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

Chapter 54 The Solo Battle of Swiftstream City
"What's going on?" After flying for half a day, Caslo could clearly see the group of orcs camping on the ground from high in the sky. Instead of taking advantage of the daylight to march quickly, they set up camp on the west bank of the Red River.

"Could it be a large tribe migrating?" Caslo was afraid that his group's neuroticism might have led them to mistake the migration of the orcs from the wasteland for a sneak attack.

"No! This is an army! There are no old or young orcs!" Caslo told Kaldo to lower his position and hide in the clouds to observe. After all, the air knights, who mainly fight in the air, have top-notch eyesight. With the Dragon Eye skill activated, Caslo could even see the totems on the orcs on the ground from a thousand meters in the air.

"What are they waiting for?" Caslo decided to go back and tell Roland the news first, since these orcs wouldn't be able to reach the vicinity of Swiftstream City for a while.

……

"What? They've set up camp by the river?" Roland exclaimed in surprise. Given the mindless nature of orcs, shouldn't they have swarmed over in droves?

“Perhaps they are stationed there waiting for orcs from other places to launch a combined attack! Like Gangaba and Dogoldo!” Renault stood up.

“Imagine what would happen if an army of orcs appeared behind us while we were fighting bravely on the front lines? Even if they were just wasteland orcs wielding bone clubs and wooden clubs!” Renault continued.

A chill ran through everyone's hearts... If that were to happen, the entire alliance's defenses would crumble like dominoes.

“We need to discuss with our allies in Los Santo Nie to see how to deal with them,” Caslow said after a moment’s thought.

"No! We don't need to discuss this! Gather all the soldiers!" Roland said coldly, waving his hand as he walked out of the tent.

"Looks like you're in trouble!" Peter Groh landed in the city on his dragon. This was the first time Roland had ever closely observed a giant dragon.

The 30-meter-long Star Dragon was covered in deep blue scales that shimmered with starlight, while its belly scales were milky white. Its deep blue, sapphire-like claws gleamed with a cold light, and its dark, wild eyes contained a single, piercing golden vertical pupil. However, this dragon wasn't wearing any dragon armor, only a saddle? Thumbs down! Caslo's dragons all had full-body dragon armor, which shows that the Kingdom of Singrey really wasn't rich; otherwise, they wouldn't have allowed their dragons to run around naked.

As one of the most elite combat forces in any faction, dragon knights are expected to be lavishly equipped with all sorts of resources. The Lagrange Empire's dragon knights not only possess luxurious personal equipment, but their dragons are also equipped with incredibly extravagant gear. Looking at the naked dragon knights, Roland could only sigh and say, "They're really poor! They don't even have the money to armor their dragons..."

"Sir Peter? What are you doing here?" Roland asked in confusion. Because Los Saint-Neil was constantly threatened by war with Togold, Roland did not intend to ask them for help in the war in the east. After all, although there were tens of thousands of orcs in the wasteland, their quality was... apart from sneak attacks from behind, Roland's soldiers could crush them in a head-on battle with their eyes closed.

“I’ve come to see if you need any help. It seems you’re planning to take action against the orcs in the eastern wasteland?” Peter Gro looked at the tensely assembled army.

“That’s right! We can’t wait for them to come to us.” Roland smiled.

“Well, it’s better for us to take the initiative. Although Los Sannier and the King cannot support your army, I can follow your command,” Peter Gro said humbly, bringing with him the goodwill and support of the two kings.

“No, no, no, Los Sannier needs high-end combat power! If the orcs of Togoldo suddenly invade, we don’t know if they have any other trump cards. Leaving you here is the best option,” Roland said, denying the claim.

"But you have very few soldiers!"

“But we have no fear!” Roland calmly looked into the dragon knight’s eyes.

“Very well… I will convey your will to the two kings!” Through Roland’s eyes, Peter Gross saw calmness and fearlessness.

"Good luck." Peter Gross gave a knightly salute, then mounted the dragon, and the Star Dragon spread its wings and soared into the sky.

"My lord, the disparity in strength between us in this battle is enormous!" Caslo quietly approached Roland from behind.

“But we have no choice… We are attacked from both sides, and our forces are stretched thin… We cannot block the way! Los Saint-Neil cannot be lost! The orcs from the north and south must not join forces! We are not lucky enough to repeat the Battle of Lonely Mountain.” Roland calmly watched the soldiers who were gathering and marching out of the city.

"...My lord! All 1047 people have assembled! Everyone except Elnino Ranger, along with the soldiers of the grassland elves, is here," Carlos said to Roland.

“Well, let the Knights set off first!” Roland said to Renault, turning his head.

“Lord Radil, I’m leaving Swiftstream City to you! Please organize the able-bodied men to keep watch, in case we don’t return…” Roland didn’t finish his sentence.

"May the Dragon God protect you... my king," Ivy whispered, bowing down.

"Hmm." Roland forced a smile.

……

"Are we really going to go up like this?" Verway asked incredulously.

"What? The brave and skilled grassland elves are actually afraid of battle?" Roland asked curiously.

"No, no, no, I just want to ask, are we just going to jump right in like this?" Verway felt that something was off.

“When the numerical disparity is too great, all tactics are futile.” Roland calmly gazed ahead.

"But I've discovered we only have three days' worth of food! What will we do when we get back?" Verway cried out in despair, meaning that after their food supplies ran out in the next three days, they would have no more food.
“Three days? That’s enough! We can get there in three days at most if we travel light! If we defeat them, Caslo will bring us plenty of food, and if we fail… so there’s no need to worry about coming back.” Roland was quite nonchalant.

"Damn it... what you said makes so much sense!" Vervier vented, feeling it was unfair that the grassland elves had such a tragic fate. He had just led his people away from there, but he never expected to bring them back to the battlefield so soon.

"Save your energy..." Roland sighed softly. He had just noticed that the equipment of these grassland elves was in poor condition. Although it had been properly maintained, the workmanship and materials were obviously inferior to those of other elves.

"For our homeland! We have nothing to fear!" Roland declared firmly in his heart.

……

"What! A group of grassland elves discovered us and fled?" Ronavel, the king of the wasteland orcs, roared. His incompetent subordinates had only just reported this now.

“They’ve been gone for days!” O’Neill said angrily.

“At least five sunsets… Your Majesty…” The orc kneeling on the ground trembled.

"Roar!" O'Navel angrily swung his warhammer and smashed the scout's head, splattering dark green and white matter all over the ground.

"Damn grassland elves! Incompetent trash!" Onaville roared in a fit of impotent rage.

"Pass on my order! Break camp and advance towards the foot of Lonely Mountain!" O'Neill shouted angrily.

“The dwarves of Lonely Mountain may have already received the news. We can’t wait for Azog and Borg any longer.” O’Neill decided to lead his army out alone, hoping to catch the Lonely Mountain coalition off guard.

"Let's go! Awooo!" O'Neill roared as he rode his dire wolf.

(End of this chapter)