Azeroth Shadow Trail

Chapter 683 14. Our big league is invincible

Little is known about the events of these days in Alterac Valley.

However, after the news spread that His Excellency Oriden Perenolde, who was basically determined to be the future king of Alterac, was assassinated by brutal orcs, the army of the entire alliance camp became even more excited.

This matter was subtly intertwined with the matter of Marshal Lothar, which aroused the endless anger of the human soldiers. The lower commanders called for battle every day, but they were always suppressed by Oriden.

The young future ruler showed an outstanding "general style". He was not in a hurry to send troops to wipe out the damned Frostwolf orcs just because he almost died at the hands of the orcs.

On the contrary, he waited patiently until five days later, when the forward of the army commanded by General Turalyon had finished resting, he led the army out.

Such waiting is very necessary.

Locals know that the most dangerous time for the valley is when the snowstorm covering most of the mountain range has just subsided.

Not only is it extremely cold, but the beasts and mysterious and terrifying snow monsters in the valley, as well as the ice ax trolls who also live in the Alterac Mountains, will be very violent.

At this time, the march is vulnerable to external interference.

General Turalyon is not a person who does not listen to opinions. After in-depth discussions with Auriden, he agreed to this mature and prudent marching plan.

But after a total of more than 10,000 people from the three parties marched into the Alterac Mountains, the vanguard rangers and military spies sent back an embarrassing and shocking news.

"What? The orcs are gone?"

General Turalyon looked at the military report that had just been delivered in his hand. The paladin commander, who was wearing heavy armor and wore a sacred scripture on his waist, looked back in astonishment at Oridon Perenolde, who was also "shocked".

The latter, as a local native, hesitated for a few seconds and whispered to Turalyon:

"It must have been planned by the cunning orcs!

The damned snowstorm covered their movement a week ago, and we marched five days late to play it safe, which gave them plenty of time to escape.

Ah, it's all my fault! "

Auriden took off his helmet, covered his eyes with remorse and said:

"I shouldn't have hesitated. If we had taken the risk to march, maybe we could have given them away before they fled."

"It's not your fault, Lord Auriden."

Turalyon shook his head, he carefully looked at the details of the military newspaper, and said softly:

"If we had set off five days ago, the march would never have been as smooth as it is today. Compared with the life and death of the orcs, I care more about the safety of our soldiers and people.

It would be a good thing for them to escape.

At least the kingdom of Alterac no longer has to worry about the direct threat from the orcs.

What I am more worried about now is, where did these orcs go?

There are four to five thousand members of the Frostwolf clan!

It is impossible for them to disappear without a trace overnight. There are so many orcs gathered together, and they are also a group of extremely mobile wolf cavalry.

People and towns throughout the East Weald and Downs are at risk should they opt for guerrilla warfare. "

"No, they won't do that, General Turalyon."

Auriden sighed, took out a map of Alterac from his horse pocket, and unfolded it in front of Turalyon's eyes. He slid his finger on the map in a gesture of "planning before moving", and pointed at the paladin. Speaking of:

"The terrain of the Alterac Mountains is long and narrow, with mountains on both sides that cannot be climbed. No matter how powerful the Frostwolf orcs are, it is impossible for them to cross it out of thin air.

There are only three ways they can go, either go north through the mountain pass where the city of Steinbrad is located, or go south through the hilly pass where the city of Alterac is located.

Either take the path of Chillwind Post into the Eagle's Nest Mountains bordering the Alterac Mountains, and go to the Hinterlands ruled by Wildhammer dwarves and trolls! "

"Well, your analysis is very correct."

Turalyon looked at the map, and under Auriden's explanation, his thoughts suddenly became clear. He tapped the ground a few times with his gauntleted fingers and said:

"We have left defensive lines on both sides of the north and south. If there is no news of the orcs attacking there, then their only route is to go to the Hinterlands.

But I can't understand, why did they go to the Hinterlands?

There are the brave Wildhammer dwarven sky knights, and there are brutal ogre trolls. Although there are many mountains and forests for them to hide, if they want to survive for a long time, they will inevitably anger both dwarves and trolls.

This is not a good place. "

With a nostalgic tone, Turalyon said:

"During the war, Ms. Alleria and I were stationed there for a while. I know that place very well. There is no way to escape there unless...

