Chapter 431: The Predicament of Stormwind City

Stormwind City, now the capital city of the Stormwind Kingdom, is in chaos. The streets, parks, and even some arbors are full of nobles from Elwynn Forest, Westfall, Duskwood, and Redridge Mountains. The entourage, the refugees, and the city guards are constantly patrolling, trying to maintain order.

Those aristocrats, big ranchers, and wealthy businessmen who retreated from the Western Wilderness and returned to Stormwind City more than a month ago easily found a good place for them to live in this spacious city, and did not cause too much damage to the city. There are too many waves, the Defias Republic is just to increase the chatter of the citizens after dinner.

However, in the latter half of the month, when those noble refugees who escaped to Stormwind City from Dusk Forest, the southeast of Red Ridge Mountain, and Elwynn Forest swarmed into Stormwind City frantically, The city gradually began to become crowded and a little jittery, and the vegetation was full of soldiers...

People began to worry that Stormwind would be captured by orcs or the Defias Republic again.

And the people of the Stormwind Kingdom seem to have returned to what they were twenty years ago... Those endless orcs pouring out from the Dark Portal, at that time, when they were about to attack Stormwind City, there were many of them. Everyone remembers: At that time, it seemed like it is now, the whole city was full of people, refugees from all over the place, everyone was trying to find a boat to escape... But now, the only difference is that The current Stormwind nobles did not use sailboats to organize a large retreat. In fact, not only do they not have many boats on the pier, but more importantly, they seem to have nowhere to go by sea!

They have already engaged in an all-out war with the Lordaeron continent in the north, obviously they can't expect to evacuate to South Sea Town as they did 20 years ago, and there are only places where they can retreat, except Ironforge or the Endless Sea Outside of Theramore in the west, there are obviously not many choices.

However, the current situation is not that serious!

In Stormwind City, the mood of the people is quite stable now. Apart from allowing the people to freely take the subway that crosses the strait and half the continent to take refuge in Ironforge according to their own conditions, the kingdom actually didn't make too many arrangements. . Because most of them, including King Varian, most of the high-level people are confident that they can hold the city, so they are not as panicked as those commoners or timid nobles who rush to transfer property and The whole family fled to Hearthglen or something like that.

"Everyone! Everyone must be aware of the predicament our Stormwind Kingdom is facing now, so let's talk about it now, what should we do now?!"

"so far,

The bandit leader of the Defias Republic, Vanessa Van Cleef, led about 10,000 human soldiers from the Defias Republic, plus about 20,000 other races composed of ogres, goblins, trolls, gnolls, and murlocs. The 30,000-strong army is besieging the West Spring Fortress, the gateway to the south of our Stormwind City! "

"The bridge across the river fell into the enemy's hands as early as three days ago, and now, the Grand Duke of Bolvar Fortagan is leading his troops to resist with the help of the West Spring Fortress. They currently have less than 5,000 people, and a considerable number of them are Soldiers returning from the rout of Westfall, so if there is no support, I'm afraid they won't last long..."

Speaking of this, King Varian's expression darkened a bit. The situation was too bad for their Stormwind Kingdom. He didn't understand. Where did the Defias Republic come from so much money to buy so many people? ogres, trolls, and goblins?

Could it be that the dead mines still produce gold? However, he had never heard of such a thing!

"And once our southern gate, once the Xiquan Fortress is lost, Mingjing Lake, Shining Gold Town and other places will become a smooth road, and there will be no danger to defend! At that time, the enemy may not take ten days to directly confront the storm. Under the city!"

"Please believe me, the situation is worse than you and I imagined!"

In the King's Council Hall of Stormwind Fortress, King Varian, known as the Ghost Wolf, is standing in front of his own throne in full armor at this time, the High King of the Alliance, looking at the kingdoms standing on both sides below the throne with piercing eyes. High-level officials, military generals, nobles and members of the council, plus the ambassadors of the Wildhammer dwarves and night elves to Stormwind, etc.

Since the traitors of the Defias Republic began to break through the defense line of the Elwynn River and besieged the Westspring Fortress, Varian has been wearing his armor every day, ready to face battle at any time.

"Of course, this is only a battle in the west! And we still have the west..."

"According to the battle reports from the west, the chieftain of the tribe who broke the peace agreement without authorization, the orc Thrall, is leading the formation of orcs, tauren, undead, wild boar, darkspear trolls and a large number of Stranglethorn Vale trolls. The more than 20,000 tribal army has completely captured Dusk Forest, and is now at the triangular intersection at the junction of Elwynn Forest, Dusk Forest, and Red Ridge Mountain, and the Twelfth Legion of the Storm Kingdom stationed in Red Ridge Mountain under the command of our old general Todman As well as the security guards of some towers in the eastern part of the Elwynn Forest are fighting fiercely!"

