Ironforge is great not only because it is the pearl among the mountains, but also because it is the accumulation of thousands of years of dwarf civilization.
Even more because, it is Dun Morogh.
If you think that the ring-shaped city behind the thick gate on the top of the mountain and the large forge flowing with magma are Ironforge, then you are totally wrong.
That's just the tip of the iceberg in Ironforge. It's not an exaggeration to say that it's just a balcony on the third floor of Ironforge.
Some human historians learned from ancient documents that the Ironforge of the Bronzebeard Dwarves still had an old city, but they did not know that the so-called old city was only a small part of Ironforge.
What is a railroad fort?
Dwarves hollowed out a city built on a mountain?
Hum, the seemingly loyal dwarf can also play psychological warfare.
For thousands of years, the dwarves have hollowed out not just one mountain peak, but an entire mountain range!
When Carlos followed Hemet walking in the underground passage, he couldn't help but be shocked and amazed by this magnificent project.
I also understood why the Bronzebeard dwarves, with a population of at least one million, were able to persist for so long under the blockade of the orcs.
Because the orcs can't seal Ironforge at all.
The winding mountain road with a drop of nearly a kilometer outside the main entrance of Ironforge made it impossible for the orcs to compete with the dwarves with their superior forces. And blocking the main entrance of Ironforge, the maze-like underground tunnels dug by the dwarves for thousands of years radiated hundreds of kilometers around Ironforge.
The mountain rangers used these secret passages to continuously transport supplies to Ironforge piecemeal, saving their compatriots from famine. Behind the steep mountain walls and beneath the snow-capped cliffs, countless passageways maintain the connection between Ironforge and the outside world.
"It's really spectacular, but aren't you afraid that the orcs will discover these passages and surprise Ironforge?"
Carlos couldn't help but ask.
"It's impossible. First of all, many of these passages are half-finished. There is a rock wall of at least one meter between the passage and the entrance. The orcs can't find it. Secondly, there are no maps for these underground passages. Even us dwarves can't find them. There is a possibility of getting lost. Finally, we have hundreds of listening stations watching our underground passage network at any time. As long as we find any abnormal intrusion, just make a bang and blow it up. We are trying to attack from the underground, through the passages built by our dwarves. Ironforge is simply asking for death."
Hemet said proudly.
It would have been better if Hemet's loud voice didn't speak, but once he finished speaking, Carlos included. Everyone who heard this could not help but tremble. The passage would not collapse...
However, the quality of the projects built by the dwarves is really good.
Although he is of short stature, his height of 1.49 meters is considered a stalwart figure within the tribe. However, the underground passage built is five meters wide and three meters high. A tall man like Carlos cannot feel it when walking in it. A little bit of depression.
The weak heat brought by the torch was not enough to change the dryness and coldness of the nasal cavity. On the contrary, the oil smoke blackened the top wall along the way.
Again praising the dwarves' civil engineering abilities, the good road conditions ensured a rapid march. But Carlos yelled at me countless times along the way. Let the people at the front slow down the pace.
The reason is simple. Even if there are four people in a row, a team of more than 3,000 people has a long queue of nearly two kilometers. In the dark and depressing underground passage, people will pay special attention to the changes in the queue. The people in front speed up and walk quickly, but when the people behind realize that the team is out of touch, they need to run at a crazy speed to catch up. This is a devastating loss of physical energy.
Experienced veterans know these details, but humans are not dwarves, and the depressing feeling of underground passages makes them lose their sensitivity to speed. In the end, Carlos could only go to the front by himself, and it was strictly stipulated that no one could surpass him.
"Your Majesty Carlos, don't be too anxious. We can return to the surface in about an hour or so. The scenery in that area is very good."
Although Hemet didn't have much contact with humans, he also discovered that human soldiers were not used to living underground for a long time, so he simply followed Carlos in big steps and talked to him.
"Really? Can you tell me what you dwarves think of orcs? It's not a politically correct statement. It's your true opinion, your personal opinion."
Slowly, Carlos also tried to find something to talk about.
Hemet thought for a moment. The dwarf officer was not thinking about how to describe the orcs in his eyes, but whether he should respond to Carlos's topic.
"A ferocious, terrifying beast with reason."
Hemet finally sighed deeply and said this.
If calculated according to age, every adult dwarf is the grandfather of human grandfathers. This makes it impossible to communicate happily. Therefore, when dwarves interact with humans, they will ignore the issue of age and only look at your words and actions.
In Hemet's understanding, Carlos is an honorable and formidable human warrior.
Hemit Nesingwari didn't want to lie to Carlos.
"If it's one-on-one, I'm not afraid of the orcs. The dwarves suffer a bit in terms of weight, but in terms of strength, especially arm strength, we are no worse than the orcs. In a one-on-one battle, the orcs can't get any favors from us. But in a ten-on-ten battle, ten orcs can easily defeat ten dwarves, because the size difference is magnified. It's ironic that our ground battle with the orcs failed because of the loss of air supremacy. The orcs' flying axes and throwing spears were This kind of small-scale group battle is too threatening to our backs. But the situation is different in a battle between a hundred people and a hundred people. Our goats are no match for the orcs and wargs, but the dwarves in the battle formation are not the same. Not afraid of the orcs. The battle of a thousand men against a thousand men turned into a battle of cannons and trebuchets, and personal bravery no longer played much role. I also served as a mountain ranger when I was young, although I am now in the legion Serving in the military, my hunting skills are not new at all."
