The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 164 Hidden dangers
"Crack, crack~" The sound of armor plates rubbing together echoed in the dark forest. Dwarven warriors, clad in heavy plate armor and wielding large dwarven shields, formed small circles, surrounding elven rangers and archers.

"Watch out for the canopy!" Roland reminded him, looking up at the dense, ancient tree.

"Watch out for the tree canopy! Beware of orc attacks!" Roland's command was immediately relayed by the person beside him.

In fact, Roland was very prescient. Sure enough, some of the troops discovered the orcs hiding in the treetops as they advanced. They were pressed against the tree trunks, holding short blades, quietly waiting for the allied soldiers to pass by their feet, and then leaping down...

However, after Roland's reminder, the orcs' little tricks were nothing short of laughable in the face of the prepared allied forces. Not only were they as bright as light bulbs to the perception of sixth-tier professionals, but even the elves in the allied forces could spot the orcs hiding in the treetops with their sharp eyes and easily shoot down those "targets".

The journey was fraught with danger but ultimately safe. Small groups of orcs harassed the coalition almost constantly, but no large-scale battles occurred. It can be said that the orcs successfully used a small force to hold back the coalition's movements.

"Oh God! Can't these filthy scum come out and fight fair and square?" Verway said in agony after just beheading an orc. He was fed up with these scattered orcs! They were either hiding in the treetops or in burrows, waiting to ambush the allied soldiers.

"They're trying to stall us!" Omske said helplessly, clutching his chest.

"Huh? Does that mean they'll have reinforcements?" Roland was taken aback.

“Even if reinforcements arrive, they won’t be here anytime soon. Right now, the only ones who can support them besides the Misty Mountains are Mordor! I think they’re probably trying to consolidate their forces and hold the Dolgodor Fortress while waiting for reinforcements. And consolidating their defenses and gathering soldiers… you know, that takes time.” Omsk shrugged.

"Then what are we waiting for! Let's charge straight there! We can't let them gather their forces!" Thranduil narrowed his eyes. If the Ringwraiths were to gather all the scattered orcs and hold Dolgoth, the allied forces really wouldn't have a good way to capture that fortress.

“It’s too late. They should have already gathered a lot of soldiers. A reckless charge now will be of no use. Let’s proceed cautiously and at least prevent them from launching another sneak attack.” Roland said, glancing at Iovia beside him.

"Ahem! What's wrong with your eyes..." Iovia said awkwardly, seemingly realizing she was the only one here who had been betrayed twice...

……

“Your Highness…” Omsk approached Roland, seemingly wanting to say something but then hesitated.

"What's wrong?" Roland asked quietly, seeing that no one was paying attention to them.

"What do you think of the coalition's operation?" Omske asked Roland seriously.

"What do you think? What's wrong? Did you find something amiss?" Roland's expression also turned serious. Although he hadn't brought many soldiers this time, they were definitely the elite troops of the Kingdom of Lagrang. Losing even one soldier would make Roland feel heartbroken for half a day. If they were to capsize in a ditch, Roland said he might as well go to the rooftop and queue up to start over.

"Our objective this time is to capture Dolgodo, but our forces are insufficient to support our conquest!" Omske said slowly.

"How could that be? We have four Tier 4 warriors, plus this army composed entirely of professionals. How could we possibly fail to break through Dolgodo?" Roland breathed a sigh of relief. So this was the problem that Omske was worried about.

“But the enemy has three Ringwraiths! And the Breath of Death, who excels at large-scale melee combat, is waiting for us there!” Omsk said pessimistically. “But can you stop them?” Roland asked, looking at Omsk.

“But the Ringwraiths may not necessarily engage us directly. Knowing the terrain well, they can easily avoid us and slaughter the lower-ranking soldiers! It’s not that I’m pessimistic, Your Highness! As the highest fighting force of the Kingdom of Lagrange, I need to be responsible for you and the other soldiers who are going to war!” Omske said firmly.

“Then what do we do? Tell them? And then the allied forces turn back? They won’t agree… Thranduil dreams of returning here; Eovia, on the other hand, wants revenge, he wants to kill all the creatures of the dark faction here.” Roland fell silent after speaking.

"What they do is none of my business. I just hope that you won't charge too far ahead and will lead our men to drive away the enemies around you. That way, even if something happens, our soldiers will be enough to hold out until I return to reinforce you!" Omske said in a low voice.

"Hmm... that's settled then. It would be great if we could successfully capture Dolgodo, but if anything goes wrong, I will lead the soldiers to hold the line and wait for your return!" Roland nodded in agreement. Once the fighting started, Omsk would definitely not stay in the rear, so he was destined to distance himself from the Lagrange army. What Roland had to do was protect himself before Omsk arrived.

"Omske! Give the elf a reminder!" Roland called out to Omske, who was about to leave. Regardless of whether the elf's arrogance would allow him to listen, Roland, as an ally, decided to give him a reminder.

……

"Roland, do you really think so?" Verway entered Roland's tent, lifted the curtain, and strode in.

"Draw the curtains tight, it's windy at night!" Roland rolled his eyes and said helplessly.

"Stop interrupting me and answer me properly!" Verway persisted.

“You already knew the answer in your heart before you came, didn’t you?” Roland said to him meaningfully.

“It’s not just you; Iovia and Thranduil should understand as well, but they just don’t want to admit it,” Roland continued calmly.

“You mean… Dolgodo is a huge trap!” Vervey said with difficulty.

"A trap? Not really, it's more like a meat grinder. We might be able to take it over, but that depends on how many casualties you elves are willing to pay," Bard said bluntly as he and Whitewing arrived.

"Don't look at me like that. We can't possibly risk everything for the elven city; that wouldn't do us any good. Dolgodo is a threat to us, but not fatal," White Wing sighed and spoke the truth.

“I understand…” Verway said dejectedly. He knew that humans would not pay a heavy price to reclaim Dolgodor. Just as Whitewing said, Dolgodor was only a hidden danger and not fatal at all. The deadly orc army had already been crushed at the foot of Lonely Mountain. Faced with Dolgodor, which was not necessarily to be eliminated, humans and dwarves were naturally unwilling to pay the price for the elves.

“I bet if Balin knew about this, he would turn around and leave with the dwarves…” Bard scratched his head in distress. The dwarves were certainly willing to fight the orcs to the death, but only when necessary. If fighting for the elves would result in heavy casualties, the dwarves would not hesitate to withdraw, after all, the relationship between the two races was not exactly good…

"Let's take it one step at a time. Right now, we can only hope that the battle for Dolgodo will be easier, otherwise the allied forces will disband, and the tentacles of evil will continue to spread across this land." Roland rubbed his temples.

(End of this chapter)