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

Chapter 992 Alliance Leader
"In conclusion, our forces have reached five or six thousand men! This is a regular legion! The Western world is not like the North; deploying such a force to that region might cause unnecessary panic!" Thorin scratched his head and said. Having spent some time in the Western world, Thorin was undoubtedly qualified to speak on this matter.

Since the fall of the Kingdom of Arnor, the western and northern regions have been anarchic, lacking any stable and powerful government. With the successive fall of the kingdoms of Azerdan, Rudol, and Carlando, the area stretches from the Eastern Road to Brie, and from Brie to the Shire. Apart from the Hobbits' autonomous cities, there are no strong governments in these regions. The lack of a government means that, apart from militias, there are few regular, full-time soldiers. Local nobles and landowners might maintain private armies, but obtaining support is extremely difficult.

“For example? Scar Elrond to death?” Roland shrugged and joked.

"Come on, this army will definitely cause panic in Rivendell, and the Valley of the Dead is right on our way! We might really have to fight the Valley Elves!" Thorin stretched his arms. His eyes held no fear of war, only a thirst for blood!
“Enough! King Elrond is a wise and benevolent man! He would never start a war without knowing the facts!” Thranduil retorted, rubbing his forehead.

“But a large force is indeed a problem!” Yun Feng nodded thoughtfully. There are no highways in the Central Plains; the rugged roads alone would deter most people, not to mention the difficulty of resupplying them… the food and supplies for so many people and horses would be astronomical!
"What I'm more afraid of is the issue of organization!" Roland voiced his concerns. The alliance of several forces was indeed intimidating, but their coordination and understanding were questionable...

The dwarves and Lagrange armies are likely capable of fighting side-by-side to the death. The Whitewing army, composed of northern nomads, is fine for winning battles, but will retreat quickly if losses exceed their capacity. (The Whitewing bought a lot of Shire horses from Roland, giving them a large number of semi-professional rangers!) The Woodland Elves are another story; Thranduil's face turns as red as if his own mother were sacrificed if any die. It's not that the Elves can't fight tough battles, but they don't want to fight this one! The most reliable fighting force is the Vale Kingdom. Bard has saved a lot of money and acquired a lot of equipment, but the Vale Kingdom's foundation is what it is: few professionals and even fewer professional soldiers… a bunch of fully equipped old farmers on the battlefield would just be feeding the enemy if things went wrong…

"Who should lead the coalition? What should the order be? What about supplies and camping along the way... What I want is to open up trade routes, not for thousands of people to rush off to their deaths in a chaotic mess!" Roland clenched his fist.

“We need to be careful! These few thousand men are the most elite troops in the North! Once we lose this force…” Yun Feng didn’t finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear.

"We will lose our strategic offensive capabilities for a long time and can only engage in passive defense!" Thorin calmly toyed with the silver cup in his hand as if it were some rare treasure.

Indeed, even without considering Roland's massive troop buildup, if these few thousand people were to actually be deployed, the kingdoms of the North would be forced to retreat! Lagrang could simply abandon its expansionist campaign, losing even the ability to maintain its long border patrols. The kingdoms would truly lose their mobile forces, and the long border would bleed Lagrang dry like a sieve! Do you think the orcs don't want to cross the Swiftflow River? It's because Lagrang's newly established cities have connected to form the most primitive Swiftflow River defense line!

"Let's uphold the principle of fairness! Let's vote on who will lead the allied forces!" Roland coughed lightly to attract everyone's attention. It would be a lie to say he didn't want command! But after all, the northern kingdoms of the Lonely Mountain Alliance were not Roland's vassals. Roland wanted to be the leader of the alliance but didn't want to be like Yuan Shao. Although he had contributed the most, if he used his power to oppress others, there would inevitably be situations where they outwardly obeyed but inwardly defied him!
“That’s very fair!” Bard nodded.

"Hmm!" The other kings looked at it and nodded. No matter what the outcome was, at least the process was in accordance with the rules, and no one could find fault with it.

"I vote for our General Omske!" Roland was the first to raise his hand to indicate that he was voting for himself.

"Agreed! I vote for King Roland!" Thorin put down his silver cup, about to speak, but Bard spoke first, making his choice. "Tsk! I also vote for King Roland! A dwarf's friend wouldn't betray his own brother, would he?" Thorin finished speaking and pouted at Thranduil. Seeing that the two of them weren't even putting on an act, Thorin also made his choice, while not forgetting to give the Woodland Elves a piece of his mind, since they almost ran away twice when supporting the Lonely Mountain dwarves!
“I agree with King Roland!” Bai Yi nodded. He had migrated from the north and had gathered many northern nomads sent by Lagrange over the years, which helped the kingdom grow and expand. Bai Yi knew how to return the favor!

“…I have no objection!” Thranduil glanced at the four men, his lips twitching slightly. Although he had expected this outcome, he hadn't anticipated that his men wouldn't even put on an act, especially Bard, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, who actually acted as the “leader”! Thranduil had been waiting for Thorin to recommend Roland, but in the blink of an eye, all three of them had nominated him!

“Then it would be impolite of us to refuse! We will command the allied forces this time!” Roland stood up and patted his chest in greeting to the group.

"If possible, I would like to hear your arrangements!" Thranduil was not easily fooled; his condition for relinquishing military power was that Lagrang would not use the elves as disposable resources! Although the elves were somewhat arrogant, no one could doubt their loyalty to the Alliance! The Dead Swamp was still filled with the souls of the dead!

“Of course! That’s only right!” Roland said knowingly. He would have told Thranduil even if Thranduil hadn’t asked, after all, it was better to be upfront about the potential problems beforehand, so that there would be less trouble if something unexpected happened later!
"This expedition started from the Woodland Kingdom and continued until we reached the Misty Mountains to the west, where the Woodland Elves served as the vanguard and scouts—that is, if you don't give me any elven spearmen!" Roland smiled.

Thranduil nodded without speaking. Sending elven rangers to the front lines in woodland warfare wasn't an act of betrayal; on the contrary, it was King Roland's recognition of the elven rangers' combat prowess. Thranduil didn't even need a map to know that Roland had indicated the woodlands were where the elves would lead the vanguard! Letting other races clear the way in such terrain would be tantamount to selling out the allied forces!

"The infantry of the Kingdom of Lagrang and the Dwarves and the Valley State will form the central army! They will be responsible for the steady advance! The rangers of Akvia will serve as a supplement to the Knights of Lagrang, responsible for communication with the troops along the way and for driving away stray orcs! If necessary, they will serve as a supplementary charge for the Knights!" Roland nodded to White Wing, who nodded in agreement.

"What about us? King Roland?" Bard asked somewhat awkwardly, seeing that everyone else had been mentioned except him.

"Given that the River Valley State has a small population and weak military, you are responsible for covering the rear and guarding our retreat!" Roland did not ask for much more.

"Thank you for your understanding!" Bard looked at Roland and breathed a sigh of relief.

(End of this chapter)