"Although, under the excellent command of the old general Todman, the orcs are temporarily trapped in the south of the triangle intersection and cannot advance an inch... However, according to reports from the sentries, there are already many elite trolls or orcs from the tribe. The boat forcibly crossed the turbulent Elwynn River, and appeared in Macoron Farm, around Tower of Azura, and the outskirts of Gold Shining Town!"

"And this is the real reason that caused so many people in Elwynn Forest to flock to Stormwind City!"

"Until now, although the battle lines are still maintained in the east and west of Elwynn Forest, the entire Elwynn Forest area, except for North County, which is protected by the city wall, is obviously not safe anymore... ..."

After explaining the general situation, Varian sighed subtly again.

If it was just the traitors from the Defias Republic, their Stormwind Kingdom would be able to handle it with ease, but... just at this time, those damned orcs also jumped out to join in the fun, so they had to fight on both sides, and even sent the elite The Twelfth Legion was entrusted on the other side of the Red Ridge Mountains, so that the battle at West Spring Fortress became precarious.

"So, everyone! If you have any plans or good suggestions, please come forward now!"

Finally, after talking about everything, Varian didn't go back to sit down, but just stood there and squinted slightly, scanning everyone below. Although, he himself knew that these guys staying in Stormwind City might not be able to give any good advice.

Now Bolvar is defending the West Springs Fortress, the old Marshal Reginald presided over the defense line in Nanhai Town of the Northern Expedition Army and cannot return for the time being, General Todman's 12th Legion was dragged to the west by the orcs, plus the main coalition forces of Outland... ...It can be said that in Stormwind City, there is basically no one who can fight!

"Your Majesty, I would like to know more about where are the 30,000 alliance elites that we withdrew from Nanhai Town in the north, and when will they be able to reach Stormwind City?"

At this time, a middle-aged man with black hair and black beard who was dressed in luxurious clothes and whose badge seemed to be a duke stood up first and asked.

"..."

"Marshal Reginald Windsor of our Northern Expedition Army, he has dispatched 30,000 alliance elites to go south by boat on the third day after receiving the written order from the Alliance High Command and me... But, now Driving against the wind, and our fleet is often harassed by those murlocs and Naga, the speed may not be too fast..."

"So, if our judgment is correct, the fleet should have reached the southwest waters of Dun Morogh by now, and it is expected to appear within the line of sight of the lighthouse in Stormwind City within the next eight to ten days!"

After watching for a while the Duke of Elroe Burlock, who withdrew from the Twilight Forest and immediately provided information about the orcs' attack, King Varian thought for a while, and truthfully told the approximate time when the reinforcements would arrive.

Anyway, this matter is not a secret. Most people here know it. I am afraid that everyone in the Defias Republic knows it, right? Fortunately, they are a large fleet, and they are not afraid of Defias' interception.

"Why, Duke Elroy Burlock, are you still not satisfied after abandoning your territory Twilight Forest, do you still want to abandon Stormwind City again?"

Before anyone else could speak, a Stormwind nobleman who seemed to be not on good terms with Duke Elroy Brock came out first and sneered strangely. Obviously, someone is very dissatisfied with Duke Ebonlocke's behavior of throwing the entire Twilight Forest without any resistance?

"Hmph! Obviously you idiots abandoned my Twilight Forest first!"

"Don't you forget, back then, those idiots refused to fulfill the obligation to protect the kingdom, rejected my request for help outrageously and unreasonably, and let most of our Twilight Forest farms fall into the hands of the undead! If it weren't for me The night watchmen are supporting it forcefully, I am afraid that my night town could not be kept a few years ago!"

"And now, I only have the militia force of less than a thousand night watchmen under my command. Apart from organizing the people to retreat in time, what do you want me to use to compete with tens of thousands of evil tribal beasts? A waste that lives in Stormwind City?!"

After hearing the other party's words, the grumpy Duke of Elroy Brock immediately protested angrily and loudly. He has always been at odds with the nobles in Stormwind City, otherwise, he would not have stopped living here, but sticking to the increasingly difficult Night Town, clinging to the territory of the Twilight Forest!

However, when the tribe's army came from the Stranglethorn Valley in the south to the Twilight Forest, he even lost his last territory, Yeshi Town...

"Oh? But as far as I know...you have asked your daughter, the commander of the night watchmen, Althea Ebonlocke, to secretly take the subway to transfer some of the money to Hearthglen?"

At this time, another member of the Council of Stormwind came out with a sneer and satirized a certain duke.

"Hmph! I have provided important information to the Kingdom of Stormwind, and I have also contributed hundreds of elite night watchmen troops. What do you think of me? Or, you greedy wastes send troops to the Kingdom or donate money thing?!"

