Capítulo 1855: Chapter 1256: Arathi (I Mean Zongzi Tastes Bad When It’s Salty)
At that time, Prince Arthas and his mentor Uther had a fierce debate; Prince Arthas insisted on quickly eliminating the people of Stratholme to prevent the plague from spreading. However, Uther argued that this was inhumane and opposed Arthas’s order. Consequently, Arthas dismissed Uther and personally led troops into Stratholme, killing every living being inside.
After that, under the Dreadlord’s influence, Arthas went to Northrend and eventually fell. When he returned from Northrend, he personally killed his father and turned the whole of Lordaeron into its current ghastly state.
And the young women debated whether Arthas’s choice was correct.
Of course, to Duanmu Huai, Arthas did nothing wrong. In fact, if it were the Tribunal, for safety’s sake, not just Stratholme but the entire Plaguelands would have been massacred completely. Then everything would be burned to ashes to prevent the outbreak of the plague as much as possible.
To Duanmu Huai, Arthas only slaughtering Stratholme seemed petty!
Homura Akemi and Mugeng also didn’t find any issue with this, while Naruse Mio and Banriya felt somewhat uneasy. Of course, they could understand Arthas’s actions, but thinking about the prince leading his soldiers to slaughter the very citizens he was supposed to protect made them feel a bit sad for him.
Regarding this, Duanmu Huai had only one comment.
“What a pity, if the Tribunal were here, we’d have done it better.”
“…”
Indeed, Duanmu Huai’s words ended the debate, and the young women quietly closed their mouths.
Indeed, if it were the Tribunal, it wouldn’t be just Stratholme at stake, because according to that bard, the enemy laced the grain with plague virus. So from the Tribunal’s perspective, unable to find a solution and not willing to let the plague spread to harm humans, the best way is to cleanse the entire Plaguelands.
Therefore, the bard saying that Arthas’s fall began with the massacre at Stratholme seemed absurd to Duanmu Huai; the plague’s transmission speed was rapid, and there was no way to address it in such a short time. If you don’t eliminate it, are you going to keep it around for New Year’s?
In contrast, that Uther seemed very suspicious to Duanmu Huai; he even suspected Uther might be a demon believer. After all, the other party vehemently opposed Arthas eliminating the plague spread. Could that Uther be a member or an inside agent of some evil cult?
Very possible indeed.
No idea what happened to that Uther. If he were still alive, Duanmu Huai would surely capture him for interrogation.
After all, based on Duanmu Huai’s experience as a Judge, generally, people who behave like that are either fools or malicious, possibly both.
In any case, whichever it is, they are undoubtedly enemies of humans.
At that moment, they had already crossed the Hillsbrad Foothills and reached the boundary of the Arathi Highlands marked by Thoradin’s Wall.
According to Mayor Mareb, dwarves used to guard this area, but unfortunately, their outpost at Dun Garok was slaughtered by the Forsaken. The scouts sent by Mareb found nothing useful inside but a dwarf’s badge, which he handed over to Duanmu Huai, hoping he could inform the dwarves while passing through Dun Morogh.
Yes, taking two tasks at once,this mayor is pretty nice.
Upon crossing Thoradin’s Wall, Duanmu Huai and the others were inevitably stopped. Luckily, with Mayor Mareb’s token, they weren’t confronted immediately but were taken to the Alliance Camp in the Refuge Valley.
There, Duanmu Huai met Marshal Osleight of the Arathor Coalition Forces.
“So you want to cross Arathi Highlands?”
Looking at Duanmu Huai, Marshal Osleight’s expression was a mix of uncertainty; speaking truthfully, this big guy gave him an extremely dangerous feeling. If it weren’t for the little girl sitting on him, and those seemingly harmless young women behind, Marshal Osleight would have ordered to apprehend them right away.
“I do understand that the situation in Southshore Town is critical, and the anomaly in Tirisfal Glades needs investigation, but the problem is, there’s nothing we can do now.”
Marshal Osleight sighed helplessly.
“The Horde has completely sealed off this area, unless we can reclaim it, everything is futile.”
“Then just take it back. What’s so hard about that?”
Duanmu Huai replied straightforwardly, or to him, things were that simple.
“But we lack manpower.”
Marshal Osleight, despite his ‘marshal’ title, had no more than three hundred troops here, pathetically few. It also had to do with the Thandol Span being bombed; once the bridge was blown up, there’s no way to transport supplies in bulk. Although gryphons could carry goods, bringing supplies for thousands meant exhausting the gryphons to death.
Gryphons have their temperament too, you know.
So Marshal Osleight only left a portion of his troops, relying on Southshore for supplies.
As it turned out, Southshore was seized by the Horde, according to the principle of shared destiny, Marshal Osleight should have sent troops to help, but…
“See for yourselves.”
Standing at the tightly shut gates of the camp, Marshal Osleight gravely pointed at the distant land. From the Alliance camp, one could clearly see the battlefield ahead. This battlefield, called Arathi Basin, was once a crucial Alliance stronghold, but now it was completely occupied by the Horde. Horde patrol soldiers could be seen everywhere.
“According to our scouting, the other side has nearly a thousand soldiers. We are not their match. Honestly, I attempted to lead a force to reclaim Arathi Basin, but repeatedly failed.”
“But doesn’t this also trap those Horde members here?”
Witnessing this scene, Naruse Mio puzzledly raised her question.
“Don’t they have supply issues?”
“Of course.”
Marshal Osleight nodded seriously.
“The reason for building a stronghold here was for the environment; the Arathi Basin has a mine, and above it, a sawmill. They also built a blacksmith shop for supplies. From this point, they aren’t worried about supply shortages. As for food… ”
At this, Marshal Osleight gave a bitter smile.
“The undead don’t need to eat.”
“Uh…”
Well, fair enough, indeed, turning into undead creatures negates the need for food.
So the Arathor Coalition Forces were also bogged down here. Initially, they had sparse numbers; splitting forces allowed the enemy to concentrate and break through thoroughly. In that case, Thoradin’s Wall would fall, and Southshore wouldn’t hold either. Therefore, even knowing the rear was extremely urgent, Marshal Osleight had no better option but to stay put.
But this didn’t mean Duanmu Huai would join him in staring blankly; he was out for a tour, not staying idly.
“How many people in total?”
“The Horde has stationed three hundred soldiers each at the sawmill, blacksmith, mine, and stables. The farm, being at the Blasphemers’ rear and given the undead don’t need food, has scant forces defending it.”
“Alright, got it.”
Upon hearing this, Duanmu Huai nodded and then turned to the young women.
“Get ready, we are going to dispatch these heretical bastards!”