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

Chapter 44 Los Santo Nie

After staying in Irubor, the dwarf city, for a few days, Roland, with his light infantry now equipped with upgraded weaponry and carrying dozens of cartloads of supplies, departed contentedly. Thorin, having learned of the orcs' unusual movements, generously gave these supplies to Roland, as Roland was the most important bulwark in southern Irubor. Thorin clearly understood the priorities; due to the previous battle at Lonely Mountain, both orc leaders had fled, and after lying low for a few days, they were becoming restless again.

"I hope nothing goes wrong in the North..." Roland glanced worriedly at Dale and Irubel. Although many of the wandering dwarves from the Blue Mountains had returned, Irubel still only had fewer than 5000 dwarves. Winter prevented most dwarves from returning home, but these dwarves were still too few. Next time, the orcs of Gombad would definitely come out in full force! Moreover, having learned his lesson, Azog would definitely bring heavy crossbows, so Kaslow wouldn't be able to slaughter the orcs with impunity... Roland didn't even want to talk about the wood elves in Mirkwood. It would be a miracle if that old bastard Thranduil would willingly help humans and dwarves! Didn't you remember the Battle of Dale during the War of the Ring, where King Bard's grandson and the dwarf king Dain died together outside Irubel...? Where were the elves?

The elves are unreliable, Thorin and Bard will be stuck in the north, leaving only himself and the Whitewing King in the south. Perhaps it's time to pay a visit to the Whitewing King! Roland thought to himself.

Roland felt a little more at ease when he turned his head and saw the newly recruited light infantry with upgraded weapons. Even if things really couldn't be done, Roland would lead his soldiers to cover the rear and escort the people to the west of the Misty Mountains. He would decisively abandon Swiftstream City. After all, the king's crown is bestowed by his subjects. Is a king still a king without his subjects?

Looking at the youthful faces of the light infantrymen being conscripted behind him, Roland felt a pang of pity. These armed civilians were all young children, no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, and he was about to lead them to their deaths… In that instant, Roland seemed to see the swift infantrymen swimming against the current… At that moment, they must have wanted to live too…

"Caslo, go back and train them well. I don't expect them to be the first to charge, but I hope they can protect themselves in defense," Roland said softly to Caslo, glancing at the young faces.

"Don't worry, sir! They will grow up!" Caslo assured him.

“But we didn’t give them time to grow up…” Roland lowered his head.

……

"Your Majesty, the White Wing King across the way has invited you to be his guest, saying he wants to discuss a matter of great importance concerning the survival of both cities!" Roland, who had just returned, was stopped by Renault.

"Did they say what happened?" Roland asked curiously.

“They seem to have fought with the orcs!” Renault replied after a moment’s thought.

"Alright, prepare the boats, let's cross the river!" Roland's words instantly roused the orc.

……

Accompanied by Renault and the Elnino Rangers, Roland set foot on the western shore. After walking for a few minutes, his gaze was drawn to a wooden and stone city wall in the distance.

"They're so fast?" Roland turned to Renault and exclaimed in surprise.

“Well, Your Majesty, building a city wall with wood and stone is easy. With so many people, they can just cut down more trees and build it quickly,” Renault explained. After all, the city walls here don’t require much skill. In the magical world, city walls can be built by mages, unlike on Blue Star where Roland is. They can simply cut down a piece of a tall tree in the Dark Forest, sharpen one end and stick it into the ground, then tie all the stakes together with rope, and finally plaster mud on the outside and let it dry. Once the outer wall is finished, they can immediately put up some wooden frames and lay down planks. That’s the simplest kind of city wall.

"Oh! I see!" Roland immediately felt better when he thought of the thick city walls of his Swiftstream City, built of magic-inlaid stone bricks. The defensive strength was what it was, so it was okay if it was slow.

"Boom!" The soldiers on guard at the city gate immediately pounded their chests and saluted when they saw the royal flag fluttering in the wind behind Roland.

"Welcome! King Roland! I apologize that I am unable to greet you in person due to other commitments." A man who appeared to be a steward immediately came forward.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Roland bowed slightly.

"It is my honor to serve you!" the butler bowed as he greeted him. "Take me to see the White Wing King. I want to know what happened!" A hint of seriousness flashed in Roland's eyes. He had just clearly smelled the blood in the air... human blood! Only when there are a large number of wounded could there be such a strong smell of blood.

"Hello! King Roland, I'm sorry I can't entertain you right now!" Bai Yi caught sight of Roland approaching out of the corner of his eye, but his hands didn't stop moving at all.

"By the Dragon God! What happened!" Renault's eyes widened. Under the wooden shed in front of him lay more than a hundred wounded people of various kinds. Bai Yi and the others were changing their dressings and bandaging them, and carrying the treated wounded into tents or wooden houses.

"What happened?" Roland narrowed his eyes, a sense of unease settling in his heart.

"Our cavalrymen who went south to scout were attacked! A massive ambush by thousands of orcs! We lost over a hundred men!" Bai Yi said through gritted teeth. He didn't have many cavalrymen to begin with, and now almost half of them were wiped out.

"Impossible! The orcs of Togol are no longer capable of launching a large-scale attack!" Roland asserted. After all, the orcs of Togol were the only army to be completely wiped out during the Battle of Lonely Mountain, with nearly 2 men dying on the battlefield. Roland did not believe that the orcs would immediately have the strength to attack again, and that their wounds would heal in just a few days.
"Your Majesty! You should take a look at this!" Renault casually grabbed a tattered cloth from the side, which was covered with orcish scribbles.

“These were brought back by my soldiers!” Bai Yi said casually after glancing at them.

"Is there a problem?" In Roland's eyes, all orc banners looked the same.

"This is a big problem! No! It's a huge mess!" Renault swallowed hard.

“These aren’t Orc totems from Togol! I’ve never seen these symbols before! They come from Orcs further south…”

"Modor!" Renault and Roland looked up simultaneously, both shivering involuntarily.

"Is it too late to move now?" Roland asked tentatively.

"Damn it! Why would Mordor care about this place! We're in the North!" Renault yelled in frustration.

"Damn it..." Roland cursed inwardly. The orcs of Dolgold were Sauron's lackeys. How could Sauron not react when they had disrupted his plans? These thousands of orcs were probably reinforcements from Mordor, and there were likely even more orcs behind them.

"Have the orcs from the south extended their claws over here?" White Wing asked with a frosty expression.

“Yes, darkness is about to engulf the north, and we are the last guardians…” Roland took a deep breath.

"I will wait for them here! Right here! This is Los Saint-Neil, the city of the Kaden tribe! This is our home! We will fight to the death!" White Wing roared angrily. His people had nowhere to go if they left this place. In winter, they would migrate across the Misty Mountains, but they were either mentally disabled or brain-damaged. Carrying their supplies and the elderly and children, they could not go far before being separated, surrounded, and swallowed up by the orcs.

"Then be careful! If anything happens to me, light the signal fire! My soldiers will come to your aid. I'm going to Lonely Mountain to find the dwarves; I need to inform them of this!" Roland gave Whitewing these instructions before leaving Los Sannir. He needed to quickly relay the message to Bard, Thorin, Dain, and Thranduil!

The entire north is in imminent danger!

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(End of this chapter)