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

Chapter 1061 Conquering the Eastern Road?

“How could that be? It’s just that the Shire is at a disadvantage compared to Gondor and Rohan. The entire Eastern Road is dangerous, plus we have to cross the entire Misty Mountains. The two southern kingdoms are much more convenient. It’s both convenient and safe to travel south along the Anduin River!” Apophis Breo explained.

“The Shire region is still quite prosperous; it’s just that trade routes have been blocked. Apart from a few merchants with spatial equipment who risk crossing the Eastern Avenue to sell some sought-after goods to the elves in the Misty Mountains region, basically no one comes here!” Apophis Breo explained to Roland.

“Your idea is excellent. If we can open up the Eastern Road, that would indeed be a great choice. Goods from there can flow into the Eastern market, and Eastern specialties can also dominate the market in the Shire region, where the people are very wealthy!” Apophis Breo recalled.

“I have no doubt about that!” Roland nodded, because he had come all the way from the Xiaer with the Lonely Mountain Expeditionary Force. The Xiaer region was full of wealthy autonomous territories. The people there had not experienced war, and the orcs did not seem to like expanding westward, so they had always been very wealthy.

"By the way, I've always been curious about how the hobbits in the Shire have managed to remain untouched. After all, orcs wouldn't give up these rich lands, yet the Witch-King of Angmar has never successfully conquered the Shire!" Roland asked curiously, pointing to the map.

“Oh? This? Do you know the Northern nomads, the Dunedan?” Apophis Breo asked.

"Hmm?" Roland's heart skipped a beat. The Dúnedan? Isn't that Aragorn's family? No, to be precise, it's the ethnic group Aragorn belongs to. After the fall of the Northern Kingdom, they became nomads wandering the north.

“They’re here…” Apophis Breo drew a line on the map for Roland to see, and Roland immediately understood.

No wonder the hobbits live so innocently in the Shire, each one as pure as a little sun. Moreover, both the games and the original books have introduced that the Dúnedan blocked the invasion from the north without the hobbits' knowledge. It turns out that the Dúnedan stood between the Shire and the territory ruled by the Witch-King of Angmar!
"I see! It's not difficult for the Dunedan to hold off the orcs' flanking force! The Dunedan have no shortage of professionals!" Roland nodded. The Dunedan's rangers and guerrilla knights were their specialties, and in terms of guerrilla warfare, the Dunedan were still the authorities.

“It’s not difficult, so they are also potential trading partners. After all, they need supplies when fighting the orcs, right?” Apophis Breo shook his head. The biggest weakness of nomadic peoples is their ability to sustain supplies. Although the Dúnedan tribes are powerful, their nomadic nature means they have to distribute their limited resources evenly.

"The key question now is how we fight, and how we defend after we fight..." Apophis Breo said with a frown, looking at the narrow eastern road.

"Are the elves willing to help?" Roland asked tentatively.

"What? What do you mean?" Apophis Breo was taken aback, somewhat confused by Roland's meaning.

"Have you gotten any information from the elves, such as their willingness to open trade routes?" Roland thought for a moment and said.

"Elves? Why drag them into this?" Apophis Breo considered the matter from a profit-driven perspective for a second and immediately felt that involving the elves would complicate things.

“Of course, you have to make the cake bigger! How can you hedge the risks if you don’t bring them all in?” Roland sneered. “The elves can probably be self-sufficient, right? The Valley is still rich enough! Why would they get involved in this mess?” Apophis Breo slowly shook his head.

“Why not? Don’t forget that Grey Harbor is in the Western World! It’s an important gathering place for magic crystals. All the magic crystals of the Western World are gathered there!” Roland smiled. Because there were no gods in this Middle-earth, Aman was also pushed into the sea. Grey Harbor became the center of magic crystal gathering in the West. Magic crystals from ocean monsters and magic crystal mines in the Blue Mountains all converged in Grey Harbor by water. Moreover, Grey Harbor is also home to an independent elven fleet!

“Elves have spatial equipment, and there’s a teleportation array in Grey Harbor, so the Valley Elves don’t need to travel thousands of miles to get there!” Apophis Breo couldn’t help but pour cold water on Roland’s enthusiasm.

“Of course, such valuable transactions will use teleportation arrays, but don’t forget, there are a lot of elven rangers who go on adventures and travels, and these people don’t have teleportation arrays to use!” Roland shook his finger. His trade routes were not intended for large-scale transactions at all. After all, in the world of magic, magic is the highest form of productivity; it’s just a matter of cost-effectiveness.

“If we can control the Eastern Road, we can allow them unimpeded access to the secluded valley…” Roland chuckled softly.

“We don’t even need to actively engage in trade; greedy merchants will take the initiative to maintain this trade route!” Apophis Breo’s eyes lit up. Although his words were blunt, the logic was sound.

“Yes, transactions are too troublesome. Wouldn’t it be better to collect taxes?” Roland made no attempt to hide his ambition. Since he had chosen to open up this path, he might as well take control of it directly!

"So the cake needs to be big enough to get the elves and Dúnedan involved, so everyone can have their fill! The Shire can also get what they want! To be honest, the Dúnedan have protected them too well!" Roland said, pinching his brow. The Shire holds a pivotal position in Middle-earth's history, but its presence is as light as a feather. Firstly, the introduction and development of the War of the Ring were all initiated by the hobbits of the Shire, but the hobbits had virtually no presence in the war. Throughout the entire history of the Middle-earth wars, the hobbits only contributed a single archer unit to the allied forces... which can be described as quite inactive.

“Yes, the halflings there are too innocent, as if everything is peaceful…” Apophis Breo seemed to be thinking of something abstract.

"It seems you've heard about it too!" Roland nodded without denying it. After all, he had read the script. Perhaps the butterfly effect had caused minor changes, but the core elements should not have been affected much!

“Hmm, this is the first time I’ve seen a self-governing territory without an army…” Apophis Breo said somewhat speechlessly. This doesn’t mean that the Hobbits are unarmed, but rather that the Hobbit cities don’t have a standing army. They only arm their citizens and conscript militia in emergencies. This is why Saruman was able to quickly control an area with his henchmen after fleeing to the Shire.

"We need to find a way to put the Hobbits under pressure. We can't let the Northern nomads bear the brunt of it all. We have to mobilize every force to prepare for the future!" Roland sighed. This Middle-earth in this world is a Middle-earth magical world! There are beings close to gods, not the kind of villains in the original story that can be easily defeated by a few dwarves and a group of civilians with weapons. Roland didn't know much else, but he knew for sure that Sauron in this world truly possessed the ability to wipe out the entire world with a single click!

“I’m afraid it’s difficult. Hobbits are more optimistic than the fools of the Imperial Age. They find it hard to believe that a crisis is imminent…” Adolf Heinrich said with a wry smile.

　Something happened, and I've been dealing with some things these past few days. I almost became the "80-year-old brother" of the gaming circle. Updates are back. If you want to know the specifics, you can join the group to chat.

　　(End of this chapter)