The victory of Alaric and his mounted archers stirred not only the Horde but also created ripples within the Alliance.
Although mounted archers had always existed in name, they were usually no more than horseback archers, nothing like the disciplined, mobile cavalry archers seen among Earth's nomadic tribes.
Perhaps this was due to the absence of nomadic cultures among Azeroth's humans?
In any case, in this battle, Alaric led just over a thousand rangers as mounted archers, wreaking havoc deep behind enemy lines.
They even managed to defeat the vastly superior numbers of Horde wolf riders.
This stunning achievement shook the nations of the Alliance. For the first time, the concept of mounted archers truly entered their vision.
However, when human kings excitedly began to study how Alaric had formed this improvised unit, they realized that training soldiers to shoot accurately from horseback was a nearly insurmountable challenge, not something they could hope to replicate overnight.
Most human kingdoms relied on agriculture or fishing and had no foundational horsemanship, nor did they possess a wealth of ranger-archers like the elves.
Quel'Thalas, on the other hand, did have a sufficient number of rangers. If King Anasterian so wished, he could easily form several times Alaric's force of mounted archers.
Yet the king showed little interest.
That wasn't hard to understand. Quel'Thalas, a nation blanketed in forests, was fundamentally unsuitable for mounted archer warfare. The high elves, limited in population and lacking any expansionist desires, would find such a force largely impractical.
Moreover, the modern Quel'Thalas was obsessively devoted to the pursuit of magic. To them, all other arts were inferior,only magic held value.
The idea that mounted archery could boost ranger capabilities was of no consequence to elven leadership.
So in the end, though Alaric's cavalry had performed brilliantly, the Alliance had neither the means nor the desire to replicate them.
Their impact on the Alliance's military makeup was negligible. The only real effect was a significant rise in Alaric's personal prestige.
So long as the war continued, he was effectively second-in-command of the Alliance.
With the battle concluded, Alaric finally found himself with some rare downtime.
The Alliance remained in a defensive posture. So long as they held the Thandol Span and Stromgarde, routine defensive skirmishes required little of Alaric's direct involvement.
Thus, he brought Jaina from Lordaeron to his side for instruction.
On one hand, though life in a military camp was far harsher than in the royal palace, Alaric's personal guidance yielded far better results.
On the other hand, he wanted young Jaina to see orcs with her own eyes,to witness firsthand the destruction they had wrought upon the Alliance.
This way, she wouldn't end up like her counterpart in the original timeline: someone who, having never suffered at the orcs' hands and only seeing their post-defeat misery, embraced the ideal of equality and ultimately sympathized with the invaders.
For a gifted and strong-willed girl like Jaina, personal experience would be more effective than any amount of teaching.
So passed several weeks.
Most of the time, Alaric lazed around with Jaina. Only once did he lead a detachment of high elf mounted archers into the Arathi Highlands for a show of force.
That single move left the Horde on edge, their nerves taut for days.
Meanwhile, the Horde struggled to make any progress in their offensive against Stromgarde and the Arathi Highlands.
Stromgarde, backed by the Alliance's naval support, was far from a trapped and dying city,it stood as a vital part of the Alliance's front line.
Even though Horde corpses piled high at its gates, they hadn't managed to shake the city's resolve in the slightest.
As for the Thandol Span, its defenses were impenetrable. After several failed probes, the Horde gave up entirely.
All the while, Orgrim, the new Warchief, saw his leadership questioned. With mounting losses and no clear victories, clan chieftains began to stir. Some even whispered of an Argorok,a duel to overthrow him.
Yet Orgrim was not only a cunning schemer but a formidable warrior. After personally killing ten challengers in succession, he temporarily secured his position.
Still, he knew such a hold was fleeting. Without concrete victories, his downfall was inevitable.
For days on end, Orgrim pored over maps of the Arathi Highlands, desperately seeking a breakthrough.
But the combination of the Thandol Span and Stromgarde formed a flawless defense. No matter how he turned it over in his mind, he couldn't find a viable path forward.
If they were stuck in the Highlands, then the only option was to get out.
West of the Highlands lay the impassable Thandol Span. That left only the mountains to the east.
Though treacherous, those mountains were still easier to cross than the wall.
Then Orgrim recalled their earlier encounters with trolls.
While the small troll groups they'd seen were no match for the Alliance, the rumors of powerful forest troll tribes in the northeast, especially the Amani, came back to him.
If they could secure troll support, the Horde's prospects would improve dramatically.
Since arriving on the continent, the Horde had never found these elusive trolls, leaving Orgrim unsure whether the rumors were true. But now, he had no time for hesitation.
He made his decision.
Personally leading the Horde's elite eastward, Orgrim left his trusted lieutenant Varok Saurfang behind with the remaining forces to pin the Alliance down in the Highlands.
The immediate result was clear: both Stromgarde and Thandol Span noticed the sudden reduction in Horde pressure.
It appeared they were focusing more on consolidating their hold over the Highlands than on active assault.
This shift buoyed Alliance spirits. Many declared that the Horde's will had been broken. So long as things continued like this, the orcs' destruction was only a matter of time.
Only Alaric sensed that something was wrong.
No one in the Alliance knew Orgrim Doomhammer as well as he did. The great orc leader was not the kind to simply give up.
The Arathi Highlands offered little room for maneuver. Based on the original timeline, Alaric immediately deduced: the Horde was shifting its focus to the Hinterlands.
He voiced this conclusion during a strategy meeting but was met with resistance. Most officers and nobles were already dreaming of counterattacks to retake Khaz Modan and Stormwind.
Even Lothar was not exempt.
But soon, intel from Aerie Peak shut them up.
Wildhammer dwarves reported spotting a large group of green-skinned, non-troll creatures crossing the Alterac Mountains into the Hinterlands.
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