"Stratholm City is in a hurry! Your Majesty, the undead gathered from the vicinity of the county of Taron and the river Soldo have cut off communication between the city and town, but there are still nearly 10,000 civilians near the county of Talon who have not been transferred, and the Grand Knight Uther, who is entrenched in the city of Stratholme, has asked us to send an army to rescue them! ”

In the council hall of the Lordaeron court, all the officials of the whole city gathered here, and everyone was assigned wartime tasks, from collecting civilians, to settling war materials, from gathering militia, to collecting intelligence from all over the place, everyone was busy, and in the center of the hall, the frosty old king sat in his seat, behind him, the attendants constantly summarized the situation in various places, and then marked them with various colored signs on the map in front of them.

The map of the kingdom of Lordaeron in front of me was simply shocking, the various settlements in the kingdom were surrounded by red symbols representing the activity of the undead, and the Tirisfa and Stratholme regions, the icons of the major cities were almost filled with small red dots, but this was not the worst.

In the area of Lake Lordamere and the Silver Pine Forest, a large red icon was moving towards the discovery of Dalaran, the blinding color representing the number of the undead in more than 150,000, even the most imaginative could imagine the horror of such a legion.

And the old king had not rested since yesterday morning, and his eyes were full of exhaustion, but he could not rest, for almost every hour bad news came.

"What about the army in Hearthvale?"

The old king asked, and the attendant looked through the records in his hand, and then said in a deep voice:

"Grand Knight Fordin, with the knights of his domain, is supporting the city of Andorhar, where the mages of Quel'Salas and Dalaran have set up a makeshift shelter in Camp Coldwind, not far from Andorhar, where all the exiled civilians of the western side of Stratholme are gathered."

"Well, Fording did a good job."

King Terenus rubbed his forehead, "How many troops are there in Stratholme?" ”

"Not much, Your Majesty, Rivendell... The traitor told the truth before he died, there were many undead spies in that city, and the great knight Uther was also busy dealing with the hidden dangers in the city, it is said that they poisoned the city, and there were hundreds of thousands of people in that city, so the knights of Uther would ask for help, and their troops were probably overstretched. ”

A hint of heaviness flashed in the squire's eyes, and he whispered:

"The Paladins of the Chapel of Light's Wish and the Hand of Tyr plan to contain civilians throughout the Eastside, and some High Elf Ranger have also helped evacuate our town under the orders of the Sun King, but Talon County... Its location is so remote that resurrected corpses have appeared in both directions, whether it is to the Cold Wind Camp or to the Hand of Tyr..."

As the attendant spoke, an intelligence officer suddenly stepped forward and handed him a piece of news, and the attendant looked at it and his face became sad.

"Your Majesty, and... And the bad news. ”

"Say!"

The old king gritted his teeth and spit out a word, and the attendant took a deep breath and put the information in his hand in front of the king's eyes:

"The town of Cowling, captured by the undead... The entire Cowlin intersection, including Lake Blackwood, fell into the hands of the undead, and the Hand of Tyr's road to Talon County was completely destroyed..."

"Alright, don't talk about it."

The king closed his eyes, his face heavy, before he became king, Terenus had also commanded the Legion and the trolls on the Stratholm border, the terrain of that area was familiar to him, the town of Cowlin was located in the center of the eastern side of Stratholme, that town was often called "Cowling Crossing", and was the transit point to the various parts of the eastern side of Stratholme.

Once it was cut off, it meant that the entire eastern part of Stratholm was artificially divided into east and west, and Talon County was stuck in the center, and if the king remembered correctly, there happened to be a super-large cemetery near Talon County that had existed for more than 200 years... It's terrible!

"Talon County, if I'm not mistaken... That neighborhood should be... Kyle Darlon... Barov. ”

The old king's mind was spinning rapidly, and after a moment he said to the attendant:

"In my name, I beg Count Barov to send his private soldiers to transfer the civilians of Daronshire to his castle."

"But Your Majesty, the Earl is..."

The squire's face changed slightly, in the aristocratic circle of the entire Lordaeron Kingdom, who didn't know that this Count Barov had always disobeyed the king's orders, and if it weren't for the intricate relationship between the Barov family and all the big families in the entire northern Xinjiang, I am afraid that this family would have been expelled by the king by some means.

"Now is not the time to say contradictions, let's do it."

The old king waved his hand, and before the attendant departed, he said:

"Send a letter to Marshal Gathris, I know that there are clouds of war on the Arathi front, but if necessary, I need the marshal to return home with our most valiant army, and the current situation is too bad."