Unless they took the sea route under the watch cliff, but the orcs had no boats at all. "

"What if someone answers?"

O'Riden felt that the "heat" was about the same.

Rubbing his chin, he whispered to Turalyon as if pretending to have a whim with his poor acting skills:

"What if the other orcs prepared a fleet in advance to pick them up?

I learned from previous battle reports that in the far north of Stormwind City, on the Burning Plains where the Alliance and the Horde battled, in that Blackrock Tower, there was a group of orcs gathered together, calling themselves "the hell" Orthodox tribe'?

I also find this unlikely.

But if they did make such a move, they never found ships from somewhere, such as renting ships from mercenary goblins. "

Seeing the hesitation on Turalyon's face, Auriden said again:

"The goblins have a history of this, general. Don't forget they got a big fleet for the Horde in the wetlands two years ago.

Those green-skinned little guys have no shame, as long as they can make money, they are absolutely willing to do it. "

"What you said makes sense!"

Turalyon took a deep breath. The cold air in the Alterac Valley made his thoughts run fast. He looked at the vast and endless snow mountain plain in front of him. He turned his head and said to the orderly behind him:

"Soldier, go and invite Archmage Anslem. Your Excellency Auriden and I have something important to discuss with him."

The messenger accepted the order, turned his horse and galloped away to the rear of the troops.

"If it is as you guessed, the orcs plan to flee the northern border by sea and land, then we can only rely on the communication between mages, and ask the Wildhammer dwarves to help intercept them."

Turalyon held the rein tightly, and said in a regretful tone:

"It has been five days, and they must have entered the jungle of the Hinterlands, which is not suitable for a cavalry charge, and it is too late for us to go after them.

It was an embarrassing failure. "

"Failure? No, no, big knight, this is not a failure!"

Oridon laughed, and he whispered to the big knight:

"Wherever the alliance army went, the frightened green-skinned orcs fled. They didn't dare to confront the powerful alliance fighters, so they could only choose to run away like wild dogs.

Believe me, our people will love this story of victory without a fight more than a victorious victory with wounds after a battle.

We only need to go to the stronghold of the orcs and bring back the things that the orcs can't take away as evidence, and then we can announce this great victory to the entire northern border and even the human world.

This is a victory bestowed by the Holy Light.

Ah, praise the Light. "

He said so, making Turalyon a little uncomfortable.

He is a sincere paladin. Although he comes from a noble family and has dabbled in political affairs, he doesn't like the current method of playing with public opinion.

However, it doesn't matter whether you like it or not, O'Riden's statement is strictly calculated, and there is actually no problem.

The orcs did escape.

They were so afraid that they needed to summon a big storm to hinder the alliance warriors' attack and buy time for their escape. They really won without a fight.

But right now it's more embarrassing.

Their army has already entered the Alterac Mountains, so they can't just leave without a fight, right?

It's too bad that it's a waste of time and money, and it's not good news for ambitious soldiers who want to rely on their military exploits to advance.

Auriden seemed even more confident about the great knight's worries.

He marked a few red dots on his Alterac map, handed it to General Turalyon, and said:

"We Alteracs have more enemies in the valley than the Frostwolf orcs, general. Our people have been harassed by iceaxe trolls that stalk the valley long before the orcs came.

These savage trolls are scattered in three strongholds, and they add up to more than 4,000 people, making them the dominant force in Alterac Valley.

We can't fight the orcs this time, but we're all here, right?

It's better to wipe out these ice ax trolls.

Believe me, General, all of Alterac will praise your valor and mercy when we return with the savage troll's head in our honor.

We natives have been tormented by these trolls for years.

And if the trolls weren't enough to satisfy the warriors' quest for glory and victory, I also know that there are a few yeti and ogre bandits, hated creatures. "

Oridon snapped his fingers and said to the big knight with weird eyes:

"There are so many battles to fight here, and so many military exploits to earn."

"Why do I feel like this is all arranged?"

Looking at the map in his hand, Turalyon joked to Auriden in a low voice:

"I feel that your original purpose was to take us to destroy trolls and snow monsters, not to fight orcs? Did you know that orcs would run away? Your Excellency Auriden.

You see, there are only two of us here, I am a paladin, I have the creed of keeping promises, you don't have to worry about me revealing the secret.

