13. The order form the king.

Anduin implement their plan the next day after their discussion. He orders the soldiers to dig huge ditches surrounding the Redridge pass and the army camp. The ditches are bigger than the normal ditch due to the stronger enemies they need to face, it's almost four-meter wide and three meters deep, Enough to become a small trench in Eskalios' description.

The bigger ditches mean the heavier jobs, but it is not a problem at all. The Stormwind army was composed of young and vigorous people who could walk in the heavy plate armor as if nothing had happened. Anduin dispatched more than two hundred soldiers to do this work, in just one day, the huge ditches has already appeared upon the once flat ground. And he has a plan to dig the second and third ditch after this too.

Other than this, the general also ordered the carpenters in the camp to modify some reserved spears into javelins and write a letter to the Stormwind City, asking king Llane to send additional javelins with the next supplies. And intend to smear some feces on the arrowhead when the next battle comes.

The King's Champion did as Eskalios' word not because he is affected by protagonist halo but judged from his many years' experience on the battlefield that his advice is feasible. Moreover, he wasn't optimistic about this war and had a faint feeling that they are losing slowly. They are going to lose anyway, so why not try to break the current situation with these methods? They are not losing anything anyway.

While Anduin organized the troop to make a new tactic, Eskalios also doing his own things. It might sound arrogant but he thinks that with his level it will be too wasteful to let him work as a normal soldier. The best way to express his value is to get stronger as fast as possible and ask one of the mages to teach him basic arcane magic.

His request is easily fulfilled. His current status is different from the time he just came to this camp. With his power, he now has a power that is equal to or more than some nobles although his current formal status is just a normal footman.

Moreover, magic isn't the secret exclusive art, at least the human did not try to keep it a secret. There are many mages working in big kingdoms, and it's the same case with the Stormwind kingdom that has its own mage court although not as good as Dalaran's or Lordaeron's.

So there is no problem requesting to learn some magic, especially if the requester is someone with a position, the main problem is whether the learner has the aptitude or not.

Arcane magic is one of the widest and most complex power systems in Azeroth, the teacher that Eskalsios learning from is also just a normal mage not some powerhouse like Khadgar or Jaina, and the time and place he learns also very unfavorable to learn arcane magic. He can only learn the most basic of the basics like how to feel arcane and manipulate it when the next wave of attack is coming three days after Eskalios' first war. As for how to use a proper spell is still a later story.

Eskalios is unsatisfied with his progress, while the mage that teaches him looks at him as if he is a monster. This guy changes normal people into an inexperienced mage disciples in just three days. Even the people in Kirin Tor, the council that is composed of the cream of the crop, might use several months in this step but this guy used just three days, does this boy is a high elf in disguise?!

If Eskalios know what he thinks then the boy will say that the mage thinks too much. How could high elves play something like this? He is just the titan's creation that has magic talent on par with the high elf.

...Well, that seems more absurd than being an elf, isn't it?

The mage told this to Anduin which made him startled and a little suspicious because the borrowed power of Sang Mandeok is Eskalios' magic in his cognition, so it turned out that this boy wasn't even a mage.

But he did not intend to clarify the truth since everyone should have their own secrets and Eskalios also expressed his position as Stormwind's helper. He even wants to introduce Medivh as the boy's teacher after he knows his terrifying potential.

For Anduin's goodwill, Eskalios reject it without thinking. Medivh has been possessed by Sargeras and is the mastermind behind the First Wars. Eskalios still thinking about how to kill this last guardian. How could he become the other's disciple?

No, not to mention killing, with the strength of Medivh that inherit the title of guardian, he can kill the current Eskalios like pinching an ant, and he might do so if the fallen titan thinks that Eskalios will become a hindrance, so he planned to wait until Anduin know the truth and tag along with him. As for the current situation, just farming experience and instigating Anduin to think about attacking Karazhan is his best choice.

"By the way, these things should be effective, right? It has to be, every expert on YouTube saying that digging the ditch is the ultimate art, so it must work!" He nervously thinks while standing with other soldiers on the wall, looking at the Horde that running towards the wall.

Whether the ideas he proposes are effective or not, it will be shown in a minute.

…

Orgrim Doomhammer looks at the Tribe and his army after the battle, feeling that this fight is different from the past, and the situation began to change.

He is one of the smartest orcs in the Tribe if not counting Guldan and the other warlocks, so he can see that it won't be good if they continue like this.

