The streets of Alterac were peaceful, and there was no hint that there had been an anticlimactic coup not long ago, at least on the surface it looked that way.
In the face of absolute power, the conspiracy of the nobles is nothing. As long as Lothar is alive for one day, the army will only be loyal to one object.
After returning to Alterac, Lothar showed his kindness and only killed dozens of merchants and nobles who planned a coup to disrupt the market. After confiscating their property, he left enough life for the criminals' families.
supplies, and if those people want to work honestly, they are also given certain opportunities.
Generally speaking, this coup did not bring actual damage to Alterac. On the contrary, the confiscated properties further stimulated the economy and helped Lothar implement a series of policies to benefit the people, such as repairing houses for civilians, which was helpful to alleviate the domestic crisis.
Pressure plays a certain positive role.
It is worth mentioning that Dathrohan was forgiven by Lothar, and he was able to return to Alterac to continue leading troops. After experiencing this crisis, Dathrohan became much more mature, and he began to think about the Holy Light.
relationship with the people.
Li De walked into the government affairs hall. Lothar, who was dealing with affairs, was already very worried.
"You are finally here! The alliance needs you now! The annihilation of the former army has had a very bad impact on the alliance! Other leaders are trying to calm down domestic emotions.
The war started again just over a year after the war ended, and an army of ten thousand people was gone. Take Alterac for example, although the society is stable on the surface, everyone is worried about when they will die.
Terenas needs to coordinate the allocation of food and personnel, and Varian also sent me a letter. The Kingdom of Stormwind is now in a panic, fearing that the orcs will attack again.
The alliance has given me the highest authority in terms of military matters, and my opinion is that you should serve as the new commander of the former army. Of course, everything can still be changed before the official appointment is made, so I want to hear your opinion first."
Li De understood that Lothar was testing himself. If he was not qualified enough, he would consider replacing him with other candidates.
"The first thing the Alliance needs to figure out now is what kind of strategic goal we want to achieve. After the annihilation of the former army, annihilating the orcs in a short time has become a false proposition. What we have to do is to destroy the orcs led by Ner'zhul.
They are controlled in the south of the kingdom's continent and cannot allow them to complete their journey north and join the remnants of the tribe led by Red and Maimu."
Li De's analysis hit the nail on the head and went straight to the core of the problem, causing Lothar to nod repeatedly.
"The orcs have poor strategic analysis skills and are easily guided by their opponents. They can divert their armies through several small-scale battles, cut off the road to the Redridge Mountains, and prevent them from going north to the Burning Plains. Attract all the orcs to the Dusk Forest.
In addition, use Stormwind City as the base camp to restrict the orcs to the south."
"Okay! It's you!"
Lothar made the decision immediately, but then he posed another problem to Li De.
"But I can only give you five thousand people! The destruction of the former army caused great negative emotions in the northern countries. Many citizens think that people should not be sent to the south to die."
"I understand that for strategic defense, five thousand men is barely enough. If the troops are insufficient, we can recruit troops locally in the Kingdom of Stormwind."
"As long as you have this confidence."
As he spoke, Lothar placed a document at the bottom of the drawer.
"Marshal, what is this?"
"This is a letter of recommendation. Besides you, there is actually another candidate in Greymane. But this guy was dismissed last time when we made the highest decision-making in the alliance."
"Blackmore?"
Speaking of the person recommended by Greymane, Li De immediately thought of that guy. When he was in Ironforge, Blackmore did not leave a good impression on several senior officials, but he had to admit that he was still very capable.
, at least Greymane still admires him.
"That's him. To be honest, although I dislike this person very much, I can't deny his ability. If you are not qualified, I can only appoint him as the commander of the new front army."
Hearing what Lothar said, Li De immediately understood. He knew why Lothar couldn't leave Alterac.
"Have you decided?"
"It's decided, there can be no further delay. This time, the northern countries have supported me in training 30,000 new troops. The Frostwolf clan entrenched in the south of Alterac must be destroyed. This is why, I can only give you five
Thousands of people.”
In the past, it was just a rumor that orcs lived in the Alterac Valley. The first thing Lothar did after taking over was to confirm this rumor.
With Ravenholdt's ability, it was not difficult to find out this matter. It didn't take long for the detailed information to be placed on Lothar's table:
There is a complete orc clan living in the Alterac Valley. It is conservatively estimated that the population is about 15,000, which can at least organize an army of 10,000 people!
This is why, after annihilating the ogres, Lothar will continue to accept Dathrohan. He needs to unite every force to fight against the orcs.
