Second Battle of Osgiliath

FaramirMadril†
 1,950 Gondorian soldiers and Ithilien Rangers defend the city. Along with about 50 Knights of Dol Amroth. About 500 Gondorian soldiers sent by Steward Denethor would come to their aid later.
 Very Heavy; all survivors scatter while those retreat towards Minas Tirith.

The **Second Battle of Osgiliath** was a huge battle that took place in the old ruin of Osgiliath during the War of the Ring. This battle resulted the beginning of the invasion of Gondor when the Dark Lord Sauron prepared to send his forces to attack Gondor.

## History

After a number of skirmishes in Osgiliath, Sauron finally launched a massive invasion that ultimately resulted in the deciding factor as to who reigned over Osgiliath. Before the invasion plot happened, Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, and Gollum had recently approached Minas Morgûl. All of the Mordor Orcs and Mordor Uruks marched out of Minas Morgûl. When they arrived, Frodo fell under a trance and was being pulled towards the front gate until Sam and Gollum managed to pull him back before the enemy could see him. That was when a green flash emanating from beyond the eastern mountains- probably from Orodruin-, which was answered by lightning and blue flame issuing from Minas Morgul and the surrounding hills. Mûrazôr emerged from the city on his fell beast and sounded the signal for Mordor's forces to march.

Under the command of Mûrazôr and Gothmog, the orcs and uruks slowly made their way to Osgiliath across the river Anduin on boats and rafts. The defenders of Gondor were unaware and believed that the enemy would attack from the north, but they were deceived. Irnakin, a Gondorian guard, had recently been patrolling until he spotted the enemy moving across the river quietly. Before Irnakin was about to raise the alarm and warn the every defender on what is coming, Gothmog spotted the guard and ordered an orc archer to kill him. The plan worked, but Gothmog and his forces were unaware that the defenders discovered what happened and prepared to set up an ambush. Faramir knew that the enemy wasn't coming from the north and ordered every troop and ranger to move to the river at once. Getting into positions, every Gondorian defender (soldier and ranger alike) hide and wait for the enemy to dispatch themselves from their boats. Immediately, Faramir was the first to attack, forcing te soldiers and rangers to fight and hold the enemy line.

The battle lasted for hours until morning. Many Gondorian soldiers and Ithilien Rangers were easily slain due to their exhaustion while the rest continued to fight and slay as many Orcs and Uruks that were running in every direction of the ruined city. Although, many defenders had recently began to retreat and scatter from the ruined city; some running for their lives and making their way towards Minas Tirith. Madril signaled dozens of rangers to open fire on a large number of Orcs that were chasing Faramir. Seeing that the city was lost and there was no hope in defending it due to Mordor's numbers, Faramir ordered the rest of the defender to retreat. During the retreat, Madril was knocked down on the ground by an orc while he tried to make his way out of the city. He was badly wounded until Gothmog approached him executed him with no mercy. While many of the defenders had made their way safely to Minas Tirith while those had scattered and possibly traveled to warn other Gondorian settlements in the region, Faramir and his cavalry of 350 riders abandon the city and retreat in a miserable failure, but that was when Nazgûl riding on top of their Fell Beasts killed more than 50 soldiers.

During the slaughter, Gandalf and Pippin arrive in time to rescue the rest of the survivors. The white wizard used his staff to launch a bright light which blinded Nazgûl, forcing them to fly away and retreat back to into Mordor to inform their master. Mûrazôr stayed behind and ordered to Gothmog to prepare for the ultimate siege on Minas Tirith and hoped that he would kill Gandalf. While in Minas Tirith, Lord Denethor was disgraced by this and ordered his son Faramir to retake Osgiliath. Faramir sadly complied, but he would know that it would be a suicide mission. Faramir spent his time in trying to rally as many soldiers to retake the city, but those who had recently defended the city refused and chose to stay behind. More than 100 Gondorian soldiers answered Faramir's call and followed the captain outside the city. The cavalry rode towards Osgiliath, but run into a shower of arrows from the orcs, and every soldier was killed except for Faramir, who is dragged back to Minas Tirith by his horse, unconscious with two arrows in him.