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

Chapter 803 Dragon Cliff Fortress

As the only Dragon Knight Commander in the kingdom with combat capabilities, Caslo is naturally the obvious choice. No one is more suitable to be Maple Forest Xilan's teacher than him. Although her brother Maple Forest Youlan is also a Dragon Knight Commander, Long Xi's "cripple" directly cut off the possibility of Maple Forest Youlan teaching her. After all, the battlefield for Dragon Knights is in the sky, and Dragon Knights who cannot even fly have no future!

So Caslo tragically became a kindergarten principal, taking care of both the newly adult Weiss and the still-childish Maple Forest Xilan.

The population and soldiers brought by the McDougal family were clearly insufficient to be stationed in Lagrange City, so Roland had no choice but to restart Dragoncliff Castle!
Dragon Cliff Fortress is the closest multi-functional city to Lagrange City among the Twelve Cities of Rapids. Unlike the Eastern Emperor Fortress and Rapids Fortress, Dragon Cliff Fortress initially existed as a base for the Empire's Dragon Riders. However, the emergence of Dragon Rider families and the stationing of Dragon Riders in various places led to a decline in Dragon Cliff Fortress's significance as a military fortress. Therefore, after its expansion, it became a multi-functional city.

Because the elevation of the north bank where Dragon Cliff Fortress is located suddenly rises by hundreds of meters, forming a cliff next to the swift-flowing river, and caves are carved into the cliff face, this place was once the cradle of the Imperial Dragon Knights and their original residence. Therefore, Roland plans to use this area to build a city. Of course, it cannot be built into a military fortress, since the kingdom has no need to create a Dragon Knight training base. However, the treacherous terrain and the surrounding plains make it an excellent location for building a city.

……

"Your Majesty, you want them to build the city?" Vladivostok had already stepped down as quartermaster, but still served Roland as a political official under Roland.

“Hmm, aren’t you good at planning? Make arrangements for them! Lagrange City definitely can’t accommodate them.” Roland nodded. It wasn’t that Roland didn’t want his people to live in Lagrange City, but rather that, apart from the palace and barracks, there was simply no place for them to live in Lagrange City at present!
"We can get help from the soldiers in the city to gather supplies! There are so many trees in the wasteland, we can have them cut them down!" Roland suggested.

“Building a stone city is difficult, so we can build a wooden city first! At least that will give them a place to live! And after the snow melts, they will need to clear land for farming, and the plains there are perfect for them!” Roland said seriously. It is unlikely that arable land will be left around Lagrange City. After all, the surrounding area will either be a magic plantation, a magic industrial base, a monster ranch, or some small satellite cities. Where will they get land to farm? In a place like the capital where every inch of land is precious, it is impossible to waste it as farmland.

“Alright.” As an important member of the Swift Hand family, Vladivostok naturally possessed extraordinary insight. He was not an ignorant playboy, so he knew about the situation in the capital. Therefore, what Roland said was the best solution.

"And most importantly, Lagrange City could become the front line at any moment. I can't risk leaving a group of unarmed civilians here to bear the risk!" Roland said decisively. Population is also a form of wealth, and the kingdom is currently most in need of people. Roland can't leave these people in a place where orcs can reach them at any time. If someone decides to turn on Roland, Lagrange City should be fine, but the civilians outside will suffer heavy casualties. Even the most brain-dead king wouldn't do that!
……

“Dragon Cliff Fortress?” Looking at Roland staring at the map, Adolf Heinrich showed a rare look of reminiscence.

"What? Are you thinking of the Augustus family?" Roland clearly understood what Adolf Heinrich was thinking.

“Yes…times have changed, and the world has turned upside down…” Adolf Heinrich sighed. “If the Augustus family had successfully brought that bronze dragon out of Dragoncliff Castle back then, everything would have been different…” Adolf Heinrich murmured.

As is well known, the Augustus family and the Sword and Shield family have a long-standing feud. The Augustus family, which almost became a dragon rider family, was brought down by the Southern Noble Alliance led by the Sword and Shield Marquis family, which triggered a civil war in the empire. If the Augustus family had successfully ridden the dragon, none of this would have happened. After all, the Sword and Shield family was not qualified to challenge a dragon rider family. The deterrent power of a single dragon rider family may not be strong, but when they unite, even the emperor would have to sit and listen to what they had to say!
Dragoncliff Fortress, as the protagonist, plays a crucial role in this story. As a dragon knight base, it naturally has no shortage of dragons. Dozens of dragons, supported by the empire, reside in its lair, awaiting their destined apprentice dragon knights. At its peak, over a hundred dragons gathered here! Countless first-generation dragon knights who founded dragon knight families emerged from here! But all of this came to an abrupt end with the empire's civil war…

As dragon blood stained the sky and the corpses of dragon knights littered the earth, these dragons, who had once shared the most steadfast friendship with the empire, left the land in despair. They could not accept becoming weapons in the empire's civil war, nor could they accept themselves and their knights becoming expendable resources in the war. When the last sacrificial dragon flew away from its lair, the ancient city that had nurtured dragon knights for the empire for thousands of years lost its final glory. Dragon Cliff Fortress would never have dragons again...

"Do you think I can restore the empire to its former glory?" Roland asked in return, not in response to Adolf Heinrich's question.

"I don't know, maybe it's possible, maybe it's not. Let's leave it all to the Dragon God!" Adolf Heinrich gave a bitter smile. As a sinner of the Empire, he had no right to comment on these things. That battle had caused too much damage to the Empire. It had directly killed the nobles of the Southern Territory, crushed the potential of the nobles of the Winter Territory, and broken the backbone of the nobles of the Western Territory.

"Let it be." Roland nodded optimistically. After all, with the system in hand, Roland could at least guarantee that he would take back the northern and western territories, let alone the entire empire. Roland didn't think too much about the rest. After all, the Lagrange Empire wasn't entirely conquered by the first emperor alone. There had to be room for expansion for future generations.

"Pay attention to supplies and don't let the people freeze. Let the thousand Lagrange City guards go with the people. The people on the wasteland also need protection!" Roland ordered Adolf Heinrich. Although the orcs had been defeated, there would inevitably be some wandering orcs on the wasteland. These orcs were easy targets for the regular army, but they were butchers when dealing with civilians!
"Luckily, these people brought quite a lot of supplies with them, otherwise we really wouldn't have been able to gather enough for a while!" Roland said to Adolf Heinrich as he stood on the city wall seeing off his people heading west. Fortunately, these people had brought quite a few oxcarts, hoes, and pitchforks, and their tents and bedding were almost complete, which greatly reduced Roland's supply pressure. Most importantly, the food they carried, apart from what they kept for seed, was enough to feed them for two years... Thank you to the implementers of the Fire Seed Project! Finally, Roland was spared the torment of famine.

……

"Ymir! Why did these orcs retreat?" Ismir asked, panting heavily, as he propped himself up with his staff and brandished his blood-stained longsword.

"Who cares! Thank God! By the Dragon God! These mad dogs have finally run away!" Ymir gasped.

(End of this chapter)