Shadow Trails in Azeroth

In fact, just looking at Marshal Barley Westwin's appearance and figure, you can tell that he is an authentic Kul Tiran.

His face is cold and majestic, with a signature aquiline nose. When he frowns, he is as fierce as a hawk targeting a target. His many years of military career have made him full of an aura of self-confidence and self-reliance. .

Although he has a pot belly that is common among men in Kul Tiras due to his middle age, this does not affect the majesty of this marshal.

A long-used black navy tricorn hat was placed on the table in front of the marshal. This shabby hat did not seem to match the marshal's status, but looking at the wrinkles caused by frequent use, it was clear that this hat was the marshal's favorite. thing.

It is said that many years ago, it was a naval battle gift personally given by Dai Lin, who was the captain at the time, to Marshal Bali, who was the boatswain at the time.

Many people in mixed aristocratic circles know that the only two admirals in human civilization have a good personal relationship. They spent twenty years of naval career together and are true life and death friends.

Marshal Barry Westwin served under Dai Lin all the way up to the rank of Commodore. He was expected to become the second most powerful person in the Kul Tiras military. Unfortunately, he and Dai Lin later had some ideological conflicts, and they Invited by King Terenas with the title of marshal and title to help Lordaeron form their own navy.

I have to say that Marshal Barry, the old sea dog, did a really good job.

In less than ten years, Lordaeron had two fleets, and during the seven years of the Orc War, these two fleets withstood the cruel test of the war.

Although compared with the Kul Tiras fleet, they are certainly lacking in all aspects, but these two fleets are enough to make the Kingdom of Lordaeron proud of the eastern continent, and can even carry out ocean-going colonization missions.

Genn Greymane saw the precedent of Marshal Bali Westwein helping Lordaeron successfully establish a navy, so he wanted to replicate the victory of the Lordaeron fleet in Gilneas.

Jean's naval dream and so on are not just random thoughts.

In short, this old marshal is an absolutely unparalleled figure in Lordaeron's navy. He is the soul of this country's navy, and he is definitely not an easy opponent to deal with.

After Marshal Barry personally commanded the Alliance Navy to enter the frozen sea, the North Sea pirates suffered a lot at the hands of this old and tough guy. More than one-third of the pirates' strongholds were removed by his own hands.

It is said that the pirate king of the North Sea, Anne Bonn, said more than once when she was drunk that she was willing to pay the price of destroying two-thirds of the pirate fleet to kill Old Barry!

Then she could completely destroy the entire Alliance Navy in the waves of the frozen sea with only one-third of the remaining North Sea pirates.

The so-called insults from enemies are praises.

From this perspective, Marshal Barry Westwyn is indeed a ruthless character.

And now, in the conference room of the Fearless Fortress, as the old marshal's breaking news was thrown out one after another, the entire conference room became silent again.

But this time it was not because of shame, but because all commanders and captains were seriously thinking about the situation before them.

They are all the backbone of the navy promoted by Marshal Barre. They know that this is the style of the old marshal. There must be such a meeting before every war to allow all commanders to speak freely.

A few minutes later, a young captain stood up first. He gave a military salute to Marshal Barry Westwin and said:

"Your Majesty Marshal, I think this may be a baiting move by the pirates.

They knew very well that we had been looking for their main force for a decisive battle, so they tried to use massing methods to lure us into their base camp to gain an advantage in the war. "

"What a stupid statement! What you said means you didn't say it! Are you also a fan of the nonsense literature that is very popular recently?"

The captain's conclusion immediately attracted rebuttal from his colleagues. A half-elf commander snorted and said in a long voice:

“In terms of absolute strength, personnel quality and firepower, our three fleets are obviously higher than those of the North Sea pirates.

The reason why this decisive battle dragged on for almost three months was because the cunning pirates knew very well that they would never be our opponents in a head-on naval battle.

The pirates' familiarity with the frozen sea and the supply points all over the coast are the biggest advantages of the pirates. Why should they give up their biggest advantage now and take the risk of choosing a head-on decisive battle that is beneficial to us?

This doesn't make sense at all.

But I agree with one thing you said, that is, the pirates definitely have bad intentions! They are indeed trying to trick us, but the purpose is unclear. "

"Can you two say something useful? You two masters of bullshit."

Another old captain with a pipe in his mouth coughed a few times and made a harsh remark. Amid the laughter of others, he coughed a few times, stood up and said seriously:

"Your Majesty Marshal, I think the most important thing now is not to find out what the pirates have planned, but to make good use of the current situation. As long as they gather together, isn't it the decisive battle opportunity we have been looking for?

The Quel'dorei elves have assured us that once the decisive battle begins, their magicians will be able to use the power of the Sunwell to temporarily suppress the Tidestone artifact in the hands of the undead pirates.

Although the terrain of the Rogue Port is complex, it is difficult for us to drive the large fleet into it.

