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

Chapter 316 The Current State of the Northern Dwarves
"What do we do now?" Ravian sighed. After all, the Kingdom couldn't say much about the state of River Valley in its current state. It was clear that this unjust king had done his best, and River Valley was beyond help. The Kingdom had to find its own way out.

"Let's go to the dwarven front and see what we can do!" Omsk grinned helplessly. They couldn't solve anything here. The war potential of the River Valley had already been put to use here. Even if Omsk wanted to squeeze some profit out of them, they would need to have some profit to be made.

"Let me see you off..." Bard's face was full of embarrassment.

"Please wait, Your Highness. It's too dangerous outside the city. It seems your people can't guarantee your safety..." Omske shook his head and politely declined.

……

"Lord Dvalin! Another group of orcs has crossed our lines!" A dwarf carrying a warhammer walked into the outpost.

"Send soldiers to intercept them!" Dvalin ordered decisively in a deep voice.

"It's too late! We've tried to intercept them three times! There are too many of them! More than five hundred! They've already crossed our defense zone, and we can't pursue them!" the dwarf warrior said hesitantly.

"By Turin! Damn it! Another squad has slipped through! How many of them escaped?" Dvalin grumbled.

"At least three hundred men have crossed our lines!" the soldier said awkwardly.

"What? What are you doing? How could you let so many people go?" Dvalin blinked, his eyes filled with shock and confusion.

"Each of our teams only has fifty men, and the three teams can only hold off these few!" the soldier lamented. What could they do when the orcs resorted to tail-cutting to survive? Their numerical disadvantage meant that after clearing out the last few orcs, the rest of the orcs were long gone.

“…Damn it!” Dvalin was speechless. He divided his thousand-strong army into twenty squads, which patrolled and killed orcs trying to cross the Lonely Mountain along the hundred-mile border. Because the dwarves were all heavily armored warriors, there were always loopholes. But Dvalin had not expected to miss such a well-organized orc squad this time.

"Hopefully, the soldiers of the River Valley can hold them off! They should be able to stop those orcs!" Dvalin still clung to the hope that the River Valley soldiers would succeed. Little did he know that, apart from a few fixed outposts, the rest of the River Valley's border had been riddled with holes by the orcs! Were the orcs stupid? Of course not! They wouldn't bother the garrison outposts for no reason; they would simply bypass the outposts and continue south, and the soldiers in the outposts dared not pursue them recklessly… thus creating the current awkward situation.

……

"Move forward like a wall!" Omske roared angrily, glaring at the dark mass of orcs in the distance. These orcs were truly reckless, daring to advance in organized formations? Did they really think the soldiers of all the kingdoms in the North were dead?
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The heavy thud of hooves echoed through the sky. All the knights, cavalry, and centaurs formed a straight line, legs touching legs, shoulders touching shoulders. Their eyes beneath their helmets were resolute and cold. They held their lances under their arms and charged toward the orcs in unison...

The outcome was predictable. Without even a numerical advantage, how could they possibly stop this mixed cavalry regiment? The scattered limbs and mangled corpses on the ground testified to their futile resistance.

“Gombard orcs! Your Majesty! Nearly one-fifth of this orc army consists of Gombard orcs!” Ravian walked up to Omske, carrying a tattered orc totem banner.

"What do you mean?" Omske narrowed his eyes.

“Gambada Fortress is definitely one of the masterminds behind this! They were involved in this war! Their soldiers crossed the Grey Mountains and appeared here!” Ravian’s gaze was solemn.

"What? Afraid of a large army of Gombad orcs behind us?" Omske sneered. "Yes! We can't take such a risk. I suggest sending scouts fifty miles ahead to scout!" Ravian said cautiously.

“The dwarves aren’t all dead! They won’t let the Gombard Orcs invade their borders at will! There shouldn’t be any danger for now! But we need to find the dwarves and see what’s going on there!” Omsk pondered. He hadn’t seen any routs of dwarves along the way, which meant that the Lonely Mountain border was still under dwarven control. The Gombard Fortress Orc army that Ravian was worried about hadn’t appeared yet. Although Omsk didn’t think the Gombard Fortress Orcs would attack at this time of year, he still had to be on guard. But before that, he should find the dwarves and find out what the situation was like in the North.

“I will obey your orders, but I reserve my opinion!” Ravian shrugged helplessly.

"Don't worry, if there really is an orc army, I won't be stupid enough to fight them head-on! Don't forget we're cavalry!" Omske grinned. If they really couldn't win, wouldn't they just run away? Did they really think he was brain-dead? Charging into the enemy lines for no reason?

……

"Lord Dvalin! A large number of cavalry have appeared behind us!" A dwarf warrior rushed in, lifting the curtain, and even knocked over the table in front of Dvalin due to inertia, scattering documents all over the place.

"Cavalry? Where did these cavalry come from?" Devalin exclaimed in surprise. The dwarf ram cavalry had been almost wiped out, and the Valley Kingdom was so poor that even the king was practically riding an ox. Where did this unfamiliar cavalry come from?
"Come on! Let's go take a look!" Dvalin shouldered his battle axe and strode out.

If it really is the enemy… Dvalin shuddered. What does it mean for the enemy to appear behind him? Lonely Mountain has fallen again! The thought sent a chill down Dvalin’s spine. He could only hope that he was overthinking it.

"Phew... You little bastard! Look closely! That's our ally! The flag of the Kingdom of Lagrange!" Dvalin stared at the familiar flag for a moment, then kicked the soldier who had reported the news. The soldier had only recently returned to the Kingdom of Lonely Mountain, so it was understandable that he didn't recognize the flag. However, Dvalin was more relieved and still a little shaken at the moment.

……

"Greetings! Your Majesty Omske!" Dvalin was the first to bow, placing his hand on his chest.

"Hello! General Dwarin!" Omske returned the greeting.

"What's going on? Are you going on a long expedition to the north?" Devalin asked, looking at the well-equipped Lagrange cavalry.

“No, we’re just here to deal with the problem of large numbers of orcs moving south!” Omsk dismounted and shrugged.

"Uh..." Dvalin immediately looked embarrassed!

“This is our problem… but we will do our best to stop those orcs and try not to cause you any trouble!” Dvalin said sincerely.

“It’s already very troublesome… Now the large number of orcs is affecting our autumn harvest plans!” Omske sighed.

(End of this chapter)