How could the Nazgul take Minas Morgul?

[CaptainofDespair]

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

Are you starting to see where we are coming from here?

No. You offered very little support for your own argument. I do not think that you can support the idea of a 'Haunting' without going into the unreasonable.

Nonsense. It was their river and they were a river people.

As for orcs and other baddies, there were no orcs or other baddies in that particular area at the time. That is part of why we are finding it so hard to accept that the Witch-king just created an army out of nothing and then laid siege for two years unopposed.

Just because they are a river people does not mean there are inherent difficulties in hauling supplies over water. The relatively dry lands of Rhun are more easily crossed in general.

I will not say that weather and terrain problems cannot cause problems, but I find it highly unlikely that they could not be fixed. And especially by a people like the Easterlings, who would most likely be able to cope with such set-backs. Rhun is vast, as is Mordor. It would not be hard to..."go around"...the obstacles.

As for there being no orcs or other baddies:

I'm not saying they were naturally there. Once the siege starts, the Witch-King could easily dispatch units to the periphery of his theater of war to way-lay the Gondorians who would be attempting to reach Ithil. And if the Haradrim are part of this, all the easier to acquire good troops for this sort of action, as well as any supplies they bring to the table.

And really, if you think that I'm saying that the Wiki created an army out of nothing and laid siege unopposed, you have not been reading what I'm posting. If that is the case, then it may be useless to debate this further.

I have never said that the Wiki created an army out of nothing, nor that he went unopposed. Easterlings, Haradrim, orcs...they do have other homes than just Mordor. It's not hard to see the Witch-King or Khamul conscripting these groups into combat. What I find hard to believe is that anyone would think that the Witch-King went into this without planning this out ahead of time.

The Witch-King certainly would not have gone unopposed at Ithil. The Gondorians would send troops. But, without any proper intelligence coming out of the city, it would be very difficult to gauge the strength of the enemy force. Thus, at least for the first few months, the Gondorians may not have had the intelligence they needed to field a force capable of defeating the Witch-King. Another factor is that the King and his commanders may have felt Ithil might not be the full attack. Being the defender, they could not afford to make a mistake that could not only lose Ithil, but other important fortresses. While such a situation may not have happened, they would have to plan for it. Thus, they could not send the fullness of their might against the Wiki. Just one of many potential factors that may have hindered Gondor's response to the Ithil situation.

Now, if you continue to misinterpret my posts, then you may consider yourself alone in continuing this discussion.