Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter. Sorry it took so long.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 9- Landings at Umbar

(X + 38 days)

As the sun begins to rise over Middle-Earth, the southern region of the Bay of Belfalas is dotted with hundreds of ships, all of which are arranged around the cove leading to the haven of Umbar. The invasion of the haven is about to begin.

Aboard the bridge of the South Dakota, Rear Admiral Shafroth watches as the coastline approaches. Halsey had detached five of his eight fast battleships from the rest of the fleet under Shafroth's command, along with the Guam and 4 light cruisers to bombard Umbar while a strike force of over 200 Helldivers and Avengers, accompanied by 60 Hellcats, will launch strikes against other targets, primarily targets that are too risky to be targeted by shellfire. The three Iowas, including Halsey's flagship New Jersey, remained with the rest of the fleet.

From his position on the bridge, Shafroth lowers his binoculars. "Distance to the shore?" he calls out.

"Admiral, navigation reports distance to shoreline 14 miles," one of the officers on the bridge calls back after a few seconds.

"Signal all ships. Reduce speed to 5 knots and begin turn to port to assume bombardment positions," Shafroth orders.

The order is flashed out by signal lamp, and all ships in the bombardment force begin a turn to port to bring their full broadside to bear. In Umbar itself, the Numenorean settlers can see the ships out in the cove in the pre-dawn light. However, none of them realize the danger they are now in.

It doesn't take long for the bombardment force to complete its turn, forming up into a long line. Once Shafroth confirms all his ships are in position, he gives the order: "Open fire."

Seconds later, the South Dakota's 16 inch guns fire. The rest of the ships see this, and in a matter of seconds, they begin firing as well.

In Umbar, the people hear the distant booms of the guns, and some see the fireballs appearing next to the ships. Only seconds later, shells begin to crash down long the harborfront, explosions tearing through structures along the harborfront. A number of shells obliterate all of the ships currently tied up to the docks. In seconds, the entire city is awake and people are running in fear.

The battleships and cruisers continue the bombardment as the strike aircraft head for their targets. Citizens are trying to run for cover, but as Hellcats streak low over the city and Helldivers begin their dives, it feels like there is nowhere to run.

Out at sea, behind the bombardment force, transports carrying troops of the VII Corps are making their way towards shore. On the decks of the ships, troops are watching the explosions taking place. In their hearts, the men are hoping this landing will be just as easy as the landings on Numenor.

The bombardment lasts for about 20 minutes before the ships cease fire. The battle line then begins to disperse to allow the troop transports through, but keep at least some of their guns trained on the shore.

As the troop ships approach the shore, some ashore are watching with increasing nervousness as the ships approach. Although they don't recognize what kind of ships these could be, it's not too difficult to imagine their purpose after they were just attacked. Horns begin to blow, signalling soldiers in the city to marshall to arms to resist the coming invasion.

Finally, the first landing ships reach the docks. Boarding ramps begin to be put over the side, and soldiers of the 33rd Infantry Division storm over the sides of the ships, yelling war cries as they hit land at last.

Soldiers begin to mass along the docks of Umbar, forming a protective line against any advance towards the docks as more and more troops disembark from the the minutes pass by, with the soldiers only moving slowly away from the docks to expand their perimeter, the Numenoreans begin to think that they might be able to launch a pre-emptive counterattack and drive these mysterious enemies back into the sea.

In a matter of minutes, hundreds of Numenorean warriors that had hastily assembled launch a sudden charge out of the main city towards the docks. However, not having received word of the invasion of their homeland, these Numenoreans have no idea what they are facing. And even though the soldiers have not yet brought ashore any tanks or heavy artillery, they are far from defenseless.

Within a few seconds, hundreds of soldiers begin firing their rifles at the incoming Numenoreans. Some of the soldiers are also equipped with Stinger light machine guns, while others have set up a few Browning heavy machine guns to defend the line. A hail of bullets slices into the ranks of the Numenoreans as they charge towards the docks. Blood is flying everywhere and the screams of dying warriors echoes along the harbor front as hundreds of warriors are killed. Those not immediately killed are frozen in shock for a moment before they begin to flee in panic. They have never imagined an enemy that could kill hundreds of their best enemies from such a range in the space of a few seconds. The survivors immediately turn tail and run back into the streets of the city for cover.

However, it is not so easy for them to escape. A handful of Hellcats are still patrolling over the city, and a few pursue the fleeing soldiers, strafing them with their machine guns until the soldiers are able to find cover in narrower streets where strafing becomes too risky.

While the Hellcats continue to circle, looking for any soldiers trying to approach the docks while troops continue to land. By now, heavier ships carrying the 78th Infantry is moving to a landing position just outside the city. The LSTs are able to move into the shallows and drop their loading ramps. M4 Shermans and other vehicles begin to roll out of the ships and onto the shore, troops wading ashore through the waves alongside their vehicles.

Lookouts in the towers around the edge of the main city quickly realize the situation they are in. One division has landed directly into the town, while another has landed to the north-west of the main city. As soldiers are driving directly into the city, thousands more will be flanking the city from the north and cut off the city.

Umbar is slowly being surrounded, and it won't be much longer before the city falls. And the rest of the haven after it.

(That evening)

As night is beginning to fall over the southern lands of Middle-Earth, a tense ease has settled over Umbar. Combat has ceased for the night, and the main city is under American control.

Out at sea, General Krueger is aboard the heavy cruiser Boston, monitoring radio reports coming in from the forces ashore. The landing had been a great success. The VII Corps had been fully landed ashore within the first few hours. The VIII Corps had since landed as well, and the III Corps was going to be unloaded during the night.

Krueger is feeling very pleased with the invasion's progress. The city of Umbar had been seized with only 11 American casualties and minimal damage to the city. Troops of the 33rd Infantry were enforcing marshall law in the city as the rest of the troops ashore were forming a defensive perimeter around the city and preparing to push and finish seizing the rest of wider Umbar.

Krueger has also been paying attention to messages coming in from the 7th Fleet. They are not far from Lindon, and will be landing the X Corps tomorrow, after which the corps will make contact with Gil-Galad and the Noldor. With American forces soon to be on both ends of Middle-Earth, Sauron is in a dangerous position as he is surely trying to regather his forces after his tenure in Numenor. If things move according to plan, within a few months, the Americans and their allies will be able to attack Mordor directly, and put an end to Sauron.

And, I'll end there. I know this was a short one, but next one will be a little longer.

Next chapter will hopefully be up soon. Until it is, please leave a review, and stay tuned!