klisemfg Chapter 112 The Battle of Ambermill (2)
Chapter 112 The Battle of Ambermill (2)
The two armies clashed, a sight Lorraine had never witnessed in his entire life.
He had only ever seen thugs fighting; the number of bandits in the Westfall had been increasing day by day, and he heard that they were rioters from Stormwind.
The nobles have ordered the arrest of members of the Defias Brotherhood, and Lorraine has seen groups of knights searching everywhere.
The dust from the dozens of warhorses as they rode by blinded him.
Unlike the former, now that the Forsaken are on the grand battlefield of Silverpine Forest, Lorraine roughly understands that individual strength is indeed insignificant in legion-level battles.
He hid behind a tree on a small hillside to observe Ambermir's situation.
Many sandbag fortresses have appeared on the outskirts of Ambermir, surrounded by barricades and spikes. These are defensive lines constructed by sharpening trees into pointed shapes.
Every few meters, a militiaman or mage would stand guard behind the trench, and mounted guards would patrol the main roads from time to time...
Depending on the terrain, several watchtowers stood on high places, and Lorraine felt that his position might be dangerous.
After glancing at it a few times, he decided to head towards the Elim mines...
Don't stay here for long.
He had noticed griffins flying overhead intermittently, indicating he was still in the hands of the human alliance. Lorraine, of course, was unaware that a third wave of guests had arrived on this land: the Scarlet Crusade...
If he hadn't walked quickly, he would have been spotted immediately by the cardinal's patrol...
The fact that one of the thirteen generals of the Scarlet Crusade personally led a delegation to visit Archmage Atal'ik has overjoyed the latter. Ambermill's safety is of paramount importance; the Alliance's retreat by Dalaran and the Scarlet Crusade's proactive move to align themselves are variables...
"General! How many men did you bring?"
Upon meeting, Atarik eagerly inquired about the Scarlet Crusade's commander, even before asking his name... Ambermill was merely a small manor, and including Atarik's servants, the entire garrison there numbered only a few hundred...
Nearly half of them are ordinary human militia members...
No wonder the archmage was anxious...
"Master Atalik, don't worry, our reinforcements will arrive soon. I only brought a dozen or so knights with me..."
"A dozen or so people? What good are they!"
Atalik's smile vanished instantly; he hadn't expected these Scarlet Crusaders to be so reckless. They'd shattered his hopes; the Scarlet Crusaders were all lunatics.
He had heard rumors before, but he never expected that the man was not only crazy, but also stupid.
"Arrogant, insane fool."
Atalik shook his head and turned away... leaving the Scarlet General looking embarrassed...
Atalik himself was an archmage, and his strength was considerable, but in the face of war, no one can be all-encompassing... A dozen knights could not possibly stand against an army of hundreds or thousands...
"Your Excellency, please calm down. A small group is more convenient for action. Our legion is currently lying in ambush in the mountains opposite, waiting for the right moment to strike."
The Crusaders won't tell Atal't that the Scarlet Crusade's target was actually Gilneas; what they need to tell Ambermill is that the Scarlet Crusade is on the side of humanity.
At all times, the Scarlet Crusade will remain steadfast in its faith and eradicate all heresy!
......
Lorraine bypassed the mage apprentices' makeshift defenses and headed towards his own people. In about two days, apart from the four of his own people he rescued from Shadowfang Keep, he had managed to get there.
The undead army hadn't encountered a single scout, and Lorraine probably guessed that the battle plan announced by the Gravekeeper Commander before the battle had encountered resistance.
He was naturally unaware that the main obstacle came from the intervention of the alliance...
As a plague messenger, Lorraine wouldn't forget his mission: to cast anti-magic potions into the water sources of Dalaran mages...
Ambermill is not far from Lake Rodanmill, separated by several small mountain ranges. Ambermill Manor is a bit larger than Burningwood Village, roughly the size of a small town.
The town is nestled in a mountain valley, with several paths leading directly to the ancient site of Dalaran...
Standing on the hillside, you can see the giant purple shield of Dalaran in the distance. It was a super magical barrier created by Archmage Antonidas and other powerful archmages of Dalaran.
When ordinary undead or evil creatures approach, the purple shield will automatically attack, burning the undead to ashes...
The source of the purple shield's energy is unknown to outsiders, but Lorraine was reminded by Aegwynn that there is an energy crystal at the top of the Violet Tower, which is the key to the magic circle.
