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

Chapter 753 Premonition
Thanks to the heavy casualties suffered by the Orc army over the years, the great battle five years ago practically drained the Orc mobile forces of blood. Now, the only force capable of stopping Roland is the Orc wolf riders of Mordor. However, Roland is willing to take a gamble with Sauron!
Sauron is currently in a dilemma. Apart from the army of Mordor, his armies in other territories have lost their offensive capabilities. Even though they have recovered somewhat over the past five years, they can only maintain a defensive formation. Whether Sauron knows about Roland's Great Crusade or not, even if he does, his reach is limited! If he has too few troops, Roland will crush them; if he has too many, they will be decimated, leaving him a commander without troops! The elite orc wolf riders are far superior to the orc infantry; the value of a human life is many times greater!

……

"Come back alive!" Renault patted the shoulders of the brothers Luke and Merck Leopold, who would be participating in the Great Expedition as commanders of the two Swift Infantry legions!

“I will, General. We’ll be back for a drink!” Luke Leopold smiled.

“Hmm!” Renault nodded. The journey was long, and no one knew what lay ahead, but wasn’t that what humanity was all about? Fearlessness and curiosity drove humanity to spread its footprints across Middle-earth!
……

"Crack! Crack! Crack!" Heavy footsteps accompanied the sound of armor rubbing together. A torrent of green spears moved slowly across the land. In front of them were four rows of Lagrange City Guards, and behind them were Battanian archers carrying longbows and mithril armor-piercing hammers. As for Roland, he was surrounded by the Royal Guards and trailed behind with the other teams. This was not because Roland was cowardly and liked to hide in the back, but because they were responsible for escorting a caravan of thousands of Shire horses. Since the spatial storage equipment could not collect living things, Roland could not return them to the system space, so he could only trail behind and drive the herd.

As for why Roland brought a batch of seemingly useless warhorses, it was of course to improve the mobility of the troops! If they encountered the enemy, Roland could send out a cavalry infantry force of over a thousand men to create a local advantage and achieve the effect of rapid troop deployment, which is equivalent to a simple rapid reaction force when there is no space teleportation skill.

……

“Your Highness…” Adolf Heinrich, his face dark with resignation, tossed the chess piece in his hand into the box.

"One more round! One more round!" Roland said enthusiastically.

Darian Nightblade glanced at the two men, then wearily closed his eyes and leaned against the carriage to sleep. Ever since they left, King Roland had been pestering Lord Adolf Heinrich to play some kind of Gomoku (five-in-a-row). At first, Adolf Heinrich was amazed by King Roland's imagination. As a beginner, Adolf Heinrich was no match for Roland, but after being thoroughly thrashed by Roland for a while, he realized that a sage is a sage! His powerful mental strength allowed him to deduce countless moves! And after that, Roland never won…

By now, Roland's problem wasn't about winning or losing anymore. Ever since he realized he couldn't beat Adolf Heinrich, Roland had started thinking of crooked tricks. Right under Darian Nightblade's horrified gaze, he unleashed a series of classic cheating techniques, including the Unlimited Hidden Sleeve Technique, the Star Absorbing Technique, and the Universe Shift. In the end, Adolf Heinrich's eyes twitched as he noticed that his pieces on the board were dwindling. He then grabbed Roland's hand and looked... Wow! He barely had any white pieces left; they were all Adolf Heinrich's black pieces. Roland had turned Gomoku into a game of Go.

"No, Your Highness, let me sleep for a while..." Adolf Heinrich shook his head and refused Roland's suggestion, then pulled a blanket over himself and huddled in the corner of the carriage.

"Don't look at me, Your Highness. This journey is destined to be fraught with danger. You should save your energy for those fools!" Darian Nightblade immediately understood Roland's intentions from the glance he gave him. It wasn't that Darian Nightblade was afraid of Roland's cheating methods; it was mainly because their game of chess was incredibly boring. After all, as an assassin, Darian Nightblade was also highly skilled in his techniques. By the end, apart from the pieces in their hands changing colors, there were hardly any pieces left on the board...

"Alright, another day of missing my wife!" Roland didn't insist but instead pretended to look wronged and shrank back.

"..." Darian Nightblade didn't reply. After all, he knew exactly what Roland had done. Forget missing his wife, he had personally led the Great Expedition; he had run away himself. If he had been even two steps later, the escort order from Queen Nyx would have arrived. Otherwise, Roland wouldn't have been so anxious to set off. If he truly cared about his wife, he would have returned long ago. "How about I send you back? I think with General Caslo overseeing things and General Omske in charge, we shouldn't have too much of a problem!" Adolf Heinrich rubbed his temples, his head aching. After all, the pressure had all fallen on them since Roland slipped away. Adolf Heinrich knew he couldn't match the composure Caslo and the others had shown when faced with Roland's escape. His mind was now completely focused on getting Roland safely to safety.

"What the hell! You want to rebel?" Roland looked cautiously at Adolf Heinrich, who seemed ready to jump out of the car at the slightest nod from him.

"Expeditions are so dangerous..." Adolf Heinrich sighed and complained. Other people's kings are all dead, let alone personally leading an expedition. Just looking at the battlefield makes their scalp tingle. But his own king is like a little Khan of the North, playing horseback riding and hack-and-slash every day.

"That's the future capital, of course I have to personally oversee it!" Roland declared without hesitation. Of course! That's Lagrange City! The future capital of the empire! Don't forget, the Kingdom of Lagrange doesn't have a capital right now! The current Swiftstream City is at best Roland's temporary palace!
“As you wish…” Adolf Heinrich closed his eyes, finally able to understand Yunfeng’s hardships and pain.

"Lord Yunfeng~ Come here! Let's switch places!" Adolf Heinrich had a terrible headache. He had unknowingly activated mental resonance. Before he could deactivate it, a message came through his mental energy from afar.

"Take him far away... Thank you for your hard work!" A sense of relief washed over Yun Feng from the spreading spiritual energy, indicating that after escaping Roland's clutches, Lord Yun Feng could finally enjoy a few days of comfort!
……

"Your Highness! Something's not right!" Alistar, the chieftain of the barbaric goblins, appeared outside Roland's carriage on his tuk-tuk and whispered to the carriage driver.

“What happened?” Roland frowned.

“I don’t know, but something’s definitely wrong! It’s too quiet! Dead silence!” Alistar shook his head.

"Could it be that you're overthinking it?" Darian Nightblade asked Alistair suspiciously.

“No! I led the knights to sweep across the surrounding area for dozens of miles. Although there was nothing unusual, something just felt off!” Alistair said firmly.

"What evidence do you have? You know, Omsk led the Knights to pave the way for us!" Roland shook his head at Alistar, his unfounded questioning aimed at Omsk's work.

“I feel it!” Alistar said firmly.

(End of this chapter)