The attendant paused for a moment, he subconsciously glanced back at the map hanging in front of the king's eyes, looking at the dense red dots, although most of the civilians in the country have been contained in the city in advance, and each city has also built a defense system, but if you only look at the scene described on this map, there is indeed a feeling of "Lordaeron is dying".

And just as the attendants were quickly leaving with the king's orders, having bathed, changed their clothes, and rested for 20 minutes, Prince Arthas strode into the chamber, he went to his father, and whispered:

"Father, the civilians of Sabethchel have been rescued, and they are now being examined at the containment site outside the city."

"Well, well done, Arthas."

The old king nodded, and at this moment, the young prince looked at the map in front of the king, his bloodshot eyes roamed the map, this time in the face of the threat of the undead, the kingdom of Lordaeron reacted much faster than ever, and before the tide of the undead was completely formed, the defense of the various cities in the country was arranged very properly.

This is also an advantage under the imperial system, after the sharing of intelligence among countries, no clues can be hidden from the eyes of the ruler, especially in a state of war, the deterrent power of the imperial military attachés stationed in each legion can also ensure that the legion has a super strong execution of the orders of the superiors...

During the war, the army implemented military law, and the military attachés under the imperial system were all veterans who had participated in the orc wars, and those who did not obey orders, deserted, and undetermined soldiers, these old knife handlers who came back to life from the most brutal war, will never be tolerated.

"What's going on in Talon County?"

The prince looked at the map and soon noticed that the standard green insignia on the landmarks in the large town of Talon in the northwest of the Stratholme region stood for "at war", and in the prince's memory, there were no garrisons near Talon County.

He looked at his father, and the old king rubbed his forehead, and after a moment he said:

"The civilians of Daronshire were blocked by the undead before they withdrew to the hands of Tyre, but I have ordered Count Barov to send private soldiers to rescue them, so don't worry, my son, go and rest."

"Barov? Barov is not to be trusted, father. ”

The prince shook his head, rubbed his sore shoulders, and said to the king:

"That family misses the rule of Pirenod, they are an unstable factor, besides, Barov's private army is limited to 1,000 people, they are not strong enough!"

"But we don't have any extra soldiers, my son."

The old king breathed a sigh of relief:

"The battle lines in the Arathi Heights occupy too many of our troops, and now the defenses of the entire kingdom are stretched, and I know that you are not willing to give up even one people, but my son, there are times when we have to make trade-offs and sacrifices... Our generals are not omnipotent, and you can't ask the soldiers to do what they can't. ”

"I know, Father, I know your troubles."

The prince gritted his teeth:

"So I'll figure it out myself. I'm going to Hinterland, Father, and I'd like to ask the Hammer Dwarves for help, for Talon and Eagle's Nest are very close, and if those Sky Sons are willing to help, our people will be safe. ”

"You're right, I don't want to give up a people, it's my responsibility, anyway, good luck to me, father."

With that, the prince turned and quickly left the hall, and the old king stretched out his hand to say something, but in the firm back of Arthas, the king saw a glimmer of faith, a conviction that made him feel comforted.

Unwilling to compromise the situation and vowing to do something great and become a hero to save the people, what reason does a father have to prevent his son from becoming a hero?

———————————————————————————

"I'd love to help you, little Arthas."

Fifteen minutes later, Arthas, who reached the Eagle's Nest through the portal, met the High Lord of the Hammer Dwarves, Vorstad. Brute Hammer, the dwarven lord with a beautiful orange beard, said to the anxious prince with an embarrassed expression:

"But our griffon knights and infantry have been sent to the eastern front line of Hinterland, and you may not know that the undead who crossed the sea from Quel'Salas made it to the mountains of Hinterland from the cliffs of Lookout in the early hours of this morning."

Fstadra walked to Hinterland's tactical map with Alsace in tow, pointed to the eastern mountains, and said:

"Kurtiras's fleet tried to intercept them on the sea, but failed, and the undead withstood the fire of the fleet, and after losing a quarter of their troops, they managed to storm the city of Sinsaro, the city of the trolls, who are now slaughtering in Sinsalore, turning those trolls into their own soldiers, and to tell you the truth, the battlefield of Hinterland will soon be "lively". ”

"This..."

Arthas did not doubt that Furstad would deceive him in such a major matter, and from what the map portrayed, once the undead of the Northlands broke through the city of the Evil Branch Trolls, they would immediately come into contact with the eastern defense line of the Human Empire in Hinterland, which meant that after the battlefield in the Arathi Heights, Hinterland would soon become a battlefield as well.

