Sylvanas, as the Ranger-General of Silvermoon City, was always responsible for the kingdom's border security.
With the elite of the Farstrider Rangers, the news reached Sylvanas when Arthas's undead army approached the Quel'Danil Lodge outpost.
She immediately led the Farstrider troops to garrison the Gates of Silvermoon, with jagged, interlocking mountains on either side of this city gate.
...
This is the dividing line between the South Eversong Woods and the Eastern Plaguelands, as well as the border between the high elf kingdom and Lordaeron.
Alleria was unwilling to evacuate with the villagers of Windrunner Village, so she came to the Gates of Silvermoon as well.
No wonder Galen got angry ; he had been in Azeroth for over twenty years, and had finally captured the hearts of the Windrunner sisters. He was only one step away from entering the halls of marriage, and now you're telling him that his two wives have gone to fight Arthas!
On the Gates of Silvermoon, Sylvanas widened her blue eyes, looking at the dense sea of skeletons outside, and felt a chill run down her spine.
"How many people did Arthas kill in his own kingdom?"
No one knows how many corpses the necromancers of the Cult of the Damned have awakened.
This million-strong undead Scourge is just a rough estimate. Besides the recently deceased, there are also ancient, decaying corpses. To enhance their combat power, they even stitched various corpses together to create high-level abominations.
In addition to humanoid corpses and skeletons, there are also a large number of flying, animated stone gargoyles and giant spider-like creatures.
"The Gates of Silvermoon cannot withstand their attack. There are too many of them, boundless and endless," Alleria said, activating her Eagle Eye to carefully observe the undead army.
She saw Prince Arthas, whom she had met once, riding a winged skeletal steed, his eyes sharply fixed on the Gates of Silvermoon, surrounded by a large number of humans dressed in black.
"We'll defend it as long as we can. High elves don't have the habit of giving up," Sylvanas said loudly!
Alleria gave her sister a strange look.
After Sylvanas finished speaking, she quietly approached her sister: "I was just saying that to boost morale."
"I knew you were putting on an act. The large-scale evacuation within the country has been going on for three months. Those who should have left have already left. The remaining people are not worth sacrificing ourselves for."
"I know, Galen said it: 'If you save the people and lose the land, you can always regain the land. If you save the land and lose the people, you lose everything.'"
Sylvanas looked back and, finding that no soldiers were paying attention to them, continued: "Besides, His Majesty Anasterian has promised that after this crisis, he will reappoint me as the new Ranger-General. If we exhaust the Farstriders, will you have me be a general with no troops?"
Alleria countered sharply, "Or perhaps you're simply eager to shed the Ranger-General title and run off to marry Galen!"
Sylvanas retorted, "Oh, is that it? Well, so you can stay with Galen then, and I won't marry him! Sister," she added, with pointed emphasis.
"Hey..."
Although the rangers on the city gate were facing a million undead, smelling the stench in the wind, the relaxed atmosphere of the two Windrunners allowed their tense nerves to relax for a moment. At the same time, the rangers around the sisters pricked up their ears, trying to eavesdrop on what happy things the two commanders were talking about.
Unfortunately, the Windrunner sisters were using the Windwhisperer skill, and those rangers whose training was not up to par could not hear them.
Arthas below the city gate glanced again at the tall city wall, and the exquisite patterns on it made him want to laugh, but the faint red magical barrier stopped him.
Although high elves always put their minds on useless decorations, it cannot be denied that their magical attainments are indeed very high.
Arthas looked again at the imposing Gates of Silvermoon, protected by defensive runes, and the Frostmourne in his hand pointed obliquely towards the center of the gate.
The next moment, all the undead moved. Under the will of the death knight, they rushed madly towards the city gate!
Sylvanas's expression instantly turned serious when she realized that Arthas had begun to attack the city.
"Ready!"
The Ranger-General issued the order. In addition to the rangers, there were also some high elf soldiers defending the city on the city gate. After receiving the order, they immediately began to operate the dozens of magic cannons on the city gate.
