Chapter 40 Unexpected News, Great Lich
The cold cannot be resisted by willpower and passion alone. If the Stromgarde militia forces cross the Alterac Mountains without any rest or overtime, then by the time they reach Stearnblade, the loss is estimated to be more than 30%.
This is not what Galen Trollbane wants to see, so he has already asked Duke Falconest to return to Alterac City in advance and let the Syndicate members in Alterac City prepare winter clothes and heating equipment from the ruins of Alterac City.
When the Stromgarde militia forces arrived in Alterac City, Duke Falconest had already led the Syndicate to prepare cold-resistant clothes, warm bonfires and boiling broth for the Stromgarde militia forces.
The fact that the Syndicate joined the Kingdom of Stormgarde was not widely publicized. After all, the Syndicate had previously joined forces with the Stonefist Ogre to attack Stromgarde, and the Stromgarde militia forces still had some hatred for the Syndicate.
When Galen Trollbane led the remaining Syndicate to the Kingdom of Stormgarde, the Stromgarde Militia put down their hostility.
Under the command of Duke Falkurest, the Syndicate members carefully led the Stromgarde Militia soldiers to the slightly better houses in Alterac that had not yet completely turned into ruins to avoid the cold.
In the houses that were sheltered from the cold wind, with warm clothes, warm bonfires and boiling broth, the Stromgarde Militia soldiers quickly got rid of the cold, and even looked at the Syndicate members more favorably.
Although Staneblade was under attack by the Scourge, the forced march would only make the Stromgarde Militia too tired, and then they would be wiped out by the Scourge, which was never tired. It would be better to give the Stromgarde Militia enough rest time.
In the abandoned palace of Alterac, Galen Trollbane was sitting on the throne of Alterac, playing with the Crown of Will, the treasure of the Kingdom of Alterac.
This seemingly ordinary crown can greatly increase the mental power of the wearer, and is almost immune to all mental control effects. In the story of World of Warcraft, the ogres who were originally loyal to the Dark Queen Sylvanas broke free from control because their leader Magthor wore the Crown of Will, and led the Broken Ridge Ogres to occupy the Alterac Mountains.
In order to express his loyalty, Duke Falconest found this palace in the ruins of Alterac City and gave it to Galen Trollbane.
With the physique of a heroic warrior, Galen Trollbane did not feel much cold even in the Alterac Mountains. He waited for the Syndicate to provide accurate information about Steinblade.
Soon, Duke Falconest brought accurate news, but this news was unexpected.
Originally, Galen Trollbane thought that the lich who led the Scourge to attack Steinblade was either the grudge-bearing lich summoner Araj or the lich of the Scholomance, Les Frostwhisper.
As a result, the leader of the Scourge lich who attacked Steinblade this time was actually the famous Archlich Kel'Thuzad...
The Archlich Kel'Thuzad was once a member of the Dalaran Kirin Tor, a disciple of Antonidas, the chief archmage of the Dalaran Kirin Tor Council of Six, and the senior of Jaina Proudmoore.
The founder of the Cult of the Damned, was resurrected by the fallen prince Arthas Menethil using the Sunwell of the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas, and also possessed powerful strength.
In World of Warcraft, Archlich Kel'Thuzad stayed in the floating city of Naxxramas, the Scourge in the Eastern Plaguelands. In the campaign, he should be staying in Lordaeron City now.
It seems that the appearance of the Archlich Kel'Thuzad in the Western Plaguelands must be the influence of the butterfly effect of Galen Trollbane.
Due to the appearance of Galen Trollbane, the Kingdom of Stormgard won a great victory in the defense of Arathi Highlands and defeated the lich summoner Araki. After that, the Kingdom of Stormgard continued to accept refugees, and the population surged, becoming the only existence in the northern continent of the Eastern Kingdom that could resist the Scourge.
So the Archlich Kel'Thuzad could not sit still and decided to solve the problem of the Kingdom of Stormgard himself, so he led the Scourge of the Western Plaguelands to attack Steinblade, the gateway between the Western Plaguelands and Hillsbrad Foothills.
The strength of the Archlich Kel'Thuzad is there. As the most powerful lich in the Scourge and the second-in-command of the Scourge, Steinblade is in a very critical situation.
Galen Trollbane can only shorten the rest time of the Stromgarde militia and speed up to Steinblade, and must arrive before Steinblade falls.
The only thing to be thankful for is that neither the Kingdom of Alterac nor the Syndicate gave up repairing the road between Alterac and Steinbrad, which made the Stromgarde militia march several times faster than before, and they no longer had to continue groping through the ice and snow.
Due to its geographical location, Steinbrad is the only road from the Western Plaguelands to the Hillsbrad Foothills. A large number of refugees from the Western Plaguelands enter the Hillsbrad Foothills from here. The Syndicate has made a lot of money relying on this town. Duke Falkurest also does not want this place to fall, and leads the Syndicate elites in Alterac to follow the Stromgarde militia.
At this moment, the Syndicate in Steinblade is doing its best to resist the attack of the Scourge. The members of the Syndicate are not good at frontal combat, but they also know that if the Scourge captures Steinblade, they will be dead, so they are doing their best to defend.
"Lord Kel'Thuzad, please let me atone for my sins. As long as I take action, I can capture this town soon." The lich summoner Akira has been resurrected, and he humbly made a request in front of the great lich Kel'Thuzad.
The Archlich Kel'Thuzad turned to look at his subordinates and said in an angry tone, "Now is not the time for you to take action, Araki. It is very easy to capture this town. I am waiting for the prince of Stormgarde, Galen Trollbane, to appear."
The Scourge has the Archlich Kel'Thuzad, a top-level strongman, and the summoner Araki, a pseudo-heroic strongman. It is very easy to capture Steinblade. The reason why it has not been captured is that the Archlich Kel'Thuzad is ready to play the long game and catch the big fish.
In the eyes of the Archlich Kel'Thuzad, Steinblade is nothing at all. The key is Galen Trollbane. It just so happens that his Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are still lacking a leader of the Death Knights. Galen Trollbane is his favorite candidate.