreated when he did and fought
till the death or have been surrounded, the other men of Rohan and
Gondor would have been fighting to the last man against the Haradrim.
Disaster was averted because of the wisdom of Hallas and, more
importantly, Mandos.
The entire remaining Rohirrim (some two and a half
thousand) and the Gondorians (some two-thousand) returned north. Hallas
reached Minas Tirith in a fortnight after the entire field was assessed
and the bodies buried. But even amid this ruin they found something
worthwhile. Among the slain Mumaks they found that they contained
fourteen-horse loads worth of gold hoarded with them. It is still a
mystery why they brought it. But there was found to be some staggering
fifty-thousand gold coins.
These were to be given to the stewards who in turn
would turn it over to the kingdom's vault, after Hallas went to a
secret meeting with the steward to decide about what was to be done.
There the steward prepared to give the present that he intended to give
to Rohan: thirty-thousand gold coins of the
hoard of the Haradrim. But Hallas said, "Lord, that is too generous a
gift. Your people deserve it more than we do. For your people have lost
more than we have. We have done nothing to deserve them, for our aid
was nothing more than the aid of friendship."
The steward smiled and said, "Nay, rider of Rohan.
Nay, my lord. Nay, for though you rightly said it was we who took most
of the damage, it was our kingdom that was not attacked and not yours,
yet still you came to our aid and lost many. Again, this comes not from
our own, but it comes from the hoards of our enemies. This is why I
give not all but most. Take this Hallas, son of Hammerwine. For this is
not for your people alone. This is for your king who has lost more than
what I have given, for he has lost what cannot be replaced."
So Hallas, overcome by the stewards' wisdom and
generosity said, "Your words, lord, are wise. I shall take what you
give, not for me but for my King, Folcwine. As for me, I have seen
enough carnage to last me a lifetime. If there is no more business, I
shall depart for my own. Turin then invited him and his riders, of whom
all but he were on the first circle of the city, to attend a feast of
victory in the Methrad.
But Hallas refused saying, "Lord, we are still
grieving for the loss of our princes and it would show poor respect for
their memory if we celebrate their death though it would not seem so."
Then Hallas took his leave and went out escorted by the steward alone
for he came alone. They went to the first circle of the city. There he
announced the gift of Turin.
Then Ceorl led all the Rohirrim through the gat e of
Gondor, and Hallas and Turin went on horseback to the gate along with
their rich reward of gold loaded on horseback in chests, and there they
had their parting words. Hallas said, "Farewell my Lord. I fear this
might be our last meeting. But fear not, if danger threatens, we will
not be far off; if this gate is broken, our horns thy folk shall hear
without delay. Farewell my lord".
Then he rode off with the gold carriers and joined
Ceorl and his host, and then turned his face towards the north and went
north and then east towards his home, and looked on Minas Tirith for
the last time.
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