235 Chapter 235: Assembly
Duke couldn't help but curse inwardly.
Wasn't this utter nonsense? The damned Northern Shore in history was never a place Orgrim's army went through.
Seeing Duke's displeasure, Llane placed a hand on Duke's shoulder and walked him into Southshore Town's Alliance Command Center, a four-story stone fortress. The fortress had been completed at the end of last month, with a view of the sea while maintaining a safe distance from it. More importantly, without capturing the two hills on either side of Southshore Town, there was no threat to the Command Center.
Duke had fortified those hills early on.
Llane spoke in a single breath while looking at the map.
"In truth, our strength here is already considerable. Most of the troops will still be assembled here. After all, the Alliance chose to station here because this place is at the heart of the Eastern Kingdoms continent and can quickly reach any corner of the continent by ship."
"Here we have fifty thousand veteran soldiers, fifty thousand new recruits, and almost a hundred thousand militia with basic military training. Of course, this is already all we have, and there are hardly any men left in Stormwind Kingdom."
"What we lack are cavalry and archers. Luckily, within three days, the Stromgarde Knights and the Third Infantry Corps will arrive, giving us 1,000 cavalry and 6,000 light infantry. Arriving almost simultaneously will be the Alterac Mountain Falcon Knights and the Second Mountain Infantry Corps, also lightly armed."
"Four days later, Dalaran's Second Mage Corps and the First and Second Infantry Corps will arrive. Duke Mograine and Marshal Abidis's Scarlet Crusade will take at least ten days to arrive."
After hearing Llane's account, Duke sighed.
By the military mobilization capabilities of this era, this was already an incredible speed.
Don't assume that the Stromgarde Knights, stationed right beside Thoradin's Wall between Arathi Highlands and Hillsbrad Foothills, could reach Southshore in less than a day's ride.
In reality, when the army set out, there were countless tasks to be done. This was only because the Horde was attacking, and the nations were already in a state of readiness. If it were peacetime, it would take even longer.
Similarly, Dalaran to the northwest of Southshore and Alterac to the north were not far away, both within a day's ride for fast horses. Duke was already grateful that they could arrive so quickly. These standing corps were the foundation of each nation, and if Duke were to deplete them easily, it would not be as easy to get them back when needed.
On November 5th, when the last batch of scheduled soldiers arrived at the huge camp outside Southshore, two commanders, seven high-ranking officers equivalent to kings, and over 30 marshals had gathered at the mountaintop command post.
Everyone praised Duke's early preparations for the camp.
He built a large circle of wooden walls in advance, strategically placed arrow towers, and each camp was close to the river for easy water access. At the same time, several spacious roads were planned in advance for the army's sortie. With such arrangements, the marshals thought they were leading their troops on a long-distance training exercise.
As Lothar's adjutant, Turalyon reported the intelligence to the kings.
"First, the intelligence from the Bronzebeard dwarves. Ironforge is still under siege by nearly a hundred thousand orcs, identified by their banners as the Horde's Bleeding Hollow clan." Turalyon first placed ten orc figurines, each representing ten thousand orcs, on Ironforge.
Then there's the Thandol Span. After repeated reconnaissance by the gryphon riders from Stromgarde, there are no fewer than 50,000 orcs there," Turalyon placed five orc figurines on the bridgehead on the map.
"Finally, the Wetlands. According to the intelligence gathered by Commander Marcus' naga and murloc scouts, more than 200,000 orc laborers built at least 20,000 transport ships along the southern coast of the Wetlands. The smaller ships can carry about 30 orc warriors, while the medium-sized ones can hold around a hundred. So far, we haven't found any large enemy vessels."
"The major Horde clan banners we've confirmed in the Wetlands encampment include Blackrock, Warsong, Flameblade, Dragonmaw, Razorfang, Duskhammer, and Blackscar. Including the orc laborers, we conservatively estimate the Horde's total population to be over 600,000."
Fortunately, the map was large enough—three meters by three meters—otherwise, the small area of the Wetlands wouldn't have enough room for 60 orc figurines.
"Wow!" Even though they knew the Horde's power was immense, the leaders couldn't help but gasp when they learned the exact numbers: "All the forces in Southshore combined barely make up over 200,000."
"What's there to fear! If their ships are all of this quality, even 10 times more wouldn't be a problem. Without the Alliance, my Kul Tiras alone could annihilate them!" Grand Admiral Daelin Proudmoore confidently declared.
Indeed, although Southshore's docks had been expanded repeatedly by Duke, the five stone piers, like fingers, extended almost 150 meters from the shore but still couldn't accommodate all the vessels.
Looking through the window of the fortress, the kings gazed at the sea before them. Proudmoore's ships not only filled the docks but also covered the entire coastline. From small, fast reconnaissance vessels to standard destroyers and massive warships over a hundred meters long, the ships formed a forest of masts that rose and fell with the waves.
Keep in mind that this was only the first and third fleets of Kul Tiras, along with Stormwind's fleet of just a hundred warships. The second fleet was still in the Northsea coast's open waters, and Kul Tiras' home defense fleet had not yet been deployed.
Each king felt a sense of pride and newfound confidence. How could anyone or anything resist such a powerful armada?
No, not just the fleet!
After the initial unpreparedness and adaptation, both sides' tactics had begun to take shape, and the human side's casualty ratio started to decline sharply. From the initial rate of one orc warrior for every 10 human soldiers, it changed to at most one for every two or three. If human soldiers were in a well-organized formation, 100 well-equipped humans could easily take down 100 orc warriors on an open plain.
However, Lothar couldn't help but visualize the scenes of the Horde breaching the Redridge Mountains' defenses, sweeping through Elwynn Forest, and leaving a bloodbath throughout the entire kingdom of Stormwind.
That was an unstoppable green tide that no one had ever truly been able to halt!
Lothar took a deep breath, and his expression turned resolute once more. The Alliance army was now many times stronger than the old Stormwind kingdom. They should be able to hold back the Horde's onslaught.
