Chapter 157: Predicament

King Llane silently waited for ten minutes until he knew that Duke had arrived. He then entered the council chamber to begin the military meeting. The nobles who had been clamoring that 'even if the orcs have millions, let them all die under Stormwind City' before the siege of Stormwind City began were now silent. As expected, the topic shifted from how to wear down the orcs to how to evacuate. Evacuation was no easy task. Although women and children had been evacuated months ago, the problem wasn't the desire to evacuate but the lack of ships. No one blamed Duke, because without him, the situation might have been even worse. The best example was the new Stormwind Harbor. The stone piers extended into the sea, and compared to the original narrow military harbor and the fisherman piers with beaches, the capacity increased at least tenfold. Duke's ships were all typical large cargo vessels, ready for transportation without any modification. Spacious cabins and good ventilation allowed people to be packed inside like sardines in a tin can without major issues. However, considering the voyage, even if the ships were almost overloaded, only about 5,000 people could be transported per day. At this moment, more than 300,000 soldiers and civilians were still trapped in Stormwind City. The ships were limited, and it wasn't an exaggeration to say that almost all the ships in the human world were gathered here. Even if the shipyards of Stormwind Harbor and Kul Tiras were working day and night, the transportation capacity wouldn't significantly increase in a short time. The lack of transportation was the biggest problem facing Llane. In 'history,' the Kingdom of Stormwind also suffered heavy losses for this reason. After the surprise attack on Karazhan, Lothar found the roads he had taken blocked by orcs who were advancing faster than in this world. By the time he returned to Stormwind City, Llane had already been killed by Garona in a secret underground council chamber, witnessed by young Prince Varian. With the dragons gone, the garbage-filled port, and the lack of ships, the result was that more than 80% of the citizens who couldn't escape in time were massacred when Stormwind City was captured by the Horde. Lothar took less than 20% of Stormwind's citizens and the widows and orphans left by Llane to Southshore. With no soldiers, no people, and no weapons and supplies, the impoverished Lothar had reached a dead end. Only later did Lothar, as a direct descendant of Thoradin, declare to give up the imperial power of Emperor Thoradin and establish the Alliance to jointly resist the invasion of the Horde in exchange for recognizing the legitimacy of the kings of the human kingdoms. In this life, with Duke's presence, the course of history had already been drastically altered. At the very least, Llane was still alive, and over 300,000 citizens had been transported to Southshore. Regardless of whether the Kingdom of Stormwind lost as it did in history, it was clear that in this life, its vitality had been preserved. King Llane knew very well that Duke had reached his limit. But evacuation wasn't a simple mathematical problem. Oh, 300,000 divided by 5,000 would take exactly 60 days to evacuate. The hundreds of thousands of orcish troops outside were watching closely, and once the city fell, all the remaining people would be captured instantly, and none would escape. The truly safe ones were the first few days of evacuees; the later ones faced greater danger. Now, counting all the militia and city guards, there were only about 90,000 people. It sounded like a lot, but once the decisive battle began, they could all be wiped out within half a day. "Stormwind can no longer be defended. For the continuity and future of the kingdom, we unanimously recommend that the esteemed Queen and Prince Varian be the first to evacuate," several Dukes jointly stood up and offered their advice. Upon hearing this, Lothar snorted coldly. Why did they want the Queen and Prince to evacuate first? Was it because they were afraid to break the taboo and flee before the Queen and Prince did? When the superiors were just, the subordinates would have to ask their superiors' permission for their twisted ideas. With the Queen and Prince standing here, the nobles dared not even ask about evacuating their descendants. Now, the near-collapse of Stormwind Fortress provided them with the perfect excuse. King Llane scanned the nobles, none of whom dared to truly meet his burning gaze. After a brief pause, Llane finally said, "Very well, all noble women, first-in-line heirs, those without military positions, or underage nobles may evacuate with the Queen and Prince. Rest assured, when it is clear that the bloodbath has no meaning, I will not ask you to stand with me to the bitter end." Llane's response left the nobles with mixed feelings. They were glad that Llane had finally relented and allowed their descendants an excuse to flee. They were angered by Llane's continued refusal to allow any desertion during battle. Stormwind Kingdom had been established for a thousand years, with nobles preserving their titles and advancing through military achievements. This had led to nobles scheming to secure cushy positions for their offspring in the military, and even incidents like the conflict between Duke and the Whiteflank family's child who took credit for others' achievements. Now, Llane had blocked their escape routes. With only a few able to leave with plausible reasons, the rest would have to live and die with the King. Those who had arranged for their offspring to escape in advance were secretly delighted. Those not so clever now looked as if they had just swallowed a spoonful of poison. Ignoring these people, Llane focused on another important issue, "Lothar, if I give you control of all the city's forces, how many days can you hold Stormwind?" Lothar thought for a moment, "With just that 16-foot (5 meters) high wall? If the orcs target that as their breakthrough point... 10 days, no more. And at least 30,000 people will be needed to cover the retreat. This batch of troops will be wiped out for certain." As his words fell, there was a stir among the nobles, each of them with their own agenda in mind. Llane turned to Edwin VanCleef, who was sitting beside Duke, looking a bit uneasy, "VanCleef, if I ask your people to urgently construct 50 arrow towers and trebuchet towers over 20 feet high on the eastern wall, can you do it? If so, how many days will it take?" Attending such an important military meeting for the first time, VanCleef was incredibly nervous. His cold sweat had completely soaked through the clothes on his back. At that moment, he heard Duke's voice, "Don't be nervous, just answer truthfully. His wise Majesty won't vent his anger on you for no reason." (To be continued.)