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

Chapter 513 Preparing for War
"Your Highness, who are you going to fight this time?" Nyx looked at the surging army below the castle, her eyes pleading. She was very worried that her newlywed husband would step into the battlefield...

"Don't worry, nothing will happen!" Roland patted her head to comfort her.

“Hmm!” Nyx nodded somewhat reluctantly, but the deep distrust in her eyes made Roland smile wryly. It seemed that this little girl didn’t believe him.

“Apophis Breo successfully captured the old pass. The orcs didn’t defend it, which gave him an easy advantage. However, spring is coming soon, and the orcs will definitely go back when the weather warms up…” Roland glanced at Nyx but didn’t continue. After all, he had already said all that, and if Nyx still didn’t understand, wouldn’t he be a fool?

“Then you should…” Nyx said timidly, clutching the hem of her clothes.

“The king will not leave his queen.” Roland smiled and reassured Nyx. Although Apophis Breo was his vassal, the vassal’s land and the lord’s land were not really related. Roland would not risk his life for him. It was already good enough that he could provide support. Compared to the dirty tricks that many kings did to prevent powerful nobles from becoming too powerful, Roland was already a wise ruler.

"Sigh..." Roland sighed. The system was practically dead now, and apart from giving out some junk every day, it was basically useless. Moreover, completing the main quest was now very difficult.

The territory he controlled within a hundred miles was manageable, but those ten towns were a real headache for Roland. Currently, the only towns under Roland's rule were Swiftstream City, Delwin Town, Tupter Territory, Lulong Fortress, and the makeshift Lion Fortress. He was still five towns short of the first task! Moreover, the system's requirements were actually quite lenient; even Tupter Territory, which was worse than a village, was included in the town category. Roland was so considerate that it broke his heart.

“Don’t worry, the nobles of the empire won’t fall like this. The Dragon God will protect us!” Nyx thought Roland was worried about Apophis Breo, so he comforted him.

"Hmm." Roland gave a few perfunctory replies and then said goodbye to Nyx.

……

“Alright, my general, tell me how many men you can field?” Roland said calmly, looking at Omsk standing before him.

“好吧殿下，现在我们有拉格朗帝国先锋骑士110名、拉格朗城卫兵200名、巴丹尼亚射手800名、多温尼安重装剑士100名、埃尔尼诺游侠100名、洛丹伦游侠50名、拉格朗皇家近卫200名、疾流步兵1500名、征召轻步兵200名、拉格朗重骑兵100名、牧师8名、火系法师1名、十字军枪盾兵100名、十字军弓箭手300名、十字军重盾兵20名、十字紫荆花骑士15名、公国轻骑兵26名、林地锐士10名、狮鹫骑士5名，总共3845人！其中十字军是可以抽出来的！毕竟倪克斯大公国的士兵和我们现在的体系不太相融。”欧姆斯克摇摇头。

“The light infantry is already useless; Yunfeng has practically turned them into peasants. If we want to minimize our influence, we have no choice but to draw on the Crusaders,” Omske analyzed. “Wouldn’t that be a bad idea? After all, the people of the Duchy of Nyx are so few left.” Roland’s expression changed. He had to consider Nyx’s feelings; after all, what difference was there between doing this and weakening the Queen’s family power? Although the Crusaders were loyal to him, they were essentially Nyx’s private army. This was evident in the attitude of Knight Commander Ravian, who always seemed distant from Roland. Moreover, Ravian had never sworn allegiance to Roland, which made Roland grit his teeth in hatred, yet he was helpless.

"Tsk!" Omsk paused for a moment, then his expression changed drastically. Oh no! How could he have forgotten this? Could the people of the Later Party be used so casually? Roland's reminder made Omsk instantly realize that in the context of Middle-earth, doing this was simply suicidal! Depleting the private armies of a noble family was no different from digging up their ancestral graves. To say that once the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked would be a kind of compliment. It would be perfectly reasonable for a hot-tempered noble to rebel on the spot.

"This is bad." Omske covered his face. This was a real problem; they couldn't spare any men to lead an army of nearly four thousand...

"Stop eyeing the Crusaders. That's all that Nyx has left," Roland said with a hint of heartache. Roland still favored his woman and didn't want Nyx to keep giving so much. For nobles, their level of respect was linked to their wealth and power, even for queens. Besides, a queen without any power was even more absurd.

"We can't just send the Swiftflow Legion up there! Your Highness, you know, the Swiftflow Legion's battlefield isn't in the mountains!" Omske was at his wits' end. What kind of military formation is this in the mountains?! The undulating mountains are enough to turn an impenetrable, solid square formation into a sieve full of holes.

"Let's think of another way. The Crusaders staying at Lulong Fortress is already the biggest concession. Any further would be inappropriate, as they are the Queen's private army! Omske, you need to understand the implications of this!" Roland reminded him in a deep voice.

Roland never once considered using Nyx's private army, even though Nyx had entrusted everything to him. Roland never thought of using this army in battle. This was Roland's way of showing respect to his queen and upholding the rules of the nobility. If it weren't for the real shortage of soldiers, this army would have been stationed in Swiftstream City at Nyx's command... After all, Lagrange has always had a dual imperial system, except that its duality does not refer to having two emperors, but rather that the emperor and empress are equal in their ruling positions.

Throughout the history of Lord of the Rings games, there have been numerous instances where the Queen's power surpassed that of the King. Many Queens' legions were even more elite than the Emperor's, and for a long time, the Royal Dragoons were loyal to the Queen alone... Keep in mind that it wasn't just the Emperor who could initiate wars in Lagrange...

For the current Kingdom of Lagrange, Nyx is legally entitled to an army loyal to the Queen. She enjoys all of Roland's rights equally. As long as she does not betray the country and her husband, Nyx even has the right to break the Lonely Mountain Alliance agreement. Therefore, both morally and logically, Roland decided to preserve this only remaining army loyal to Nyx. After all, Nyx, currently in the deep palace, is destined to be unable to raise an army again for a long time.

“I understand…” Omske rubbed his temples, a headache throbbing. A million curses raced through his mind. He had calculated everything, but he hadn’t considered politics at all… Omske glanced helplessly at the ceiling. Sure enough, his master was right. We brutes can only fight and kill; those who play politics are all corrupt…

(End of this chapter)