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

Chapter 196 Soldiers Among Refugees
"Send word to Lulong Fortress! Tell them absolutely not to open the gates to aid the refugees! They can lower some supplies down from the city walls, but whatever they do, don't open the gates!" Roland's eyes suddenly widened. He realized that if the refugees came from the south... the system would spawn these living beings (refugees) at the border, and if Lulong Fortress opened its gates to aid the refugees... Roland had no doubt that these frenzied refugees would fight the garrison for food. Five hundred fortress garrison soldiers would be no match for the surging refugees. If the fortress were captured, things would get really messy!

"System, you...you're such a rip-off!" Roland was filled with grief and indignation. If the fortress were to be captured, it wouldn't be impossible for Roland to regain his current strength, but it would require a huge financial loss. After the battle, he wouldn't be able to think about anything else; he would have to lie down and recuperate for a few years first! The eight Meteor Dragon Towers alone could cause Roland to lose more than a thousand men in attacking infantry. If they had good aim, taking down Caslo wouldn't have been a problem either.

“This…” Caslo instantly understood the connection. In a panic, Caslo immediately summoned his dragon mount and left Swiftstream City with only the words, “I’ll go inform them!”

After all, Caslo was a very competent dragon knight. No dragon knight would go and single-handedly challenge a war fortress with eight meteor dragon towers; doing so would only turn him from a revered dragon knight into someone worshipped like some unknown prime minister. (Unknown prime minister: I've only been here three days, why is everyone singing and dancing? I feel offended.)
"Should we notify the Tuput Forest?" Renault grinned at Roland, feeling that this tiny country was full of defensive loopholes.

"Forget it, the centaurs are much smarter than we thought! They won't approach those starving refugees casually! At most, they'll send someone to inform us." Roland had great confidence in the centaur lord Baldr. Centaurs can't survive in the harsh environment of the north without brains. Reading people's expressions is their most basic survival skill. Roland didn't believe they would welcome those refugee waves that looked so intimidating.

"Right! Order the knights to scout the outermost perimeter! There might be professional soldiers among the refugees! We can't rule out the possibility of high-level professionals among them." Roland let out a breath of stale air, recalling that in the past, during a refugee crisis, a lord encountered a complete hundred-man knightly order, and as a result, an entire baron's territory collapsed.

"Thank goodness! His Highness always brings good news..." Marcus, listening from the side, was completely exasperated. As the city's defense officer, he was under immense pressure, you know?

“If there’s really no other way… we’ll have to resort to drastic measures!” Omsk said fiercely, clenching and unclenching his fists. Every sixth-tier professional has experienced bloodshed, and Omsk doesn’t mind using violence to fight violence when necessary, even if it’s their own people… because he fights for the honor of his king and the kingdom!

"No! No! No! This is a crime! They are citizens of the Empire! Our compatriots! They need help, not slaughter! You butcher!" Radil shouted excitedly, his words filled with rage.

"Don't glare at me! I fight for the kingdom and the king! Anyone who wants to destroy this place is an enemy!" Holding his sword, Omske unleashed a terrifying sixth-tier pressure and slammed down on Radil.

"Tsk!" With a soft tsk, the oppressive force pressing down on Radil vanished instantly, and Yun Feng, dressed in a magic robe and holding a staff, appeared before everyone.

"Knowledge tells me that our enemy will never be our own people, but the shadows and darkness in the abyss! Lord Omske, you have gone too far! Although alchemists are not good at fighting, I don't mind giving you a lesson you'll never forget." Yunfeng slammed his staff on the ground, and immediately layers of six-pointed star magic circles appeared around him.

"Enough! I brought you here to discuss solutions, not for you two sixth-tier warriors to come and show off and fight!" Roland said with a headache. Sure enough, the conflict between warriors and spellcasters will never exist.

“Your Highness, I reserve my opinion… but I cannot allow refugees to flood our land.” After saying this, Omske sat down and remained silent.

