35. If our iron hoofs continue to move forward...--For Rainbow Bear Brothers [9/10]
The battle of Khaz Modan failed, Ironforge fell, and even the always friendly dwarves lost news. The port of Menethil in the wetlands was burned to a white ground by the undead. The undead arakkoa have begun to invade the Arathi Highlands and wetlands.
Sky Parade at Junction.
This series of bad news was like a crazy and fierce combination of punches, making the countries in the northern Xinjiang dizzy.
On their way to Thelsama, the last imperial soldiers and the High Elf reinforcements were ambushed by death knights in the Valley of the Kings. Less than a third of them escaped. They followed Thelsama.
They followed the mountain road of Mara and fled all the way to the wetlands in the northwest, but at the Orgaz Pass, they ran head-on into the encirclement of the death lord Luminas in the wetlands.
Faced with the encirclement and suppression by the most elite Hellfire Legion of the Darkblade Knights, more than 10,000 human soldiers and thousands of high elves who went to Khaz Modan to support the dwarves finally fled back to the Arathi Highlands, leaving only a few hundred...
This can no longer be described as heavy damage. This is completely annihilation of the entire army.
The person who led them back to the hinterland of the empire was one of the frontline commanders of Khaz Modan, Archmage Rommath from the Silvermoon Council of Quel'Thalas. When this once graceful Archmage returned to Silvermoon City,
, it’s like he has become a completely different person.
There are two ferocious scars on his handsome face, which were the marks left when fighting the Death Lord Saurfang, and the left cuff of his mage robe is empty, and his left arm has been left forever.
On the battlefield in the wetland, he was cut off by Luminas's black rune sword with his own hands. The blood spilled out and the pain of being slaughtered is something that the Archmage still can't let go of.
But what's even more terrifying is the news the Archmage brought back... news about the frontline commanders.
The dwarf king, Magni Bronzebeard, is missing...suspected to have died in battle.
Human commander Danath Trollbane died in battle.
Saidan Dathrohan, Grand Knight of the Knights of the Silver Hand, died in battle.
The 3,500 Silver Hand paladins who followed Dathrohan to the front line were all killed except for the 203 who miraculously survived in the end.
The 1,500 battle mages and 2,500 rangers of the High Elf Firewing Mage Legion died in the final battle in the wetlands in order to cover the escape of the survivors.
If the fall of Stormwind City to the ravages of the undead before brought only a kind of shock to the northern nobles, then now, at this moment, they really felt fear, thinking that the undead had advanced to the wetlands, far away from the northern border.
The Arathi Highlands at the entrance was only a short distance away, and some timid nobles were frightened out of their wits.
In the past few weeks, there has been a wave of immigration towards Kul Tiras within the Northern Human Empire. Those who are the most desperate believe that the Human Empire cannot stop the black undead, and sooner or later the Eastern Continent will
After falling, the island nation of Kul Tiras, far away from the mainland, will become the last place where the human empire survives.
This kind of turmoil caused by fear suddenly caused prices to skyrocket in the port of Boralus, the largest city in Kul Tiras, causing complaints among the people under the Proudmoore family that ruled here.
But if these nobles who are eager to avoid disaster knew that the Dark Blade King, who has become synonymous with fear in the Eastern Continent, has set his sights on Kul Tiras in recent days, I don’t know what they would think.
.
Of course, in the face of the attack of a powerful enemy, the huge human empire cannot be full of cowards trying to escape. However, no matter how corrupt a ruling class is, there will always be people who will stand up and fight for the nearly ten million people in the entire northern Xinjiang.
Residents fulfill their own responsibilities and missions.
"Representatives of the Ironforge royal family have arrived!"
"Representatives of the royal family of Quel'Thalas have arrived!"
"The representative of the Wildhammer dwarves has arrived!"
"Representatives from the Kingdom of Storm have arrived!"
Accompanied by the clear voices of the attendants, one representative after another entered the royal palace of Alterac City. Unlike the previous solemnity of this place, at this time, the king and the representatives were in the same room.
It was very solemn, and the ominous premonition of an impending disaster was weighing heavily on everyone's heart.
The flags of the seven kingdoms and the coats of arms of the great nobles were flying above the tall palace. On the walls on both sides, their respective battle flags, as well as some international organizations, were prepared for today's foreign visitors.
The flags of the Church of the Holy Light, the Knights of the Silver Hand, the Dalaran Mage Guild, and the Explorers Guild are also hung at the entrance to the palace.
