In the reception room of Theramore City Hall, Kael'thas sat nervously. He wondered why Jaina had summoned him here instead of to her Mage Tower. ( Aegwynn: I'd rather die. These annoying things!)
He came to hear the opinions of Jaina and her Tactical Advisor, Deren. He wanted to resolve the Troll threat as soon as possible. The war between elves and Troll had raged for thousands of years. Although the elves had the upper hand, the Troll had stubbornly held on and sometimes even managed to kill the elves.
Given his status, he had also heard rumors that high-ranking nobles and even royalty did not advocate the complete extermination of Troll. Instead, they allowed them to remain as a controllable external threat, often used to resolve internal conflicts that could not be resolved. Sometimes he even thought of finding the Bronze Dragon to go back in time and slap those mentally unstable and utterly foolish ancestors three times.
Oh, and his father, the former Sun King, still lives Silvermoon City. If he gets killed by the Troll one day, will he cry and regret not killing all those annoying beasts back then?
Just as he was lost in thought, Deren pushed open the door and came in. "Greetings, Your Majesty Kael'thas. Jaina is not feeling well today. Please speak to me first if you need anything."
"I wish Jaina a speedy recovery. I mainly wanted to speak with you today to get your opinion. I'm preparing to wage war against the Troll and completely eliminate these annoying monsters. You know, Quel'Thalas was only recently restored, and we've been busy restoring order to the country. We haven't had time to deal with the Troll threat, but lately they've become increasingly arrogant, even infiltrating the outskirts of Silvermoon City and slaughtering several solitary elf families in the forest." Kael'thas and Deren were quite familiar with each other, so he immediately started the conversation.
Before Deren could speak, he immediately continued, "I have raised some money that can be used for military expenses. But we elves have been fighting the Troll for thousands of years, and I fear that this time we will return empty-handed again. Not only will it waste money, but it may also lead to heavy casualties, making the country even more critical. Therefore, I must ask Mr. Deren for some good advice."
When Deren heard that the elves were going to fight the Troll, he found it amusing. These two sides had been locked in a love-hate relationship for millennia, and it was truly baffling how they'd managed to fight to a standstill. Finally, during the Blood Elf era, with the help of the player characters, the Troll were completely eradicated. Now, Kael'thas had also made up his mind to send troops to eliminate the Troll threat. Deren considered this good news. The elves had only recently restored their kingdom and were still weak; if the Troll intensified their harassment, they could probably wear the elves down. Taking the initiative now was the best way to combine defense with offense.
After a moment's thought, Deren tentatively said, "If we're talking about the main advantages of the Troll of Quel'Thalas, they have two. One is their forest raids, which are incredibly difficult to defend against. The other is that their stronghold, Zul'Aman, is a formidable underground fortress, hard to conquer. Right?"
Kael'thas nodded hastily, replying, "That's right. These Troll are elusive in the forest, causing heavy losses to our elves. Only the ranger units can hold their own against them, while the mages are frequently ambushed and killed. Zul'Aman's underground caves are complex, and once the Troll suffer setbacks on the ground, they retreat into underground fortifications. We can't do anything about them. And they also occasionally emerge from hidden cave entrances to launch night raids, ultimately forcing us to retreat."
Upon hearing this, Deren couldn't help but recall his own world-famous island warfare. He also knew how to deal with the Troll ' forest raids.
He considered his words for a moment. "I do have a way, but the price might be a bit too high. Can you elves accept that?"
Upon hearing that Deren had a solution, Kael'thas was overjoyed. "We are willing to pay any price to completely eliminate the Troll."
Deren said lazily, "It's really not a big deal. At most, it'll just mean cutting down more trees, spending more time, and spending more money."
Kael'thas, seeing that Deren had circled around without offering a solution, suddenly realized: You can't ask for a favor empty-handed. Having been the king of the elves for so long, who would take a king of only ten thousand men seriously in Theramore? With that thought, he immediately took out a treasure chest from his Space Bag, opened it, and found it filled with various gems and crystals. "I'm so sorry, Advisor Deren, I was so busy talking that I didn't have time to take out the gift for Jaina. These little things are just a token of my appreciation."
"I can't possibly accept this!" Deren said as he rummaged through the treasure chest. He casually picked up a handful of gifts and played with them for a bit before closing the lid and solemnly saying, "The simplest way to deal with Troll forest raids is to cut down the forest. As long as you cut down all the trees in your path, how can the Troll launch a sneak attack?" He thought back to his own world, where they used Orange Potion to destroy forests.
Kael'thas looked at Deren with a "that's all you've got?" expression. "I've thought of that method too, but elves are too inefficient at cutting down trees. Setting them on fire risks burning themselves. And I'm even more afraid of being ambushed while cutting down trees."
Deren smiled slightly, "We can ask the goblins for some lumberjacks. Not only will they be fast at logging, but we can also give them the felled timber as payment, saving us money. I heard Lordaeron is also undergoing reconstruction. There won't be any shortage of timber to sell. Moreover, we can install some Steel Plate on the key parts of the machines to prevent attacks from Troll spears. You just need to send some rangers to protect the lumberjacks."
Kael'thas was stunned by Deren's wild idea. He regretted limiting himself to only considering sending elves to cut down trees. "This is a good idea. We don't have to spend any money ourselves, and we can get the help of goblin lumberjacks to quickly open a road directly to Zul'Aman. But how do we conquer Zul'Aman?"
Deren said, " Zul'Aman is the Troll ' lair. They definitely can't beat you in a ground battle, and once they lose, they'll retreat into underground caves. If you try to enter the caves to wipe them out, you'll suffer heavy losses. But why would you go into the caves to fight them? They rely on the sturdiness of the underground caves to resist you, but you can use the caves to seal them off in return."
"Find all the entrances and exits, throw a Flame Strike into them to clear out any enemy ambushes, then blow up all the entrances. Block all the ventilation shafts. Increase night patrols to prevent sneak attacks. We've already solved our logistical problems by cutting down trees, so we can easily wear them down in Zul'Aman. Oh, and the goblins have poison gas, right? Have them pump it into the caves. See where the gas is coming out and block up any hidden ventilation shafts. I don't believe the Troll can hold out under these conditions."
Kael'thas was stunned. To think that the Troll's cave could be dealt with like this? It sounded like a real chance of success. He immediately jumped up, wanting to rush back to plan the battle. But then he realized it would be impolite to leave like that, so he quickly turned back to thank Deren. Then, he impatiently teleported back.
Deren watched the elven king leave in a sudden burst of excitement and couldn't help but shake his head with a smile. The side door of the reception room opened, and Jaina came out, giving Deren a thumbs up. "How did you come up with such a way to deal with the Troll? Letting the elves lure the goblins in—this is unprecedented." She was too familiar with Kael'thas to say certain things to his face, so she had to feign illness and eavesdrop from the side.
Deren smiled without saying a word. Did he think he was going to tell him that his original world was already outdated?
"Why did you accept his gift? I don't think you're that kind of person," Jaina asked curiously, looking at the treasure chest on the table.
Deren chuckled and said, "He won't feel at ease if I don't accept his gift. If I just casually tell him how to exterminate the Troll, Kael'thas might think my advice is just empty talk. But if I accept his generous gift, he'll naturally place the advice he got for such a large sum of money in an important position in his mind. What do you think?"
Jaina laughed and said, "You really understand people's hearts, no, the minds of elves. Is it the same with me?"
Deren:...
First update.