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

Chapter 858 The Gradually Calming Year of 2952

"Ugh! Pfft!" Ruhr vomited, then squeezed a mouthful of river water from his stomach.

"Ugh!" Ruhr vomited, then his expression suddenly changed, and he spat out a small fish about the length of a finger with a strange look on his face.

"Dragon God! Be careful!" Roland shook his head speechlessly.

“Casloo! Have someone reinforce this place!” Roland shook his head. The wooden docks might indeed be a bit weak in terms of load-bearing capacity. In addition, the riverbank here is gentle and the silt is very soft, so it is not surprising that these docks would sink.

"Come on! Come into the city with me to change your clothes. The rest can be left to the men and soldiers!" Roland pulled Ruhr along and headed into the city without further ado.

A dazed and confused Ruhr was dragged into the city of Lagrange by Roland like a puppet on strings, and then handed over to the servants, who would help Ruhr appear before Roland in a dignified manner again.

Sure enough, a short while later, Ruhr walked over with his hair still a little damp.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!" Ruhr knelt on one knee, placing his hand on his chest to offer his loyalty to Roland. This was Ruhr's first time entering the capital since the liberation of Lagrange City. Previously, the transportation of supplies was handled by Caslo using his spatial equipment!
"Get up, no need for formalities! I was quite surprised that Nyx sent you here this time!" Roland said with emotion.

“Her Majesty the Queen means that we need to make use of this major artery. After all, the Swift River is our mother river, and the convenience and low cost of shipping there are unparalleled advantages. We need to get used to restoring the Swift River’s transportation function. We can’t always rely on the dragon knights as transport teams, can we?” Ruhr smiled and stood up.

"Yes, what she said makes sense, but we still have to thank you for overcoming all kinds of difficulties to open up the route. Did you encounter any dangers along the way?" Roland asked with concern.

"No, His Majesty Mogus was escorting the team, and he has already killed the few monsters that showed up!" Ruhr shook his head and smiled.

"Mogus is here? I didn't see him." Roland turned his head to look behind Ruhr.

"They should be at the back, right? His Majesty Mogus guarded the fleet all night last night, so he probably hasn't gotten up yet!" Ruhr nodded.

"What? Were you ambushed by monsters?" Roland touched his nose.

“Not monsters! They’re orcs from the south bank!” Ruhr gave a wry smile.

“This is it!” Ruhr pulled out a bone arrowhead and handed it to Roland.

"We're constantly harassed by these orcs along the way. They can't do any real harm, but they're really annoying!" Ruhr shrugged, speechless. After all, it's disgusting to have a bunch of these pests sticking to you like glue!
"Didn't you consider driving them away or killing them?" Roland asked curiously. His armed caravan was no pushover! This was an armed caravan! "We did! It was only a waste of crossbow bolts!" Ruhr shrugged. It was simply not worth it to shoot those orcs who only had canoes with the kingdom's expensive crossbow bolts!
"Moreover, I've discovered that quite a few orcs have started to sneak across the north bank! I've already sent a message by carrier pigeon to Lulong Fortress! I hope General Renault can send troops to clear them out!" Ruhr sighed.

"The orcs have crossed the river?" Roland frowned. He was already being lenient by not going after them! And yet the orcs dared to come here to court death?

“Yes! They crossed the river! I saw several groups of wandering orcs who had successfully crossed the river, and some were preparing to cross! His Majesty Mogus has already disposed of them harmlessly!” Ruhr nodded, smiling as he uttered the coldest words.

"The situation is most serious in Beidu Fort! The water flow there is gentle, and the orcs can easily cross the wide, fast-flowing river!" Ruhr looked at the sand table in Roland's side hall command center and immediately went over to point out the location to Roland.

“No wonder!” Roland nodded knowingly. As the largest and most level ferry crossing in the north, Beidu had excellent conditions for crossing the river! Beidu Fortress developed precisely because of Beidu. It was unexpected that the orcs would utilize these terrain advantages before them!
"The garrison at Beidu Fort is..." Roland frowned, suddenly unable to recall who was stationed at Beidu Fort.

"It's Baron Lance!" Ruhr said respectfully. He was currently only a newly ennobled lord, and he was quite envious of Lance, who was destined to be a hereditary baron.

"Lance! It's alright! He's very steady!" Roland breathed a sigh of relief. As the most steady person in the kingdom, Lance didn't have any outstanding qualities; in other words, he was mediocre and cautious. But Roland liked mediocre and cautious people as subordinates. Although they might not have any brilliant ideas, they could perfectly handle routine work! Simply put, he didn't seek merit, but rather to avoid mistakes!
He trusted Lancelot very much, after all, he was an old friend who had followed him for a long time. Although his abilities were much worse, he was still a qualified governor!
“However, Baron Lance doesn’t have many soldiers under his command, so he will probably need to ask for reinforcements!” Ruhr shook his head, not optimistic about Lance alone. After all, the vast territory of North Crossing Fortress needs to be cleared, and Lance cannot use his limited forces to monitor every enemy!
"Then leave it to Renault. After all, Lance's current forces can defend themselves!" Considering that they were just a few scattered orcs and that Renault's Lulong Fortress was blocking his way, Roland decided to entrust everything to them. After all, he wasn't a micro-management master and couldn't give the brain-dead order of moving the shield 5 meters to the left. Roland, who firmly believed in the saying that everyone has their own expertise, readily handed over the tactical decision to his subordinates.

“That’s possible!” Ruhr nodded, but there was something he didn’t say: Roland was after the entire Lagrange Plain, not just the narrow strip of land along the Swiftflow River! So the probability of the kingdom taking a defensive stance was extremely low!

"Is there anything big happening in Swiftstream City?" Roland asked Ruhr curiously.

"There's nothing in Swiftstream City, but there was a funny incident in Windhelm. Baron Ismir wanted to save on materials when building, so processing and utilizing timber was the best option. A lot of the wooden buildings were soaked and rotted after the heavy rains these past few days, and as a result, the city walls collapsed!" Ruhr said awkwardly, covering his face.

The newly expanded town of Ismir still couldn't escape the erosion of the river and rainwater, which is the downside of saving stone in wood and stone structure buildings.

"..." Roland was so embarrassed he almost knocked the castle over. Didn't they know that they could carbonize the wood by baking it to increase its lifespan?

"Oh, right! The Lion Territory has also ceased hostilities!" Ruhr said seriously. Apophis Breo, who had been fighting the orcs of the Misty Mountains for a long time, finally stopped fighting this autumn. It wasn't that the reckless man had backed down, but rather that Apophis Breo had realized that developing people's livelihoods was more important than fighting the orcs.

"My God! Thank goodness! These two have finally settled down! Hopefully, they can get through the year 2952 of the Third Age!" Roland exclaimed. After all, the fact that these two warmongers had been fighting for so long was beyond Roland's expectations. Although the intermittent skirmishes were insignificant, the extent to which they had bled out the orcs would definitely surprise them when they came to their senses!
“Who says otherwise! Duke Apophis Breo has even dragged the elves into this mess for a long time! I bet the elves of the Valley have long since given up on fighting,” Ruhr said, covering his face with a laugh.

"Tsk! He dragged the elves of Rivendell into this mess?" Roland couldn't help but give a thumbs up.