Chapter 98 1. Counterattack

For the people of the eastern continent of Azeroth, the last months of the 7th year of the Dark Portal were still spent in war.

The orc invasion has lasted for 7 years, and the order of human society has been disrupted. Tens of millions of people have been displaced. The last piece of pure land in the world was completely submerged by the orc tide.

During those few days, the shadow of failure shrouded the human world like a real thing. Once Lordaeron was breached, all the resistance and efforts of the Human Alliance would be in vain.

But luck still favors humans, because of Gul'dan's betrayal, the Horde's easy victory finally came to naught. Orgrim did not gamble on the fate of the Horde. He chose to retreat before the human reinforcements arrived on the battlefield. .

Because of this, although the tribe has suffered heavy losses, it still has the power to fight, but the war situation has completely fallen into an extremely unfavorable situation for the tribe. In the face of the alliance legion that is united again and has high morale, the chief can only After choosing all the way, he retreated to the Khaz Modan area.

He intends to resume the confrontation between the two sides before the start of the war, and deploy defenses between the wetlands and the Arathi Highlands to stop the alliance's pursuit. After the alliance hired Ravenholdt's spies on a large scale, the war chief All the arrangements cannot be concealed from the commanders of the alliance,

"The news from those assassins who worked for money is very timely!"

In Stromgarde in the Arathi Highlands, Anduin Lothar, the Supreme Marshal of the Alliance, was holding a secret letter written in animal skins in his hand, and his brows were furrowed on his already wrinkled face.

"Orgrim really intends to stick to the wetlands and Khaz Modan. This is where most of the tribe's war supplies come from. He is unwilling to give up here!"

The marshal glanced across the crowd in front of him, and he emphasized his tone:

"Even after a big defeat, the orcs still haven't given up their desire to covet the northern border! We can't allow the tribe to occupy it again! We must do our best to crush all of Orgrim's wild fantasies! Drive them out of Khaz Modan!"

The marshal clenched his fists, representing his unchangeable will, but the commanders in front of him showed embarrassment. The general of Stromgarde, Danas Trollbane, coughed lightly. He stood up, his left arm There is still a bandage on his body, and there is still blood on the bandage. This brave warrior and commander will always lead the knights to charge in person. Injuries are already commonplace for him.

"Marshal Lothar, we can understand the importance of chasing the tribe at this time, but the soldiers are already very tired. If they attack forcefully, it will inevitably cause many unnecessary casualties. Do we need to rest for a few days..."

Trollbane's words resonated with many commanders. Even King Daelin, who hated orcs the most, nodded. Will is often not enough for food. Soldiers can't get enough rest. The fierce orcs will inevitably suffer heavy casualties.

Lothar sighed, and he handed over the secret letter in his hand to the commanders. He sat on a chair and whispered:

"I also want to give the soldiers enough time to rest. They have barely had a single day of rest in the past four months, but we must act as soon as possible. Ravenholdt's spies have obtained clear evidence that The cunning Orgrim is collecting explosives in the Khaz Modan region, and he wants to blow up the Sardo Bridge...you all know what that means."

The news written on the animal skin made everyone frown.

The Sardo Bridge is a stone bridge built by the dwarves of Ironforge and the humans of Northern Xinjiang hundreds of years ago. At the beginning of the design, the factor of war was taken into consideration. The bridge is divided into upper and lower floors. It is grand and can be called a great spectacle in the northern Xinjiang continent. It can accommodate 100 soldiers to pass side by side at the same time, and it is also the only land passage connecting the wetlands and the Arathi Highlands.

Once the Sardo Bridge is blown up, human soldiers can only be trapped in Arathi, which means that they will give up the southern part of the mainland to the orcs, which is unacceptable anyway!

"boom"

Trollbane slammed his fist on the table, took a deep breath, and said aloud:

"I'm going to mobilize the soldiers of Stromgarde now, we will take the lead in this battle!"

"No, what you said makes sense, the soldiers are indeed too tired."

Marshal Lothar shook his head, his eyes finally fell on Uther and Turalyon who were not far away, he pondered for a moment, and said in a deep voice:

"Paladins, can you still fight?"

Uther and Turalyon looked at each other, he patted his chest, and said loudly:

"Thanks to the Holy Light's assistance, the Knights of the Silver Hand have suffered little damage. If we add the new recruits who have just been baptized, we can make up 1,000 people!"

"1000 knights...enough!"

Lothar closed his eyes and considered for a moment, then opened his eyes and gave the final order:

"Then let the Knights of the Silver Hand be the vanguard in this battle, and may the Holy Light bless us to win."

He looked at the admiral in front of him again, and he asked:

"Your Majesty Dai Lin, how is the situation in the navy?"

"The lost ships have been replenished, and we have sufficient ammunition. The only problem is that the entrance to the wetland is not suitable for warships to enter on a large scale."

The admiral of Kul Tiras rubbed his chin, his eyes went back and forth on the map, and finally, he nodded and looked at Lothar:

"But I don't think this is a problem. Since the orcs can find a suitable port in the wetlands, I think we can too."

"Then give you 1 day to find a suitable attack position."

Lothar's finger tapped on the map:

"I don't need the navy to support the frontal battlefield. I need you to make a feint behind the wetlands to attract the attention of the orcs and make them think that we are planning to attack from the rear. Let's launch a general attack together!"

