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

Chapter 835 Denesor II's Ambition

"A prosperous North!" Denesor II exclaimed. Although the human population in the North was not large, its vibrant cohesion was unmatched by the South. Denesor II visited the Kingdom of Akvia and the Valley Kingdom to strengthen ties with the humans in the North. Through these two human kingdoms, Denesor II gained a deeper understanding of King Roland, whom he was about to visit.

"A great king!" Even someone as proud and confident as Denesor II couldn't help but exclaim after learning about Roland's life. Denesor II described Roland as a brave, wise, and benevolent great king. Compared to his mediocre grandfather, Roland's image as a monarch with great talent and ambition was more to his liking. In fact, the future Denesor II did just that!

"The Northern Kingdoms are too weak... They can't withstand any storms!" Holfa shrugged and sighed. Compared to Rohan and Gondor, even the strongest kingdom in the North, Lagrange, couldn't afford a single defeat. Their national strength gave them too little room for error, so little that they were guaranteed to win every battle! Compared to the Orcs, who could lose many times, they couldn't afford to lose even once.

"But they remained resilient and didn't fail, did they?" King Denesor II smiled. People never look at the process; they only care about the result! The fact is, the Northern Alliance has grown stronger and firmly established itself! The vassal of the Kingdom of Lagrange has successfully opened up the Misty Mountains, and in recent years, sporadic caravans have begun to arrive in the old pass area. It's clear that the Beorn's territory is beginning to recover under the influence of these caravans, and it's believed that caravans will soon arrive in the Long Lake region. These profit-driven merchants will further strengthen the Northern Kingdom's power!

The resilience of the North offered solace to Denethor II's previously suppressed heart. These people of the North, like wild grass in the biting wind, had taken root there tenaciously! This gave Denethor II hope and greater confidence in resisting Mordor's encroachment! He believed that the people of the North would once again ride their tall horses south to rescue Gondor from its peril, just as they had always done!

“They are well, at least we are not alone…” Denesor II murmured. His wariness of the Orcs and Mordor was almost neurotic. Having seen through Gondor and Rohan, Denesor II knew no one understood the weakness of the Southern Kingdom better than him! Apart from the border armies, the fighting strength of the nobles had dropped to an all-time low! Although the two countries could mobilize a large militia, without the private armies of the nobles as the backbone, the massive militia would crumble at the first sign of trouble!
These potential threats had initially tormented Denethor II, keeping him awake at night. However, upon arriving in the thriving North, his mood instantly eased considerably; at least he wasn't alone! It's worth noting that Denethor II was historically killed off because his powerful will, strong enough to even suppress Sauron, allowed him to foresee the might of Mordor through the Crystal of Knowledge. After surveying Middle-earth through the Crystal, Denethor II was filled with despair. Gondor had no allies… even his strongest ally, the King of Rohan, was being misled by his treacherous minister… which is why he issued the pessimistic order for everyone to flee for their lives.

Because he knew that despite his decades of rule, Gondor had restored some of its military strength, but it was far from being truly militarily powerful! Faced with the meticulous preparations of Thanethor, who had been lying in wait for over a thousand years, how could Gondor possibly win? Sauron deliberately used the Crystal of Truth to show this great king, the only one in Middle-earth who could suppress his willpower, the wealth and power of Mordor and its swarming Orc army, which finally instilled despair in the confident and proud Denethor II!

However, the historical tragedy was destined to be averted, as Thanesor II received a much-needed boost decades earlier than historical records suggest! Historically, Thanesor II had considered the North, but neither the Vale nor the Beorn could decisively prevail. History has proven Thanesor II's wisdom! The War of the Ring actually had two main battlefields—the southern main battlefield, spearheaded by the Battle of Pelennor Fields, and the northern main battlefield, spearheaded by the Vale and the Lonely Mountain. The Battle of Pelennor Fields ended in victory for the human alliance, while the Battle of the Lonely Mountain resulted in a Pyrrhic victory, achieved at the cost of the sacrifices of King Brand of Vale and Dain the Ironfoot, the dwarf king of the Lonely Mountain…

As it turned out, Denezor II's strategic vision was proven. If it weren't for King Brand of Vale's foresight in retreating to the Lonely Mountain and joining forces with the dwarves, and given the Lonely Mountain's defensive advantage, the Northern Alliance might have been razed to the ground... Oh! No, wait! There was also Thranduil, who took advantage of the chaos and remained out of the public eye (lol).

Of course, Denezor II never placed his hopes on the Woodland Elves. Expecting Thranduil to use the flesh and blood of the Woodland Elves to stop the Orcs is like thinking about Sauron being struck down by a divine punishment!
After visiting the Valley Kingdom and the Kingdom of Akvia, Denesor II had a very good opinion of King Bad and King Whitewing. In his eyes, although these two kings were not particularly brilliant, they were still capable rulers, especially considering that they were able to raise a fairly strong army with limited resources. Denesor II was quite impressed...

"Do you think it's possible for me to train such a capable and battle-hardened army? I mean, if I were to invest my own resources!" Denesor II didn't keep them in suspense but looked at Holfa. As the commander of the Swan Knights, he was certainly no fool; his military expertise was definitely up to par!

At this moment, a glint of ambition flashed in Denethor II's eyes. It wasn't that he couldn't sit still in his position as crown prince and wanted to stage a Middle-earth version of the Xuanwu Gate Incident, but rather that he wanted to take control of his own army in advance. The resurgence of Mordor put a lot of pressure on him, which made him want to seize an army of his own... He couldn't very well be asked to gather militia and fight the orcs, could he?
"Forgive my bluntness, but this is difficult, and you don't seem to have a need for a direct army..." Horfa frowned. As a high-ranking general in the Doamlos Prince's family, Horfa knew that the young Denethor II had an almost obsessive wariness of Mordor. However, Horfa didn't think this could be a reason for him to have an army. After all, although the current Regent Turgon was old, Denethor II, as a member of the Vizier's family and the direct heir, suddenly raising a private army... even if the Vizier's family didn't care, other families would inevitably have some thoughts. Someone might even try to play a little game with Denethor II, offering him a warm coat on a cold day—the temptation of gaining favor was too great! Besides, Horfa had never overestimated the integrity of any noble in the kingdom; they were capable of such despicable acts!
“It was my oversight!” Denethor II looked at Horfa’s serious expression and suddenly understood something. As the most clear-headed and wise person in the Kingdom of Gondor from beginning to end, he was not a political idiot. He immediately put on a stern face.

After observing Denesor II's expression, Horfa remained silent. Clearly, our clever Denesor II had already considered the "noble" integrity of the kingdom's nobles.