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

Chapter 832 Denethor II

"Father, grandpa's health is getting worse..." Denethor II, who was just 21 years old this year, sighed as he looked at his father Ecthelion II. Historically, his grandfather Turgon would die of illness in 2953 of the Third Age, and his father would inherit the position of prime minister.

"Your Highness! The Regent invites you!" The key officer Hulin personally came over and invited Ecserian II.

"Okay, you stay here and wait, I'll go see your grandfather!" Ecthelion II patted Denethor II's head and walked in. In the palace, Turgon and a group of nobles were discussing government affairs. Obviously, Denethor II was not qualified to join in with his current status.

"..."Denethor II looked at the palace worriedly. He looked at the majestic White King City and felt inexplicably depressed!

"Maybe I should do something!" Denethor II looked firmly at the north. When Roland's Kingdom of Lagrande continued to fight against the orcs and won victory after victory, Denethor II was not as happy as the nobles of other kingdoms. He knew that this was just an appetizer. The tentacles of darkness would not stop their erosion. A few battles that were not too loss-making would not cause Mordor any serious damage. Denethor II, who was well aware of the war potential of the orcs, did not feel that everything was fine like the other nobles.

  History still has a very high evaluation of Denethor II. No one can be better than Aragorn, who is surrounded by the halo of the protagonist! In the original book, he is evaluated as follows: He is noble and powerful, has a strong desire for control, and is very proud. He even dares to challenge Gandalf. He is tall, brave, wise, far-sighted, and very knowledgeable. He has a more kingly demeanor than anyone who has appeared in Gondor for many generations!

"The kingdom's armaments are lax, and the nobles are corrupt..." Denethor II looked at the majestic White City with some embarrassment, but the city now exuded a decadent atmosphere. His grandfather Turgon was not good at military affairs, and Gondor was very stable during his reign. In addition, Sauron in Mordor was still "hiding" at the moment. Sauron, who was about to show up soon, retreated after being hit by Roland in the North. Under such circumstances, the kingdom's expansion of military forces and preparation for war was a distant thing...

  Denethor knew that he had no power to order the nobles to do anything, and he was even unable to change the decisions at the national level. He was a wise man, and he knew that if he went in and talked about the threat of Mordor, he would be regarded as a madman. As for retaking the Ithilien region? The nobles of Gondor did not have the courage and guts. It would be more realistic to expect the powerful kingdom in the north to go south and destroy Mordor instead of expecting them to fight!

"Prepare the horses! I'm going to Belfalas!" After a moment's silence, Denethor II decided to go and meet Prince Dol Amroth, who had connections with the Northern Kingdom.

……

"So you want to deal with Mordor?" Prince Angelimir said quietly after slowly brewing a cup of black tea for Denethor II.

"Yes! The orcs of Mordor are becoming more rampant! We all know that they are constantly encroaching on our territory and wealth! But the lords turn a blind eye!" Denethor II said excitedly.

Orcs, who are as annoying as cockroaches and as resilient as weeds, are the thorns of Gondor, but other lords do not realize this. They only think about how much damage those orcs can cause. Compared with the large-scale military operations that cost the people money and manpower, the losses caused by those orcs are not worth mentioning.

"Hmm...you are an insightful young man, but you are not a qualified politician. You have forgotten the interests that the nobles care about most..." Angelimire shook his head and smiled.

"Everyone knows that the orcs continue to bleed the kingdom, but so what? The loss of some civilians is harmless and will not shake the foundation of the nobles." Angelimir shrugged. "That's slow suicide! The orcs are getting more and more arrogant. When have they dared to appear in groups in the kingdom?" Denethor II said excitedly.

"If you didn't have any ideas, you wouldn't have contacted the kingdom in the north!" Denethor II asked back. The reason why he came to Prince Dol Amroth was because he found that except for this family, the other families in the kingdom could still be saved. The control over the armaments was already very low. Compared with maintaining a large number of off-duty soldiers, working hard to make money to replenish the warehouse was their favorite thing.

"That's just the way I left for the kingdom. The Dol Amroth family can only protect itself and cannot convince other families to invest a lot of wealth in the military!" Angelimir said calmly. The fact that he did not relax the family's armaments did not mean that he could influence the thoughts of other families. What he could do was to train the family's army to fight for the kingdom at any time!

This is why Gondor was able to rely on the prince's army and the Knights of the Swan as the final hammer to settle the matter during the War of the Ring! Over the decades, the Dol Amroth family has invested a lot in the military.

"Then there is no other way?" Denethor II said somewhat disappointedly.

"If you really want to find the answer, you can go to the north. Now you are older, it's time to go out and broaden your horizons!" Angelimire looked at his junior kindly, encouraging him to go out and try his luck.

History has turned around at this moment. If Thorin's survival after returning to the Lonely Mountain was just an insignificant change, then Roland's several battles against Sauron resulted in a lack of troops in Mordor, and Sauron needed more recuperation. Therefore, Sauron would most likely not announce his return to Middle-earth in 2952. After all, it is still a question how long Sauron, who was psychologically traumatized by Roland, would need to lick his wounds.

"Thank you for your advice! I'll go check it out!" Denethor II said thoughtfully. Since he had determined that Mordor would cause trouble to the kingdom in the future, he must understand the true situation of all his allies. After all, in Denethor II's heart, the King of Gondor had long been the Regent's family, and they were the rulers of the kingdom! Not the son of prophecy who came to pick peaches with the power of blood. Denethor II and Roland had a tacit understanding on this point. Roland felt that Denethor II's ability was indeed much stronger than Aragorn, while Denethor II was confident because of his strong spiritual power that he must be stronger than the King of Gondor!

  "Well, if you really want to leave, you can take my Swan Knights with you. Staying here will only let their swords rot. The cold wind of the North can strengthen their bones, and the icy snowflakes can strengthen their will!" Angelimir said. With the Swan Knights watching over Denethor II, Angelimir would feel at ease. After all, he would be the future regent, and the prince wanted to train him instead of murdering him. Instead of letting the idle Swan Knights stay in Gondor and rot, it would be better to go to the North to try their luck!

Angelimir heard that the Kingdom of Raglan seemed to have won another victory! The dragon knight must have made an indelible contribution! Thinking of this, Angelimir was envious. After all, he was a powerful dragon knight! And this kind of power does not belong to Gondor...

(End of this chapter)