That would be the men of Laketown and the Army of the Elven King. They have taken over the area to prevent the dwarves from getting out to get food. It also prevents Dain's men from joining the group under the mountain.
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No, not at all. The Hobbit (even though it came out after Lord of The Rings) is a companion novel to the Lord of the Rings, they occur in the same universe, although The Hobbit predates the events of LOTR.
The HobbitThe Fellowship of the Ring, Book IThe Fellowship of the Ring, Book IIThe Two Towers, Book IThe Two Towers, Book IIThe Return of the King, Book IThe Return of the King, Book IIThe Silmarillion is another book that Tolkien also set in Middle-earth thousands of years before the first of the Hobbit books, but it is a history of the Elves and does not concern itself with Hobbits (except briefly in its final chapter where it reviews the events of the end of the Third Age from the point of view of the Elves, which differs slightly from the point of view of the Hobbits).
Thorin unsettled Smaug, causing him to attack the river town of Esgaroth, angering the residents, some time before the Battle of Five Armies.
They answer in response to Bilbo's finding of the key by asking.... why on earth didn't you mention it before?!
Smaug is a large red dragon with brown fur like skin covering his back, he has large webbed looking ears and large peircing eyes, he breathes fire and has wings that look like larger versions of his ears