"Please calm down, both of you. These trees are blocking our path. Even without this fire, I would have ordered them to be cut down," Unas said firmly. "Unless you want to stop this war, the disappearance of this forest is inevitable."
There's actually a deeper reason. Unas's main purpose in taking action against the spiders was to occupy large tracts of unpolluted land in the Canyon, then cultivate farmland so that everyone could have enough to eat.
Therefore, many of the forests in the Canyon were destined to be cleared; the fire ignited by Bael'Gar was merely an appetizer.
Neither the Molten Giant nor the Iron Golem is afraid of fire or smoke; with them in the front, fire attacks are the most energy-efficient tactic.
A Druid, undeterred, advised, "We can use magic to transplant the trees, but it will take some time..."
Unas interrupted him directly, saying, "First, you should save your energy; we'll need you to deal with the Purple-robed Person. Second, speed is of the essence; I don't have time to wait."
Knowing they couldn't persuade the human Warden, the two young Druids turned to Oakleaf, who was tending to the mushrooms at the outpost, for help.
Unas sneered; even if Oakleaf arrived, it wouldn't change the tactics he had already decided upon.
The afternoon passed quickly, and the Druids did not return. The worldly-wise Oakleaf knew he could not stop the environmental destruction caused by the war, so he simply chose to ignore it and left the two angry young men to tend to the mushrooms. This saved Unas a lot of trouble.
After a night's rest, the giants had mostly recovered 80-90% of their fighting strength. With everything ready, the entire army set out early the next morning under Unas's orders.
Molten Giants and Iron Golems led the charge, with half of the Dwarves and humans in the middle, and the other half of the Dwarves in the rear.
Unas originally intended to place all the Dwarves at the rear, with reinforcements only for support purposes. However, the Dwarf commander Thunderaan Deeprock, strongly insisted on fighting on the front lines, which aroused considerable suspicion in Unas.
Thunderaan then explained his perilous situation in Blackrock Depths to the Warden and expressed his hope for the protection of the Lord of Holy Light.
Unas did not refuse. This matter was actually easy to resolve. He could simply let the Dwarves stay here and not return to Shadowforge City. If Rendaen asked, he could easily find an excuse to get away with it.
More likely, Rendaen will simply ignore it, and it would be exactly what the new king wants for Thunderaan and the other Dwarves he doesn't trust to never return.
After Unas agreed to shelter the Dwarves, Thunderaan immediately pledged allegiance to the human Paladins. In gratitude, the Dwarf commander, unwilling to fall behind, strongly requested to fight alongside the human army.
Unas then ordered him to lead half of the Dwarves to advance alongside the human army, forming the formation mentioned earlier.
Although the Molten Giants and Iron Golems moved slowly, their crushing force was unstoppable. They had traveled two kilometers without encountering a single enemy, leaving only trampled and charred trees in their wake.
The Giant Spiders nearby were already terrified, and only when they gathered three or four hundred of them did they dare to fight. They all cowered in the mountain pass ahead.
The volley of Thorn Spiders could not damage the hard obsidian and steel plates, and the venom sprayed by the Poison Spiders was like a torrential rain, but it was equally ineffective against opponents made of stone and steel.
The spiders' ranged attacks were completely ineffective; the giants and golems continued their unhurried advance, their overwhelming momentum utterly demoralizing the enemy.
As soon as they got close enough, the giant and the puppet unleashed hundreds of crimson flames and purple lightning bolts, creating a dazzling and spectacular display.
The spiders, however, could not appreciate this beautiful sight. Suddenly, a series of shrill screams erupted as they were instantly burned and electrocuted.
The two sides finally clashed, and the thirty-odd Ironclad Spiders at the forefront formed a solid defensive line for the humans.
However, the giant's stomp and heavy punches could directly shatter the Ironclad Spider's internal organs, rendering its thick "armor" useless, and the spider's defenses were instantly broken.
The Blade Spiders in the back row moved up, their venomous and sharp legs only leaving shallow scratches on the obsidian. The tough webs of the Green-tailed Spiders burned away upon touching the body of the Molten Giant. The webs could only cause minor trouble for the golems, but could not stop their advance at all.
Spiders are, after all, just wild animals. A dozen or so spiders of different sizes had gathered together temporarily, and they didn't have much cohesion. After fifty or sixty spiders died, they finally began to gradually disintegrate.
The opportunity to strike a fatal blow was fleeting, and Unas, who had been watching from the rear for a long time, immediately led five hundred Argent Dawn cavalry in Charge.
Unas swung his whip at high speed, swiftly weaving through the gaps between the puppets and giants, crashing straight into the spider swarm whose fighting spirit had waned, like an indestructible longsword, piercing through the enemy completely.
The mountain pass, which the spiders had been holding firm, was wide open, and the giants rushed out with a thunderous roar. The Dwarves and the Stormwind City army also mobilized, and the entire army quickly pressed forward.
Completely cut in two, the spider swarm was utterly powerless to fight back and immediately began to scatter and flee towards the wide woodland behind the mountain pass.
This was destined to hasten their demise. The Argent Dawn forces were well-equipped and dispersed into multiple arrowheads to pursue them. Unas had previously given orders that driving the spiders away was useless; they had to be completely annihilated.
A raging fire spread across the forest floor. Each soldier carried fire-starting tools, and the spiders were driven from their hiding places by the fire and smoke, whereupon they faced extermination.
The pursuit and annihilation battle continued into the afternoon. Unas led his cavalry in a chase of nearly ten kilometers until there were no traces of the fleeing spiders in front of their horses, at which point they stopped and turned back.
The troops assembled and rested on the high ground outside the mountain pass. According to the battle reports submitted by each team, a total of 274 Giant Spiders were killed in this battle, which is almost four-fifths of the spider swarm in the mountain pass. It can be said to be a perfect victory.
Human and Dwarf casualties were negligible, but the giants and golems, being at the forefront, absorbed the most intense attacks and thus sustained some damage.
Most of the Titans suffered minor injuries, but five or six Titans had not fully recovered and their limbs had split due to excessive force, requiring them to be reattached.
Two of the Iron Golems were lost; the scorching flames spewed by the strongest of the spider swarm Flame Spider, melted the thick steel armor, damaging the core and turning it into two lumps of scrap metal.
Although it hurts, it's still within my tolerance. With this experience, next time I'll just have the puppets avoid the Flame Spiders.
The huge victory filled everyone with joy, and they cheered and celebrated this initial triumph.
Only two Druids looked worried; their composure, which had calmed them down yesterday from planting mushrooms, had returned to its previous state of anxiety.
This battle destroyed countless trees, and this is just the beginning; many more forests will be burned to the ground.