I completely believed it. Carlos nodded pertinently and watched Hemet take out the kettle and take a drink of water.
Carlos thought for a moment, signaled the guard to hand him a bag of wine, and handed it to Hemet.
"Oh, I think we are best friends already. The smell of wine, I can smell it through the sheepskin."
Food in Ironforge is in short supply, and wine has become a luxury. But Hemet was so eager to get rid of the wine bag, but he just pulled out the stopper and took a small sip, and then handed the wine bag to the other dwarves who were traveling with him.
This move made Carlos' evaluation of Hemet higher overall.
"By the way, let's talk about the mountain rangers. Every one of our Bronzebeard Dwarf rangers is a skilled hunter. But even so, in the war with the orcs, the death rate of the ranger troops is higher than that of the regular army. The death rate on the battlefield is still high. I think you in Hillblade should also understand what this means."
"Yes, the orc scouts are very powerful, and we humans are no match. If it weren't for the help of the high elves, we would have lost the protection of the forest."
Carlos did not shy away from speaking out about the shortcomings of the human army.
"Those guys have long ears, huh."
Hemet thought for a while and finally did not take up the topic. Because it is too easy to cause racial strife.
"There is another very serious problem, and we dwarves have to pay a heavy price to understand it."
"What is it?"
"population."
"population?"
"I know some people within the alliance question why we dwarves don't send more troops to Hillbrad to help you humans. But you have ignored one problem."
"I didn't think so."
Carlos quickly brushed it off.
"Don't be so sensitive, we are friends, right?"
"hehe, ok."
"My son is already forty years old, but he is similar to your ten-year-old human children. He only knows how to play and fight all day long, and he has to rely on my salary and his mother's salary to support him. You know, when I was twenty years old, I was already in There's a hunt in the mountains of Dun Morogh, and that brat isn't going well at all. Well, you can't blame him, though. The orcs are coming."
You've finished talking, how do you want me to answer...
"But the orcs, the orcs are different. We know from the mouths of the prisoners that the forty-year-old orcs are already old orcs, and some of the fourteen-year-old orcs are already fathers. In the early days of the war, His Majesty Magni led us to fight some In legion battles, with the help of dwarves, we have achieved some beautiful battle loss ratios. But it is useless, considering the growth cycle between the two races. Each dwarf warrior is equal to four orcs, even if the battle loss ratio reaches one Third, we also suffer. What’s more, we are far from achieving it.”
Just like that, chatting all the way. The long underground passage road came to a fork.
Hemet turned a corner, took out a hexagonal thing from his arms, and tinkered with a hidden inlay for a while. The stone door not far away slowly rose under the action of the mechanism.
"Wow!"
Carlos couldn't help but exclaim.
Outside the stone gate is a mountain platform of about five square kilometers in the distance. The majestic figure of Ironforge was vaguely visible in the darkness. Diagonally below, the orc camps in the plains were dimly lit by fire. In front of them, duck-like snowflakes were flying in the biting mountain wind.
"Let's take a rest here tonight. After walking for another two hours, we can get out of the tunnel. But there is no place for everyone to rest after leaving the tunnel. I don't think you humans can stay in the tunnel all night. It would be too comfortable.”
Hemet explained.
"Thanks."
Carlos expressed his sincere gratitude.
"You're welcome, we are friends, aren't we?"
After seeing the light of day again, all the human soldiers obviously felt refreshed. Due to the lack of firewood, Carlos agreed to use a small amount of kerosene to boil water, and the soldiers could only eat dry food with hot water. Of course, there was no need for Carlos to direct the tents and other things. Standing on the edge of the platform, looking into the distance, a feeling of majesty filled his heart.
Suddenly, Carlos noticed that there seemed to be meteors falling in the distance, but the trajectory was strange. Then, a meteor shower appeared.
No, that's not a meteor, it's the trajectory of artillery fire!
After about half a minute, the faint sound of shell explosions reached his ears, and Hemet walked over.
"Ironforge has begun to take action. Orcs, don't think about sleeping tonight, hahahaha."
The dwarf said happily.
An artillery attack of this scale was almost comparable to the salvo fired by Daelin Proudmoore's main fleet.
Carlos, who was lucky enough to see the navy fleet firing a salvo, couldn't help but stare at the scene in front of him with wide eyes.
Then, after the initial panic, the orcs seemed to come to their senses, and the grease-lit stones roared out from the trebuchet's handle, drawing out their own light and shadow.
It's a pity that the dwarves were condescending and had too much advantage in the bombardment.
Are there really only 10,000 orcs?
Carlos looked at the fighting in the distance and couldn't help but wonder.
In the Burning Plains, Orgrim couldn't help but punch the table hard.
"If I had enough trebuchets, the alliance of humans, elves, and dwarves would be over long ago! But do I? No. Listen up, you idiots, my failure is not your capital to gloat about. The alliance is coming. , they are coming, they are coming to drive us all out! And you, no, us, and what are our tribes doing? We are fighting for power. The orcs gave up the checkpoints they said they had and concentrated people in this bird. Shit place, just to depose their war chief! If you don’t take action, it will be too late! Tell Red Blackhand, tell everyone who wants the position of war chief, challenge me, win, the position of chief is yours !”
Impatient with the endless wrangling, Orgrim decided to use the orc method to regroup his authority.
There was a dull pain from the wound acquired in Hillblade, as if the pain was warning Orgrim that the Alliance had arrived. (To be continued.).
