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

Chapter 970 Nobles Die in Their Fiefdoms!
"War clouds! Ringwraiths!" Ismir gazed at the distant war clouds, his eyes filled with panic.

"Call for help! Call for help now!" Ismir grabbed Ymir and cried.

"Retreat first! Get the civilians out! Everyone out! Soldiers stay behind to hold them off! Quickly!" Ismir roared, pulling Ymir back with him.

"Bang!" A scarlet magic flare exploded in the sky, and the Lulong Fortress on the opposite side also raised a flare instantly. A series of semi-transparent hexagonal shields quickly appeared and merged together, instantly enveloping the entire fortress.

"Phew, the fortress is safe!" Ismir's heart was half relieved. Now he had to think about how to keep his thousands of men alive.

"Damn it! We have to find a way to get out of here!" Ymir's face darkened as he looked at the smoke and clouds in the distance.

"Retreat! Retreat! The orcs are coming! The orc army is coming!" Soon, goblin knights covered in blood rushed out of the jungle on their tug-tug boars, and the scout cavalrymen hurriedly squeezed through the slightly ajar gate.

"Boom!" The west gate of Windhelm was slammed shut, heavy stone blocks were laid down to block the gate, and from this moment on, there were no more friendly units to the west.

"My lord, you must retreat!" Haro, the leader of the Nature Guardians, anxiously grabbed Ismir's arm and dragged him backward.

“Lord Ymir, please lead Baron Ismir to retreat! We will hold off and cover you here! The Guardians of Nature will not tarnish your reputation!” Haro nodded to Ymir, carrying his spear.

"Retreat? Where can I retreat to? No pioneering noble has ever retreated! The city stands as long as we live!" Baron Ismir roared. For pioneering nobles, losing land was far more terrifying than losing their lives. They knew that if their pioneering fiefdoms were lost, their titles would lose their legitimacy! Although pioneering nobles wouldn't be stripped of their titles or even executed like fiefdom nobles, the possibility of the entire pioneering family rising again was virtually nonexistent…

Ismir knew that even if he ran back, he would never have another chance to expand his territory, so he preferred to die in battle on his own land rather than cross the Swift River and live out his remaining years as a commoner.

"Soldiers of Windhelm! Assemble! We will fight them to the death in the city!" Ismir's eyes turned bloodshot, and the aura of a third-tier druid emanated from him, causing ripples of magic to spread through the air!
“My lord…” Ymir held Ismir’s hand with a hint of reluctance in his eyes. He did not want Ismir to walk down this seemingly hopeless path of no return.

“My mind is made up! There’s no need to persuade me anymore. If you’re afraid, you can accompany the people across the river by boat!” Ismir shook his head and then continued in a low voice.

"This is the closest I've ever come to being a nobleman, and I don't want to lose my title of Baron! I don't want to die an old commoner in the kingdom again. This is my only chance to expand... Windhelm... I can't afford to lose it!" Looking at Ymir's reluctant gaze, Ismir patted the arm of the large half-giant and said calmly. When he learned of the Ringwraiths' attack, he had already resolved to die. Rather than return to the kingdom as a commoner and die an old commoner after a failed expansion, he would rather die as a nobleman in the frontier, at least leaving a strong mark in history!
“My lord, I will not leave. The Senate Guard… there is no turning back! In the Blood Mist, there is only death!” Ymir shook his head, carrying his heavy serpentine sword.

"Fight, worthy of the glory of our ancestors!" Ymir gently stroked the blade, and the entire Blood Mist Village set trembled, a thin layer of blood mist beginning to spread.

"My lord, give the order! We should head to the battlefield!" Ymir grinned, hoisting his serpentine greatsword, which resembled a door panel. "Defend the city walls first, and if the city falls, we'll fight in the streets! We're outnumbered; we can't afford to waste our time with the orcs..." Ismir shook his head. He had no tactics to speak of, only a desperate measure.

“That Ringwraith…” Ymir said worriedly. They couldn’t possibly send him to fight a Ringwraith, could they? A sixth-tier Imperial Guard would be one thing, but how could a fourth-tier Vanguard Guard possibly fight a peak sixth-tier Ringwraith? Even if it were a divine artifact from the Blood Mist Village, they couldn’t send him to fight across two major realms! Especially since it was just a legendary set.

"Give it to the Dragon Knight! This is what Yunfeng owes me! For the sake of the people, they have to fight to the death, and for his own sake, he can't let a nobleman of the kingdom die here! Our target is the Orcs! The Ringwraiths are theirs!" Since becoming a nobleman, Ismir has learned a lot and his horizons have broadened considerably over time. He immediately saw the current target and the division of responsibilities.

"Roar! Boom!" With nowhere to land, Vili crashed down on a house, but since everyone in the city had fled, the house collapse didn't hurt anyone.

"Take me to your baron! Hurry!" Viss shouted, pulling over a fully armed soldier who was rushing about. The soldier, seeing Viss's identity as a dragon knight, didn't say anything more, grabbed Viss's armor, pushed through the crowd, and rushed off in one direction.

……

"Lord Vess has arrived?" Ismir nodded without much formality. As a nobleman and resentful of Yunfeng's arrangements, he was not particularly enthusiastic upon seeing Vess.

"Yes, I apologize, Lord Ismir..." Weiss nodded apologetically. He knew, of course, that Yunfeng had shifted the blame onto Baron Ismir. With the Dragon Riders and Holy Heroes suppressing the Lulong Fortress, Windhelm Territory's strongest defense was now vulnerable because Yunfeng wanted to convene a meeting of all decision-makers...

Ironically, it was the governor of Lulong Fortress who was transferred away, leaving Windhelm Headquarters with its defenses completely exposed... If it were just Lulong, its status as a war fortress would have been fine for a short time without Reynolds' presence. The problem was that Windhelm Headquarters, which relied on Lulong for its livelihood, was weak-willed. With Reynolds gone, Lulong Fortress couldn't just fly up and crush the Ringwraiths, thus exposing Windhelm Headquarters to the defensive line. Now that the Ringwraiths had discovered its weakness, Windhelm Headquarters was like a lone, hard-boiled egg caught by an assassin. It could put up a few resistances, but it was pointless...

"It's none of your business. Yun Feng is a scoundrel, you don't need to apologize!" Baron Ismir said with a strong voice. Although his territory was teetering on the brink of collapse, the aristocratic air he had cultivated over the years had not weakened in the slightest, but rather had become stronger with the approach of war.

"Your Majesty Yunfeng..." Weiss opened his mouth, about to defend Yunfeng, when he saw Ismir raise his hand, and he closed his mouth again, since it was really useless to say anything now.

"Words are useless, darkness has fallen! Let's see who prevails on the battlefield!" Ismir was also determined. As someone who led a group of goblin knights to conquer the old fortress of Dolgodor, he was no pushover!
“Well, Baron, be careful! Lord Dos Anthony will be here to help soon! Survive! Windhelm still has a chance!” Weiss nodded to him.

"Let's cover the people crossing the river first!" Ismir said in a deep voice, glancing at the jungle where countless birds had been startled into flight and then at the residents behind him who were carrying large bags and small packages and rushing toward the riverbank dock.

“Alright, then you set up the defenses, I’ll go and deal with them first! We can’t let the Ringwraiths drag the battlefield to the city! I’ll hold off the Ringwraiths, Windhelm is on your own!” Whis nodded decisively.