The cannons that appeared during the Orcish Wars caused a lot of damage to the Orcs, and as a siege defense machine, they were favored by the high elf kingdom.
However, as a magical kingdom, they looked down on gunpowder weapons. After their careful research, they finally invented magic cannons driven by magic, which fired arcane shells.
"Fire!"
When the skeleton soldiers entered the range of the magic cannons, the magic cannons began to gather energy, and then the shells shot out rapidly, and dozens of explosion points lit up in the sea of skeletons, and a large number of bone fragments flew up.
"Continue to load ammunition, indiscriminate attack!"
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Although the magic cannons were powerful, the undead Scourge had no pain, no fear, and under the will of Arthas, they continued to charge!
Soon, the first batch of undead approached the rangers' attack range.
"Ready! Explosive Shot!"
The rangers shot out the burning arrows!
Boom!
Boom! Boom!
The arrows were special explosive arrows made by the Galen Company. This weapon was perfect for targeting the skeleton sea of the undead Scourge. There was no need to aim, just shoot!
"Hmph!"
Seeing that the skeleton soldiers suffered heavy losses but made little progress, Arthas snorted coldly.
"Prepare the siege weapons!"
"Flesh Wagons! Attack!"
At Arthas's command, the Scourge's siege weapons were pushed forward, with dozens of meat wagons advancing side by side, followed by a large number of dark "ammunition" being launched.
These projectiles hit the city walls, followed by a series of sticky impacts.
Some objects splattered, and Sylvanas took a closer look, realizing they were fragments of corpses.
The Scourge was using corpses as ammunition!
"What an evil army!"
The Ranger-General felt a wave of nausea in her heart, struggling to swallow the bile rising in her throat. She secretly rejoiced that the wind had changed direction, blowing the stench away from her...
Sylvanas and Alleria exchanged a glance, then nodded. Understanding each other's intentions, they quickly went behind the battlements, each drawing a special arrow from the quiver on their backs and nocking it on their bows!
In the blink of an eye, two arrows flew out one after the other. Alleria's arrow was slightly thicker, shimmering with a blue arcane glow. The arrow flew rapidly, the sound of it tearing through the air echoing through the valley.
Sylvanas's arrow was small and delicate, completely black, except for the cold gleam of the arrowhead. It hid silently behind Alleria's arrow.
Their target was the human prince standing in front of the undead, or rather, the former human.
The Windrunner sisters were very confident. Their arrows never missed their target. During the War of the Ancients, with the sisters' tacit cooperation, countless demon lords of the Burning Legion had died at their hands, earning them a great reputation.
The arrows emitted a deadly whistle, shooting towards Arthas's head, which was unprotected by a helmet.
But just as the arrow was about to pierce his skull, Arthas swung his runeblade, the speed so fast that the Windrunner sisters in the distance only saw a flash of blue light.
It was the blue-white light from the runes on Frostmourne!
Alleria's arrow was cleaved in two, the arrowhead changing direction and flying out, hitting a necromancer's head next to Arthas!
Bang!
Brains splattered everywhere. Arthas blinked, just preparing to mock the Windrunners for being all talk, when a tremor went through his heart!
The threat of death!
Arthas immediately dodged, the black arrow grazing his head, the accompanying gust of wind cutting his cheek!
"Hmph!"
"Damn elves, you have angered me! You have no idea what kind of being you are facing!"
Arthas was somewhat ashamed and enraged.
Sylvanas narrowed her blue eyes and issued a challenge: "Then use all your tricks."
Arthas swung Frostmourne again: "Attack! Intensify the offensive! My soldiers, kill them all, so they can serve me and my master!"
The vast number of skeleton soldiers and terrifying abomination-stitched monsters seemed to be spurred on, speeding up their charge towards the high elf walls.
Not only that, but behind Arthas, gargoyles took to the air, flapping their wings as they flew over!
"Quick! Send the signal, send in the Dragonhawk Riders!"
Behind the Gate of Quel'Thalas was Fairbreeze Village, where a Dragonhawk Rider squadron was stationed. Upon receiving the order to deploy, they immediately took to the air, flying towards the kingdom's gateway.
