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

Chapter 173 Go Forward!

"As expected, there's a conspiracy..." Gan Xia said helplessly, looking at the orc army surging in from behind and in front.

"By the Dragon God! You just killed so many orcs, and you still haven't wiped them all out?" Omsk's eyes widened.

"Give up. They're like rats; they can crawl out of any crack in the ground." Roland looked helplessly at the surging orcs.

"Damn it! Knights, prepare!" Omske rode up to the front of the formation.

"Your Highness! Those bastards behind are yours! Lead the Royal Guard and the Elnino Rangers to hold the line! Wait for us to return!" Omske looked at the surging orcish crowds on both sides and spoke helplessly. The sparsely populated Lagrang army was now somewhat overwhelmed.

"Protect the King!" Omske shouted, then drew his gun and led the charge.

"Form ranks! Shield wall!" The Royal Guards demonstrated the correct way to deploy turtle-style infantry.

The massive shield spikes were slammed into the ground, and the shields were pressed together to form a wall blocking both ends of the street. Roland was pulled off his warhorse by Elnino the Ranger. Roland now stood out conspicuously in the crowd, as such a tall target was simply a living target.

"Form ranks and block! Watch both flanks!" The Royal Guards vigilantly scanned their surroundings, their spears pointing diagonally towards the sky.

"My God! They've climbed over the wall!" a Royal Guard suddenly exclaimed.

Sure enough, orcs kept vaulting over the buildings on both sides and leaping down to pounce on Roland and his group.

"Kill them!" The Elnino rangers fiercely drew their rune blades and slashed at the orcs. The orcs were instantly stunned by these ferocious ranged warriors; they thought that charging into this group of leather-armored humans would lead to a massacre... The massacre happened, but the target was them...

The sharp rune blade slashed down, and an ugly head flew into the air. Dark purple blood spurted several meters high. The headless corpse lurched forward a few steps due to inertia before collapsing to the ground, twitching weakly for a moment before gradually growing cold.

"Kill them all! Don't let them breach our defenses!" Roland said anxiously. Although the Elnino Rangers' melee abilities were monstrous, their light armor made them vulnerable to the Orcs' heavy weapons. While the Orcs couldn't easily penetrate their dragonhide armor, dragonhide's defense was ultimately inferior to dragon scales. The magic-resistant dragonhide offered limited protection against the Orcs' club-like heavy weapons.

"Form ranks! Shrink formation!" While blocking the charging orcs, the Royal Guards did not forget to retreat slowly. Soon, the Royal Guards on both sides formed a shield wall and joined together, closing the last opening.

"Quickly clear out the enemies inside! Prepare to engage!" Roland glanced at the few pitiful orcs surrounded in the formation. "Bang! Swoosh!" The first sound was the sound of a rune blade slicing through an orc's weapon, the second was the sound of flesh being cut. The remaining orcs were quickly torn to pieces by the Elnino rangers.

"Elnino Rangers! Watch the flanks! Enemies could appear on either side at any moment by scaling the walls! Shoot them down on the walls before they come down! Don't give them any chance!" Roland roared. Although the circular formation formed by the Royal Guards and Elnino Rangers was impregnable, in this narrow terrain, enemies could descend from the sky to attack their flanks.

"Don't panic! Maintain formation! Hold off the attack! They are nothing but armed beasts! You are the most elite infantry of Lagrang! Do not be afraid! Do not retreat! Let their blood and heads forge your glory!" Roland gripped the Dragon Slayer Sword as he surveyed the crowd and loudly encouraged his troops. He knew that if they were surrounded and their morale plummeted, they would face the risk of collapse.

"They must have tunnels! Damn it! These rats are impossible to guard against!" Roland cursed, and casually thrust his sword into the chest of an orc. He really couldn't understand why these tall and strong orcs loved to burrow.
"You like drilling, huh? I'll make sure you all sleep in the ground forever today!" Roland roared. The scene before and behind him, even though he had experienced the Battle of Lonely Mountain, filled him with despair. The streets in front and behind were completely filled with orcs, and the buildings on both sides were covered with orcs. The Elnino Ranger had already fired his arrows fast enough, but he still couldn't stop the orcs' determination to scale the walls and attack from both sides. So they simply stopped aiming and just fired as soon as they drew their bows. They were bound to hit something eventually.

"Our space is being compressed!" the Royal Guards cried out in pain, feeling the pressure coming from all directions. Even the tower shields embedded in the ground were being pushed sideways! The Royal Guards now only needed to extend their spears without even needing to thrust them, as orcs would come crashing into them on their own. Each spear was laden with several corpses, and the heavy corpses made it difficult for the Royal Guards to pull their spears back.

"Prepare for the shield wall charge! They're almost in!" a Royal Guard roared. At the rear, where the most orcs were, an orc had already stepped over his comrades to get into the circle, but Elnino Ranger quickly chopped it down with a single strike.

"Shield Wall Charge!" the Royal Guard roared. Battle aura burst forth from their bodies, the surging energy directly knocking over the foremost orcs. The shockwave ripped through their flesh, shattered their weapons, and instantly cleared the area within three meters of the entire circular formation!
"Retract! Watch out for a counterattack! Watch out for the corpses under your feet! Don't fall!" With Roland's command, the entire circular formation shrank once again.

The orcs quickly surrounded them again, completely sealing them off, as if nothing had happened.

"Prepare to stab!" Roland thought to himself as he watched these crazed orcs and decided to try something new.

"Thrust!" Roland gave the order, and the Royal Guards thrust out their spears, which were infused with battle energy. The battle energy compressed within the spears suddenly burst forth, and 200 bloody streaks, each 10 meters long, appeared before Roland's eyes.

"The effect is outstanding!" Roland exclaimed.

"Your Highness, we have to go! This fighting is too exhausting!" the Royal Guards shouted to Roland. The intense combat was rapidly draining their stamina. It wasn't obvious yet, but they might not even be able to lift their shields in a moment.

"Advance! Rear guard, keep up! Vanguard, advance!" Roland swung his sword in the direction where the Holy Knights and Omske had disappeared. He couldn't leave the Holy Knights alone here, especially with Omske there. Even if three Ringwraiths attacked them from both sides, they could still retreat. Roland decided to lead his men forward. The only way to successfully break through the orcs behind them was through the Knights' terrifying impact. If Roland led his infantry to fight them head-on, they would be exhausted. After all, their numbers were enough to make Roland's group of idiots cry. At this moment, King Lagrange deeply understood what it meant for quantitative change to lead to qualitative change!

"Forward! Advance!" Roland roared. He was even mentally prepared for the first time that some high-level professionals would be killed. This battle would be more arduous than any he had ever fought before.

(End of this chapter)