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

Chapter 290 The General's Battle Robe Stained with Soldiers' Blood (Part 3)
"Those in power crave war! But ordinary people yearn for peace! — Reno." From The Governor of the North's Memoirs.

"Someone has to sacrifice! If there is a choice, let it be us ordinary people! — Luke Leopold." From "The Song of Luke Leopold, the Commoner General".

……

"Damn! Have those human scum gone mad? What makes them think they can fight us! They don't even have any professionals!" A Ringwraith sneered as he looked at the endless, surging crowd of people in the "Rapid Stream".

“Don’t underestimate these infantry! These are Swiftwater Infantry! Haven’t you suffered enough losses against them?” another hoarse voice came from the Ringwraiths.

“I suspect these lunatics would dare to stab even a god!” another Ringwraith laughed, his voice as harsh and unpleasant as the scraping of a broken gong.

"What should we do? Should we stop them?" one of the Ringwraiths asked seriously.

Upon hearing this, the remaining four Ringwraiths turned to look at each other and fell silent.

"Hahaha! Joel! Are you crazy? Using a dragon-slaying sword to kill a chicken? Leave that to the orc army! I wouldn't stoop to their level!"

Several Ringwraiths nodded in deep agreement. After all, it would be a loss of face for them to attack these ordinary people; they were on guard against the Empire's high-end combat power!

"Be careful! Don't give them a chance. The human reinforcements from the other three directions are tied up! I don't want to mess things up here!"

……

"General! A massive orc army!" A swift infantryman pointed to a dark mass of orcs in the distance and panicked.

"Smack!" Luke Leopold slapped the young soldier's helmet.

"Open your eyes wide and look! Look at this blue-green ocean! With such a huge army, what do you have to fear? They are the ones who should be afraid!" Luke Leopold laughed and scolded, but no one saw the worry in his eyes.

Putting aside their numerical advantage, these elite orcs, at least of the first tier, were enough to inflict heavy casualties on them! What those poor Swift Infantry were unaware of was that they were about to launch a desperate charge against this army of professionals, led by their most trusted legion commander!

"General Luke... is this really alright?" a swift legion commander beside him asked in a low voice, a hint of reluctance flashing in his eyes.

"What should we do then? Let those ragtag allied forces fill the gaps? Are they willing? Or should we send the elite Northern Knights to attack the orcs? Time is running out in the capital..." Luke Leopold rubbed his tired eyes and sighed.

“I am a sinner!” Luke Leopold murmured softly.

“Someone has to sacrifice! If we have a choice, let us ordinary people do it! The future of the Empire belongs to the knights, not us…” Luke Leopold murmured, and the officers around him fell silent.

"Professionals have their own battlefield! We have ours too! As an ordinary person, I am proud to have fought alongside you for this country! No matter the outcome, history will remember you and me! We are the heroes of the Empire!" Luke Leopold turned his head and roared as loudly as he could.

"The capital is now under siege! Fellow legion commanders! In the name of the Allied Legion Commander, I order and urge you all! Charge towards Lagrange City!" Luke Leopold bowed deeply, and the legion commanders before him silently pounded their chests in salute before returning to their respective legions. They unleashed the most deafening roar in the most silent voices!

All 170 legion commanders silently turned and lined up, the Swiftstream Charge, a battle that would shock Middle-earth, was about to begin. (Several Swiftstream Legions were short of men, hence the 170 legions.)
"Boom boom boom!" The dull drumbeats resounded, and one hundred and seventy rectangular formations were drawn up one by one. The infantrymen, arranged in neat squares of thirty men in rows and ten men in columns, formed orderly rectangles. Only a few legions suffered casualties along the way, resulting in incomplete formations. ...

"Humans are attacking!" The orcs stared nervously at the blue "waves" on the horizon. Their individual combat strength did not give them much of a sense of security.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~" The sound of steel armor scraping against each other, like ocean waves, was deafening! Ten swift legions advancing side by side had begun their charge.

The earth trembled! The orcs' legs went weak; this was a true torrent of steel!

"For the Empire! For our homeland! For our people!" the Swift Infantry roared.

Soon the first rank of infantrymen lowered their chevaux-de-frise and quickened their pace...

……

"My lord! The Swift Infantry... have begun their attack!" A northern knight rushed in.

Renault's face in the command tent was a mixture of emotions. He knew Luke Leopold's move was too ruthless! No one had ever been able to disregard the lives of 500,000 people! Yet this commoner general, who wasn't even a professional, had done it! This most legendary commoner general of the empire was actually going to use his own life and the lives of 500,000 soldiers from the North to forcibly relieve the siege of the capital!
The Ringwraiths didn't know, the Orcs didn't know, the Allied Forces didn't know, and even the Swiftfoot themselves didn't know! They had become victims of this battle, and only Reno and Luke Leopold knew the true meaning of this war.

"Order the knights to don their armor! Be ready for battle at any time! Also, dismantle the command tent! I'll move forward with the knights! Remember not to fly my governor's banner!" Renault ordered, leaving the others completely bewildered.

"Is it worth it?" Renault sighed softly as he gazed at the distant "ocean." He would seize this opportunity, the one that General Luke had created with the lives of half a million men.

……

The sharp barricades crashed into the orc ranks, lifting one orc after another, and some were even pierced into shape by a single barricade.

"Crack!" The sound of the chevaux-de-frise breaking under the weight echoed one after another, but these loyal and brave soldiers were not afraid at all. They took off the spiked hammers from their waists and began to swing them!
The moment the weapons clashed was gruesome. Countless orc warriors easily cleaved the chests of the Swift Infantry with their weapons imbued with battle aura! The first rank of Swift Infantry was quickly wiped out, but before the orcs could even catch their breath, the second rank charged forward! The cycle repeated itself, but this time, more and more orcs exhausted all their battle aura, unable to withstand the infantry's attacks, collapsing to the ground and being crushed into mud by countless massive feet!

For the first time, the orcish lines began to show signs of retreat! This was Luke Leopold's calculated move! Using human lives to wear down the orcs' morale and stamina—they were ultimately outnumbered by human soldiers! Even if the Swift Infantry were all wiped out, so what? The remaining crippled orcs would face the elite Knights of the North! This Knights of the North, numbering a full two thousand, was the sharpest blade in the hands of Governor Reno of the North!
"We will win!" Luke turned and glanced in the direction of Renault.

"We will not let you down!" Little did they know that at this moment, Reno had already donned his armor and was leading the Northern Knights closely behind the Swift Infantry, advancing stealthily. At this moment, Reno was also gazing at Luke.

Both high-ranking officers from the North silently offered their blessings to their dear friend!
"I'm sorry, Renault, I probably won't be able to return from this battle... Sigh!" Luke gazed sadly at the blood-soaked front lines.

"Wait for me to go home, take me home, bring me home!" Luke Leopold casually wrote his will and stuffed it into the lining of his armor.

"Come back alive, General Luke Leopold! This is the order of the Governor of the North and the expectation of a dear friend..." Renault murmured to himself as he gazed at the front lines.

(End of this chapter)