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

Chapter 169 Cruel battlefield

"Let's contact Peter Groh. If he doesn't come, the allied forces will fall apart..." Several sixth-tier combatants stood together and discussed in hushed tones. At the same time, they turned their gazes to Iovia, after all, she was the dragon warrior of the Star Elves, and this matter still required Iovia's approval.

“I’ll contact him. He’s fast at riding dragons.” Iovia sighed. Now only Peter Gro, whose combat strength was comparable to a sixth-tier fighter, could save the day. However, Iovia also hated Thranduil to the core. Five forks in the road? He really wanted to crack open the brain of the Woodland Elf Architect back then to see if he actually had such a good thing in his head… Five main roads at one entrance, how many forks would there be after that?
"Ugh……"

……

"Your Highness, I've arrived!" After receiving the magical communication, Peter Groh left his dragon mount and rushed to Iovia's aid.

"Welcome, great dragon knight!" Bard breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hello, Dragon Knight!" Bahrain also offered his respect.

"Welcome, Peter Groh!" Others offered their congratulations.

“It’s great that you’re here. We’ve been stuck here all night! We don’t know when the orc reinforcements will arrive, and we’re forced to stay here because we can’t divide our forces. Now that you’re here, we can start advancing along each route.” Roland breathed a sigh of relief.

“Let everyone eat! We’ll launch our attack after we’ve finished eating!” Roland suggested.

“That makes sense. We can’t drag this out any longer. I can already picture those damned giant crossbows waiting for us on the street corner!” Thranduil was at his wit’s end. Those giant crossbows had long since been moved to their original positions. There was no point in rushing now. It would be better to have a proper meal and then slowly launch an attack.

"Alright! Time to eat! I have jerky and cheese here! Just add some water and we can make a pot of thick, dwarven-style meat soup!" Balin excitedly patted the food belt on his back, which was full of jerky and cheese.

“God…” Éovia, Thranduil, and Valwy all grinned and quietly moved away from him. It was common knowledge that elves who loved nature were vegetarians, and this kind of strong-flavored meat was enough to make the elves keep their distance.

"Wow! The jerky tastes great!" Roland had been eating dwarven dried meat for a long time, and as soon as he took a bite, he knew it was the finest jerky.

"Hehehe, you have such good taste!" Bahrain exclaimed, giving a thumbs-up.

"..." The elves all frowned and moved away from the two of them.

Although it was called a meal, everyone just ate something haphazardly. The breadsticks, as hard as rocks, were enough to kill orcs with weapons. These well-developed soldiers sawed the bread into pieces like bricks and distributed them to the soldiers. They ate them raw with cold water and dried meat. The harsh scraping sound made Roland think they would use their teeth to scratch sparks out of the bread.

However, the officers and lords were treated much better. They gathered together to heat pots of water with fire-attribute battle qi and then ate them with cold bread and cheese. Apart from that, there was no difference between them.

It has to be said, the elves are truly elegant; even their battle rations are so distinctive! Unlike the bread, jerky, and cheese carried by humans and dwarves, the elves pulled out their own ration bags, and then pulled out…snacks? And then they even pulled out a few berries and nuts! Good heavens! They've practically come to the battlefield for a vacation. "Alright! Let's assign routes! Thranduil, you know this place well, find me a route where the knights can advance. Don't make me push the knights forward like infantry; at least let them get going." Roland patted the bits of meat and bread crumbs off his hands.
“Alright… then take the one in the middle. It leads directly to the Royal Palace. But be careful of the giant crossbows. There are several sections where they can almost completely block the street if set up.” Thranduil recalled.

“Okay, you’re familiar with this place, so assign them some too!” Roland said.

Finally, the allied forces mixed dwarves, elves, and humans together in a chaotic manner. Except for Roland leading the Lagrange soldiers along the central route, each of the other routes was allocated over 800 men and one Tier 6 warrior. Thranduil led the first route, the most winding and complex, with many places to ambush troops. Only Thranduil, as the host, was familiar with the terrain and could avoid being ambushed or betrayed by orcs. Eovia led the second route, which was unremarkable. Verway led the fourth route, where the buildings were very undulating, so attacks from higher ground needed to be guarded against. The fifth branch route was led by Peter Groh, which circled the edge of the city, close to a cliff. One side required little defense; Peter Groh only needed to ride his dragon around the city, while also monitoring whether the allied forces on the other routes had sent out distress signals.

"Knight Omske! I'm sorry to trouble you with this battle. We have the fewest men, but our fighting strength and resilience are the strongest! I believe no one can stop the combination of the Knights, the Royal Guard, and the Elnino Rangers!" Roland patted Omske on the shoulder.

“As you wish, Your Highness!” Omske nodded earnestly.

“I will walk in front, Your Highness. You should follow at the very back of the Knights. That way, the Knights can protect you, and the Royal Guards behind you can provide support at any time,” Omske thought for a moment.

"Okay!" Roland, who valued his life so much, naturally agreed "obediently."

"Warriors of Lagrang! Assemble! Let's kill these demons! For the King! For Lagrang! For our homeland! Charge!" Omske led the charge.

"Kill!" Amidst shouts of battle, the allied forces surged into the eerie ancient city like a tidal wave. The morning sunlight still shone on the pale stone walls and withered vines, making the entire city appear utterly desolate and deathly silent. It was as if all the orcs had died overnight; not a single ghost was to be seen.

However, as the allied forces penetrated deeper into Dolgoth, they inevitably encountered the orcs hiding among them. The first to engage were indeed Thranduil's group. As he and his men cleared the way from house to house, they came upon the orcs in a hidden stone wall. About twenty or thirty orcs leaped out and fought them… Three seconds later, the dwarves withdrew their blood-stained spears, the elves lowered their longbows, and the humans shook the blood off their longswords…

"Nothing at all!" Thranduil spat dismissively. Although his proud mental probing abilities were limited by the omnipresent shadow power here, he could still detect approaching enemies using his memory and keen hearing.

"Charge!" Omske swung his lance, sending two mangled orc corpses flying. Soon, the orcs blocking their path were all wiped out.

"Less than a hundred people," Omske estimated conservatively, looking at the corpses on the ground.

"God, we've only come in less than a hundred meters and someone's already sniping us. I wonder how the others are doing," Roland said worriedly. Although he had taken down these orcs in no time thanks to his exceptional individual combat skills, the other allied forces didn't have such overpowered, almost bug-like units as the Royal Guard and the Knights.

The battle was destined to be exceptionally arduous and difficult...

(End of this chapter)