Lothar's attitude towards the Frostwolf clan is actually very ambivalent. This orc has been living in the Alterac Valley for several years and has never invaded the surrounding areas. And the land they occupy only has snowmen and sheep.
Suitable for human life.
In this situation, the status quo could have been maintained peacefully, but the alliance was unwilling to organize an army and clear out a piece of worthless land with a large number of casualties.
But things are different now. Ner'zhul leads the orcs to invade Azeroth again. The Frostwolf clan has gone from being a lone force hiding in a harsh environment and struggling to survive, to becoming a security risk nailed to the Alliance's rear.
For the safety of the alliance, Lothar could not bet on whether the Frostwolf clan was harmless.
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. We all have to work hard on our respective battlefields. You can take the army and set off as soon as you are ready."
…
Considering that Li De had never led a large force in combat before, Lothar assigned Li De with five experienced subordinates: Marcus Jonathan, Bolvar Fordragon, Grian Stroman, and Garin.
Trollbane and Ashkandi Dorag.
Among them, Garin Trollbane took the initiative to join Li De's team. After the last alliance high-level meeting, the old King Trollbane had a long talk with his son.
Communication between father and son is an eternal problem. Garin understands everything his father said, but he should never underestimate the competitiveness of males.
Most of the misunderstanding between Garin and his father has been resolved, but he still wants to prove that he is stronger than his cousin. It can only be said that this young prince still does not understand the difference between a king and a general.
The defeat of the former army and the disappearance of his cousin deeply touched Galin. The secret struggle for many years suddenly lost its goal. This time he asked to come to Li De's command, not to prove anything.
At the very least he wanted to find his cousin's body.
Except for Garin, the remaining four officers were all from the Kingdom of Stormwind and were the most outstanding officers of the younger generation. In terms of number of troops, Lothar really could not give Li De more help, so he gave other
Li De’s greatest support.
Li De and his army disembarked in Nanhai Town, and their landing destination was the port of Stormwind City. In addition to the army and officers, Kel'Thuzad also went south with Li De, acting as an advisor to liaise with the mage troops.
Even in Nanhai Town, thousands of kilometers away, Li De could feel the people's panic over the defeat of the South, not to mention the troops about to be sent to the battlefield. Bearing the risk of death, fighting in a foreign country
, you can imagine the pressure on the troops.
"Ashkandi, go and disperse all the Iron Horse Brotherhood members on different ships and live in different cabins. Make sure that the brothers are familiar with the situation in the army when they get off the ship."
Among these five thousand people, three hundred belong to the Brotherhood of the Iron Horse. Many of them are elite soldiers who survived the two orc wars, and they are needed to take the lead in this army.
"As you command!"
Ashkandi obeyed the order neatly, and Li De then looked at several officers.
"Fortagon, Marcus, and Grian, you are on your respective ships. Remember to listen more to the voices of the soldiers and summarize their opinions. I will take a look at it when we get off the ship in Stormwind City. We must also take a targeted approach.
work."
Both Marcus and Grian accepted the order directly, but Bolvar was still a little confused. He was born into a noble family, and his father was a noble general. Not surprisingly, he would also inherit the position of Marquis in a few years.
In his previous education, as long as the general was good enough and could lead the soldiers to win the battle, it would be fine. He had never heard of listening to the "soldier's voice". Didn't soldiers just need to obey orders?
"Commander, is there any use in doing this?"
"Don't you see the negativity among the soldiers? If we can't tell them why they're fighting, we're just leading them to their death!"
Bolvar didn't quite understand Li De's words, but a soldier's bounden duty was to obey, so he had no choice but to follow the order.
Looking at the opponent's back, Li De couldn't help but think of Lothar's evaluation of Bolvar:
'He has excellent military qualities, but his mind is a bit dull.'
At the same time, 800 soldiers from the Vast Sea Protector also boarded the ship in Kul Tiras under the leadership of Brad. Vereesa also boarded the ship with a heavy heart. As a friend,
Lao Chen personally saw her off.
But after the ship sailed, Lao Chen looked at the sails going away and couldn't help but recite a poem written by Li De before leaving as a pre-war mobilization poem.
It’s not that Chen Stormstout is arty, it’s that this poem is too suited to the temperament of the Pandaren Brewmaster.
"Why do wars burn, why do autumn leaves fall? Nature cannot be taken away, and we all have doubts in our hearts.
Who holds the fist of anger to protect the country and punish evil, and Taoism will naturally eliminate inner demons.
If the war never ends and the disaster never ceases, why should we fight?"