As soon as the talks began, the two sides started a round of business exchanges.
Mikaela first praised Halfer-Wimbane for his superb tactical command, and Halfer-Wimbane praised Mikayla for his strong personal combat ability with his backhand.
Under Celestine's wide-eyed gaze, Michaela and Halford Wymbane seemed not to be rivals, but friends.
This was not over yet. As the business exchanges ended and the talks got down to business, Halford Wyrmbane, a senior commander from Stormwind City, sold Arathi as soon as he opened his mouth:
"Mikayla, according to the previous carve-up agreement for the Arathi Basin, seven days a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday belong to the tribe, and days two, four, and six belong to us, and Sunday is rest. No objection, right?"
"Okay, deal."
Then, the hands of Halford Wymbane and Michaela were held together tightly...
"Hey, something's wrong!"
As a paladin who believed in the Holy Light and had a righteous heart, Celestine couldn't sit still. She immediately jumped out, pointed in the direction of Michaela, and said to Halford Wymbane:
"Commander Halver, the purpose of our coming to the Arathi Basin should be to drive away the tribe's invading army and safeguard the justice of the alliance! Why did it turn into carving up the Arathi Basin!"
"ah?"
Halford Wymbane turned his head and rolled his eyes at Celestine. Not only him, but also the other people present and even the Seventh Legion agent hiding in the shadow of the mine looked at this naive person as if he were a fool. of paladin.
Michaela said to Halford Wirmbane: "It's up to you to explain it to her."
Halford Wymbane shrugged and asked: "Celestine,
Where is this place? "
Celestine: "This is the Arathi Basin, the territory of the Kingdom of Stromgard."
Halford-Wymbane is asking: "So who are we?"
Celestine: "We are the army of the Kingdom of Stormwind."
"yes."
Halford Wymbane spread his hands and said, "So why did our army from the Kingdom of Stormwind come to the territory of the Kingdom of Stromgard?"
"For justice!"
Celestine said firmly: "As one of the seven human kingdoms, the Kingdom of Stromgard is an ally of our Kingdom of Stormwind, so we should help them defeat the tribal invading army."
Celestine's answer directly made Halford Wymbane laugh, and the orc adjutant Raziger also laughed, but Michaela and Malenia did not move much.
"Is there anything funny about this?"
Celestine could not understand the situation in front of her. As a paladin who completed the trial in the Cathedral of Light in Stormwind City, enforcing justice has always been her creed.
"Justice, okay."
Half a minute later, Halford Wymbane, who had had enough laughter, said, "Well, Celestine, let me ask you a few more questions. When we came here, did we go through the portal of Stormwind City? "
Celestine nodded: "Yes."
Halford Wymbane's next sentence was: "So, how many resources does a portal that can allow an entire army to pass through consume every day?"
Celestine was stunned. As an adventurer, she couldn't answer the above question at all. She could only judge from common sense: "A lot."
Halford Wyrmbane asked again: "How many reinforcements do we have in Stormwind City?"
? "
Celestine: "More than ten thousand."
Halford Wirmbane's next sentence: "So how much food, how much weapons and equipment do more than 10,000 soldiers consume every day?"
Celestine was stunned again. She couldn't answer. She could only say: "A lot."
"Yeah, a lot."
Immediately, Halford Wyrmbane revealed a cold fact: "These resources, food, and equipment are all spent by the Kingdom of Stormwind, and we came to the Arathi Basin to shed blood and sacrifice and fight against the tribe, just for justice. ?Will you provide those resources?"
Of course, Celestine couldn't bring out so many things, so she could only lower her head.
"Listen up, Celestine."
Halford Wymbane walked up to the female paladin: "As a subject of the Kingdom of Stormwind, I also believe in the Holy Light. In fact, from a personal perspective, I very much appreciate people like you who pursue justice. people."
"However, what we are discussing is not an individual, but has risen to the national level. Individuals can have justice and evil, but at the national level, we must consider benefits and expenditures. This is politics."
At this point, Celestine has understood how ignorant her previous remarks for the sake of "justice" were, but she still can't bear it: "So, for the sake of politics, should we carve up the Arathi Basin with the tribe? Then why don't we just divide them How about driving them out and dividing them up?"
"This is the meaning of our previous battle."
Michaela stood up and said, "Celestine, as a witness, you must have noticed that the Alliance and the Horde are really fighting, and we both want to eliminate each other."
half-
Wirmbane responded: "But after the battle, both of us discovered that neither one could destroy the other."
Mikayla: "Since neither the Alliance nor the Horde want to invest heavily in the Arathi Basin to fight a protracted war, then of course what they should do is to stop the losses in time, make peace with each other, and each get what they need. This is also politics."
Halver-Wymbane: "Politics is the art of compromise, compromise at the right time."
"So, the Kingdom of Stromgard deserves its misfortune?" Celestine asked.
Halford Wymbane snorted: "Don't talk about the Kingdom of Stromgard so innocently. Everyone in the alliance knows the story of Garin's boy who killed his father and seized the throne. Think about him carefully. You have also seen the impact that doing *** has on the entire country, and the combat effectiveness of the Arathor coalition."
