While Thrall was busy arguing with other orc leaders who had different opinions on how to deal with the backwater oasis, the centaurs had already taken action quickly.
The tauren's troops in the Thousand Needles Stone Forest are limited. Facing the two major clans of Kokar and Garak, with a huge army of about 50,000 to 80,000 soldiers, they can only continue to hide on the tops of Black Cloud Peak and Luanfeng Hill.
The centaurs also took advantage of the best light cavalry in the world of Azeroth and quickly passed through Razorfen and Blackthorn Mountain, surrounding the tribe's stronghold at the entrance to Dustwallow Marsh.
Fortunately, the tribe communicated in time, and the small tribe army left behind quickly retreated to the Brackenwall Village in Dustwallow Swamp. The centaurs then destroyed the small stronghold and continued north, crossing the Giant Wilderness and meeting with the Centaur.
The centaurs garrisoned at the Backwater Oasis meet up.
Moreover, the centaurs were marching very fast. They did not even stop at the Backwater Oasis, and immediately sent out troops to occupy the Sweetwater Oasis again to the northwest. They also crossed the Glory Post and occupied the southern part of the Forgotten Pool.
At this time, Prell had just mobilized 3,000 garrison troops and stationed at the crossroads with the 3,000 tauren troops sent by Thunder Bluff. The centaurs also discovered the reinforcements at the crossroads, so they turned north and tried to attack them.
The connection between the Crossroads and the Stonetalon Mountains is severed.
Not only that, the centaurs also attacked the Glory Post, and hundreds of tribal soldiers fought and retreated. By the time they returned to the Grim Totem Post, they had lost more than half of their troops.
The Glory Outpost was once again destroyed by the Centaur army, and the nearby trade bazaar was also looted. However, this time, the Centaur were cautious and did not continue to attack the Stonetalon Mountains. Instead, they surrounded the crossroads with a large army.
.
At the same time, another group of centaurs suddenly appeared in the south of Senjin Village and occupied a valley there.
This Centaur military operation was too fast. At this time, the assembled army of orcs, trolls and Razor Ridge quilboars had just completed negotiations with Thorn Ridge and obtained passage permission. They were still far away from the crossroads.
It's several days' journey.
Although surrounded on all sides, Prell received timely information from the tauren raptor druids at the crossroads.
According to the intelligence and comparing the map, Prell, Kane, Bloodhoof, Rexxar and others were all surprised and looked at each other. It was obvious that this time the Centaur military operation had obtained the Thornback again.
The clan secretly supported it, and the South China Sea pirate groups that had previously been distributed on the merchant coast also participated.
Otherwise, how could the centaurs suddenly appear in the south of the forest village? Apart from the ships provided by the South China Sea pirates, no other force could do this.
As for why the South China Sea Pirates came to help, Prell didn't even need to think too much and guessed who was behind it. Apart from venture capital companies, no other force could do it.
There were originally only a thousand tribal troops stationed at the crossroads, and the patrols from the crossroads to the Taurazu camp had all been withdrawn at this time, so there were no more than a thousand and a half soldiers in total.
Fortunately, Prell and Cairn Bloodhoof provided timely support, because the location of the crossroads is too important. If the Centaur wants to break the situation in the Barrens, it must win here.
Now, less than eight thousand troops have gathered at the small crossroads, filling this military stronghold. There is no need to worry about food for the time being. Prell and Kane Bloodhoof both carry enough rations, but
Drinking water has become a big problem.
Previously, there were only two large wells dug by tauren at the crossroads, which were enough to meet daily needs, but now there are six thousand people suddenly added, and it is suddenly difficult to handle.
So the first thing Prell and Kane Bloodhoof did after arriving was to build fortifications outside the intersection, and the second thing was to dig a water well.
Fortunately, the intersection is not too far from the Sweetwater Oasis, and the underground water layer is not deep, so it is not difficult to dig.
After surrounding the crossroads, the centaur army launched a tentative attack, but was repulsed by kobold musketeers and shooters from other races, so they wisely did not launch further attacks.
Relying on their racial advantages, the centaurs relied on surprise tactics and achieved great results in the early stage, but it was impossible to defeat the tribe in one fell swoop.
If they want to capture the Crossroads, the Centaurs must take into account the more than 10,000 tribal troops that have passed through the northwest of Thorn Ridge and are rapidly reinforcing here, as well as the tribal troops that can rush out from the entrance of Stonetalon Mountains at any time.
.
A day and a half later, the centaurs once again assembled their army and launched a formal attack on the crossroads. The terrain of the crossroads was roughly a series of small, intermittent hills surrounded by hills.
To the west is a hilly area of 40 to 50 meters high, and to the south is a small hill of 20 to 30 meters high. Outside these two sections of hills, the original tribal garrison has built Juma-like defense facilities, and along the top of the hills.
Several archery towers were built, but the centaurs did not launch a fierce attack from here.
The direction they chose to attack was to the east and north of the intersection. To the north of the intersection was a vast open space, and the garrison had already built wooden walls and several watchtowers that could serve as shooting points.
