Boom!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Outside Stormwind's Hero's Valley, Horde catapults relentlessly pounded the first city wall. The elite Iron Horse Brotherhood soldiers defending it were pinned down.
"Is Aragorn ready yet? This wall won't hold much longer!" Lothar yelled, observing the onslaught.
Half an hour earlier, Lothar had led a counter-charge, but after destroying twenty catapults, they were met with an orc counterattack. Two hundred Iron Horse Brotherhood soldiers were lost.
After that, Orgrim took command personally. Lothar could no longer find any weaknesses in the orc lines.
Gavinrad rushed over. "Marshal, Aragorn is ready!"
"Excellent! The wall is about to collapse. We'll retreat to the second line of defense!"
Lothar's soldiers retreated swiftly. They were tired of being trapped behind the wall, unable to strike back.
Stormwind's first wall fell. The second wall stood at the entrance to Hero's Valley, connected by a stone bridge. In the future, this bridge would bear statues of the five heroes of the Dark Portal.
But the bridge now was narrower and battered by catapult fire, on the verge of collapse.
A moat protected the second wall, blocking the catapults. The narrow bridge could only accommodate two at a time. Orgrim, rejecting his deputy's suggestion to continue the bombardment, ordered a direct assault!
Orcs swarmed the cliffs on either side of the valley, and a green tide surged across the bridge!
Lothar didn't use bombs to collapse the bridge. He knew the orc commander was intelligent, not a brute. He didn't want to risk Orgrim becoming wary of explosives. The buried explosives were humanity's final gift, meant to instill fear!
"Crossbowmen! Fire!"
Five thousand soldiers lined the thousand-meter wall, with over two thousand crossbowmen. They didn't need to aim. The orcs were so densely packed that any shot would hit.
After heavy losses, the first wave of orcs reached the wall!
"Crossbowmen, fall back! Infantry, advance!"
Scattered orcs scaled the wall, and melee combat erupted. The Iron Horse Brotherhood and Lion Guard, the elite of the elite, repelled the first wave!
Watching three thousand of his vanguard die, Orgrim felt a pang of regret. But Jubeithos's operation against the Shadow Council was succeeding. This was a good start to overthrowing Gul'dan. Those insidious warlocks were hiding in the shadows. If they had the chance, they would ruin his plans to avenge Durotan and lead the orcs to a better future.
The first step was complete. After eliminating the Shadow Council, he would capture Stormwind, surpassing Blackhand in prestige and uniting the orc clans. He could then demand that the clans in Draenor purge the remaining Shadow Council members!
"Second wave of warriors!"
Orgrim deployed his second echelon. His scouts reported few defenders left in Stormwind. With hundreds of thousands of troops, he could win by attrition!
The orc assault lasted from day to night. The human defenders rotated from the Iron Horse Brotherhood to the Lion Guard, then the Scarlet Flame Legion. The intense fighting exhausted everyone.
"It's getting dark!"
"We'll feign retreat after the next attack!"
"Prince Derek is ready. He'll bombard the trade district once we reach the docks. I've marked the coordinates!"
"Prepare yourselves. You go to the docks to set up defenses. I'll be there soon!"
Lothar and Aragorn discussed the plan and went their separate ways!
Orgrim, seeing the sky darken, decided to launch one last attack.
Besides the frontal assault, he had sent a force to attack Storm Keep from the northern mountains. Only a small squad guarded it, offering little resistance.
"Attack!"
The Horde's war drums thundered, and the orcs roared and charged. The demon blood had given them a morbid love of battle. Even certain death couldn't dampen their morale.
This is a way of burning life force, Galen knew. After the war, most orcs will be shells of their former selves.
After withstanding the first wave, Lothar led a slow retreat towards the northwestern docks. Each district had walls and moats. Lothar used the gates and bridges to delay the orcs, drawing them deeper into the city.
Street fighting favored the orcs. Their strength and individual combat prowess were far superior to humans.
The Draenei fell before them in city after city, Galen thought.
"Charge! Kill them all!"
Hundreds of thousands of orcs poured into Stormwind.
At the docks, Lothar retreated behind the outer wall, where the Scarlet Flame Legion took over. Lothar led the wounded onto transport ships.
Watching Lothar's ships set sail, Aragorn fired a signal flare!
"Chirp!"
A red flare soared into the sky!
Derek, stationed offshore, saw the flare and ordered, "Fire on the target location!"
Boom!
Boom!
Naval artillery fire rained down on the trade district!
Orgrim, seeing the flare, felt a chill.
"Retreat! Get out of those buildings!"
But it was too late!
The artillery struck. After traversing most of Stormwind, the bombardment covered the entire city, followed by massive explosions. Buildings collapsed, flames soared, and the earth shook!
The Scarlet Flame Legion, taking advantage of the chaos, boarded the last transport ships and sailed away with Derek's fleet, vanishing without a trace!