The Arathor Alliance Army, an army that implements the 955 war system, has a razor-thin combat effectiveness.
Seeing that Celestine was silent, Halford Wymbane continued to speak, pointing out things closely related to Celestine himself:
"Celestine, I know you want to organize a farm raid before the decisive battle at the blacksmith shop, but other than your friends, other adventurers are not interested at all, right?"
Celestine nodded: "Yes, I don't understand why they are not like last time..."
Before Celestine could finish speaking, Halford Wymbane interrupted:
"The first time you organized a raid on the farm was because our reinforcements from Stormwind City had just arrived in the Arathi Basin. Adventurers like you haven't gotten enough credit yet, so of course they will fight tooth and nail. But now that the war has begun, those adventurers I caught a lot
Credit, is it possible to let them work hard at this time? "
I also knew that those adventurers, that is, the recruited warriors, would definitely want to go back alive to redeem their merits for rewards, but no one was willing to risk their lives.
The above problems not only occur in the alliance army, but also in the tribal army. After all, the recruited warriors are not regular soldiers, and they cannot be expected to be as organized and disciplined as the regular army.
After listening to the above, Celestine already understood. No wonder Michaela on the opposite side would name him to attend the meeting with Halford-Wimbane, just to let himself know the truth about the battle of Arathi Basin.
So, Celestine asked: "Has the agreement to carve up the Arathi Basin been made long ago?"
Halford Wymbane did not deny it: "It was already decided when the tribal ambassador came to Stormwind City. This meeting is just to implement the original agreement."
Michaela also followed up and said: "Celestine, do you remember? When we met at the Stone Castle Fortress, I said there would be a battle in the Arathi Basin."
Celestine nodded: "So, Mikaela, you went to Stormwind City as a tribal ambassador for this matter."
"It wasn't the cause, but it was the result," Mikayla said.
Celestine smiled bitterly and said: "So, I fought a political battle with all my strength, and here
There is no such thing as justice. "
As she spoke, Celestine's eyes were full of tears. As a paladin, she longed for justice, but reality gave her a hard blow.
Celestine collapsed a little. She was unwilling to accept such a result, so she shouted: "If this battle
There is no justice in fighting, so I would rather not get the so-called credit! "
Halford Wymbane frowned: "Celestine, are you sure? Are you sure you want to give up all your credit?"
Celestine wanted to speak, but Michaela stood up:
"Celestine, don't be arrogant. Remember, cultivate yourself, manage your family, govern your country, and bring peace to the world. Now you are in vain, you have nothing, you can't even cultivate yourself, how can you realize your ideal in the future, so you deserve this credit. You have to accept that it’s all yours.”
"Huh!"
Not only Celestine, but also Halford Wymbane looked at Michaela: "Your reasoning is quite powerful."
"That is the wisdom of China's thousands of years of history!" Torina seized the opportunity to show off her presence.
Celestine was frightened and did not say anything else, but the questions in her heart were not answered.
Actually, the answer is simple.
"It's the justice in you, Celestine."
Halford Wymbane said: "Nowadays, when even Archbishop Benedictus does not believe in the Holy Light, it is really rare for someone like you to pursue justice. The Arathi Basin is really not the place where you should show your talents. , I will introduce you to the Argent Dawn, who fight against the undead Scourge in the Plaguelands."
Defeating the Scourge is justice recognized by all of Azeroth. Celestine immediately said: "I do."
Michaela also followed up and said: "Celestine, you are too blind in your pursuit of justice now. Since you are going to the Plague Land, I suggest you go all the way north along the east bank of the Sodorir River. Your guide The people are there."
"The east bank of the Sodorir River
! "
Halford Wymbane immediately turned to look at Michaela: "How did you know that location?"
Michaela said lightly: "It doesn't matter, Halver, at least Celestine is the right candidate."
"Indeed." Halford Wymbane nodded.
As the frontline commanders of the Alliance and the Horde shook hands and made peace, the battle in the Arathi Basin, which involved the political competition between multiple forces, finally came to an end.
On the surface, the two sides still maintained a war situation, but in fact, the two sides did not engage in any actual fighting. Instead, they occupied the entire Arathi Basin according to the agreed time, commonly known as the battlefield.
Since the fighting is actually over, workers from both sides can enter it, restore production in the Arathi Basin, and divide the produced resources...
As for the stakeholders.
The Kingdom of Stromgard suffered a huge loss, both economically and politically, and was completely manipulated by the Kingdom of Stormwind, leading it to irreversible decline.
Undercity suffered a small loss. Although its path to expansion was blocked, it did not suffer much.
Orgrimmar made a small profit and used this war to successfully suppress the Forsaken and stabilize the orcs' leadership position in the tribe.
The Kingdom of Stormwind made a lot of money. Not only did it completely solve the public debt problem and achieve economic independence, it also successfully took control of the Kingdom of Stromgard and expanded the influence of the Kingdom of Stormwind in the entire alliance.
So, one Sunday in the Arathi Basin, which was a rest day, Marshal Auslet of the Arathor Alliance and Duvel the Slaughterer of the Polluter Legion met at a peace party in the blacksmith shop.
(Remember to bookmark it for next time reading!)
