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

Chapter 831 Roland's Plan

"Hiss! These two are really restless..." Roland was completely flustered after receiving the report from Nyx of Rapid City. He could understand Apophis Breo and Ismir's antics, but he didn't want them to do this. The time for war with the orcs was over!
After a series of chaotic battles in the North, Roland successfully diverted Sauron's attention from the two southern kingdoms, who were now in a state of exile, to the emerging North. However, after being thoroughly defeated by Roland, Sauron had a profound realization and decided to put the North aside for now. After all, compared to the troublesome North, the wealthy and decadent Gondor and Rohan were much more appealing to Sauron. Since the Last Alliance War, the South had been unusually quiet, with weapons stored away and horses grazing freely! Apart from fighting the Umbar pirates, Gondor's environment was more favorable than ever before! Rohan had no external enemies! After maintaining a small force to keep an eye on the wandering orcish rabble, the nobles of both kingdoms immediately found themselves with nothing to do.

Humans are a species prone to baseness; when food and clothing are plentiful, lust arises; when hunger and cold breed theft. This is a true reflection of human nature. The comfortable environment allowed the nobles of both countries to begin indulging in frivolous pursuits, and luxury and decadence began to corrupt these noble gentlemen who had originally guarded the borders...

Roland and Sauron were quite in sync in some ways. Roland knew Sauron was too exhausted to fight anymore, and Sauron knew Roland didn't want to fight. Both returned to their respective homes to prepare for the next battle. However, after the fighting subsided, both sides noticed the unusually prominent presence of Gondor and Rohan in the south. After all, with the North in a state of near collapse, the south was unusually quiet... So Sauron understood, and Roland understood too!
Compared to having Sauron sharpening his knives at his parents, it was far better to direct his attention southwards. Embracing the spirit of "better to sacrifice a friend than oneself," and knowing the upcoming plot, Roland judged that Sauron was preparing something big, after all, the War of the Ring was just decades away! The Sauron he had thrashed was far weaker than in history; if he didn't prepare to amass an army for the War of the Ring, there would be no need for a war! After all, Gondor had a true King—Thenethor II! Compared to Aragorn, who was killed off by plot devices, this Regent was the undisputed King, a being who suppressed Sauron's will with his spiritual power!

Therefore, Roland does not want his vassals to provoke the Dark Lord in the south. Both sides are consolidating their resources and preparing for war, but Roland hopes that Mordor's blade will be aimed at Gondor first, not his own Lagrange!
Roland didn't want to see the hellish joke that Gondor would never surrender before the last Lagrange was dead!

“Tell them to tone it down, we need time!” Roland tapped his head. Compared to Ismir's insignificant squabbles, the King's Landing's reckless rampage through the Misty Mountains was far more alarming. After all, the Rivendell elves, Moria dwarves, and the Southern Kingdoms offered no real help to the kingdom, only clapping and cheering; they were drawing all the attention to Lagrang! Roland didn't want to be the first to get shot in the War of the Demon Realms, so it was best to keep a low profile while Mordor and the Ringwraiths weren't causing trouble. After all, the Lagrang Plains were already giving the entire kingdom a hard time…

"How's the situation at Dragon Cliff Fortress?" Roland asked again. After all, the kingdom now had a group of dragons waiting to be settled, and there was no better dragon nest than Dragon Cliff Fortress. It was originally the habitat of wild dragons in the empire, but did Roland's dilapidated kingdom have any wild dragons? Well... it seems there really is one, but that Purple Thunder Dragon is absolutely not going to be released. Its fate is to become a dragon knight's mount or become material. So instead of leaving those cliffs that can be converted into dragon nests empty, it's better to migrate those dragons there. Near the Swift River, they can catch fish and aquatic monsters for food, and the kingdom can easily support them.

"Ms. Fenglin Binglan has gone over. The specific details are being handled by Vladivostok and Verin Angus..." Adolf Heinrich shrugged. The McDougal family isn't the Swift Hand; their expertise lies in military rather than politics. So, Fenglin Binglan went over and started things off directly. Anyway, she wouldn't understand it; she's a simple girl!
"Well, is Maple Forest Orchid still cuddling with his wife?" Roland sighed and asked.

"Hmm! Ever since he found his wife, that kid doesn't care about his sister anymore. Now Caslo spends all his time with those little guys..." Adolf Heinrich shrugged.

"..." Roland grinned. Now his identity as the kindergarten principal was confirmed!

"By the way, has that dragon given in yet?" Roland asked curiously, because that stubborn Purple Thunder Dragon was practically impervious to reason, and the daily struggle of Maple Forest Shulan to win him over had become a common sight in Lagrange City. "The dragon doesn't reject that girl Shulan anymore, it just won't say a word..." Adolf Heinrich thought for a moment; these were things he needed to keep an eye on daily, so he knew these basic details by heart.

"That's good, finally some progress. It's okay if he doesn't talk, as long as he's not on a hunger strike, it means he doesn't want to die! Just keep him hanging! Shulan is still young, there's plenty of time to outlast him! Let the two people with plenty of time outlast each other! Let's see if the dragon outlasts the man, or the man outlasts the dragon rider!" Roland snorted.

"..." Adolf Heinrich was somewhat shocked. Was this even human language? What did he mean by "slowly simmering"...?

“Now is a time of great conflict! We need time to digest our land and transform it into war potential!” Roland confessed. After all, he couldn’t tell Adolf Heinrich that he was a time traveler and that Middle-earth would be fighting the War of the Ring decades later. Otherwise, Adolf Heinrich would just drag that old charlatan Charles Proust to exorcise Roland.

"Middle-earth is peaceful now, isn't it? The southern kingdoms are stable, and although there is war in our northern border, those orcs and barbarians can't shake us..." Adolf Heinrich was a bit off-topic. In his view, the kingdom with a bunch of dragon riders was just around the corner and was about to be revived into an empire. Those obstacles in the way would be swept into the dustbin of history by the kingdom.

"Don't forget the Ringwraiths and the Dark Lord behind them! Sauron won't let this go!" Roland calmly pointed south.

"Excuse my bluntness, but I doubt Sauron will show himself easily. After all, the righteous faction of the elves is still around. If Sauron dares to show himself, he will definitely be besieged and wiped out, right?" Adolf Heinrich was also familiar with the current history. He believed that neither humans nor elves would want to fight another brutal war like the Last Alliance War. If Sauron dared to show himself, he would definitely be besieged and wiped out. As for the Ringwraiths, they were just clowns. The kingdom didn't care about them at the moment.

"..." Roland glanced at Adolf Heinrich with a complicated expression. Everyone thought so, but... there were bad guys in the upper echelons! Who would have thought that the Great Sage Saruman, the highest-ranking member of the White Way, had become a "master of biology"? Who would have thought that Gondor was no longer the vast empire it once was?

“If only that were true, but we still need to accelerate the development of the Lagrange Plains! I hope that the Swift Stream Avenue will be fully completed in three to five years! And that our cities will be built in the heart of the plains!” Roland raised his head. The Twelve Cities of Swift Stream were the first line of defense, while the Lagrange Plains were the depth of the kingdom!
(End of this chapter)