For him, humans are small, weak, and can be crushed even if he is being outnumbered by them. Except for some particularly good warriors, the normal human wasn't an opponent to their brave warrior, not even their female. But he also has to admit that it's really hard to kill them when they hide behind those big stone buildings.

And this is the source of his anxiety.

Human cannot compare to them in terms of brute force, but they also cannot compare to human in terms of weapons and engineering. These guys hid behind that big building and used new and despicable methods to fight with them, making their warriors suffer heavy casualties, especially this stone building that make them spend almost five months attacking without any success.

The Tribe numbers are clearly bigger than them and they will win, at last, that's without a doubt.

But what's the price, this time humans have a new trick, the long dirt pit (the ditch) that hinders the movement of the warriors and siege engines, and the change of the projectile weapon from those tiny sticks (arrows) to short spears that could be lethal if stabbed at the vital place.

These tricks seem to be simple yet very effective. The pit wasn't that wide, some of the warriors could still jump over it, but there are two rows to the pit behind it, and the distance between them was too close to run to build momentum. The warriors can only jump into the ditch and climb across these long pits, making them the perfect targets for those humans. At least a dozen of the warriors died before they reach the wall.

Moreover, he saw that these weapons are smeared with rejects which will cause infection to the wounds, and slowly kill their strong warriors in a disgraceful way. If there were still shamans left, maybe they could help these warriors, but Guldan already destroyed that system. And even the warlock can help, Orgrim has a feeling that those Shadow Council won't help them. Shows Guldan attitude which is indifferent to the orc's death.

Orgrim's feeling is correct. Guldan really did not care whether the death of the normal orc, he only want more power from Burning Legion and fel magic. In fact, due to his early life he was treated brutally by the tribe members, he even hope that the orcs can die as much as possible.

Orgrim gritted his teeth while looking at the comrades trying to treat their own wounds. He didn't feel depressed about the death of the Blackrock clan member, he knew that death in the fight was considered glory for a powerful warrior.

But it should be like this! They should be killed by the blade of enemies while reaping their life at the same time! Not killed while climbing across the dirt pit and killed on the bed because of shit in their wounds!

From his experience, they can win this battle, it's just a matter of time before their victory, but what's next. From the word of the human captives, this is just one of the buildings in the human tribe, a normal outpost. There are seven more tribes like this, meaning that they have to go through this situation several times before the end. How much do they have to pay for the conquer, how many warriors have to sacrifice, and do the loss really worth what they will gain?

Orgrim starts to think about his friend, Durotan, words. The chief of the Frost Wolf tribe once said that they should try to communicate with the native here, and he think that Guldan will bring them to their demise. He is still skeptical about being friends with them, but he really agrees with the second half of it.

But no matter how much he wants to smash the warlock's head like a watermelon he still cannot do it due to his position and lack of power. Mow all he can do is think of how to get through this mountain.

…

"So it worked." Eskalios said to Anduin when they met again after finished the battle. They both positioned themselves at the front line so they could clearly see the situation.

The three layers of ditches really slow down the grunts and let the archers, which change to use javelin, have more time to attack.

The javelins that they currently use are modified from military spears, the spearhead is five centimeters wide and almost one foot long. It cost fatal damage to the target and even instantly kills them if it is stabbed at the vital point. These javelins can almost one hundred percent deal a huge wound to the enemy considering how small protection gears the Tribe has.

This makes the enemy reaching the wall slightly reduced and the fight did not become as breathless as before, Esaklios even take the initiative to shoot the swords down at the orc on the ground, making the number of orcs he kill in this fight reach a hundred, unsealed his third part of Sang Mandeok's power.

"Yes, I can feel that the pressure for the footmen is reduced a lot, and it's the first time that the death ratio of our soldier is lower than the orc." Anduin smiles and nodded, but it also disappeared almost in an instant when he think about what he had just said.

The Tribe is really too strong. Even if they have the help of a strong wall and a better weapon, the human still has an exchange ratio of two to one or three to two with the Tribe, making the numbers of soldiers get lower and lower. It is true that the situation is getting better but that's just making the Tribe lose the troops more than usual, not enough to reverse the current situation.

The battle continues, Eskalios know that they are losing and the time they need to abandon this base will come someday. However, he did not know that he did not abandon the Redridge pass because of heavy casualties, but because of the order from the capital.

Two weeks after the fight, the javelin that Anduin requests send to the camp with another massage. The Tribe's raiding in the south has intensified. They completely lose the Duskwood and Westfall was transformed into another battlefield. The king need Anduin to go back to Stormwind city and led troops to defend the juncture between Westfall and Elwynn forest.