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

Chapter 991 Discussion on Military Strength
"They...they're all here?" Roland chuckled awkwardly, while signaling Yun Feng to step in and save the day. After all, being suddenly and inexplicably received by this group of kings had caught Roland completely off guard!
“Your Majesty, it is my honor to serve you!” Thorin said playfully as he stood up.

"Alright, we're all friends, no need for formalities! We don't need to play those empty games between us!" Roland said, both amused and exasperated.

"Hey, I'm just giving you face! You've been making such a scene in the east!" Thorin chuckled.

"Don't even mention it! We've almost emptied our savings!" Roland quickly tried to play the victim.

"Sold out? Didn't you say you annihilated the Chariot Civilians?" Thranduil asked curiously.

"???" Roland turned his head in horror, wondering who the hell had tricked him! Was he going to be wiped out by the tankers?
"Listen, King Thranduil, that's a rumor! If I had the strength to wipe out the Chariot People, I wouldn't need to gather everyone here to come up with a solution! We could open up the east-west highway ourselves!" Roland said awkwardly. It was obvious that someone had spread the rumor, and by the time it reached the Woodland Kingdom, it had become the story of King Roland annihilating the entire Chariot People's army...

"Oh! I see!" Thranduil nodded in understanding. Compared to the intelligence report that the Kingdom of Lagrange had wiped out the entire army of the Chariot Peoples, what King Roland said was more realistic. The Chariot Peoples were not just any Tom, Dick, or Harry. As a major race in Middle-earth, their strength was not weak either! They had no shortage of Tier 6 soldiers, after all, their population base was there, they could easily amass a large group!
“It is so, Your Highness Roland. We have come here in response to your summons. I think we should discuss a plan for this military expedition!” Bai Yi interjected, reminding them that the Roland family was the initiator of this war and that they had all come at Roland’s call. Bai Yi’s words were essentially a show of support for Roland, as his words implied that Lagrange was the leader.

"I have no objection. The days fighting King Roland were very enjoyable! The battle of Long Lake Town is still fresh in my mind! I am honored to fight alongside you again!" King Bard was also perceptive and wise; he immediately made the same choice as White Wing! To be honest, both the Kingdom of Akvia and the River Valley Kingdom prospered thanks to the Kingdom of Lagrange's Swiftstream City!
The City of Swiftflow brought with it a vast industrial sector! It not only revitalized the economy of the entire Long Lake region but also enriched the lives of the people of all the kingdoms! Even the dwarves' tables are laden with exquisite celadon produced in the Kingdom of Lagrange! (Roland, being of Chinese descent, naturally wouldn't abandon his ancestors' art of playing with mud! After all, the Chinese are the true ancestors when it comes to playing with mud!)

“Irubor has no objection!” Thorin shook his head. He wasn't particularly politically astute, so adhering to the principle of doing as little as possible, Thorin readily chose to go with the flow. After all, an open trade route wouldn't harm Lonely Mountain! Dwarf weapons never lacked a market! Thorin had no resistance to adding glittering treasures to the treasury! Although he had escaped the curse of the dragon's gold coins, the love of wealth was in the nature of dwarves! (Oops! The author might be a dwarf…)
“I have a question: what is our ultimate goal? Where do we need to fight our way?” Thranduil looked calmly into Roland’s eyes, his gaze sincere and without any doubt.

"I don't know, but we'll fight our way along the East-West Highway as far as possible, at least we need to align with Western civilization!" Roland smiled. He wasn't familiar with the situation in the Western world, but a war was inevitable. The East-West Highway on both sides of the Misty Mountains was already ruined! The Eastern Highway was somewhat cleaner after the Lagranges and Beorns cleaned it out! The Western Highway didn't have soldiers regularly exterminating those orcs and ogres! Anyone could imagine what kind of monsters roamed that wilderness!
"As you wish! The Woodland Elves are willing to join the war!" Thranduil finally nodded. After all, Thranduil had a keen eye for the situation. If they didn't join now, they'd be embarrassed to ask for spoils later. Besides, trade was indeed beneficial, and Thranduil hoped to have goods to enrich his kingdom's life. Nobody wants to be an ascetic if they can live comfortably! Just like the Grassland Elves now! Driving them down from the Ancient Tree of War was practically the same as killing them!
“Hmm!” Roland nodded. Although he didn’t really care whether the woodland elves joined or not, having them was definitely better! The battle elf rangers of the Misty Mountains were a better fit than humans and dwarves!

"What about the route?" Thorin was more concerned about the route.

“Oh! My brother! You know this better than I do! Forgot how you got here? Just walk the same path again!” Roland shrugged. “Oh~ wait! That’s not right!” Thorin suddenly paused.

"What's wrong?" Everyone looked at him, hoping he would say something interesting.

"This number is wrong! Look!" Thorin exclaimed to Roland in surprise, pulling open the map on the wall as if he had discovered a new continent.

"The numbers are wrong?" Roland was completely bewildered. After all, this expedition was actually an operation by Yun Feng and his men to integrate the northern forces. Roland only had the decision-making power, while the right to formulate the plan was left to his subordinate nobles and generals. Roland was confident that he was second to none in strategic planning, but he trusted his subordinates to do a better job in tactics!

"Tell me what you found?" Roland looked at Yun Feng, who was also completely bewildered, and gestured towards Thorin.

"That's right, my friend! Look! From where we set off to the western foothills of the Misty Mountains, the entire journey has been under our control! The only danger was the New Forest Road we took on our way here! But with the elven rangers escorting us, it will be very easy!" Thorin said solemnly.

"If we want to communicate with the Western world, all we need to do is reach the Bridge of the End! Continuing west along this path will take us to Bri!" Thorin remembered this route vividly because he and Roland had traveled it during their expedition to the Lonely Mountain.
"Wait! How many men have you prepared?" Roland suddenly asked curiously. He had never paid attention to the troop strength for this military operation. After all, the kingdom was not short of soldiers. It wasn't that the kingdom was so rich that it had a strong army. It was just that the surrounding hostile forces had been beaten into submission and everyone was recovering from their injuries.
"If we don't count the Woodland Kingdom, the three of us have put together a combined force of 1500 men! Of course, don't worry about my friend! We'll take care of our own supplies!" Thorin quickly said, afraid that Roland would be angry. After all, the news of the food shortage in the Kingdom of Lagrange was widely known in the North, and Thorin naturally wouldn't want to make a fool of himself. He knew that the supply costs of feeding 1500 off-duty soldiers were enormous!
"Forgive my bluntness, but it's a bit of a waste of talent!" Thorin shrugged, somewhat speechless. After all, they had only a dozen or so men to recapture Lonely Mountain. This time, there were no terrifying dragons or massive orc legions, just scattered soldiers and trolls along the way. Not to mention, the Kingdom of Lagrang itself could provide a huge army! Thorin estimated that the number of troops the Kingdom of Lagrang had sent was definitely no less than that of the allied forces!

“What’s more, we also plan to bring the Beon people on board. There are quite a few residents in Carlock City, and Beon can also recruit a group of militia to join us!” Bard interrupted Thorin’s words.

"And King Thranduil will also send troops to assist..." Whitewing glanced at Thranduil, who sat there with a smile and maintained his composure, and nodded.