Tell me, where did you hear about it? "

"Please don't make such a joke! Great knight."

O'Riden put on a serious face at this moment, and he said:

"How could I have colluded with the orcs? I swear it was an accident, or luck, well, maybe the goddesses of luck gave us it.

Let's go, big knight, there is a group of ogre robbers entrenched in the valley not far ahead, we can use their heads to boost morale.

Ah, our alliance warriors are really invincible in the world, and the brutal orcs have been scared away by us. "

——

It was getting late, and deep in the jungle of Hinterlands, on the shore of the largest Lake Valowen in the area, the Frostwolf orcs who were camping here were already getting ready to rest.

They have been running almost all the way for the past five days, with little rest.

The shamans of the tribe whipped up the wind to accelerate them, and used the power of flowing water to soothe the tiredness of the wargs and warriors, allowing them to complete an almost impossible "thousand-mile turn".

But not everyone is thankful that war was avoided.

"I guess those humans must be celebrating their great victory now, hey, this kind of fleeing without a fight, no matter when it is, is really uncomfortable!"

By the lakeside, a pot was set on a bonfire, and the fat fish just caught from the lake was being cooked. The aroma made the circle of Frostwolf warriors sitting around swallow their saliva.

And Captain Garvan, who was shirtless and carrying a battle ax, complained to the soldiers around him while roasting the meat of a fawn killed by the wolves just now:

"In fact, if we really fight, those humans will not be our opponents. Our shaman summoned the powerful Frost King, and we have enough supplies to fight a protracted war."

"But what's the point of such a war, Captain."

Beside Captain Garvan, the young orc Thrall was sprinkling seasoning into the fish soup, and said softly:

"It's not about life and death, and the Frostwolf clan doesn't have nowhere to go. A fight to the death with the Alliance there will not gain any benefits other than the sacrifice of our clansmen in vain.

There is the hinterland of the alliance, surrounded by four kingdoms and a magic city-state, we have no support at all, and no matter how we fight, we will only be consumed by the soldiers of the alliance.

Getting out of that mortal place is the right choice.

As for the pursuit of the soldiers, I once read a sentence in the history books of mankind. They said that the will of the greatest fighters is not to win every victory, but to use their own strength to end wars and maintain peace. "

"Hey, we orcs don't say that."

Captain Galvan curled his lips in disdain, and the other orcs also laughed.

But after a few seconds, the captain whispered again:

"However, there is some truth in this sentence. Since the orcs drank the blood of demons, we first destroyed our own world, and then came to Azeroth to fight for six years.

How many soldiers died in these bad debt wars?

They didn't deserve to die in the first place, and there is no glory for soldiers in such a war. Our glory has already been lost by us with Dellano's dying.

But if it weren't for those lunatics eager to conquer, we would still be living our lives in peace in our own world.

I don't know if you guys have played enough.

But I really don't want to fight anymore, decades of non-stop wars have made me deeply tired. I'd rather go back to Frostfire Ridge and be a swineherd if I could.

Thrall, have you heard of the scenery of Frostfire Ridge? "

"No, but Lord Ner'zhul and Elder Drek'Thar told me about it."

A gleam of light flashed in Thrall's eyes, he stirred the fish soup, and said to Captain Garvan next to him:

"Captain, were you born there too?"

"Well, I was born in a small village next to the Sword Tower Fortress."

The orc captain smiled, touched the rough stone pendant on his neck, and said in a nostalgic tone:

"Our village has been harassed by ogres all year round. When I was a child, I followed the soldiers in the village to steal supplies from the ogres.

Every time the storm in Frostfire Ridge blows and everyone's life is hard, they will steal from the ogres.

Those idiots have no idea what we're doing.

But although they store a lot of jerky, it is very unpalatable, and probably only ogres and very hungry orcs can eat it. I hated that taste very much when I was a child.

That smell represents the days of barrenness and starvation, and every taste of them means that the village has entered a situation where food may run out at any time, and no one likes them.

But I don't know why, but now I miss those jerky that can grind people's teeth. "

The brave captain looked at the sparkling lake in front of him, and he and the circle of orcs around him fell silent. After a few seconds, the captain sighed and said softly:

"Hey, Alterac Valley is very good, but it is not the Frostfire Ridge in my memory. Unfortunately, we have all been changed, and we can't go back."

(end of this chapter)