Chapter 19 Chapter Eighteen

"Is everything ready?" "Yes, my lord." Daelin Proudmoore nodded, not taking his eyes off the starboard side. "Very well, listen to my order. When they enter the predetermined position, they will attack immediately." "Of order." The quartermaster saluted and ran to the helm, and rang the big brass bell hanging by the side, followed by two quick and continuous rings.Immediately Proudmoore heard from the flagship the sound of sailors rushing to their assigned posts.He laughed.His crew knew that Proudmoore liked his orders to be carried out.Everyone here is handpicked by him, and his team is so good that his crew will know what to do without any loud shouts.

Proudmoore turned his attention back to the front of the ship, staring at the distant sea and sky.He raised the small copper telescope in his hand again, and looked through it for the small black shadow he had just discovered.Looking at it now, the black shadow has grown a lot, and he can also see that the number has increased, not just a sharp black shadow like before.He was pretty sure the sentry on the lookout would have a better view.It is estimated that after about ten minutes, these black shadows will obviously change into the shape of a ship. Orc ship. To be precise, it is the Horde's fleet.

Proudmoore slammed his fist on the hardwood railing, the only way to vent his excitement.finally!From the beginning of this war, he had been thinking about such an opportunity day and night.When he learned from Turalyon that the Horde was going to Southsea Town, Proudmoore almost jumped up excitedly. After that, when the sentinel confirmed that the Horde's ship had entered the Endless Sea, it was very difficult for him to control himself excitement. The Sentinels also reported to him that the orc fleet had split into two.The first team of orcs sailed into the Endless Sea immediately after reaching South Sea Town, and the second team hurriedly chased after them.They didn't know if it was just a rush to join forces—or if the second orcs were chasing the fleet ahead.Is there a traitor among them?Proudmoore didn't know, and didn't care.It didn't matter where the orcs wanted to go or what they wanted to do, all he cared about was that the orc fleet had turned around and crossed the Great Sea once more, heading back to Lordaeron.

And this sent them to his own hands. Now he could see the ships directly without binoculars.Despite the lack of sails, these ships moved quickly—he had seen orc ships up close and was impressed by the oars on either side, and the speed they needed had to be moved A well-built orc with a very uniform stroke.Of course, such speeds reduce the maneuverability of the ship.But his own ship can easily surround the orc's ship in the middle.He didn't mean to show off.Naval warfare is dangerous work, and Proudmoore intends to sink the Horde's ships as quickly as possible. And now, he waits behind Tidefall Isle, northeast of his beloved Kul Tiras.The entire fleet stood behind, cannons at the ready, waiting for the orcs to row their ships within range.

Here they come. "Fire!" Proudmoore shouted the order as the tenth orc ship passed their position.Before that, they put down the sails and parked quietly between the two islands, and the tribe didn't notice them at all.The target was caught off guard by the first salvo of artillery and was so badly damaged that the ship split in half down the middle and quickly sank. "Hoist the sails and go full speed." This was the second order he gave.When the sails are hoisted, the ship is driven forward by the wind.He knew the gunners were reloading, but the other sailors had their crossbows and some kegs of powder at the ready. "Target the ship next to it." Proudmoore instructed, and the crew nodded.The keg was hurled aboard the ship, and after setting fire to the oil-soaked rags wrapped around the arrowheads, the crossbows fired a salvo at the Horde's ship.One powder keg was detonated, and the flames spread rapidly over the deck, detonating the remaining kegs, and the ship was quickly ablaze, and the planks were burned to pieces in a short time. Clean, then, Proudmoore's ship passed through the orc fleet, turned around and launched another attack from a distance.

Everything was as Proudmoore expected.These orcs are not qualified sailors, they lack knowledge about sailing or naval warfare.They make formidable fighters in hand-to-hand combat, and can be dangerous if approached by them and boarded their side of the ship.However, he has given instructions to his captains to keep a distance from the orc ships.A portion of his ships followed through the Horde fleet and threatened them from afar, while a second squadron continued to dock at Tidefall Isle, from where it attacked.The third fleet advanced at full speed, blocking the orc ships that had just passed.The last fleet sailed south to complete the program.Soon, the Horde will be completely surrounded and attacked from all directions.They had lost three ships, and Proudmoore was unscathed here.He rarely laughed.Soon, there will be no more tribes in this sea area.

At this moment, the sentinel suddenly shouted from above, "Admiral! Something is coming towards us—from the sky!" Proudmoore looked up at the sailor, pale and trembling, pointing north.He pointed his binoculars in that direction, and soon spotted what had caused the sentry to shout.A dark shadow was moving towards them through the clouds.They were too far away to see clearly, but he could see that they were numerous and moving quickly.He didn't know that the Horde had anything that could fly, but a hunch was warning Proudmoore that the battle was far from over. Derek Proudmoore stood beside the helmsman and looked up. "What's that?" he asked the sentinel, but the man suddenly fell down on the watchtower, trembling all over, unable to answer at all.Worried that the man had suffered a sudden illness, Derek hastily grabbed the nearest rope and climbed to the central mast, then grabbed the sling placed here and climbed to the watchtower.

