690 Chapter 690: Spiked Extortion Letter
After Anduin finished talking about sending the bill, all the Alliance commanders around him couldn't help but smile wryly.
What sort of business was this?
How did it sound like all of us heroes, who had been loyally guarding the Alliance's borders, had suddenly turned into cunning merchants?
Yet, no one objected. In the past two years, Lordaeron had indeed been less than honorable, especially regarding Alterac.
With the facade already torn, Lordaeron brazenly bought and annexed land in Alterac, both officially and unofficially.
The Barov family's lands were 'confiscated' by the 'Alliance.'
But when it came to distributing the confiscated lands, wealthy Lordaeron chose to offer monetary compensation to neighboring countries, pressing down land prices and exerting various political pressures. Eventually, the entire Alterac Mountains practically took Lordaeron's name.
Only Strahnbrad, Chillwind Point, and the Hillsbrad Foothills were nominally under the nobles of the Lordaeron Confederation.
Surprisingly, Duke didn't meddle much in the Alterac Mountains affair, almost acquiescing to Lordaeron's behavior.
Nobody expected retribution to come so swiftly.
Anduin pulled out a letter Duke had written long ago and read aloud.
"The Alliance High Command informs the Kingdom of Lordaeron: The Horde army has emerged from the Dark Portal at four o'clock this morning and is fiercely attacking the Watcher's Keep, manned by the Alliance Southern Legion. The Horde's offensive is fierce; we have counterattacked with heavy artillery, annihilating over five thousand Horde troops in half an hour. To prevent the Horde's million-strong army from breaking through the Keep and then sailing north from the Swamp of Sorrows to land at Hinterlands' lookout cliffs, we request your nation fulfill its duty as the Alliance's leading member by allocating five million gold coins..."
The Alliance commanders chuckled, covering their mouths.
Is this a notification?
It's clearly an extortion letter!
It blatantly tells Lordaeron that we've started fighting here, too far for you to send troops, but you must double the payment. Otherwise, don't blame me for running out of ammo.
Geographically, the Alliance was actually not bluffing. Even if Watcher's Keep fell, there was the newly established Redridge Fortress at Redridge Mountains, manned by King Llane with seventy percent of Stormwind's forces, along with Reginald Windsor's Duke's private army, totaling a hundred and twenty thousand troops.
Would the Horde turn to attack through Deadwind Pass?
Heh! The entire Deadwind Pass is within the striking range of the Karazhan Mage Tower. In terms of magical defense capabilities, Karazhan at this point was on par with the Sunwell, even superior to Dalaran and Silvermoon City.
So, if Watcher's Keep fell, the most likely scenario, as Anduin had just read, was the Horde crossing the sea to strike directly at the Hinterlands.
If so, who would be the ones kneeling? Either Lordaeron or Quel'Thalas!
In fact, when Terenas was woken up in the middle of the night, he was very annoyed. But when he saw the flying orc limbs in the magical mirror, he fell silent for a long time.
Yes!
The Horde had returned.
Looking at the enemy situation attached by Anduin, clearly listing nearly ten top-tier Horde clans, Terenas felt a pain in his stomach.
Knowing full well it was Duke robbing him, Terenas could only hold his nose and accept it.
Of course, the most aggrieved was Duke's reminder: "We will certainly confront the Horde at Watcher's Keep, but please be careful, Lordaeron. According to intelligence from Horde prisoners, the Alliance Command believes that the Warsong clan in Tirisfal Glades and the likely lurking Frostwolf clan (a top-tier clan) in the Alterac Mountains will echo the Horde's offensive."
Upon reading this, Terenas nearly wanted to jump into Lake Lordamere.
Damn it, the Warsong clan had been a headache for two years, and now a top-tier Frostwolf clan appears out of nowhere?
When was this intelligence obtained?
Terenas would never believe this was just received. No doubt, Duke knew it all along but chose to reveal it only when the Horde launched a major attack.
Now, with two top-tier Horde clans in his backyard, even if only half-crippled, once the Horde's main army arrived and they coordinated from inside and out, Lordaeron might as well await its doom.
Was this a frontline extortion letter?
No!
This was an outright outrageous, triple-spiced extortion letter!
Terenas slammed the armrest of his throne three times with all his might, the vibration felt even by the ministers at the foot of the throne stairs.
His confidant, Duke Chalmers, whispered, "We must pay this military expense, and not just the asked amount."
"Right! Issue my decree to pay double directly to the Alliance Command. Use Lordaeron's treasury first, then those who took land in Alterac will share the burden proportionally."
Double meant 10 million gold coins.
Even the seasoned Duke Chalmers winced at the amount, visibly pained.
They didn't believe Duke would abandon the Watcher's Keep, which he had put so much effort into building, but they couldn't take that gamble.
Actually, Duke hadn't asked for much with 10 million gold.
For the sake of technological advancement, the Bronzebeard dwarves, as the main suppliers of raw materials and labor, had indeed gone broke. Without building Watcher's Keep and Redridge Fortress, Stormwind and Khaz Modan would have been the first to kneel. Duke, being a considerate person, wouldn't let Magni suffer losses for staunchly supporting Stormwind.
When Lordaeron agreed to pay 10 million, Duke promptly sent Magni a 500 million gold coins worth, 200-page arms procurement order. As a fulfillment of an ally's duty, Ironforge had previously provided cannons, ammunition, soldiers, and workers for free.
In this order, Duke straightforwardly doubled the price based on the cost price Magni had provided and then added a zero in front for the purchase.
Eventually, it was Magni's generosity, or perhaps guilt from profiting too much, that made him declare with a sweep of his hand, "For the Alliance, let's make it a 50% discount."
On the other side, the Horde was completely unaware of these intriguing maneuvers within the Alliance.
The Horde's vanguard was nearly paralyzed with fear.
Ner'zhul, panic-stricken, wanted to run back but was grabbed by the Death Knight Thalorien Bloodreaver.
"Idiot! Calm down! It's too late! The Dark Portal is open, and we've angered the Alliance. If we go back now, the Alliance will counterattack into our world and kill us all. Completing the mission is what matters now."
"Mission!? Do we still have hope?"
"Yes! Your hope is me!" An abrupt voice interjected, speaking in oddly accented Orcish. Following the voice, Ner'zhul saw a stern-faced human standing among the nearby Death Knights.
