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

Chapter 393 Preparation
Roland kept the matter of the old pass in his mind. It would be a pity not to take such a strategic location. Rather than letting the Beorn people benefit from it in the Fourth Era, it would be better to wait until he had accumulated enough strength to take it over to them. Even if the kingdom did not directly govern it, it would be good to distribute it to them!

Moreover, doesn't the Kingdom of Lagrange currently have a nobleman who can be enfeoffed? The Lion King's House of the North! Apophis Breo! Roland promised him back then that he could restore the glory of his ancestors, and enfeoffing him with that easily defensible and difficult-to-attack strategic location is a way of giving him a reward. Furthermore, to the east of the pass, at the foot of the Misty Mountains, lies a vast plain! Whether for farming or herding, it's suitable, and the area from the old pass to the Seningrad Plain is enough to foster a decent duchy!
Roland was confident that Apophis Breo wouldn't be picky, and as for whether he could defend his territory, he wasn't worried at all. No man in the Lion King's House was useless! After providing the necessary support in the early stages, if Apophis Breo really was driven back by the orcs in a sorry state, there were only two possibilities! Either the Gombad orc army was pressing in, or he was a useless piece of trash.

"Well, when the opportunity arises, let's send Apophis Breo over there as lord!" Roland shook his head with a smile. Given the personality of the Lion King's family, those orcs and goblins are going to have a hard time!

"Are you really planning to dump the Lion King's Landing in some remote, backwater place?" Yun Feng glanced sideways at Roland, as if thinking Roland was being unfair.

“The King’s Landing Lion family’s fiefdom in the Imperial Calendar should be located far north of the Iron Hills! The conditions here are much better than in the original fiefdom!” Roland grinned.

“That may be true, but the development potential of that place is not as high as that of the fiefdom in the North!” Yun Feng’s eyes flashed. If Roland was planning to weaken the influence and future power of the Lion King’s Landing now… one could only say that the heart of an emperor is as deep as the sea!
“My plan for the King’s Landing’s territory is to extend from Gambada in the north to the Seningrad Plain in the south, from the Anduin River in the east to the eastern foothills of the Misty Mountains in the west! This land is enough to give them an explanation, and it can also be considered a reward for their generations of loyalty!” Roland shook his head and told Yunfeng his thoughts.

"Tsk... That's quite a move! This land is enough to establish a duchy! Not just a powerful duke, are you sure?" Yun Feng asked in shock. He had thought Roland would give Apophis Breo a small fief with little room for development to curb the Lion King family, but he never expected Roland to just give him a duke!
"If they can establish themselves, what's wrong with granting them fiefdoms?" Roland didn't care. Anyway, with the Anduin River as a natural barrier, it wouldn't matter if their descendants turned against them in the future. At worst, they could just divide the country across the Anduin River. The East had such a bright plain; there was no need to fight with his vassals for such a small amount.

“Yes, advancing eastward is also a good path. The glory of the empire needs to be restored! To the east of the Rune region are the continuous Eastern Mountains, and to the east of the Eastern Mountains are vast plains! Beyond that lies the endless sea! We have no shortage of land!” Yun Feng nodded.

“We lack people who can occupy and manage the land!” Roland sighed as well.

"Things will work themselves out in the end; everything will be resolved!" Yun Feng shook his head.

"Alright, I'll go check on the caravan and the soldiers!" Roland waved and left.

……

"Have you packed everything?" Roland asked Renault, who was busy at work.

"Yes, preparations are almost complete, but we're still missing some supplies," Renault reported to Roland.

"Did you put all your food supplies in your spatial ring?" Roland looked at the wagons but didn't find any wagons specifically prepared for storing food. Their main military rations were dry, hard white bread, which, although not very tasty, was definitely filling! This kind of military ration couldn't be exposed to rain or moisture and needed to be transported in wagons with roofs. Roland looked around but couldn't find any, so he guessed he had stuffed them into his spatial ring.

"Yes, Your Highness!" Renault nodded. Although his spatial ring wasn't large, filling the space of several dozen cubic meters with the necessary provisions for his personnel was not a problem.

"Well, that makes sense. You don't need that many arrows. You can handle it yourself!" Roland waved his hand. He usually carried arrows, crossbow bolts, and other war consumables in his spatial ring, but it was clear that the two hundred royal guards didn't need them. "Ruhr, what goods have we prepared?" Roland asked, looking at the fully loaded wagons, most of which were covered with waterproof tarpaulins.

“We’ve prepared 50 novice magical beasts, Snowwing Chickens! They’re placed in 25 carriages, and they’re covered with tarpaulins here so they won’t get wet in the rain and get sick or stressed!” Ruhr explained.

"Does this thing sell well?" Roland looked at the Snowwing Chicken quietly pecking at insects in its cage with surprise. This low-level magical beast with white wings and a gray body was quite beautiful. Its gray body was decorated with light black spots, and the white feathers on its wings gave it an ethereal feel. Its three gray-white tail feathers, each about a meter long, were also a very nice decoration. Some knights liked to stick these tail feathers on their helmets.

“Low-level magical beasts sell very well; their meat is edible, and their feathers can be used to make magical equipment or alchemical items,” Ruhr explained.

"Hmm? I see these are all roosters?" Roland suddenly noticed that these snowwing chickens all had prominent bright red combs, which made them look like males.

“Yes! These tamed magical beasts cannot be sold in pairs; only one gender can exist among them! If someone with malicious intent were to breed them, they might actually multiply,” Ruhr explained.

“Yes, that’s the right thing to do!” Roland nodded, after all, the agricultural industry should not be controlled by others.

“What about the others?” Roland asked Ruhr.

“The other 50 carts are all equipped with magical gear!” Ruhr smiled proudly.

"Whoa! War profiteer?" Roland was stunned, never expecting that one day he would become a war profiteer himself.

"Can our equipment compare to the weapons of the dwarves?" Roland was somewhat worried. After all, dwarfs were famous for their craftsmanship, and to compete with them, we would definitely need our own unique features.

“Dwarves only have ordinary equipment; they can no longer craft magical equipment with special effects! They have lost that ability…” Ruhr said with a sigh.

"Ours is magical equipment?" Roland suddenly realized.

"You wouldn't have gone and robbed Yunfeng the Sage's warehouse, would you?" Roland was utterly shocked.

(End of this chapter)