"The Sardo Bridge must be controlled by us! As long as we control this place!"

The sadness on Marshal Lothar's face eased a little, and he said in a deep voice:

"As long as this place is under control, the defeat of the orcs is only a matter of time. When the reconstruction of Stormwind City is completed, it will become the front line of our fight against the orcs. With the assistance from the entire human world, the orcs... the orcs will definitely be driven back by us. to their world!"

"This is the hope of mankind!"

This remark outlines Lothar's thinking on the future war situation in the minds of the commanders. This marshal is not a boastful person. All his analyzes are very in line with the status quo, and the commanders also recognize it very much.

Even if the counterattack is now turned into, the whole alliance is actually not very sure about ending the war as soon as possible. It has been 7 years since the southern part of the mainland fell into the hands of the orcs, and the area around the Blackrock Tower in the Burning Plain is their rule. In the center, there are still tens of thousands of capable orc warriors entrenched there. It is unrealistic to solve the battle in 1 or 2 years.

Unless...unless the backbone of the current tribe, the Great Chief Orgrim, can be killed.

Lothar knew that the human kingdom had secretly dispatched enough assassins to assassinate Orgrim more than once, and the system of the tribe at this time had also decided that once the wise great chief died or was captured, all clans would Contradictions within the chieftain will split the tribe apart in an instant.

But Lothar also knew that Orgrim also had the same idea. After he served as the marshal of the coalition forces, he would encounter an assassination almost every few days. Obviously, the great chief also saw the hidden factional conflicts within the alliance. It is said that the life and death of Lothar himself and Orgrim directly determine the outcome of this war.

But now, the alliance has entered the real counterattack stage, and time is already on the alliance's side.

One day later, at dusk, at the port in the northwest corner of the wetland, the orcs of the Blood Ring clan lit torches and patrolled the damaged port.

This was originally a port for the dwarves, and it was also the best natural port in the wetland. After the fall of the wetland, it was used as a stronghold by the blood ring orcs. During the war, it was repeatedly attacked by the alliance navy. , obviously, the Alliance intends to open the door to attack the Horde's rear here.

"It's a pity that the Great Chief failed."

A little orc warlord carried a war bow, patrolling the city wall, and said to the scouts beside him, "I heard that the capital of the human kingdom can be broken by a little bit, and it's all because of that bastard Gul'dan!"

"But our soldiers withdrew anyway."

The scout distributed a piece of jerky to the boss, and the two of them sat cross-legged in the corner, eating and saying: "If we can fight the first time, we can fight the second time. The cunning alliance dog is not our opponent at all. You Just watch, sooner or later, the Great Chief will take us to conquer the northern border!"

"I don't want to fight anymore, maybe I can build a farm in Elwynn Forest in the future."

The little orc warlord snorted. He ate the jerky, couldn't help rubbing his forehead, and yawned. He said to the scouts beside him:

"Speaking of which, have you always felt tired recently, as if you were out of strength, obviously you haven't fought before?"

"Maybe it's the bad weather here, those nasty swamps, I don't like it here."

After the scout finished eating the jerky, he stood up and casually glanced at the evening sea. The next moment, the orc's eyes widened.

"Boat! The ship of the League Dogs!"

A few seconds later, the ear-piercing sound of war drums resounded through the port. Dozens of heavily armed warships broke through the darkness outside the port. It's going to be a big kill.

Dai Lin stood on the deck of the flagship. He put down the binoculars in his hand and picked up the flagpole of the semaphore himself:

"Warriors of the Alliance!"

"Shoot all the shells into that port! Send the Horde pigs to hell!"

"For the alliance! Fire!"

Accompanied by Dai Lin's furious roar and the red flag ruthlessly drawn down in his hand, the next moment, hundreds of flaming shells flew out of the fleet's muzzles, making a sharp and horrifying whistling sound across the sky , carrying the flames of death, smashed hard into the port of the blood ring orcs.

And after the first round of shelling, under the horrified eyes of the orc scouts, more troop carriers appeared from the darkness, and they seemed to be full of densely packed Alliance dogs, which were jointly created by the archmages of Dalaran. On the surface of the sea at night, such illusions are enough to confuse real ones.

But the Horde didn't know this, and Kilrogg Bloodeye, who was sticking to this place, was horrified when the information was sent back.

"What did you say? More than 200 ships?"

He grabbed the orc scout who was trembling in front of him, the expression on his ferocious face almost swallowed the soldier alive, and he got a definite reply, and after seeing the formation of the alliance navy with his own eyes, his blood eyes immediately passed the news back Grim Batol's headquarters.

"What? The alliance's navy carried nearly 10,000 soldiers to attack from the rear? Are they going to force a landing?"

After receiving the news, Orgrim instinctively felt that there must be something wrong, but Kilrogg Bloodeye is his most reassuring chief, and it is impossible for him to deceive him in this kind of thing. The tired chief looked at him. The Saldo Bridge is of course important, but if the alliance is really desperate and wants to land from the rear, the defensive situation in the wetlands will collapse in an instant.

Finally, he gritted his teeth, reached for the Doomhammer, and gave the order.

"Let Dahl and Saurfang bring the Burning Blade Clan and Thunder King Clan to support! Let the warriors of the Dragonmaw Clan defend the Sardo Bridge for me! I will personally bring reinforcements to support them!"

"Cunning Alliance Dogs will never cross the Sardo Bridge!"