These eighty thousand or so troops could only be considered a rabble. However, no one dared to underestimate the destructive power of this Burning Legion army—this time, Lymon was assigned twenty mana-powered armor suits. They cleared the way in the front; a mana-powered armor suit could destroy a watchtower with two punches and collapse a fortress with a few kicks. Along the way, the sturdy fortresses built by the dwarves were easily destroyed.
Upon learning of this news, the highest military command of Dalaran immediately convened a military meeting.
Although this demon army posed a great threat, the Alliance was not afraid. Today, most of the elite troops of the New Alliance are gathered in Dun Morogh, along with the local armies of Ironforge and Gnomeregan. With Archimonde not here, no matter how numerous these miscellaneous soldiers are, they cannot truly threaten them!
Therefore, the leaders decided to teach this detachment of demons a lesson—the Alliance decided to take the initiative and meet this army led by Lymon head-on!
Scouts scouted out the marching route of the demon army. Because the team included such behemoths as mana-powered armor suits, they abandoned the northern path, which could have led them more quickly into Dun Morogh but was steep and difficult to navigate, and instead chose the flatter southern path as their route of attack.
The Supreme Command immediately made arrangements—Grand Marshal Garithos of Lordaeron led the Lordaeron Legion, the Stromgarde Legion, and the Ironforge Legion to contain the demon army head-on near the Southern Gate Outpost; at the same time, Kael'thas, Thrall, and Garen led the high elf troops, the orc troops, the Valoran Allied Forces, and the Gilneas Legion, respectively, to quietly lurk from the Northern Gate Path, circle behind the demon army, and launch a surprise attack.
The New Alliance will undertake the main attack mission, and work with the Old Alliance army on the front to attack from both sides, striving to inflict heavy casualties and eliminate, or even annihilate, the demon legion's army.
The Gnomeregan flying corps will be incorporated into the air force to participate in aerial combat and ground support.
Ironforge sent out its most powerful mechanical units, including steam tank units, artillery units, mortar units, and musketeer units, as well as combat robots and large mechanical puppets from Gnomeregan, and a large number of explosives and mines were buried near the planned battlefield. They will be the most important force in resisting the mana-powered armor suits head-on.
Tens of thousands of Old Alliance troops gathered on the open space of the Southern Gate Outpost. The originally spacious place now seemed a bit crowded. All the long-range artillery was aimed at the only tunnel that could enter here from the Southern Gate Path. The demon army was entering here.
The ground trembled slightly. The six- or seven-meter-high tunnel was still a bit too short for the mana-powered armor suits. These mechanical demonic constructs bombarded the walls with their mechanical arms, wantonly expanding the tunnel. As for whether it would be safe after the expansion, that was not something the demons needed to consider.
"They're approaching." Magni Bronzebeard swallowed, feeling slightly nervous. The King of Ironforge had also come to the front line.
When the Scourge struck Lordaeron, he sent his brother to support. When Highlord Mograine entrusted him to forge the Ashbringer, he also entrusted this paladin to make up for his share of killing enemies.
Magni never thought he would have the opportunity to personally go to the battlefield again. Ironforge was too strong to dispel all enemies' covetousness of it. Just like the orcs in the last war, they paid a huge price but failed to conquer this mountain fortress that was integrated with the mountains.
But now, the flames of war had truly spread to Dun Morogh. He had also come to the battlefield in person.
"They're still far away, brother." Muradin seemed nonchalant. "I'll bet you a barrel of beer, those big guys won't show up for at least another quarter of an hour!"
"Deal!" Magni accepted the bet. After joking with his brother, he immediately felt much more relaxed—although he lost the bet due to lack of experience.
Muradin was right. It took almost twenty minutes before they saw the first mana-powered armor suit digging the tunnel. The head of this big guy was a bit stuck by the natural boulder at the tunnel entrance and was struggling to dig. Its engine roared loudly, and with the violent movements, it caused the earth to shake.
"Quick, artillery and tanks, open fire immediately!" Garithos, who commanded the overall situation, ordered loudly. The long-prepared artillery unit immediately opened fire, and a barrage of dense artillery fire poured towards the tunnel entrance. The flames and dust caused by the explosion made it impossible to see the results of the battle. After firing two more rounds of artillery, the artillery unit received the order to stop the shelling.
