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

Chapter 177 Going Home
"King Roland, how is the situation?" JK asked Iovia and Thranduil enviously, looking at the Lagrange army whose numbers had not decreased at all. After all, it was the iron cans that the elves dreamed of!

"It's alright, we shouldn't be too far from the Royal Palace. It's a pity that Peter Gross came to inform us to evacuate, otherwise we could still have taken this city!" Roland said with some regret.

“There’s no way around it. If we can’t clear out half the city, we can’t hold onto even half of it with our current forces!” Iovia patted Thranduil on the shoulder to comfort him.

"Wait for Verwy and the others. We'll withdraw once they're all here. Although we didn't retake the city, we inflicted terrible casualties on the orcs. Overall, we're the victors," Roland said after looking at the remaining numbers of the allied forces. From the allied perspective, this operation was indeed a small success. Roland didn't know the extent of the losses suffered by the allied forces led by Verwy and Peter Gro, but the allied forces led by Thranduil and Eovia had barely suffered any losses. Each allied force now maintained around 700 men, while the orcs killed by the allied forces this time numbered well over ten thousand.

Amidst the clanging of armor and weapons, Verway appeared before everyone with a group of soldiers, while Peter Gros rode a dragon, circling in the sky.

"They're just retreating like that?" Verway asked in surprise as he rushed over.

“I’ve taken a look, and the city’s defenses are still usable. We can use this time to set up defenses to hold off these reinforcements!” Verway pointed to the well-equipped city defense facilities in front of him.

“But we haven’t cleared out the orcs in the city yet, and most importantly, the Ringwraiths are still lurking there. If we show any weakness, they will deliver a fatal blow!” Iovia explained.

“Retreat! We need to be responsible for our respective countries. We cannot let this elite allied army be destroyed because of a sliver of hope!” Thranduil said with a deep breath, feeling helpless. He was the one who was in the most pain among them, having his hopes ruthlessly shattered just when victory was in sight.

"Form ranks and retreat! Quickly! The orc army is about to kick our asses! Get out of here as fast as you can!" Balin's loud voice echoed in the middle of the ranks.

"Warriors of Lagrange, let's go!" Roland spurred his horse and caught up with the main force.

"Get across the bridge quickly! Don't stop!" the Royal Guards shouted to each other, their memories of the recent ambush by the Orcs still fresh in their minds.

"Quick! Speed ​​up!" Verway stood at the bridgehead, longbow in hand, and shot down the orcs who dared to peek out and give chase with deadly accuracy.

"Shield formation! Protect the bridgehead exit!" Balin, a veteran of countless battles, immediately commanded the dwarves to form a shield formation around the bridgehead, a hundred meters away, to prevent the exit from being blocked.

"Follow me!" Bard led the soldiers of the River Valley Kingdom at the forefront, followed by the army of the Kingdom of Akvia, led by White Wing. As the weaker force in the allied army, they were the first to withdraw from the battlefield. Then, the Star Elves of Singrey followed them. By the time they retreated into the jungle, the orc reinforcements had just appeared on the horizon...

"Let's retreat!" Peter Gro said to the remaining sixth-tier professionals after assessing the distance between himself and the orcs.

"Knights! Forward!" Roland spurred his warhorse across the stone bridge first, followed by the knights who crossed in turn and left with Roland.

"Let's go!" Thranduil, who was at the back, took a deep look at Dolgoth's towering figure, sighed softly, and reluctantly followed the others.

"...They didn't catch up, did they, Peter?" Iovia looked up at Peter Gro, who had just landed with a thud. Peter Gro had just ridden his dragon to scout out the orc reinforcements' movements.

“The orcs didn’t give chase, but we might be in trouble later…” Peter Groh frowned.

"What's wrong? Could it be..." Iovia's expression also changed drastically.

“They are Orcs from Mordor! I recognize their totems and banners! I’ll never forget them! There are probably 20,000 Orcs in Dolgodor… and I sensed the presence of a fourth Ringwraith…” Peter Grove said solemnly.

"...Damn it...We sacrificed so many of our people...We gathered the allied forces...We paid such a high price! And now we're back to square one?" Before Iovia could say anything, Thranduil roared, his eyes bloodshot!
“Your Highness, calm down. We haven’t lost, and they haven’t won either. Believe that we will be the ultimate victors! We will fight back!” Bard patted Thranduil on the shoulder to comfort him.

"Yes!" Thranduil nodded and decisively followed the others away.

……

"Sigh... what's the point of fighting all this time?" Bai Yi sighed. The loss of more than a dozen soldiers made him extremely upset, and the already impoverished country was now in even worse shape.

"At least you wiped out a group of orcs, didn't you?" Bard smiled gently at him. As the king of the Valley Kingdom, he had an innate kingly aura. His noble temperament was hard to hide, and even Whitewing, who was also a king, was affected by him. His smile and voice could always infect those around him.

“Okay, you have a point, but I don’t think the deaths of those orcs will cause any trouble for the evil faction. After all, orcs are very fertile, aren’t they?” Bai Yi smiled bitterly. As everyone knows, the orcs’ terrifying reproductive ability is their capital for dominating the continent and fighting against other races.

“Maybe, but one day we’ll wipe them all out, maybe even our descendants!” Bard shrugged.

"You're so optimistic..." Bai Yi's lips curled up.

"How is Thorin? Is our King of the Mountain still as stingy and stubborn as before? Just like... Oak Shield!" Roland laughed heartily.

"Thank you for your concern. Although Prince Thorin remains stubborn, he is by no means stingy. He is absolutely the most enthusiastic and generous to his friends, the dwarves!" Balin bowed slightly to Roland.

"Yes, remember to give him my regards. And... I look forward to seeing you outside Swiftstream City this summer with your expeditionary force, since I still need your payment to make a living!" Roland joked.

“Of course! I swear by my beard and my ancestor Turin! Our determination and desire to reclaim Qazadoom are as unwavering as the Elves’ reclaim of Dolgodot!” Balin said solemnly.

“Of course, I have no doubt about it!” Roland nodded. He trusted Balin, the future King of Moria, completely. After all, taking only a few dozen dwarves to reclaim Moria was something most people wouldn't do… However, in this world, Balin shouldn't be so poor as to lead only 40-odd men on an expedition. He could probably muster at least several hundred dwarves to fight, and he could easily muster over a thousand men himself. Taking over a Moria mine? A piece of cake! What are those Balrogs? Fire Demons? Fiery Demons! They'll all be crushed into a sandwich! How about some Lagrange Dragon Knights?
(End of this chapter)