"You get the idea, right? Little Alsace? ”

Furstad handed the prince a glass of wine, and the hammer dwarf said pessimistically:

"Our griffon knights have been on bombing missions since this morning, and we're going to burn all the corpses, even the long ears, before the trolls are devoured by the undead, you know? The highland strikers stationed in Cinterland have joined the bombardment, and no one wants to see the undead break through the Eastern Front, but here's the problem... The option to go to war is not in our hands now. ”

"Well, I probably know, the situation here, indeed... It is indeed not optimistic. ”

The Prince of Alsace was disappointed, but just as he was about to leave, Furstad added:

"But what you said also makes sense, Eagle's Nest Mountain is indeed very close to Talonjun, I... I mean, little Arthas, I can send a flying wing to help you, but we can't fight on land, we can only "blow up" a route for your people in the sky, the front line is very tight, we can only try once. ”

"Absolutely!"

The young prince turned his head sharply, looked at Furstad in surprise, and said in a loud voice:

"The private soldiers of the Barov family have already set out, and we will only need to escort my people to the banks of the Sordo River, which is less than 30 kilometers above ground, and it will take the griffin knights a maximum of 20 minutes to make a round trip."

Arthas was like a man walking in despair, and after seeing a glimmer of hope, he was moved from the bottom of his heart, and he held Furstad's hand and shook it up and down:

"Thank you, Furstad, Lordaeron will not forget everything you have done for us."

"I watched you grow up, little Arthas."

Furstad laughed, handed Arthas a pair of flying goggles, and said in a dwarven voice:

"I remember when you were a kid when I taught you how to ride a griffin, and you were brave, as brave as you are now, and I knew that you would make your country proud, just like now... Let's go, we're running out of time. ”

———————————————————————

"The undead are rushing up from the north! Captain Redpass! Davey Knight! Here they are again! ”

The shouts of the hunter sentinels rang out in the night of Dalongshire, representing the beginning of another fierce battle.

At this time in Talonshire, the town square, which used to be full of shops, was in shambles, littered with the bodies of the undead who had been burned or hacked to death, and all the men who could still fight took up arms. Led by Redpass and the Silver Hand Paladin Davi, they battled the undead in the square, while women and children hid in the town, crying and praying for their husbands and sons and fathers.

The undead rushed out of the Necropolis near Talon County surging forward tirelessly, mixed with ugly ghouls, disgusting monsters that could scare crying children.

"Timmy, are you afraid?"

Joseph. Redpass, a veteran of the Second War, at this time, he was holding a long sword and wooden shield, looking at the undead who were rushing towards them, this powerful veteran turned his head to look at the little boy behind him, he was only about 11 or 12 years old, wearing a shabby fur hat and holding a black musket in his hand, he was obviously afraid, but standing beside the brave Captain Redpass, little Timmy gritted his teeth, swallowed his saliva, and shouted:

"I'm not afraid!"

"Hahahaha"

Captain Redpass's laughter rang out at this moment, and he struck his shield with his sword and shouted to the men beside him:

"Do you hear that? Warriors, little Timmy says he's not afraid of the undead, are you afraid? ”

"I just want to burn them, Captain."

An old blacksmith with a pipe waved his torch and shouted, "No one wants to set foot in Talons" until I die! ”

"Follow me!"

Captain Redpass swung his sword, and the moment the waddling undead stepped into the square, the men let out a beastly roar, swarming with their swords, pitchforks, or simply sticks, knocking them to the ground.

Little Timmy shuddered and picked up his father's musket and shot one ghoul in the head, but it also caught the attention of the other ghoul, the disgusting monster roared and pounced on little Timmy, and the young child kept backing in fear, and finally staggered and fell to the ground.

"Ahh

The terrified child picked up the barrel of his gun to knock down the undead in front of him, but his strength was too weak, and Redpass saw that little Timmy was about to be caught by a ghoul, and he yelled and pounced, but was blocked by two walking corpses.

"Help me! Help me! No! ”

Little Timmy's hasty shouts broke everyone's hearts, but the current situation was too bad for anyone to spare his energy, and at the moment when the desperate hell fell, a loud bang suddenly sounded in front of the battlefield in Talon County, it was the sound of alchemy bombs exploding.

"Boom"

A figure of golden light stood in front of little Timmy in the explosion, and in the boy's dull gaze, the tall figure with short blond hair swung his hammer and easily smashed the ghoul's head, and his slightly hoarse voice resounded throughout the square.

"My people, need not be afraid anymore!"

Arthas roared, and in the beating of the light, the scorching curtain of light protected the people who were fighting, forcing the undead back, and in the glow of the light, everyone saw the familiar figure.

"Arthas is coming, I'm coming!"