“As a nobleman, I think we shouldn’t be trying to escape the impact of refugees, but rather thinking about how to accept and help them. After all, they are just citizens of the empire who have been stranded abroad!” Yun Feng sighed. The status of high-level professionals is equivalent to that of nobles. Except for not having titles or territories, their status is no less than that of nobles. In particular, sixth-level professionals can already stand on equal footing with powerful viscounts.

“Your Highness… it is true that our population is small and needs to be replenished, but correspondingly, our ability to cope with risks is also not very high! I cannot risk the last hope of the Empire!” Omske sighed and said to Roland.

Yun Feng fell silent after hearing this. After all, the population of Jiliu City was what it was, while the number of refugees was still unknown. If the number was too high, it would be the last straw that broke the camel's back. "Damn it! If only we had another year!" Yun Feng slammed his fist on the table and roared angrily.

Ultimately, the problem lies in the fact that Jiliu City's supplies are not plentiful. If the refugees were to arrive after the autumn harvest, the situation would be very different. With ample food, Jiliu City would be able to accommodate even tens of thousands of refugees.

Roland sat in the chair with a worried look on his face. After all, there weren't many humans in the entire north, and they used to have to face the invasion of orcs all the time. Apart from River Valley Town and Karl Rock Ferry, there were almost no large human settlements in the entire north, and the cultivated area was extremely limited. It was only after Roland and White Wing brought humans here and the dwarves restored their kingdom that the north regained a bit of its former prosperity.

"If all else fails, we'll have to ask the elves for help. The dwarves' stocks are probably running low... Only the elves still have some reserves." Roland pondered for a moment and then rubbed his chin.

“And we’re also sending residents out to fish in large numbers! Thanks to the Swift River that gave me life and nurtured me, it’s so rich in resources!” Marcus added.

“Fish can only sustain us for a while; it can’t be eaten as a staple food. Grains are still the most important thing.” Omske shook his head, saying that eating fish all the time would cause problems.

“Let’s eat it with wheat bran. We can make the old-fashioned kind of black bread. It tastes terrible, but at least it’ll be enough to fill us up with fish soup,” Radil suggested.

"Let's see how many people there are first. Your Highness, is your information accurate?" Yun Feng looked at Roland with suspicion. How did he know that a wave of refugees was coming?
"Could it be that I'm telling you I have a system? Is this some kind of system designed to annoy me?" Roland muttered to himself.

……

"What's going on? Aren't there refugees every day? Is it really necessary to go to such lengths?" A Battanian archer riding a Charr warhorse wandered around the outermost edge of the area controlled by the city of Swiftstream. He couldn't understand why his lord had suddenly gone mad and sent out all the mobile forces. He had heard that the entire Knights Order had been mobilized!
"Oh! Dragon God above! What is that?" Suddenly he noticed a black torrent rolling in from the northeast...

"Was that a flash flood? How spectacular! No! This is a plain! Where did the flash flood come from!" The Battanian archer slapped himself to bring himself back to his senses, then activated his skill—Gazing Afar!
With the help of the skill, his field of vision was suddenly extended, and with his exceptional eyesight, the Battanian archer finally saw the "torrent" clearly.

"Dragon God! They're Swift Infantry! They're actually wearing Swift Infantry armor! It's worn out like this! The green armor has turned black! What have they been through!" The Battanian archer, stunned by the group of refugees carrying large bags and families, stood frozen in place, not even reacting when he saw the Swift Infantry mixed in with the group.

"Oh! Damn it! They're refugees!" The Battanian archer quickly pulled the pin on his magic flare, and a bright red signal light shot hundreds of meters into the air and exploded with a bang, transforming into a red dragon head pattern.

"God! They're rushing here at full speed! Your Highness Roland... It's not that I'm not loyal or brave enough... It's just that there are too many of them... I have to retreat!" The Battanian archer was sweating profusely. Faced with the surging "flood" of refugees, he was forced to retreat towards Swiftstream City. Who knew if they would eat him alive if he stayed here?

(End of this chapter)