Chapter 309: The Woodpecker Tactic

At first glance, the attack on Southshore seemed eerily similar to the Battle of Southshore last year.

In fact, when Duke received the Horde's banner through a message, he genuinely looked down on these attacking Horde clans.

Simply put, none of the top ten Horde clans were present.

Duke originally thought that displaying the severed head of Warchief Blackhand would at least draw the attention of Blackhand's two dim-witted sons, Rend Blackhand and the like.

But no.

Not even a clan with a recognizable name was present.

Those small and medium-sized clan chiefs who were loyal to the former Warchief paid the price for their lack of foresight. They were all treated as disposable pawns by Orgrim for a feint attack.

Without Death Knights, Ogres, Warlocks... Duke could imagine that no matter how many of these fools there were, they would definitely not fare well against the Southshore defense line that had been reinforced for over a year.

Don't underestimate the gap between the top ten clans and the rest, and don't assume that all Orcs have similar combat capabilities.

Why are the clans ranked higher able to fight better?

Only the most powerful clans can occupy the best territories and monopolize the most abundant beast herds. In turn, because they have good territories, they can support more warriors and tribesmen.

This situation is like a snowball effect.

Unless they suffer a heavy loss in a long-distance battle and lose their capital, it's hard for them to decline.

Marshally, the official warriors of the top ten clans, even the females, rarely stand less than two meters tall. But the warriors of the later clans are at most 10-20% stronger than the Orc peons.

On the morning of March 29, the Second Battle of Southshore began.

Duke's face was ashen.

Not because the Southshore defense line was under pressure, on the contrary, Southshore was as solid as a rock. Marshal Llane even had time to chat with Duke.

Duke was angry because Lothar had almost taken away all the elite forces of the Alliance.

Those left in Southshore were basically infantry, including the eighty thousand troops of Stormwind, Marshal Abbendis's 30,000 foot soldiers of Lordaeron, Duke's newly formed Stormwind Mage Corps, plus the undermanned Lordaeron Third Cavalry Corps with only 15 cavalrymen. All other elites, including Highlord Mograine, were pulled away and sent to the Southshore and Northshore coasts.

"Damn it, how can Lothar do this to me? Didn't I repeatedly tell him not to bet lightly? Without confirming Orgrim's banner, he absolutely cannot commit the elites." Duke was furious.

Llane was a bit surprised, "I'm very confident in holding Southshore. I don't think there's anything wrong with Anduin taking away other elites. Besides, when Terenas and Genn heard that two hundred thousand Orcs were rerouting there, they were frantic, sending almost one magical message per hour."

Duke slammed the table, "That's the key point, I admit that the Orcs wouldn't resort to using fake banners. But Orgrim is definitely a leader with a brain. He doesn't like to exchange large numbers of sacrifices for so-called glory. In Stormwind, it was him who proposed to bypass the east and north of Stormwind."

Duke didn't want to bring up the Battle of Stormwind, which was King Llane's eternal pain. Llane's handsome face twitched slightly, but he nodded, "Indeed, since then I've felt that the Horde's actions are often contradictory. Sometimes

reckless and impulsive, sometimes cautious and careful."

"The reckless one was Blackhand. The cautious one was Orgrim, who was then his second in command."

"Indeed, this can also explain why the first Battle of Southshore happened." Llane frowned, "So you mean to say, the forces that went to the strait are the main force of the Horde?"

"No, those are definitely empty ships." Duke was absolutely certain.

"Then..."

"Once these ships pass through the strait between the South and North Seas, pass under the Thandol Span, they will return to a place in the northeast corner of the Wetlands where they can land, carrying the Horde from here to attack." Duke drew a line from south to north on the military map, the final target was shockingly - the eastern coast of Hinterlands.

Seeing this line, everyone present, Llane, Marshal Bolvar Fordragon, Marshal Abbendis, all gasped. The cold breath invaded their lungs, making everyone feel as if they were exhaling ice cubes.

Anyone who could make it to the rank of Marshal wasn't a reckless brute. Of course, they knew what this meant.

Due to the immense pressure that Lordaeron was about to face on the front line, and also due to the pressure from King Terenas Menethil, Lothar had no choice but to withdraw most of the Alliance's troops to face the Horde's frontal assault. If the Horde's main force on the front line is ignored, the Orcs can march straight in, and within a week they could reach Lordaeron's capital, destroying this core kingdom of the Alliance.

On the other hand, if the front is blocked and the rear is landed by the Horde in Hinterlands, a region where the Alliance has virtually no control, the Alliance will also collapse if the Horde is allowed to run rampant.

In Hinterlands, the Horde can fully utilize their advantage in mountain warfare. To the west, they can directly strike at Alterac, which is currently the weakest in terms of military strength among the seven human kingdoms of the Alliance. If successful, they can even take a detour, bypassing the high mountains between Hinterlands and Arathi Highlands that even the Orcs cannot cross, and invade Arathi Highlands from the rear. If they can break the defense of the Thandol Span from the rear, they can break the blockade on the South and North Seas, and pull all the Orc troops from the south.

If Alterac is taken care of, the Horde will have many options: they can attack the Stormwind refugee camp in Hillsbrad, and if they continue westward, they can attack Dalaran.

At the time when Lothar withdrew most of the main forces, the Horde can enter as if it were an uninhabited territory.

Llane and the others were increasingly horrified as they looked on.

Marshal Abbendis raised a question, "Deputy Commander, didn't you have Marshal Trollbane set up a large number of catapults and crossbow turrets along the strait early on? In such a narrow strait, even if the Horde's ships are empty, they can't easily pass, right?"

Duke pursed his lips, and after a long while, he said, "I understand Orgrim, he must have a way to pass through the strait, although I don't know why, but I have placed my strongest ranged troops there. If the situation is critical, I will take the Stormwind Mage Corps and rush over."

This is also the sorrow of a time-traveler.

Does Duke not know what that is? Of course, he does.

The problem is, after the incident of Medivh being possessed, Duke can use "I can sense evil" to explain many things. However, for the Horde's next move, Duke, without sufficient evidence, simply cannot convince the various factions of the Alliance.

The Alliance is not run by Lothar and Duke. At the end of the day, the Alliance is a collective of many kingdoms. Even if Duke has proven himself by winning a brilliant battle, he still cannot command every army in the Alliance based on 'intuition' or 'speculation'.

"I believe this is a classic woodpecker tactic."

While making a feint to the east and striking west, drive the enemy to where you want them to be.