"But One and not the Greatest"

[Angry Hill Troll]

When Frodo, Sam, and Gollum see the Army of the Witch King issuing from Minas Morgul, the text says that

So great an army had never issued from that vale since the days of Isildur's might; no host so fell and strong in arms had yet assailed the Fords of Anduin; and yet it was but one and not the greatest of the hosts that Mordor now sent forth.

The point of the wording, I suppose, is to impress upon the reader just how much military force Sauron had amassed. But it raises a few questions of how well thought out his strategy was:

Given that Sauron was sending a greater army into the field at the same time, where was it going? Who was commanding it? It would make the most sense for Sauron to send his greatest force against Minas Tirith, which after all was the most populated and best fortified stronghold of his enemies, and also the closest to Mordor.

As it turned out, the force he sent wasn't quite enough to get the job done, once the Rohirrim showed up and Aragorn commandeered the fleet of the Corsairs.

So what was Sauron's greatest army doing? The only thing that seems even remotely plausible would be attacking Lothlorien, but as it turned out this would have proved pointless, since for Lorien to be overcome a supernatural force (e.g. Sauron in person) would be required.

And if the Witch King wasn't commanding the greatest army, who was? Clearly the WK was Sauron's most capable servant (as stated by Gandalf, and evidenced by the WK's being put in charge of the hunt for the Ring). So why wasn't Sauron putting his top lieutenant in charge of his greatest army?

Sauron seems to have given the good guys some breathing room by not putting all those forces to particularly effective use...

[Fingolfin II]

I suppose Sauron assumed that the Witch-King would be strong enough to overcome Gondor, with not only his great fighting power, but his power of fear over the Gondorians. So with the King of the Nazgul in charge of the most important battle, he could then divert his remaining forces to other places (i.e. Erebor), even though some places like Lothlorien could not be penetrated by mere orcs alone.

Sauron underestimated the strength of the Men of Gondor, and he did not take into account Aragorn taking over the Corsair ships. He thought that he did not need a large number to break through Gondor's gates and the terror of the Witch-King would be enough and he was right- partially. What must be noted is that the force Sauron used in the siege of Gondor was not small by any means, and still far outnumbered the forces of the Gondorians. So, as you said, Angry Hill Troll, the point in that quote you gave was to show just how many troops Sauron had under his command.

As always, it is the underestimation of an army that has been the downfall (or at least, the partial downfall) to the 'bad guys'. Morgoth underestimated the forces of the Elves in the Nirnaeth and 'as for the valour of Men, Morgoth took no account of as yet' (or something to that effect); Sauron underestimated the valour of the defenders of Gondor, he didn't think that Aragorn would take his Corsair ships, and he certainly did not think that his great commander would be defeated-

'He is watching. He sees and hears much. His Nazgul are still aborad. They passed over this field ere the sunrise, though few of the weary and sleeping were aware of them. He studies the signs: the Sword that robbed him of his treasure re-made; the winds of fortune turning in our favour, and the defeat unlooked-for of his first assault; the fall of his great Captain.' (The Last Debate; Book 5- Chapter IX)

Saruman also underestimated the Ents and look what they did to him. An interesting thing in this quote is about the Nazgul "being abroad", no doubt commanding Sauron's other forces, being his most trusted servants. Alternatively, Sauron's 'greatest' army could have been held back in Mordor, for the time when Sauron himself was ready to come out and challenge the West (which he could do only with the Ring).

Here in the northward regions were the mines and forges, and the musterings of the long-planned war; and here the Dark Power, moving its armies like pieces on a board, was gathering them together.

So here we can see that Sauron was amassing his forces in Mordor, ready for the last, greatest assault on Gondor to destroy it utterly. However, this didn't happen, as Sauron's armies were defeated, as was his greatest Commander. Thus, the bulk of Sauron's forces were most likely gathered in Mordor itself, in readiness to destroy Gondor and the other free lands entirely.

[Lachwen]

...I always just assumed it meant that the greatest host was still waiting inside Mordor for their marching orders...

[Kuruharan]

A common interpretation of the line is that it refers to the army that marched out of the Black Gate and joined the army of the Witch King on the march to Minas Tirith.

[Morsul the Dark]

I always thought the Mouth of Sauron was his top Lt. ?

And Sauron probably had greater hosts coming from both the East and South

[Gurthang]

Originally Posted by Angry Hill Troll

It would make the most sense for Sauron to send his greatest force against Minas Tirith, which after all was the most populated and best fortified stronghold of his enemies, and also the closest to Mordor.