Not far away in the Gnomeregan mechanical unit, High Tinker Mekkatorque saw a mana-powered armor suit...for the first time. The great tinker Thermaplugg, whom he had sent to participate in the Northern Expedition, told him as soon as he came back that there was a huge mechanical demonic construct in the Burning Legion. Thermaplugg believed that humanoid mechs were the main research direction of gnome technology, rather than other precision machinery.
The invincibility of the mana-powered armor suit gave Thermaplugg's point of view better support. This time, he brought his own "Electrocution Mech", but this mech, which was only five or six meters high, was like a small toy compared to the mana-powered armor suit, making him extremely frustrated.
"High Tinker Mekkatorque, we must capture a few mana-powered armor suits to take back for research! If we crack its structure, our gnomes will definitely be able to enter the ranks of the Alliance's top tier!" Thermaplugg could hardly resist the urge to lead the mechanical unit to rush to the tunnel entrance to confirm the results of the battle. He was even worried that the Alliance's shelling would completely destroy this mana-powered armor suit.
Before the dust and smoke could dissipate, an even stronger tremor came from the tunnel.
Archmage Modera used magic to see through the mist, and she immediately saw the situation inside: the head of the first mana-powered armor suit was a bit deformed by the artillery fire. It seemed to be severely damaged, and the mechanical arm it extended was shaking randomly. Suddenly, a huge force came from behind it, pushing this damaged mana-powered armor suit out. Then, the second mana-powered armor suit also began to squeeze out. It had four mana-powered cannons on its shoulders!
"The second mech is out!" Modera shouted immediately. "Be careful! It has cannons on its shoulders!"
"Quick, open fire!"
"Launch the attack!"
"Hold the line!"
All sorts of orders were issued.
The tunnel entrance had been widened a lot, and the second mana-powered armor suit quickly came out. It rolled agilely out of the ground, and the mana cannons on its shoulders began to charge, the muzzle quickly lit up, and then fired a mana-powered shell, landing towards the Alliance army.
As for the first mana-powered armor suit, the optical sensor in its head was destroyed—just like a person who was blind and deaf, it could not sense the surrounding things at all, and could only rush around like a headless fly.
However, the Southern Gate Outpost was now basically assembled with Alliance troops. At first, it crashed into the wall, and after getting up, it changed direction and began to rush towards the crowd.
The third and fourth mana-powered armor suits and the demon army began to appear. The attack had begun!
On the sky above, the archmages poured mana into the magical devices, activating mana bombs and launching them towards the tunnel entrance.
Flying demons rushed forward, and the helicopter squadron and other air forces began to engage the enemy.
The valiant air force spilled hot blood in the long sky, and the fearless warriors also defended the territory on the ground.
Demon Commander Raimon, wielding a pair of two-handed axes, shouted cruelly, "Charge! All of you charge! Let these mortals who dare to stop us taste the power of the Burning Legion!"
The demons began to charge.
Just as this great battle broke out, the New Alliance's flanking force had already emerged from the North Gate Path and entered Loch Modan. They traveled south to Thelsamar, this once prosperous town now a ruin, the road littered with scars left by the demons' rampage across the land. The earth was polluted, the forests were burning, and everywhere were the rotting, festering corpses of dead animals, some transformed by demonic energy into creatures like demons, rushing to tear and bite at any living thing, filled with a desire for slaughter.
The situation here was almost identical to Quel'Thalas. Kael'thas felt even more hatred for the Burning Legion as he witnessed this. The demons' evil deeds were destroying this world!
At this moment, a messenger came to report, "Reporting, sir! The frontal assault has begun!"
The leaders of the New Alliance, upon hearing this news, immediately ordered, "The entire army, accelerate!"
They were less than two kilometers away from the rearguard demons. The demons' attention was entirely on the frontal battlefield, unaware that their rear was being attacked.
Only a few minutes later, the cavalry and some fast-marching troops had already engaged the rearguard of the demon army. Most of these were semi-intelligent races native to Azeroth. Clearly, the demons didn't trust these guys either, their main purpose in bringing them along was just to fill the ranks.
