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

Chapter 167 Entering the City
"Clear the obstacles!" While the heavy crossbowmen were busy dealing with the hunters, the Royal Guards were finally able to clear the corpses in front of them.

"Quick! Push it down!" Several Royal Guards hiding behind the shield wall thrust their spears into the ogre's corpse and then lifted it up, causing the massive ogre to tumble to the ground.

"Crouch down! Defend!" A shrill voice rang out, and a guard saw a few flashes of cold light in the distance.

"clang!"

"boom!"

"Boom!"

Sure enough, in the blink of an eye, three crossbow bolts pierced the air and struck the shield wall hard. Instantly, the guards behind the shield wall staggered, and the parts that were hit shook violently several times.

"Damn it! (A magical annual herb) It's impossible to cross!" The guards, once again stranded on the bridge, cursed loudly.

"Hold your ground! Move slowly!" The royal guards were caught in a dilemma, and could only move forward slowly, hoping to get closer to the next ogre corpse.

"They're moving forward!" Roland exclaimed excitedly, pointing to the Royal Guards who were crawling along the bridge at a snail's pace.

"Okay! Cover them!" Iovia narrowed her eyes and once again fought desperately against the giant crossbowmen opposite her.

……

"The third one! Four more!" The leading royal guard wiped the sweat from his brow and exhaled a breath of stale air.

"Their attack is even more ferocious!" The Royal Guards sensed the sounds outside their shield wall intensifying once again.

"Don't worry! They can't break through our defenses! We're a mobile Great Wall made up of a hundred Shield Wall skills stacked together. Unless they bring out a real large Dragon Slayer Crossbow, they'll never be able to break through our defenses. Of course... pushing them down doesn't count!" That last humorous remark made the Royal Guards laugh despite their predicament.

"Hold on! Don't let your guard down! Our men are suppressing them! They won't be smug for long!" The Royal Guards cheered each other on.

……

"Damn it! I should have sent the Holy Knights to charge in! They couldn't stop our knights' charge at all!" Roland was furious as he watched the Royal Guards crawling along the stone bridge.

“You’re telling me the Knights can charge in this little space? Even a peasant could knock a knight off his horse with a pitchfork if he’s slow!” Iovia said dramatically, pointing to the narrow bridge in front of Roland.

“But if a Ringwraith were blocking the door, that would be a different story…” Omsk grinned.

"Wait... why don't you rush in first?" Roland suddenly realized that these sixth-tier combatants were theoretically the easiest to break through.

“Hey! They’re either nobles or kings, they can’t afford to waste time on something as low-level as scouting. If the Ringwraiths are lying in ambush there, no one can withstand a frontal attack from three Ringwraiths,” Bard quickly put his arm around Roland and whispered.

"This..." Roland was stunned for a moment before he realized that these were not the NPC data characters in the Lord of the Rings game. They were living, breathing beings. As the elite of Middle-earth, they had their own pride and value. The scene of a player lord directly sending out a sixth-tier combatant to lead the charge and push forward, like in the game, was difficult to achieve in the real Middle-earth. Unless it was a life-or-death crisis, no noble would be willing to sacrifice themselves, after all, their lives were much more precious than those of ordinary soldiers.

“King Roland, we cannot risk an ambush by the Ringwraiths by forcing our way into the city,” Iovia explained, frowning.

“Hey, kid, you need to learn to take on the role of a king. War isn’t a simple math problem; there are many aspects to consider.” Thranduil said meaningfully. In his eyes, Roland was simply being too hot-blooded. If he had reached Thranduil’s level, he would have understood that when a qualified ruler sacrifices a portion of the people to achieve his goals, that is the right thing to do. Rolling up his sleeves and personally taking action depends on the situation. It is unwise for a ruler to put himself in danger at any time, unless he has no other choice… Thranduil, who had lived for thousands of years, understood this very clearly.

"..." Omske closed his eyes, feeling extremely embarrassed. His lord, his king... it seemed he hadn't yet entered the role a king should play; his mindset was still that of a minor lord commanding hundreds of people.

"Hmph..." Roland sighed. To be honest, having grown up in modern times and living a peaceful life, Roland simply couldn't bring himself to sacrifice his subordinates so easily to achieve his goals, something that could have been avoided...

"We can't wait any longer!" Roland gritted his teeth, looking at the swaying shield wall. He knew all too well how exhausting it was for the Royal Guards, clad in their heavy armor and enduring attacks from giant crossbows powerful enough to pierce dragon scales. If they didn't find a way soon, they would be defeated piecemeal. The enemies in Dolgodri had become cunning; they concentrated their crossbows, attacking only the frontmost areas. Now, the Royal Guards on the other side were less than an arm's length from the bridge. "Assemble the Knights!" Roland roared at Omske.

“Your Highness…” Omsk was taken aback.

"Execute the order!" Roland narrowed his eyes, and an aura of pressure emanating from King Lagrange spread out.

"Gather! Knights of the Order! Gather!" Omsk roared.

"Knights! Our brothers are trapped on the bridge, unable to advance an inch, and are about to be shot off the cliff by the orcs! Can we allow this?!"

"No!" the Lagrange Knights of the Holy Light Knights cried out at the top of their lungs.

"Very good! For the glory of the knights! Charge!" Roland raised his Dragon Slayer Sword and pointed it towards the bridgehead.

"kill!"

"For the glory of knights!"

"Long live Lagrange!"

"Are they insane?" Iovia looked in horror at the knights rushing toward the narrow stone bridge.

"They're throwing their lives away!" Thranduil's expression changed drastically.

"Roland! You can't do this! You're making them commit suicide!" Bard shouted angrily at the galloping knights.

"Oh! Beard on top!" The dwarves covered their eyes.

“Madman!” Bai Yi murmured.

"Your Highness... risk it!" Omsk tried to stop Roland, but how could he possibly stop Roland who was charging forward with the team? The Knights under the Glory skill - invincible! Seeing that there was no hope of stopping him, Omsk gritted his teeth, accelerated and rushed forward, instantly overtaking everyone to become the first.

"Entwining Vine!" Roland suddenly tore open a scroll, releasing a wood-based war spell stored within.

Thick, python-like vines grew from beneath their feet, instantly wrapping around the stone bridge and following the knights' charge, before bypassing the royal guards blocking their path and spreading to the other side.

"Kill!" Seeing this, Omske breathed a sigh of relief and instantly sensed an opportunity. He took the lead and rushed onto the vine-covered path towards the other side.

"Charge!" Bard's eyes widened.

"Kill! Charge in! Take Dolgodor!" Thranduil was also shocked by this move. Good heavens! He started with war magic!
"Kill! Enter the city!"

……

"clang!"

"Boom!"

Several crossbow bolts whistled through the air, but the knights in their glorious state easily deflected them without even slowing them down. In just a few seconds, Omsk was the first to step onto the land across the bridge and officially stand before the city of Dolgodo.

(End of this chapter)