But on the other hand, once the North Sea pirates enter, it will be difficult for them to evacuate quickly.

As long as we seize the time, seize the opportunity, block the pirates near the rogue port before they are aware of it, and cut off the supply line of the North Sea pirates, then we will be sure whether it is a decisive battle to defeat the enemy, or to encircle and annihilate the enemy.

The initiative in the war will truly be back in our hands.

Even if this siege does not achieve the planned results, it is not a big problem. At least we took the initiative to attack and gained momentum! Regarding the current situation of the alliance on the frozen sea, building momentum and restoring morale is also a very important strategic purpose. "

This proposal made the naval marshal sitting at the top of the conference table nod frequently. The other commanders also affirmed this guy's speech, and a desire for war built up in the conference room.

The main reason is that everyone is holding back a fire in their hearts and wants to find those damn pirates and beat them up immediately after being humiliated to relieve the burning anger in their hearts.

At this time, the representative of the Dalaran mages, Ms. Modera, the Archmage of the Six-person Council, who was sitting next to the marshal but kept a low profile and never spoke, suddenly spoke:

"Everyone, we casters don't know much about naval warfare, but we are used to looking at a certain thing from multiple angles, such as the current movements of the pirates in the North Sea.

Do you think it is possible that the pirates' supply lines have already encountered problems, so they have to assemble the last army while they still have the strength to try to launch a last-ditch struggle? "

"How can this be?"

As soon as the Archmage's opinion was expressed, it was immediately rejected by other commanders.

Because in the war between the navy and pirates in the Frozen Sea that has lasted for almost three months, at least until now, the Alliance Navy has actually been in a very passive state.

Moreover, the always arrogant commanders had a very clear understanding of their weak situation this time.

Although they have also defeated pirate ambushes in maritime encounters, achieved boastful victories, and captured more than a dozen small pirate ships, from the perspective of the overall war, the current casualty ratio between the two sides has not reached the level of injury. the point.

On the contrary, the Alliance Navy is at an absolute disadvantage in terms of material consumption.

If the pirates in the North Sea lose their warships, they can always get supplies from the South China Sea. It is said that one-third of the goblin shipyards in the entire South China Sea have received orders from the undead pirates to build more pirate ships for them.

As for the personnel lost, it is even simpler.

The captains of the Immortal Fleet don't even need to go to the South China Sea. They can recruit enough desperadoes by dropping a few bags of gold, silver, jewelry and food on the foreign lands on the coast of the North Sea.

Frost trolls, bearmen, walruses, murlocs, and the terrifying barbaric vrykul, etc., these bastards are all eager to join the pirate fleet to earn the first pot of gold in their lives.

It's different with the Navy.

They only have a few colonial sites such as Zhiyuan County and Amber Pine Town in the Frozen Sea, and the pressure on supplies of materials and personnel is already great.

Especially after Gilneas suddenly announced its withdrawal from the war, the two colonies belonging to Gilneas in Grizzly Hills no longer provide any supplies to the Alliance Navy.

This causes material supply to enter a more difficult mode.

The cunning pirates also continued to send small groups to rob the grain, grass and ordnance transported from the eastern continent to the north. If it were not for the Quel'dorei elves firmly standing on the side of the alliance and using magic to help the fleet transport supplies, Lordaeron's two The fleet cannot survive now.

But supplies can be raised, but the shortage of sailors and soldiers cannot be created out of thin air.

Every death of an old sailor in the Alliance Navy means one less one, making it difficult for the Alliance Fleet to let go during combat. Why? Didn't you say there is still an elf fleet?

Well, as far as the naval battle level of the elven fleet is concerned, it is to form an array in the outer sea area to show its power in a large-scale naval battle.

If they were really allowed to enter the scene and deal with the pirates, not to mention the Lordaeron naval commander, even the elves themselves would be worried.

To be honest, Lord Barry Westwin witnessed with his own eyes how those elves could sail out of the port with a "toy navy" that was extremely powerful on paper but had never seen a single actual battle after being established for thousands of years. When An An came to the frozen sea to participate in the military cruise, the old marshal had already privately thanked the Holy Light for his protection.

Even in the current situation, the Archmage said that the pirates had fatal problems with their supplies. If no real evidence could be produced, how could one convince others of this conclusion?

"You idiots!"

The old marshal, who had always allowed his commanders to speak freely, finally couldn't stand it anymore.

He stood up with a cold face, put his navy tricorn hat on his head, grabbed his command knife and pointed at the bottom of the world map in the conference room, and pointed at the location of the South China Sea.

He cursed:

"Don't just focus on the ocean in front of you just because you are fighting in the North Sea. I have been telling you to open up the situation!

Keep your eyes open!

Think carefully about what Admiral Dai Lin is doing in the South China Sea?

The North Sea pirates' ship supplies all come from the goblin shipyards, and all their large shipyards in Northrend have been destroyed by us!