Grom Hellscream and the Warsong Clan's wolf riders he led charged at the front. He raised Gorehowl high and shouted, "Charge! Charge! Charge! Chop off the heads of all demons!"
He charged towards a panicked kobold and chopped off its dog head with one axe blow. The wolf riders charged into the enemy ranks and began to wreak havoc. The other cavalrymen also caught up and joined the ranks of the pursuit.
The demons supervising these native races in the rear saw that this cavalry force scattered the gnolls and kobolds as soon as it appeared, and they immediately ordered these weaklings to organize a resistance, mercilessly chopping off the heads of those who fled.
"Stop them for me! Quick! Deserters will die!" An abyss demon ran back and forth in the rear, driving these cowards with his subordinates.
The vanguard, being the fastest, arrived first, and the number was not large. The abyss demon immediately shouted, "They are few in number! Counterattack quickly! Eliminate them!"
The demons of the Burning Legion began to counterattack first. The near-collapse situation gradually stabilized.
But just then, smoke and dust billowed from the rear of the Alliance, and the earth trembled slightly. The main force had caught up. Humans, orcs, elves, countless warriors shouted loudly and launched a charge against these demons.
The abyss demon leader was dumbfounded. Where were the few people? It didn't seem to be less than the total number of this army!
The demon giving orders and directing the battle quickly attracted a lot of attention. Ranger-General Sylvanas fired three arrows in a row, all hitting the abyss demon's chest and neck.
The demon leader screamed miserably, but his skin was thick and his body was huge, and the small arrows didn't penetrate deeply.
But soon Grom also set his sights on him. This berserk orc warrior charged up on his wolf, Gorehowl bringing a terrifying whistling sound that tore through the air. The demon leader hurriedly raised his halberd to parry. Although he was huge, Grom's strength was not weak either. The two exchanged blows, only evenly matched.
However, Grom was obviously much more agile. After several encounters, his axe created several deep or shallow wounds on the demon's body, and green blood spurted out from the wounds, causing the demon leader to scream in pain and become extremely embarrassed.
Not far from where the two were fighting, Darius, the Hand of Noxus, had already led his legion to rout the kobold army. Seeing Grom in battle, he raised his bloody great axe, took two steps forward, then jumped high and slammed it down on the abyss demon leader's head.
The demon commander was completely unprepared for the attack from behind. The great axe fell heavily, splitting the demon's head in two amidst Darius's Roar roaring sound.
Grom glared at Darius. He had almost killed this demon just now and didn't need anyone's help at all.
After this powerful demon died, Grom turned his attention to other demons of the same kind. He felt that only such abyss demons were worthy of his serious attention.
Zhao Xin, the Seneschal of Demacia, and Garen, the Might of Demacia, each commanded a force to flank the demon legion from the left and right. The former held a long spear, charging back and forth in the enemy ranks, picking off and stabbing countless enemies to death. Garen also Cut down chopped down many opponents, but their achievements were not as great as Death Knight Broxigar—this guy led a group of death knights similar to him, charging wherever there were many enemies, and wherever Broxigar charged, death was spread.
This surprise attack from the rear was completely unexpected by the demon legion, and they suffered heavy losses, ruthlessly crushed under the iron hooves of the Alliance.
The battle situation here was extremely bad for the demons, and the demon commander Raimon was not having a good time on the frontal battlefield either. Both he and Archimonde had high hopes for the massive mana-powered mechs, believing that these big guys would easily crush any enemy defenses and defeat all resistance. If there were no powerful armor-piercing methods or mastery of the mech's weaknesses, such an idea would of course be correct.
However, Aiden was very clear about the weaknesses of the mana-powered mechs and had enough armor-piercing bullets.
Most of the fragile parts of these huge mechs were hidden in the heavy metal armor, and ordinary armor-piercing bullets were difficult to penetrate. However, their device for capturing enemies—the optical sensor—could not be completely protected.
The optical sensor was equivalent to the eyes and ears of the mana-powered mech, and it was installed in the head of the mech. The first mana-powered mech became like a headless fly precisely because this small device was broken.
Therefore, the staff immediately thought of countermeasures targeting this weakness.