On the main seat of the palace, the current emperor Lothar was wearing a robe, and the few white hair left on his head was neatly combed. He was wearing an imperial crown that was not extravagant. He was standing in front of his position, facing everyone.
A man entering the palace expressed his welcome.
His Majesty, the Emperor, behaved very gently today and was not as anxious or angry as he was some time ago.
But everyone knows that at today's big meeting, important decisions will definitely be made, and it will happen whether the participants are willing or not.
"A lot of sad things have happened during this period."
When the palace door slowly closed and the meeting began, Emperor Lothar stood up from his seat. He looked at the people on the huge round table in front of him and said in a calm tone:
"First, the Kingdom of Stormwind fell under the iron heel of the undead. I saw the hellish scene with my own eyes. When the ship full of refugees docked in Nanhai Town, I thought it was a wake-up call for all of us.
The wake-up call that sounds can tell us what kind of changes have taken place in this world."
The emperor nodded towards Countess Catalina, who was attending the meeting on behalf of the Kingdom of Stormwind. The latter was wearing a simple black robe with white strips of cloth on her arms. She responded with a sad smile.
Lothar's eyes turned to the others, staying on each king's eyes for a moment. Finally, he spoke again:
"I had hoped that this bell of disaster would unite us and use all our strength to face the evil provocation."
"But unfortunately, we don't."
"When the dwarf friends of Ironforge asked us for help, we should have realized that an important ally's country was suffering the same disaster as the Kingdom of Stormwind, and we should have done everything we could to help them, but we... didn't.
"
Lothar's deep voice made the young king of Stromgard, Garin Trobane, who had just succeeded to the throne, lower his head in shame. He knew why His Majesty the Emperor would say such a thing.
Long before Danaus Trollbane, the cousin of the young king Garin, went to war, Emperor Lothar personally invited him to have a long talk, hoping that Stromgard would send more forces to follow Danaus.
General, but King Garin refused, because many ministers in the kingdom were opposed to large-scale dispatch of troops. Their reasons were very good. Several battles took place in the Arathi Highlands, and the civilians of the Kingdom of Stromgard were already suffering unspeakably.
.
King Garin once thought that was the right choice, but now, after confirming his cousin and confirming that the best general in Stromgard died on the battlefield, he realized... that he was wrong.
"We should have persuaded our wise allies to join us, retain all the precious power on the side of the living, and unite around us to resist death, but... we didn't."
Lothar's eyes briefly paused on Prince Kael'thas who was attending the meeting. Although this handsome and wise high elf prince, although his expression remained unchanged, under the table, his fists on his knees,
He also held it tightly.
There was some regret and pain in Kael'thas's eyes. The emperor of mankind once went to Quel'Thalas in person and asked Quel'Thalas to send its world-famous magical power to help humans and dwarves. However, the complex powers within the Silver Moon Council
The struggle resulted in the Firewing Legion and the Farstrider Legion, which were supposed to be deployed in full force, ultimately deploying less than one-tenth of their strength.
Prince Kael'thas felt ashamed of himself. He felt that if he had persisted a little longer at the resolution meeting in Quel'Thalas, he might have been able to win more support and save those who died in Khazmo.
Dan's compatriots would not have suffered such a terrible ending.
This tragic failure also caused the Archmage Rommath, who returned to Quel'Thalas, to completely sever ties with other Silvermoon Councilors. The Archmage who survived the disaster has firmly stood with Kael'thas.
This side.
"We should have taken advantage of the arrival of this disaster to use firm confrontation to inspire the people's courage and will, send all people of insight to where they should be, and let them perform their best in their own positions.
The biggest role, but we... don’t have it.”
The emperor's last words made the grand leader of the Knights of the Silver Hand, Uther Lightbringer, who had been given an honorary surname by the Lordaeron royal family a few months ago, lower his head in pain.
There were supposed to be two great knights heading to Khaz Modan this time, Tirion Fordring and Saidan Dathrohan. However, just a week before departure, a town in Hearthglen, the fiefdom of old Fordring,
The captain, a villain named Barcellas, secretly reported the Grand Knight Old Fordring to the Knights of the Silver Hand, saying that he abused his power and protected dangerous orcs.
It later turned out that it was just the delusion and slander of a despicable villain. There was indeed an orc staying at Old Fording's house during those few days, but it was Thrall, the son of Chief Frostwolf who was secretly placed in the Kingdom of Lordaeron as a hostage.