To bypass Ambermill and reach Dalaran, you either have to go to Hillsbrad Foothills or sneak in from the northeast corner of Lake Lordaeron...
However, the purple barrier extended directly to the lakeshore, where a human-built port lay. Lorraine had no map, relying entirely on her teacher's memories to deduce that Ambermill was the closest entrance to Dalaran...
Lorraine must find a way to cooperate with his own people and take this key location...
Eliminate the threat posed by Archmage Atreus's minions.
As Lorraine moved through the woods, he inevitably encountered several human scouts. These human mage apprentices from Dalaran were very much like he had been years ago—extremely weak.
Lorraine can be dealt with with just one Frostbolt and one Frostfinger: Ice Lance.
If Archmage Atal'ik's subordinates were all of this caliber, the undead army should have already conquered Ambermill. The master and apprentice felt something was amiss.
However, as Lorraine traversed the forest and made her way to the northeast corner near the Alteran Valley, she saw the human army in action.
Rows of watchtowers and dozens of enormous, steaming dwarven war tanks, each the size of a small hut, lined up in a row.
The camp was packed with tents; a rough estimate suggested there were at least several thousand human soldiers present...
And then there were the occasional galloping cavalrymen, their heads held high and full of pride... Lorraine instinctively lowered her head, afraid of being spotted by the sentries...
Lorraine peered through the bushes and observed the human camp; the garrison and its size far surpassed those of Ambermir's peasant army...
The two men couldn't tell which unit the flag belonged to, and they couldn't recognize the dwarven stormpike banner... but they did discover that there were many dwarven musketeers and strange steam-powered machines in the camp.
Steam-powered airplanes and siege tanks are products of dwarven technology. Lorraine had seen the silver bullets and muskets used by the Scarlet Crusade, which were also masterpieces of dwarves and gnomes.
Dwarves are skilled at mining and forging, while gnomes are skilled at engineering and manufacturing; they are a perfect match.
Skilled in military weaponry, dwarves are renowned for their swords and other weapons. Dwarves are also genius scientists; their racial gift is exceptional intelligence, making them 5% smarter than the average human...
Of course, Lorraine didn't know how much smarter that 5% actually was...
......
The human leaders of Stormwind Kingdom have a broader vision and greater understanding than the old Alliance of Lordaeron. They believe that holy light, armor, swords, and magic alone cannot completely defeat the undead or magical beasts.
The dwarves' guns and cannons, the gnomes' machinery, along with the elves' magic and beast taming, greatly enhanced the new alliance's power.
This made the defenses around the Eastern Kingdoms impregnable, and even gave them the strength to launch a counterattack against the Scourge.
Before the battle for Ambermill even began, the Forsaken on the Horde side were already at a disadvantage.
Neither the tactics, combat preparations, detailed plans, nor the actual troop deployment included the Alliance's human forces.
Even more unexpectedly, remnants of the Cataclysm from the Eastern Plaguelands took advantage of the chaos to loot.
It was inevitable that Lorraine wouldn't encounter the Forsaken Legion on the main road; they were currently engaged in a fierce battle by the lake...
The Scourge ghouls that used to roam around the Elim Mine have vanished without a trace, nor have any human bandits or Dalaran scouts been seen, or even any wild beasts.
The teacher's strange exclamation alerted Lorraine, and he mustered his courage to venture deeper into the mine.
In the battle plan, the Elim mine should have been captured at the same time as the Orson farm... If the mine had been captured, there should have been traces of our own people inside...
Lorraine cautiously made his way along the ancient mine ramp to the entrance...
Sure enough, just a few hundred meters away, Lorraine spotted the Forsaken's guards. Although they were well hidden, Lorraine was still able to spot the scouts among the rocks because of his familiarity with their kind.
Lorraine ran over excitedly to greet them, "Hello, warriors!"
"Who's there? Password!"
From behind the crevice, strange and stern-faced undead sentinels surrounded him, weapons drawn. Now, the enemy wasn't just humans, but also remnants of the Scourge; all Forsaken members were to be identified...
"Password?"
Lorraine was taken aback. "Oh no! I don't think I knew the password when I came here!"
In the blink of an eye, the sentries' knives were already at his neck.
"No password means you're the enemy! A spy, kill without mercy..."
"Wait, wait, wait a minute!"
.......