Dragonhawks soared, gargoyles circled, and below, the valley was filled with flying blood and flesh. Soon, the rangers' attack frequency decreased.
Explosive arrows dealt tons of damage to those ghouls. They were still trudging forward, but most of their desiccated bodies had been ignited, and it was only a matter of time before they were burned to ashes.
Other abominations, soaked in rotten fluids and with thick hides, were completely unafraid of the small explosives on the elves' arrows.
And the overwhelming number of undead made the battle tricky from the start. Their corpses had even piled up to the height of the city walls!
More and more undead were gradually climbing up the cliffs on both sides of the gate, and Sylvanas had to dispatch a portion of the rangers to continuously strike at the top of the cliffs.
When the first undead climbed onto the city wall, the rangers had to abandon their bows and arrows, draw the daggers from their waists, and engage in close combat.
The high elves began to suffer casualties. When the first fallen high elf ranger was resurrected by Arthas's dark magic, Sylvanas knew that the Gate of Quel'Thalas could not be held!
"Shindu fallah na! Retreat! Retreat!"
"Retreat to the Sunspire! Quickly!"
Sylvanas, who had originally wanted to hold out until nightfall, had to issue the order to retreat.
The corpses of the undead were about to pile up to the same level as the city walls. These corpses formed a gentle slope, making it easier for the undead to climb. Although the rangers were well-trained and skilled in close combat, their insufficient numbers made them easily surrounded and killed.
Who said skeleton soldiers couldn't kill people?
They were tireless and unyielding, while the rangers were flesh and blood, they would bleed, and they could be exhausted to death.
Galen led his more than five thousand high-level troops on a forced march through the lands of the Eversong Woods.
Two thousand paladins were distributed throughout the five thousand-strong army, providing them with the Crusader Aura.
Even on a forced march, the five thousand-plus men were still orderly. Perhaps because the commander was in a bad mood, their expressions were also quite grim and solemn.
Kael'thas, with Liadrin and her Dawnblade Knights, followed closely behind.
"Your Highness, are you really not going to heal yourself?" Liadrin asked with a worried expression.
"No need..." Kael'thas looked depressed.
He touched his left cheek, which was now swollen with a large lump.
This was the result of a friendly face-breaking punch from Galen. At the time, Galen was also furious, not caring whether he was a high elf prince or not, he punched first and asked questions later.
Between brothers and wives, Galen showed a clear sense of priorities at that moment.
Those were his two wives!
If Galen hadn't known that Sylvanas and Alleria had many life-saving items he had given them, Silvermoon City would have fallen into the Crusader Lord's fury before Arthas even acted.
Not using teleportation support here recklessly was already Galen restraining himself.
"But, Your Highness, your face is badly injured," Liadrin said softly.
The Countess was acting somewhat restrained at this moment. It was well known that Prince Galen and Prince Kael'thas were on good terms. Now that there was a conflict between the two, one was the prince she served, and the other was her paladin mentor. Liadrin was in a dilemma, not knowing how to advise.
"It's nothing, just a minor injury."
It's not a minor injury, is it? Liadrin doesn't even recognize your face anymore...
In fact, Sylvanas and the Farstriders' southward journey was none of his business. It was the two hundred thousand nobles stranded in the Eversong Woods who, in order to be on the safe side, used their family connections to get the Silvermoon Council to issue the order for the Farstriders to guard the Gate of Quel'Thalas.
The Ranger-General was the commander-in-chief of Quel'Thalas's border defenses. This order from the Silvermoon Council was reasonable. They couldn't very well say that the Sunstrider Dynasty had already prepared to retreat to Silvermoon City, conveniently screwing over the Silvermoon Council faction.
Moreover, the Sun King had already issued a document terminating the Silvermoon Council's order, but the Windrunner sisters had acted one step ahead and failed to receive it...
Kael'thas felt that he had taken this punch unjustly!
Just you wait, when Galen's anger subsides and he knows the truth, I'll flaunt my injuries in front of him!
I don't believe you won't feel guilty!
Kael'thas thought to himself!