I'm not sure about that. I think the elves of Lorien were more populated and better defensively than Gondor. After all, the elves had been there for more than an age, most likely with a steadily increasing population. But in Minas Tirith, the bloodlines were weakening and the population declining.

It would make sense that Sauron would send a larger force against the wood-elves because they were a bigger threat. That is, they would have been, if they had gotten of their lazy butts and helped with the war. As it were, they sat there and watched Sauron waste three armies trying to assault them.

That was his key mistake. He spread his armies too much. If he had used his largest force, he could have easily crushed Gondor inspite of the Rohirrim and the Corsairs. He would have then taken back his ring, and only the will of the Valar could have saved the earth then.

[Rinfanawen]

Originally Posted by Gurthang
I'm not sure about that. I think the elves of Lorien were more populated and better defensively than Gondor. After all, the elves had been there for more than an age, most likely with a steadily increasing population. But in Minas Tirith, the bloodlines were weakening and the population declining.

For one, yes the Elves were increasing in number with age, but also many were leaving on ships across the sea. This happened quite often actually, for the Shirelings spotted Elves travelling through their woods a bit more times than a few, if I recall correctly. I'm sure that Elves of Lothlorien left Middle Earth just as often as those from Rivendell and Mirkwood. So the number would be down just the same.

It would make sense that Sauron would send a larger force against the wood-elves because they were a bigger threat. That is, they would have been, if they had gotten of their lazy butts and helped with the war. As it were, they sat there and watched Sauron waste three armies trying to assault them.

In my opinion, this was not really caused by the fact that the Elves were "lazy". I think that the Elves went through the same decision as the Hobbits and the Dwarves of Middle Earth. The battle was being fought on Man's ground. The Hobbits, as they more than often chose, wished to ignore all business outside of the Shire for that main purpose. It was outside of the Shire. The matters did not concern them.

This battle was fought against the armies of Men and Men alone...aside from a few small Hobbits. The Dwarves were not there either, because the matter did not involve Dwarves at that time. We cannot put all the blame on the Elves just because they happened to be a stronger force. The Elves made their choice, and they decided that it was not their battle to fight.

That was his key mistake. He spread his armies too much. If he had used his largest force, he could have easily crushed Gondor inspite of the Rohirrim and the Corsairs. He would have then taken back his ring, and only the will of the Valar could have saved the earth then.

Though this is a well though out point, Gurthang, there is no certainty that he would get his ring back. You must think that throughout this battle, Sauron's strongest armies were still within the walls of Mordor, as were two small Hobbits. Somehow Frodo and Sam seemed to slip by even Sauron's greatest. Now, think of how much easier it would have been if Mordor had been occupied by Sauron's 2nd greatest, while the best were out at battle. I think that Frodo and Sam still would have been able to make it...even if our heroes of the Pelennor Fields might have ended up being killed off and thus not able to destract the Eye at Frodo's defining hour at Mount Doom. Frodo still would have had a good chance at making it. But that's just what I think.

[Encaitare]

The Dwarves were not there either, because the matter did not involve Dwarves at that time.

Well, not at that particular battle, but if I remember correctly the Dwarves did their fair share of orc-killing while our heroes were running about trying to save Middle-earth

[Gil-Galad]

The Easterling attack on Erebor!

[NightKnight]

I don't think Sauron saw the need to send out all of his armies against Gondor. As has been said before, the army WK commanded outnumbered the gondorian one greatly, and the fear he would put into men was an extra bonus. Apart from that he had the corsairs to distract the people from the coast and he had sent an army over Cair Andros to ambush the rohirrim (which failed because of the druedain).
I don't think he thought WK could be defeated, that Aragorn would summon a long lost host, that the winds would turn, giving his enemies hope and speed, and that the rohirrim would be able to escape from the Cair Andros-army. So it was pretty much a bunch of lucky things that made Sauron lose that attack.

So great an army had never issued from that vale since the days of Isildur's might; no host so fell and strong in arms had yet assailed the Fords of Anduin; and yet it was but one and not the greatest of the hosts that Mordor now sent forth.

He did attack on several points at about the same time. Three attacks on Lorien, one on Mirkwood, one on Dale/Erebor, one on Rohan, and he still had a huge army left to surround the attackers at Morannon. I think that one was the largest one, to protect himself from attack.

[Angry Hill Troll]

Giving the Dwarves their due, Gandalf says the following in "The Quest of Erebor" in UT

Sauron could have done terrible harm in the North, while he defended Gondor, if King Brand and King Dáin had not stood in his path. When you think of the Great Battle of Pelennor, do not forget the Battle of Dale.