"Gerard?" he asked, staring at the sailor huddled here. "How are you?" Gerard looked up at him with fear in his eyes, but shook his head and hugged him even tighter. "What's going on?" Derek climbed over the edge onto the lookout, squatting beside the sailor.He had known Gerard for several years and trusted him.But now, at this distance, he could see that Gerard was not ill, but frightened, speechless with terror.Derek felt a chill run up his spine at the thought of something that could scare a brave sailor, a veteran of many battles. "Did you see something?" he asked softly.Gerard nodded, closing his eyes tightly, as if by doing so he would erase the thing from his memory. "Where?" At first the sentry shook his head desperately, but finally he pointed to the north with trembling hands.

"You have a good rest." Derek said softly, then he stood up, turned around to see what frightened his crew friend like this - when he saw the scene in front of him, he felt like the sky collapsed. There, swooping down through the clouds, was a dragon, its scales gleaming blood-red in the morning light.Behind him came a second, a third, and more, and now there were at least a dozen of these behemoths in the air, their powerful wings beating as they approached their target. this fleet. Derek could barely make out the pain in the lead dragon's huge golden eyes, or the green-skinned creature riding him.But he's too busy thinking about the impact of these guys joining the fray.Any one of them is bigger, faster and more agile than any ship except a battleship, and it's still an air force!Those huge claws can easily tear apart the hull, or bite off the mast like a twig.He must warn the rest of the fleet - he must warn his father!

Turning around, Derek stretched his body out of the observation deck and shouted to the helmsman below.As he lowered his head, something caught his attention, and he raised it again.The lead dragon was so close that Derek could see the orc on his back laughing, his mouth open.Derek saw a long snakelike tongue lined with sharp triangular teeth as tall as he was.Then he saw a red light glowing from the depths of the dragon's throat.The light burst out, expanded outward, and in an instant, the entire world around him burst apart.He didn't even have time to scream before being engulfed in flames, his body incinerated in the fall.