The Kul Tiran fleet had just destroyed several shipyards owned by goblin plutocrats in the South China Sea, and requested all goblin plutocrats not to support the war between the North Sea pirates and the Alliance Navy.

Do you understand now?

The Archmage's guess is correct!

Now it is no longer us who are trapped in the supply hell, but those Beihai fanatics who were very arrogant before. I know everyone has been having a hard time these past few days, including me.

The king's scolding made me unable to raise my head. Every time I saw the traces of the Dauntless Fortress being looted, it was like the pirates' slaps and saliva slapping me in the face.

These shames prevent us from holding our heads high and prevent us from going back to our hometown with our heads held high to accept the cheers and tributes of the people.

But we still have a chance to erase the shame.

With the blood of the enemy.

Or our blood.

Now is the best opportunity that can be created for us with the intentional or unintentional assistance of various forces.

The North Sea pirates will no longer receive a steady supply of ships. They know this, so they can only choose to give it a try when they have sufficient strength.

They know very well that they can either defeat us in the final decisive battle, or they can only evacuate this frozen sea in embarrassment and hand over this sea to the Alliance. "

Marshal Barley shrugged.

He looked at the high-spirited naval commanders in the conference room in front of him. He was very satisfied with the bravery of these guys, but he was somewhat disappointed in his eyes.

These guys' vision is still too low.

After all, Lordaeron is not Kul Tiras, which has a strong naval tradition. These land people are very brave in fighting, but unfortunately their thinking is too rigid, and all they think about is derived from the army's tactical theory.

However, the sea is not a battlefield that can only be won with bravery and numerical superiority.

A few seconds later, the old marshal coughed a few times and recovered his somewhat divergent thoughts. He used the scabbard of his marshal's command knife and knocked on the table and shouted:

"Now, I command!

All captains, commanders and soldiers cancel their vacations. Before midnight today, I want to see that all warships that can leave port are ready for battle.

I want you to bring all the explosive shells, all the weapons that can cut people, and all the sailors that can move that we can carry!

I want you to hoist the alliance's battle flag, assemble to the Howling Fjord as quickly as possible, and block the North Sea pirates in the waters near Rogue Port before they can complete preparations for the decisive battle.

You all know what I'm going to do, and I need your best!

I want to complete the task of catching a turtle in an urn!

Then send instructions to the Arathi Highlands Knights and the Alterac Barbarian Mercenary Legion stationed in Grizzly Bear Hills.

I need them to advance from the land, block the pirates' final possible breakout route to the land, and participate as marines in the ground attack on Rogue Port during the decisive battle at sea.

In this battle, the two fleets of Lordaeron plus the Quel'dorei fleet, as well as warriors from the Kingdom of Stromgard, the Kingdom of Alterac, and the City of Dalaran joined forces with us to fight against the North Sea pirates and their pirate allies.

I feel that I no longer need to mobilize your courage, because from all aspects, the advantage is mine anyway!

Dear gentlemen!

This battle will definitely defeat the pirates!

A shameful apology! "

"As you command!"

The old marshal's pre-war declaration quickly aroused the fighting spirit of the commanders. They responded with high spirits, and then howled out of the conference room like hungry wolves and began to make intense preparations before the war.

But Marshal old Barry Westwin did not leave immediately.

Instead, he waited until everyone had left, then took out his Kul Tiran-style naval pipe in the empty conference room, held it in his mouth and lit it.

Amidst the rising smell of spicy tobacco, the Lordaeron Admiral looked at the Archmage Modera beside him and whispered:

"I have not arranged combat missions for the spellcasters in the fleet. Archmage, I hope you can be prepared to deal with all worst-case scenarios.

What I mean is, get as many naval commanders and sailors out of harm's way as necessary.

For a navy, these losses of ships and weapons are also losses.

But the trained officers and sailors are the real wealth of a fleet. Only if these commanders and sailors survive can the naval spirit of Lordaeron continue to be passed down. "

"Um?"

Archmage Modera frowned when she heard this request. She sensed the ominous situation and looked at the old marshal. The latter blew out a smoke ring, smiled, and whispered:

"I know what you are thinking, yes, I am actually not sure about this battle.

After all, the opponent was Black Shaw, the young man who had defeated Dai Lin.

But on the battlefield of the sea, the young age has shown its fangs. After defeating the kind-hearted Dai Lin, it has raised its sword of provocation towards me, an aging veteran.

If I don't respond again, won't it seem like we old men are too incompetent?

I really want to see what kind of talent and power the pirate overlord who is destined to dominate the Endless Sea of ​​the next era has."

The old marshal looked out the window at the dim sky and whispered:

"Compared with falling into a political conspiracy that is not worthy of the stage, the battlefield is the final destination of our generation. Compared with the shameful death of old age in bed, perhaps burying my bones in the waves will make me close my eyes with satisfaction. "