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

Chapter 186 Lulong Fortress
Two days later, Caslow and his group finally returned.

"How's the situation?" Roland asked Renault, who had returned first, with a bored expression.

"Not too bad, not too bad. Most of the civilians have been found, but those who weren't caught are probably in grave danger. After all, we've already gone deep into the Dark Forest and engaged the orc outposts!" Renault sighed.

"How much did Akvia lose this time..." Roland wanted to hear.

"We lost several hundred people. The stampede at the city gate caused many deaths and injuries, and some people in the Dark Forest were also attacked. Overall, the casualties were heavy," Renault sighed. This was the tragedy of small countries. Small countries without the ability to counter aerial attacks could only leave themselves to fate when faced with attacks from the air.

“Alright, let’s end this sad topic and talk about something else!” Roland said. Although Stream City had also experienced a period of chaos, the people had not lost their confidence in resistance, not only because they had the protection of the Dragon Knights, but also because of the sense of security brought by Stream City’s abundant military strength.

“I plan to build a fortress across the south to block the orcs from crossing the north, and clear out the land between the fortress and Swiftstream City, so that this area will be completely under our control.” Roland said, tossing out a parchment map.

The exquisite map meticulously marked the distribution of various forces and the course of mountains and rivers, with Swiftstream City clearly marked by a crown symbol. This was one of the more useful items Roland received during his daily check-in.

"Isn't this a huge leap?" Renault asked cautiously, looking at the spot Roland was pointing to—the other side of the river at the end of Old Forest Road!
“This is where we can control Old Forest Road…the only road through the Dark Forest!” Roland said solemnly.

"You intend to use this fortress to control the threats west of the Darkwood?" After all, Renault was a man who had served as the Governor of the North in history, and his political and military acumen was equally excellent!

Renault immediately understood Roland's intention. Once this fortress was established, it would immediately control the marching routes of the enemies to the north and west. Now that the territory of the Singrey elves had been exposed, the orcs could no longer recklessly cross the Darkwood Mountains to attack the cities near Long Lake. Their fastest marching route was to advance along the Old Forest Road.

“The idea is good, but unfortunately we don’t have the resources to build such a fortress that is both offensive and defensive. It would take us a long time to repair your castle with our current manpower…” Renault had no choice but to interrupt Roland’s daydream.

“Of course I know, but I have this…” Roland smiled mysteriously and took out a thick, chubby glass bottle, about the length, width, and height of a palm, from his spatial ring and handed it to Renault.

Renault, puzzled, took the glass bottle and examined it closely.

"Dragon God! This is... could this be?!" Renault stood up instantly, staring at Roland in disbelief.

“You guessed right, that’s exactly what you were thinking!” Roland confirmed with a smile.

“This is impossible! She’s destroyed! My ancestors told me she was destroyed!” Renault exclaimed, tears streaming down his face.

"She's right before your eyes, you can touch her, this isn't a dream. She's still in our hands, no one can destroy her! She's our first war fortress... and our last." Roland spoke slowly, his voice calm and steady. "Dragon God! She's so beautiful! Look at her walls, hundreds of meters high! They're said to be built with top-grade magic-patterned stone bricks and magic arrays. Look at her main castle! Its sturdiness is said to rival that of the Lagrange Palace! Gods! These eight dragon towers! Heavens! Even dragon knights dare not face their might! She..." Renault muttered incessantly.

"Phew! It seems to be working well!" Roland thought to himself.

When Roland checked in and found this thing, he even had the urge to smash the system. To make it function, it needed at least ten thousand troops stationed inside. Its top-tier magic-patterned walls, hundreds of meters high and thirty meters thick, were unshakeable even by Behemoths. The giant dragon-hunting magic crossbows mounted on the Dragon Towers at the four corners of the inner and outer walls could even kill a holy dragon head-on! The mythical-level magic array atop the central main fortress could, when fully charged, withstand the terrifying attacks of ten sixth-tier professionals. However, to fill its belly… perhaps only bankrupting the dwarves would be possible. This was the strongest war fortress of the Lagrange Empire! And also the last war fortress to fall! Lulong Fortress!
Unlike her fate of being breached and destroyed in the game, this time she was sealed in an alchemical bottle and Roland signed her out. As long as the correct incantation is recited to break the seal and the bottle is smashed, Lulong Fortress will reappear in the world.

“I never imagined that a wise man would ultimately sacrifice himself to preserve this fortress and pass it down to future generations…” Renault paused, looking at Roland, before continuing.

“Perhaps you will inherit the glory of your ancestors and let the Lagrange dragon banner fly all over the Middle Kingdom! The whole Middle Kingdom will sing the praises of the Lagrange Emperor!” Renault said with certainty.

“Since we have a war fortress, controlling it shouldn’t be a problem. Although we don’t have enough troops, we can still send out a team of 500 men! If it’s just for defending the fortress, 500 men will be just enough,” Renault said immediately.

“500 people is too few. We can send out a team of 1000 people now.” Roland said with some difficulty. You should know that the current 3000 troops in Jiliu City are more than the number of residents in the city. If it weren’t for the system, Roland could be considered to be engaging in top-level militarism. The ratio of soldiers to civilians is almost 1:1.

"That's not a small number. With the additional troops needed for mutual escort between the two locations, 500 men is just right," Renault pointed out. The two locations are quite far apart, and soldiers will definitely be needed to escort supplies. It's still necessary to leave some mobile troops behind.

“Alright, shall we take the soldiers and leave now?” Roland asked.

"Your Highness, shouldn't we make some preparations first? Wouldn't it be better to just rush in like this?" Renault was stunned when Roland made the military operation of a few hundred men sound so frivolous. Was this really a spontaneous trip? Dude! We're going to claim land, not go on a picnic!

"Uh, do we need to prepare for this?" Roland stared wide-eyed in confusion.

Good heavens! Do they really think they can feed hundreds of people and horses without making any preparations? Do they really think they're still the invincible Lagrange Empire that once dominated Middle-earth? Resupplying wherever they go? Renault was instantly "conquered" by Roland.

"As expected of the King of Lagrange..." Renault's lips twitched. Does the King of Lagrange have that strange trait of being able to just leave whenever he wants?
"Well, then go tell Marcus to get things ready for us." Roland's head was creased with three black lines.

"Sigh, population is a real problem!" Roland had a headache after Renault left. The population structure of the Kingdom of Lagrang was extremely unhealthy. Roland could still support it with the system's supply and the benefits of several wars, but after a while, Roland's resources would not be able to keep up.

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(End of this chapter)