With a high-ranking title on him, and the Duke of Elroe Burlock, who thought he had never owed the Kingdom of Stormwind, he asked the other party mercilessly. He contributed several hundred of his night watchman troops of nearly a thousand at once, which is much better than these useless nobles who only talk and don't do anything!

"you!!"

"..."

"Enough! Please exercise restraint! Don't mention any irrelevant matters now! The kingdom does not prohibit the practice of evacuating to Hearthglen in advance, but before the council decides to evacuate the people, anyone who can afford the high Subway fare, you can leave on your own!"

Anyway, the Kingdom does not reimburse the fare, those rich guys can leave as they please, and Varian is confident in defending Stormwind City, and those who left will have to spend another sum of money to come back ?

"Everyone, I just want to know now, besides waiting for the Northern Expeditionary Army to return to the south, who else has a better solution?"

After stopping the war of words among the dukes and earls, Varian breathed a rare sigh of relief, and finally began to ask tentatively.

"I think we can ask for reinforcements from Hearthglen or the night elves..."

"The night elves definitely can't do it. They can't return by boat as fast as our Northern Expeditionary Army! As for Hearthglen, they don't have many troops anymore, most of them are in Arathi Highlands..."

"Or, can we have the warriors from Outland withdraw?"

"Outland? Don't be joking! Even if the army of Outland returns immediately, wait for them to pass through the Dark Portal, carry the Swamp of Sorrows from the Blasted Lands, and then detour westward to the Deadwind Pass into the Dusk Forest. Wait until they return to Stormwind City or reinforce ten The Second Army, that will be at least a few months away! By then, maybe our Northern Expeditionary elites have settled here long ago!"

"..."

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"What else can I do? Recruit a large number of strong militiamen, and then hurry up to train, and don't ask them how capable they are, as long as they can hold Stormwind City! As long as we persist for ten days, our main force will be easy to deal with when they come back. !"

"Hmph! Stupid! If you've been waiting here, whether it's West Springs Fortress or the triangle intersection, once the situation collapses, the entire Elwynn Forest will be completely destroyed! You must know that after losing the big granary in the West Wilderness, Elwynn Forest is the most elite area of ​​our Stormwind Kingdom, once any party breaks through the defense line and floods in on a large scale... next year, our kingdom's finances will completely collapse..."

"Yeah...the taxes on the barren Burning Plains and the chaotic Red Ridge Mountains are not very good! The three important tax areas of our Stormwind Kingdom: Dusk Forest has been unable to grow crops due to the evil black fog in the Deadwind Pass; As for Westfall, you also know... If there is another problem in Elwynn Forest, then, let alone taxes, we will even have problems eating!"

"..."

"If this is the case, then we can only increase the number of troops... Some of the main force will be reinforced for the West Spring Fortress! Here in Stormwind City, we can only rely on some militiamen to defend it for the time being?"

"No! I object! Think about it, is Stormwind City or Elwynn Forest more important? Without Elwynn Forest, we will have a little financial problem at most, and once the enemy raids Stormwind City successfully, then our Stormwind Kingdom Maybe they will die! Don't forget, there are already orc troops fleeing into Elwynn Forest. Who knows how many they are? Is it one thousand? Or two thousand, or five thousand? At that time, a group of militiamen and a few How can the elite defend Stormwind City?!"

"That's right! I am also opposed to the increase of troops in Westspring Fortress! If it is to send newly recruited militiamen, I have no problem! In short, those elite defenders and royal guards must not leave Stormwind City for half a step!"

"..."

"But what's the use of sending some armed militiamen without any training? I'm afraid they won't be able to enter the West Spring Fortress, and they will be directly scattered by those traitors from Defias, right?"

"makes sense……"

In this way, in the king's meeting hall in the Stormwind Castle Fortress, a large group of Stormwind nobles, high-ranking officials, generals, members of the council, etc., chattered and quarreled with each other, regardless of the standing on the throne. King Varian, whose face was getting blacker and darker.

"Okay, stop arguing!"

"In the current situation, we can only wait... I hope that our reinforcements can return to Stormwind City as soon as possible! Then let's do this first, the meeting is over!"

After finishing speaking, the angry Varian waved his hand, then slammed his cloak fiercely, turned around and walked off the throne, and walked directly towards the small door at the back of the hall.

In fact, he knew a long time ago that such a discussion with these guys would definitely lead to no results! Now, maybe we can only wait for the return of the Northern Expeditionary Army!

Tomorrow... no, later on, he will try magic communication with Marshal Reginald Windsor immediately, and tell the old marshal the current situation to see if the other party has any good solutions?

If it really doesn't work, Varian even wants to give up the Hillsbrad Hills... In that case, half of the main force of the Northern Expedition can be withdrawn directly, and only Ala, which is the forward base and bridgehead, will be kept for the time being. The Highlands are enough! In this way, maybe it should be used as a bargaining chip to win over Prince Danastoll Bain who was born in Stromgarde?