To the east, there are several large trees that are common in barren lands. In order to prevent being attacked by fire, the tribal garrison built the wooden row wall farther out and more complete. They also dug trenches outside the wooden wall and deployed horses.
It can be said that the tribe built this place as a military stronghold from the beginning, although after it was completed, it functioned more as a post station and a trade distribution point.
The Centaur's advantage lies in charging on the plains, so they wisely did not use the west and south as their main attack points, but placed more troops on the north and east.
According to the previous distribution, Cairne Bloodhoof commanded the east side, while the north side was given to Prell. Now both of these areas have become the Centaur's main attack directions.
Outside the north gate of the crossroads, Prell had directed his soldiers to dig several trenches, but he did not arrange the soldiers into the trenches, but used these trenches as obstacles to block the Centaur charge.
Relying on the crossroads behind him, Prell formed a half-moon formation and built two fortifications made of sandbags around the trenches.
From the moment the Kingdom of Thresh was established, Prell's military construction idea for the Kingdom's garrison was to focus on thermal weapons. After all, the world of Azeroth uses both hot and cold weapons. In a sense, thermal weapons are still
They cannot completely replace cold weapons. Both have their own advantages. After all, this is a world where magic exists.
Today's musketeers in the Thresh Kingdom's garrison have all been replaced with new muskets made by Prell through his forging and alchemy expertise. They only have bullets and explosives. It is impossible for Preyer to make them alone.
To meet combat needs, most of them are produced by arsenals.
Moreover, under Prell's auspices and intervention, the Tiger Crouching Cannon at the Black Wolf Town Arsenal in Storm Valley has undergone some technical improvements. Now there are three hundred guns in the garrison. This time Prell directly brought them out.
A hundred doors.
The Tiger Crouching Cannon has a short range and medium power, but it is easy to carry and can form cluster shooting like a musket. Relying on fire suppression, it can be used as a powerful supplement for musket and crossbow shooting.
Therefore, Prell placed twenty tiger squatting cannons on both wings of the half-moon formation, and the remaining artillery was deployed in the center. Together with the muskets, crossbows and grenadiers, they formed a powerful firepower-covered defense line.
Kobolds are restricted by their size, so another idea of Prell's army construction for Thresh Kingdom's garrison is to focus on defense. On the defensive end, he has indeed achieved the ultimate in his current ability, but on the offensive end,
Relatively tired.
Precisely because of the need to attack, Prell recruited the River Claw Gnolls and surrendered some Ogres. These powerful infantry, together with some instructors supported by the Tauren, can at least make up for the kingdom's shortcomings in close combat.
Outside the north gate, the centaurs had gathered more than ten thousand troops. Through the telescope, Prell saw that the centaurs were still a mixture of the two major clans, Kokar and Garak.
As a nomadic people, the centaurs have always been soldiers. Their civil and military organization is simple but efficient, and they have strong mobility. They are simply like the Azeroth version of many grassland peoples on the earth that originated from the Mongolian Plateau.
.
It was still the Centaur who took the lead in launching the attack. The overwhelming Centaur soldiers formed a skirmish formation and launched attacks to the east and north of the intersection at the same time under the sound of desolate horns.
Having already experienced the battle in the backwater oasis, the officers of the Thresh Kingdom's garrison acted calmly, but some of the new recruits were inevitably timid. Prell heard the tauren instructors constantly scolding his soldiers,
He sighed secretly.
After the Battle of Mount Hyjal, in order for the whole province to devote itself to the construction of the kingdom, Prell had to disband part of the garrison and switch from military to civilian. After all, the new batch of kobolds had not yet grown up. During this period, at least
There is a hiatus of several years.
But in order to maintain a combatable army, Prell had to start implementing a militia system and mobilize young citizens of the kingdom to participate in military training. Most of the 3,000 soldiers gathered this time had never been on the battlefield.
new recruits.
Therefore, he handed over the battlefield command to Rexxar, while he stayed with Belga, leading the medical team, responsible for treating the wounded, and also serving as the reserve captain, ready to lead the reserve team to make up for it at any time.
Nowadays, Prell has gradually positioned himself as an auxiliary. After all, in large-scale battles, a paladin's ability is limited.
He glanced at Antana not far away. The newly transferred Heifer Paladin looked excited. She was probably finally able to save her companions on the battlefield like Prell, which satisfied her kind and noble thoughts.
stop.
The tiger crouching cannons and muskets on both wings have fired a round, and the diffuse white gunpowder smoke enveloped a small half of the battlefield. There are huge rocks whizzing by overhead. They are the orc trebuchets set up in the intersection, following the battlefield in both directions.
attack launched.
During the gap after the first volley of muskets, Prell suddenly frowned and pricked up his ears because he heard the familiar sound of gunfire coming from the opposite side.
After a harpy messenger put a few collected bullets in a wooden box, Prell's face became extremely angry: "The stupid goblin actually sold the musket to the centaur!"