Siege of Gondor

The Siege of Minas Tirith in TA 3019 was also called the Siege of Gondor. It happened during the War of the Ring, wherein the armies of Sauron surrounded the city of Minas Tirith to conquer it. This feat almost succeeded. The failure lay on the arrival of Theoden as well as the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

The declaration of the War of the Ring was on June 20, 3018. Mordor forces attacked the city of Osgiliath. Thwarted by the arms led by the son of Steward Denethor II, they drove them back as far as the east bank of the river and shattered the great bridge of the city. Nine months after this encounter, a large army led by Saruman, an ally to Sauron, attacked the people of Rohan. Unfortunately, they lost to the Rohirrim in the encounter known as the Battle of the Hornburg. It was a wakeup call for Sauron to ensure that his next move must come swiftly and powerfully. When Aragorn appeared to Sauron, the Dark Lord decided to send forth his armies despite the lack of preparation. His desire to finally exterminate Gondor, his greatest foe, inspired this action. Threatened by the fleet of warships of Corsair coming from Umbar, only a small reinforcement was sent by Gondor to help defend Minas Tirith.

March 9 and 10 were dubbed as the Dawnless Day. Thick clouds covered the lands of Gondor and Rohan that hid the sun and concealed its light. Sauron used this tactic to allow his minions to pass through easily and frighten the Army of the West. This strategy guarded the northern regions of Gondor and hindered the entry of Rohirrim to Anorien. The Black Gate army captured Cair Andros that day. Frodo Baggins, who is the ring-bearer, together with Samwise, and Gollum, their guide, advanced toward Minas Morgul on Dawnless Day. Red flashes coming from the eastern mountains greeted them upon arrival. Flashes of lightning and blue flames from Minas Morgul and the hills around them countered these. At that time, riding on a black horse came the Witch-king of Angmar. He brought with him the biggest army ever deployed from the vale.

In anticipation of a great attack, Faramir commanded the reinforcement of the garrisons of Osgiliath on March 9. He left on March 11 to lead the troop after reporting to Denethor. They were attacked that night by the joint forces of the Witch-King and Haradrim regiments. Though they resisted hard, the Witch-King's forces successfully invaded Causeway Forts. They also broke into the Rammas Echor, which surrounds the Pelennor Fields. Despite the efforts to fight back, which caused casualties on the counter forces, Faramir finally decided to retreat along with his men. However, the swarm of Southrons and orcs caught up with them on the fields and wounded him. A cavalry sortie led by Prince Imrahil enabled him and his men to retreat to Minas Tirith.

Once they arrived at the city, the opposing forces surrounded Minas Tirith and set up their offense and defense. The northern roads were guarded heavily by Orcs and Easterlings against possible Rohan reinforcements. They put stakes and trenches in place to terminate attacks. The Witch-King softened the defense of the city on March 13. The walls of Minas Tirith thought to be impenetrable, slowly gave in due to the flames brought about by the missiles launched into the lower city. Men fled to safety in the city’s second circle. Distressed by the developments, Denethor withdrew from commanding the defense, fearing defeat and Faramir’s imminent demise. Gandalf took leadership, which gave hope to the people. At night, Mumakil dragged siege towers to the walls to distract the attack on the Great Gate, which is the weakest part of the wall. Grond, a battering ram, was hurled towards it. The resistance fought with great force, inducing casualties on Mordor’s forces. However, with Grond and the Witch-king’s magic, the gate fell on the third strike. Only Gandalf, mounted on Shadowfax, was left to meet the Witch-king upon entering the city. As the confrontation was beginning, Rohirrim’s horn sounded. It was a signal for a new foe that the Witch-king had to face, so he was forced to leave.

The men of Gondor were emboldened by Rohirrim’s cavalry charge. They once again fought back and overthrew the siege completely when the Grey Company came.

The film was based on the book, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King [1] by Peter Jackson. However, several changes were made to the adaptation. For instance, Dawnless Day was not represented by darkness in the movie. The sun was also not shown until the arrival of Rohirrim but the dark clouds made by Sauron were present. The thing used to demoralize the soldiers and citizens were severed heads of people launched by the Orcs to create a psywar.

Denethor ordered Gondor’s army to escape but was knocked out by Gandalf, who then took charge of the forces and led them to battle. There were exchanges of fires using catapults and trebuchets, which left casualties on both sides. Trebuchets belonging to Minas Tirith were destroyed by the Nazgul. Siege towers were lumbered on walls, and though the soldiers of Gondor tried to hold them off, still many were put in place. The Orcs tried to break the gate using a wooden ram, to no avail. Simultaneously, hundreds of Orcs were shot by archers of Gondor. Grond, the largest battering ram, was employed later on.

It broke the gate by nightfall. Though they fought with all their might, the soldiers of Gondor were overpowered and were pushed to take refuge to the city’s second level. Orcs swarmed in, and even though the archers fired relentlessly, they eventually prevailed. The all-night fighting took a toll on Gondor’s soldiers and made them an easy fight for the Orcs by dawn. The soldiers of Minas Tirith defended the citadel, using defend and retreat tactics but were forced to keep retreating. Gandalf was then informed of Denethor’s distress and suicide plans by Pippin. Both men tried to stop it but were then stopped short by the Witch-king. Gandalf confronted the Lord of Nazgul but failed. The Witch-king broke his staff and was about to kill him when the Rohan horn sounded. This incident changed the course of events as the Witch-king left to face a new foe.

1. ^The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).