In this sudden attack, the entire Third Fleet, six ships were destroyed by the dragon, and everyone on board died.Then the dragoons turned their mounts around and charged towards the First Fleet, which stood between the orcs and their freedom. "Damn things, those damn things!" Admiral Proudmoore gripped the railing tightly with both hands, and he felt that either his fingers would be broken or the wood on the railing would be dug out.He witnessed the last scene of the battleship of the Third Fleet sinking into the water, leaving only a few burnt smells on the sea.He knew Derek and the rest of the crew had no chance of survival. But now he must save his grief for later, if he lived that long.He pushed all thoughts of his eldest son to the back of his mind, and Proudmoore was preoccupied with strategies for countering it.Now there is a gap again in the north.The dragons of the sky attacked his fleet, opening a way for the orc ships below to move on.If this continues, those orcs can re-land in Hillsbrad or Southsea Town, and then join the rest of the orc troops.This battle will end in his defeat. He will never accept such an ending. "Turn the boat!" he ordered, gesturing to his helmsman. "I need half our ships to head north and block their way again! The rest stay where they are and attack." The sailor nodded. "But—but the dragons," he began.Although his hand has turned the big rudder in front of him to change the direction of the ship. "They are no different from any other enemy," Proudmoore replied sternly. "We just attack them like those enemy ships." His men nodded and galloped to carry out the orders.The sails that had been retracted during the turn were raised again.The cannon has been reloaded and padded with rocks and other things to raise the firing angle.Crossbows and powder kegs are also ready.When the first dragon noticed them coming, Proudmoore drew his sword and held it aloft, then swung it down hard. "attack!" It was a valiant attempt - but a complete failure.All cannons were dodged by the dragon and fell into the water.The barrel was knocked aside by the dragon's wings, and then completely ignored the rockets fired at it, allowing them to hit its scales.However, this round of crazy attacks made the dragon choose to retreat, which gave Proudmoore time to think about other tactics. Fortunately, the help he needed soon fell from the sky. Just as he considered tying, or at least tripping, the dragon with ropes and chains, a new group of figures descended from the sky.These were noticeably smaller than dragons, perhaps the size of two men, with feathered wings, long tails, and proud beaks.The creatures that ride on the backs of these creatures look very diminutive, they wear strange feathered armor, they are covered with tattoos, and they hold a huge warhammer in their hands. "Wildhammer dwarves, attack!" Kurdran Wildhammer stood on the saddle, threw the storm hammer in his hand, and hit the nearest dragoon's chest hard.Before he could react, the orc fell from his saddle, his ribs shattered, and his weapon and bridle slipped from his lifeless hands, falling with his body into the sea.His dragon growled in shock and rage, a growl that drowned out the receding thunder, but as Scarleigh's razor-sharp claws gripped its belly, the sound became a scream of pain, The sharp claws cut through the scales neatly, and black blood sprayed out.Imhar was beside him, and his griffin tore a chunk of flesh from the dragon's left wing with its beak and claws.Then, Flander flew over from a distance, threw his warhammer, and hit the dragon's head loudly.Its eyes became dizzy, and then it fell, hitting the surface of the water and creating a huge wave, and never surfaced again. Kurdran flew over the largest ship. "We're coming to your aid!" he called to the tall, lanky old man standing on the bridge.The man nodded and greeted with the long sword in his hand. "We'll take care of the animals," Kurdran assured him. "You take those ships." Admiral Proudmoore nodded again, laughing in his favorite way. "Of course, we will finish them without a doubt," he said to the dwarf.Then he turned and walked back to the helmsman. "Go ahead." He ordered. "We split them up as planned, then tightened the ring. I don't want to see a single orc ship escape from here!" The Wildhammer dwarves attacked the dragons frantically, killing some and driving the rest into the distance.Proudmoore's remaining ships also surrounded the orc fleet, and the cannon and gunpowder gave them a huge advantage.Even so, he lost another ship, an Alliance ship that got too close to a sinking Horde ship, and the orcs swarmed over it, killing most of the crew.The dying captain threw the gunpowder barrel into the cabin and blew up his own ship.They had lost the entire Third Fleet, and a few more ships had been torn apart by the dragon.But the orc fleet's losses were far greater than that.Only a handful escaped the siege, and all the remaining ships were sunk in the face of Proudmoore's wrath.As for this group of orcs, very few of them were still swimming desperately in the water, holding on to the floating masts or planks to avoid sinking into the water.The remaining orcs either drowned or were burned to death.Dead bodies were floating everywhere. When the last orc fleet disappeared from view, the remaining dragoons found it was useless to stay here. They steered their mounts and flew east towards Khaz Modan. The Wildhammer dwarves gave a loud cry and chased after them.Proudmoore counted the remaining fleet, feeling strangely tired.They won, but at a terrible price. "My lord," cried a sailor.He stretched his body over the side of the boat and was pointing at something in the water. "What's there?" Proudmoore yelled, walking up to the man.His anger turned to hope when he saw what the sailor was pointing at—someone floating on the water holding on to a broken plank. That's a human being. "Throw him a rope," Proudmoore ordered.The sailor promptly complied. "Search the water for other survivors!" He didn't know why the Third Fleet men could drift so far from where they were sunk, but since one man did it, it meant there might have been others. People can do it. He couldn't stop the glimmer of hope from his mind, that Derek was one of those people. But that glimmer of hope quickly turned to confusion and, ultimately, anger.When the man was finally dragged aboard.He was not wearing the green tunic of Kul Tiras.The drenched cloak of the nearly drowned man belonged to Alterac.There is only one possibility for the people of Perenolde to appear in this endless sea-that is, on the orc fleet. "What are you doing on an orc ship?" Proudmoore demanded, pressing his knee into the man's chest.The man was gasping for air, and his face had turned pale from weakness and inability to breathe. "Say!" "Master Perenolde... sent us." The man said abruptly. "We...take them...on board. He tells...we...provide all...help...that is needed." "Traitor!" Proudmoore drew his dagger and laid it on the man's neck. "Conspiracy with the tribe!? I can dig out your internal organs and throw them into the sea like peeling a fish!" He exerted a little force, and watched a slender red line appear on this man's neck coldly. A sharp dagger can easily cut through his flesh.But after a while, he stood up, took a few steps back, and raised his feet again. "This death is too cheap for you," said Proudmoore, sheathing the dagger. "Keep you alive to prove Perenolde's treachery." He turned to the nearby sailors. "Tie him up and throw him into the punishment room." He suddenly ordered. "Then look for other survivors. As long as we have more evidence, we can hang Perenolde faster." "Yes, my lord." The man saluted, then hurriedly ran to perform the task.It took them about an hour to search the sea thoroughly.Three more survivors were found, all of whom confirmed the first man's account.There are also many living orcs still floating on the sea, but these people let them sink. "Set out for Southshore," Proudmoore ordered to his helmsman as the last of the Alterac traitors were hauled aboard. "We will rendezvous with the Alliance forces and report to them our victory and Alterac's betrayal. Keep your eyes open for any Horde ships that have escaped our siege." Then he turned, toward his cabin walked over.Only by being there can he not have to hide his grief.Also, after that, he needed to write a letter to his wife telling her that they had lost their eldest son.