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

Chapter 5 Orc Attack

"Lonely Mountain Expedition: Already joined. Reward: 10 Battanian Archers. Recruitment is available at any time."

"Pfft!" Roland almost choked on his own saliva. What did he see? The Babbitt bow, hailed as the strongest archer in Mount & Blade... This is too damn modified!

After summoning these ten archers, Roland couldn't help but exclaim, "Ah! They smell delicious!"

Let's start with the high-level archers. The archer profession is divided into: Apprentice Archer, Archer, Sharpshooter, Eagle Eye Archer, Sniper, and the highest level, Star Hunter.

After looking at their equipment again, Roland couldn't help but feel envious. It was too luxurious... Mithril inner armor with silver chainmail overlays, a mithril bow in hand, 50 star silver steel armor-piercing arrows on their back, a mithril fighting sword at their waist, and a steel arm shield on their left hand. The most outrageous thing was that they were also carrying a one-meter-long steel armor-piercing hammer... It's a good thing they were wearing chainmail; if they were wearing plate armor, they could be used as heavy infantry... Roland really wanted to stop them and ask if they had forgotten their job. Their behavior was really hurting melee heavy armor classes...

As it turned out, the group of men probably noticed Roland's confusion, but they didn't say anything. They simply took up their bows and each fired a shot in the dark, bringing back 11 startled birds for Roland as a treat. The reason for 11 birds was that one arrow had pierced through two of them... Roland then shut up and never mentioned again whether the group had forgotten their job.

……

At dawn, Roland and his men waited outside the woods of Hobbiton. His 100 apprentice knights formed a neat square, while 10 Battanian archers mounted fully armed Shire warhorses provided by the system, making them look even more like heavy knights... Roland didn't care anymore. Ignoring the conspicuous longbows, their attire alone made them look like melee units...

"Hey guys! I've been waiting for you for ages!" Roland finally saw the expedition team's belated figures.

“1, 2, 3…14, very good, Bill still hasn’t come.” Roland counted the number of people and nodded. Just like in the movie, Mr. Bill hadn’t decided to join last night, but he should be on his way now.

"Is everyone here? Aren't we waiting for Master Baggins?" Roland asked.

“No, everyone’s here, he won’t be coming!” Thorin said decisively.

“Hey, Mr. Roland, your army is truly magnificent!” the dwarves exclaimed, even Gandalf cast an admiring glance at them.

"Thank you for the compliment. But I think Bill will still come!" Roland said the last part to Thorin.

“But it doesn’t matter, he can catch up with us!” Roland glanced at Hobbiton and muttered to himself, after all, Hobbits are known for their ability to run away.

"Oh! By the God of Forging! It's mithril, adamantite, and star silver steel!" Philip suddenly exclaimed.

“Oh, buddy, I spent a lot of money on their equipment, otherwise I wouldn’t be so poor now…” Roland said casually.

Everyone chose to believe it, after all, how could they possibly know something as unreliable as the system?

"Hey! Wait! Wait!" Suddenly a voice came from afar, and it was indeed Bill Burkins running towards them.

Battanian archers immediately raised their longbows, and several knights at the rear also raised their lances, ready to pin the fast-running dwarf to the ground.

“Oh! Lord Baggins! Alright, put down your weapons, you’re one of us.” Roland looked at Bill with a look of realization.

"Oh! Hello, Mr. Roland, Mr. Thorin, I've signed it!" After greeting Roland, Billberg quickly held up the contract to show his approval.

"Yes, it's accurate!" Several dwarves gathered around to take a look, and after finding no problem, announced to the crowd.

"Then welcome to the 14th member of the expedition!" Thorin opened his arms.

“The 14th? Wait, what about them…” Bilber pointed at Roland and his men in disbelief. “We’re mercenaries, Lord Baggins!” Roland explained.

“They get paid separately,” Gandalf said.

"Wizard, which way do we go?" Roland asked.

“Take the Eastern Avenue, then cross the Misty Mountains, and finally take the Old Forest Road along the Jiliu River to Gushan.”

“That sounds good, but the journey will definitely not be peaceful…” Roland looked into the distance.

"Sigh... This journey is destined to be full of dangers," Roland thought to himself. Knowing the plot well, he knew that they would encounter quite a few orcs later on, and there would even be a battle between five armies.

“Your Excellency, your army surprises me! I don’t think I’ve ever seen their armor before…” Thorin asked as he walked alongside Roland.

"Yes, I am a human from the East. This is plate armor unique to our homeland. We were defeated in the battle against the Dongyi people, and our people began to wander in the North." Roland quickly made up an excuse. After all, the plate armor from the system was too different from the armor in the Middle Kingdom. Wearing it, everyone looked like they were wearing iron cans. Only the chainmail worn by the Battanian archers was normal. The plate armor worn by the knights was more like the Milanese plate armor from his previous life.

……

"My lord! Enemies are approaching! They are orcs!" A Battanian archer on scouting galloped up on horseback, bringing the bad news to the group.

"Did you see clearly? How many people are there?" Roland asked hurriedly.

There are probably around 300 people!

“My lord, I think we should gather the knights now. After all, the power of the knights mainly comes from group charges. Let the knights move, otherwise we will be perfect targets when we are separated.” Caslo rode up to Roland’s side and advised him. He understood that Roland did not want him to reveal his identity as a dragon knight.

"Gather the knights! Crush them with our iron hooves!" Roland said fiercely, feeling less panicked now that he had troops at his disposal.

Sure enough, a few moments later hundreds of orcs rushed out of the woods in a chaotic frenzy, brandishing various broken weapons and charging towards them. Roland even spotted pitchforks among them...

"Phew—" Gandalf let out a long breath: "Fortunately, it wasn't an orc army from the Misty Mountains."

"Don't be too happy yet. Our whereabouts and purpose may have already been exposed." Roland poured cold water on our hopes.

"Charge! Crush them!" Roland drew his Dragon Slayer Sword and charged forward first!

Various colored battle aura flames, spurred on by the apprentice knights, covered their warhorses, armor, and weapons. As they charged, the knights gradually unified their auras, each weapon emitting a nearly half-meter-long edge of battle aura. This was the difference between knights and cavalry; by releasing battle aura during the charge, the knights connected themselves with other knights, forming a unified whole. As long as their battle aura wasn't completely depleted, they would share the damage and receive a battle aura buff from the knightly order! At this moment, they were the knightly order known as the Kings of Land Warfare!

"Bang—" Accompanied by various dull impacts and the tearing sound of spears piercing flesh, the Knights and the vanguard of the Orcs clashed. Roland and his knights brandished their weapons and maneuvered their warhorses to cleanly tear apart the dozen orcs that came towards them. Behind them, ten Battanian archers also raised their yew longbows. With each swing of their bows, an Orc would fall to the ground with an arrow in his eye or throat. All the Orcs that bypassed the Knights' charge were brought down by these ten men.

"So you're not going to help?" a Battanian archer asked, looking at the stunned group.

"Uh! Kill!" The dwarves, realizing what was happening, were startled and quickly grabbed axes, greatswords, hammers, and other weapons to meet the attack. Only Bilbo remained in place, at a loss. Gandalf picked up his staff and began chanting a spell. The next second, a fireball the size of a human head swept over everyone's heads and smashed into the rear of the orcs.

"Beautiful! Finally, not a battle mage from the movies." Roland glanced at Gandalf in surprise, then thought to himself.

(End of this chapter)