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

Chapter 314 A Thousand Riders Sweep Across the Plains

"Go and return quickly! I have already dispatched all our cavalry and knights to assemble at the northern border. After you bring back the centaurs, head straight to the northern border!" Yun Feng instructed the knight commander, Ravian, in front of him.

"Understood, Your Majesty Yunfeng!" Ravian nodded and left to carry out the order.

"Hopefully, the two kingdoms of Gushan can stop more orcs!" Yun Feng looked north with worry. The large number of wandering orcs moving south made the entire Gushan region unsafe.

……

"The King's decree! Baron Badr, receive the decree!" Lavian rode swiftly to the territory of Tupte, holding up the decree from the kingdom to the centaur guards on the perimeter.

"What's going on?" a forest warrior asked his companion, watching Lavian's figure.

"Perhaps the king is conscripting lords under his command?" Another woodland warrior protecting the construction workers shrugged.

"Perhaps the recent increase in the number of wandering orcs has caught the kingdom's attention!" someone speculated.

……

"What is it? Where is the king's summons?" Badr strode out, his strong limbs bulging with muscles.

"His Highness has issued a decree! You are ordered to lead your troops to defend the king and immediately patrol the northern border to stop the wandering orcs from advancing south!" Ravian handed the decree to the centaur lord Baldr.

Baldr unfurled the scroll, looked at the shocking words written by Yunfeng and then at the royal emblem below, and immediately nodded in approval. Although centaurs were unwilling to interact with humans, they still upheld their oath of allegiance to Roland.

"Wait a moment, I'll go gather the tribesmen!" Baldr's face was grim. Letting the wandering orcs roam freely was also a threat to them. When it came to dealing with orcs, the humans and centaurs were united in their approach.

……

"Time is of the essence, and I can only gather two hundred men and warriors! Let's go!" Badr said apologetically.

"Hmm... let's go!" Slightly dazed, Lavian nodded. He was truly astonished by these centaurs; they were practically born heavily armored knights! Baldr was clad in five layers of armor! The innermost layer was soft armor, the second was hard leather armor, the third was chainmail covering his limbs, the fourth was plate armor protecting his torso, and the fifth was linen armor! Looking at the centaur draped in five layers of armor, Lavian couldn't help but swallow hard. Could this thing really impress him?

……

"Horin! Assemble the troops! Scouts have spotted a group of over a hundred orcs crossing the Vale's defenses. We must intercept them!" Omsk said, raising his lance.

"By the Dragon God! What are the soldiers of the River Valley doing? Are their defenses sieves? They let hundreds of orcs through!" Hollin was furious.

“They’re not under the Dragon God’s jurisdiction, but their borders have been riddled with holes for a long time! Stop complaining! We have to deal with these orcs!” Omsk shook his head helplessly.

"Damn it, we have to clean up this mess again!" Hollin was speechless with frustration.

"There's nothing we can do. Apart from us, there's no other kingdom in the entire North that can muster a mobile force!" Omske smiled bitterly. Expecting the dwarves to fight positional battles was one thing, but asking them to launch long-distance raids was far too much of a challenge for those short-legged creatures.

"It's a pity, the cavalry and knights of the North have all gone south..." Holin was referring to the current Kingdom of Rohan, a coalition of people from the North who had now settled in the south.

"Let's deal with this group of orcs first! A distant solution won't solve an immediate problem!" Omske's eyes were filled with unwavering resolve. ...

"God of Nature! Have these orcs gone mad?" Baldr, gripping the centaur's hand, stared wide-eyed at the orc corpses scattered along the way. The number of these orc corpses already exceeded the total number of the past few months, indicating that the orcs of the North were migrating south on a large scale.

“The autumn harvest is coming! They won’t let us finish harvesting the grain in peace. I don’t believe for a second that there’s no Gambada Fortress behind these orcs!” Ravian said disdainfully as he picked up an orc’s corpse, revealing the totem on its body.

“I recognize this thing! It’s an orc totem from Gambada Fortress! It’s fundamentally different from Dolgodo!” Ravian spat and casually flicked the corpse off the tip of his spear.

"Gambada Fortress has overstepped its bounds, hasn't it?" Badr's eyes were filled with rage. How did his entire tribe end up here? It was all because they were chased all the way here by the northern orcs! As the saying goes, enemies are especially hateful when they meet, and Badr couldn't help but want to draw his bow and shoot a few orcs to vent his anger.

……

"Halt!" A knight from King's Landing stepped forward, standing alone but fearlessly blocking the path of hundreds of iron cavalry.

"Frontline! No loitering! Show your warrant if you wish to pass!" The King's Landing knight pointed his lance at Lavian and his group.

“I am Knight Commander Ravian!” Ravian said, raising his token.

"Baron Badr of the Kingdom of Lagrange, Tupter Territory!" Badr ordered his centaur knights to raise their noble coat of arms, which depicted a majestic centaur leaping and drawing its bow.

"Excuse me, sirs, what brings you here?" The King's Knight lowered his defensive lance, but still cautiously watched the group.

“I have been ordered by the king to summon Baron Baldr and his soldiers to defend the capital! We are here to secure the border! Are you the only patrolling soldier around here?” Ravian frowned. If even the knights were scattered to drive away the orcs, it could only mean that the defenses near Lonely Mountain were practically non-existent.

“We still have four knights in our group! His Majesty Omske ordered us to clear out the orcs in groups of five! I’ve already killed two!” The King’s Landing knight shook his head under the tin can.

“Take me to His Majesty Omske! I have brought him fresh troops!” Lavian said.

……

"Lavian, you've arrived? Welcome, Lord Badr!" Omsk didn't exchange many pleasantries but instead looked with satisfaction at the strong and muscular centaur knights behind Badr.

"Now I'm much more relaxed!" Omske grinned, his smile quite menacing.

"Defend my ass! Gather all our soldiers! Follow me to Lonely Mountain! I want to see what those dwarves and Vale State are doing! Can they hold the line? If not, they can go back and have a feast with the kids!" Omske sneered.

"No! Your Highness Omske, His Highness's orders are for us to deal with the orcs' harassment of the kingdom and defend against their southward advance, not to launch an attack!" Ravian quickly reached out to stop him.

"Solve? Defend? As long as that inhuman defensive line on Lonely Mountain remains, these ruthless orcs will never be solved!" Omske scoffed.

"Go! I will lead you a thousand cavalry to sweep across the plains today!" Omske waved his hand with domineering confidence, and he certainly had the right to be domineering! A sixth-tier hero was enough to suppress the entire Northern Territory without the Ringwraiths appearing.

(End of this chapter)