.
Fordring did nothing wrong, but because of some disgusting struggles between the Silver Hand and Lordaeron, Fordring was imprisoned for nearly a week and missed the time to go to the front line of Khaz Modan with Dathrohan.
, and if Fording had been by his side when Dathrohan died in battle, maybe Dathrohan wouldn't have...
"We made a mistake, everyone."
Lothar did not want to accuse anyone. He knew very well that when a disaster had already occurred, verbal abuse and accusations would only make the situation worse, but he was also unwilling to "play games" with the king and nobles like this anymore.
Regardless of whether they are willing or not, Lothar has already made the final decision when the undead may come knocking at the door at any time.
"Facing the oncoming undead, the Holy Arathor Empire must truly unite as one to see the hope of victory. We must eliminate internal barriers and we must truly unite spiritually."
The emperor's fist hit the table in front of him. The sound made everyone look up at him, and Lothar took a deep breath and announced to everyone in front of him:
"With the sacred rights granted by the empire's publicly elected emperor and blood, I declare! From today on, the Holy Arathor Empire enters a state of war! All kingdoms must dispatch at least two-thirds of the kingdom's standing army within one month.
Arathi Highlands, these troops will be personally commanded by me and my chosen commanders."
"The Knights of the Silver Hand are recruiting all qualified male and female youths over the age of 16 from the Seven Kingdoms from today to form the Reserve Knights of the Silver Hand. All current official knights have canceled their vacations and will arrive within 15 days.
Arathi battlefield!"
"From today on, the Holy Light Church must shift its focus to the production of holy water and protective scrolls. In previous battles, it has been proven that holy water can cause devastating damage to low-level undead, and protective scrolls can also protect
Paladins fighting high-level undead will not be infected by the evil plague."
"The six-person council of Dalaran must also select qualified mages to join the battle mage sequence from today. In one month, I hope to see a magical force that can determine the situation of the battle on the battlefield of Arathi Highlands!"
Lothar's voice echoed in the palace, and the solemn and stern order made some nobles tremble. It was not until today that they truly saw the terrifying majesty of the emperor in Lothar. That was just one sentence.
It can mobilize the royal power of nearly ten million people.
"And you, my dwarven friends from Ironforge and Eyrie Mountain."
In the silence, Lothar's eyes turned to Moira, Princess Bronzebeard, Lord Falstad, and Prince Kael'thas who were sitting at the end of the round table. He said sincerely to the representatives of the dwarves and elves.
:
"Everything that happened at Railroad Keep is depressing. I know that the Bronzebeard dwarves suffered terrible losses, but I still hope that Bronzebeard can use his own strength to join the Wildhammer dwarves and the elves of Quel'Thalas to rebuild the world.
Join the empire's war sequence...I don't know if I can defeat those undead..."
Lothar took a deep breath, looked at them, and waved his fist in the air:
"But I can be sure that until I, the emperor of the Holy Arathor Empire, die on the battlefield, no one can cross our defense lines and harm your people!"
The emperor's voice became louder and louder. He turned to look at the human kings with different expressions, and finally the aging Holy Light Archbishop Faao with his gentle and supportive eyes. The archbishop was supported by the arch knight Uther.
He stood up, leaned slightly towards Lothar, and said to the others in a weak tone like an old man:
"Holy Light Church, hereby obey His Majesty's orders."
This weak voice was like a real heavy hammer, hammering into the hearts of everyone present. Lothar couldn't help but clenched his fists. He looked at the others and shouted with an almost roaring voice.
The tone shouted:
"I beg everyone to make their own efforts for the life and death of Northern Xinjiang. Who is willing to devote themselves to this great cause with me! Who is willing to join me in dedicating everything to the burning of the true spiritual fire of the empire? Stand up!
"
"Stand up and stand with me! Let the undead see that they can never destroy us."
The emperor's roar echoed in the palace. Inspired by both shame and excitement, His Majesty Garin Trollbane was the first to stand up and stretched out his hand towards the emperor, followed by the admiral of Kul Tiras.
, then the countess of Stormwind City, then the archmage of Dalaran, then the prince of Gilneas, and finally, the calm-looking King Terenas.
When seven human hands, two dwarf hands, and an elf hand were tightly held together, the real Iron Alliance completely revived under the weight of death.
