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

Chapter 733 Crisis in Windhelm Town

"We just intercepted two orc scouts!" The goblin knight gestured for them to come back, clearly indicating that they had dragged the orc corpses back.

"Let me see!" Ismir was taken aback, then pushed open the barely functional wooden door and went out.

"My lord, you've arrived! Please come and see this corpse!" Ymir squatted on the ground, fiddling with the foul-smelling body before him.

Ismir glanced at the orc corpse and immediately noticed the horrific penetrating wound—pierced through by a goblin knight's spear during a high-speed charge. However, this wasn't Ismir's focus. His gaze was fixed on the corpse's iron armor. Judging from the penetration, the armor was at least three or four millimeters thick. This level of armament was not something an ordinary orc could afford! Clearly, this orc scout was an elite orc unit!

"Dolgore!" Ismir suddenly stood up and stared at the dark forest in the distance of Windhelm, his heart filled with mixed feelings. The orcs had finally noticed his tiny territory, and it seemed that they had discovered him.

"Elite orc infantry! They've noticed us!" A hint of seriousness flashed in Ymir's eyes.

"It looks like an orc army has crossed over, and we can't fight them! Call for reinforcements!" Of course, Ismir wouldn't be so reckless as to fight a regular orc army head-on. With less than two hundred men under his command... that would be a huge problem.

"Light the beacon towers! Tell Lulong Fortress we're in trouble!" Ymir nodded to the nature guardian beside him.

"Sound the alarm! Militia, assemble!" Ismir commanded. Although Windhelm's regular army consisted of only a small squad of Nature Guardians and a Goblin Knight with a corner flag, Ismir still selected twenty robust adult men from among the pioneers and remnants of the Darkwood he had brought to form a militia. These militiamen, armed with spears, leather shields, and cloth clothing, were not particularly strong in combat, but they were brave, fierce, and willing to fight, making them somewhat useful for plugging gaps.

As the makeshift beacon tower in the center of Windhelm Town was lit, thick black smoke shot into the sky, and the rising column of smoke was instantly spotted by the Lulong Fortress on the opposite bank.

"Doss! The enemy has lit the beacon towers! Go check it out!" Renault summoned Anthony Doss, the dragon knight stationed at Lulong Fortress.

……

"What happened, Your Excellency? Why did you light the beacon fires?" Soon, Anthony Doss, who was stationed at Lulong Fortress, rode Renoir down and landed steadily on the open ground of Windhelm Town.

"General Doss, please look!" Ismir didn't waste any words, but led Doss directly to the corpse. Ismir hadn't expected Anthony Doss to come in person; he had thought a dragon knight would come instead. The dragon knight's presence was a pleasant surprise for Ismir. "Elite orcs? Where did you capture them?" Anthony Doss was immediately drawn in after just one glance. After all, there were no large orc tribes nearby, and everyone could guess where this fully armed orc came from. So Anthony Doss immediately became alert.

"It was my goblin knights who encountered them by chance during a hunt! There were two of them, and the goblin knights killed them!" Ismir explained.

"Damn it! There's no clan information. There's so little information about them! Apart from the standard armor that shows they're from the orc regular army, there's no other material evidence that can identify their clan!" Anthony Doss was somewhat distressed.

Little did they know that this was all part of Khammur's conspiracy. They were overjoyed when they discovered the human town, as it meant their plan would proceed more smoothly. After all, if the battlefield were outside Lulong Fortress, they would have to worry about ambushes from the Meteor Dragon Tower. But if the battlefield were on the other side of the Swift River, they would have no such concerns. The dragon knights, deprived of the fortress's protection, would become their vulnerable targets. Khammur even considered targeting either Caslo or Anthony Doss. There was nothing in the Dark Forest that could offer them protection; being shot by black arrows was their only fate!
To ensure the success of this plan, Khammur forced the wandering orcs to send a small group to sneak into the human territory to lure the Kingdom of Lagrang. To prevent the humans from being unable to defeat these orcs, Khammur went to great lengths to scatter them, even allowing a few farmers to pick up these lone wasteland orcs with pitchforks.

It's now clear that he has piqued the interest of the human kingdoms. Of course, Khamur has a backup plan. If this can attract human aspiring dragon riders, all the better. But if those aspiring dragon riders don't come out, Khamur will expose this elite orc force and make a show of besieging and attacking a human town. Khamur really doesn't believe that those humans won't be tempted by these moving experience packs. Since the Battle of Lonely Mountain, the Battle of the Five Armies, and the Northern Wars, there haven't been many wandering orcs left in the entire Northern Territory. Naturally, Weiss has no one to practice on.

……

"Lord, please wait a moment. I will go back and report to General Reno now!" Anthony Doss naturally understood the urgency of the situation. The appearance of a fully armed orc army around their territory would inevitably make everyone nervous. No one dared to ignore a fully armed orc regular army lurking nearby.

"This is troublesome!" Ismir said with a forced smile.

Anthony Doss didn't exchange pleasantries with Ismir and the others; he simply nodded, then pulled his dragon and soared into the sky, disappearing into the clouds.

……

"What's going on? Why is Windhelm Town lighting a beacon? Is it on fire?" Renault asked curiously. After all, there was nothing around that could overthrow Windhelm Town. Powerful magical beasts might have the strength, but they wouldn't appear outside the Dark Forest. Even the Swift River behind Windhelm Town didn't have any super magical beasts. After all, the ocean that nurtured countless super magical beasts and the Swift River weren't connected. The Swift River, in the end, wasn't connected to the ocean like the Anduin River. The only Rune Sea couldn't nurture many super magical beasts either. Moreover, no super magical beast would go upstream to the upper reaches of the Swift River. The cramped space here would only make them feel stifled.

“No! It was a fully armed orc regular army! They hunted down a scout team! I examined them closely, and they are equipped with orc regular army gear! They are very likely orc soldiers from Dolgodor!” Anthony Dos carefully organized his thoughts before speaking.