Preparations for War
Faced with Jaina's straightforwardness, Zul'ra readily agreed to her delivery request. Meanwhile, the Kaldorei female guards who had been shooting arrows outside returned and approved of their quality. Tyrande Whisperwind immediately placed an order with Zul'ra. 🌷🍫 😝💗
Two hundred thousand arrows, fifty thousand cans of fruit, sixty thousand boxes of almond cookies, ten thousand frozen chickens, three thousand slices of frozen pork, plus five thousand bags of flour—this was the first batch of weapons and supplies ordered. Zul'ra used pen and paper to calculate the costs for Jaina and Tyrande Whisperwind on the spot.
Arrows cost four Lok each, canned fruit costs eight Lok each, a box of almond cookies costs fifty and sells for thirty Lok, a frozen chicken costs fourteen Lok, a slice of pork costs one hundred and fifty Lok, and a ten-pound bag of flour costs one hundred Lok.
The above is the Horde's currency system. One Lok Horde is equal to ten Mash, and Mash is pegged to Almond Coin, with one Almond Coin equal to two silver coins. If converted this way, Jaina and Tyrande Whisperwind would probably turn against them on the spot, since they are not the troubled Sin'dorei and Lordaeron people. Therefore, Zul'ra interchanged Mash with human copper coins, with one copper coin equal to one Mash.
The final calculation yielded 200,000 arrows, 800 gold coins, and a total of 3,290 pieces of food. This amount of money wasn't much, but Zul'ra made a special request to Jaina: Theramore had to be paid entirely in copper coins, with the Horde receiving 32.9 million copper coins or their equivalent weight, and this payment had to be made as soon as possible.
When faced with Zul'ra's demand for copper coins, Jaina was taken aback, wondering what he needed so much copper for. However, after careful consideration and consulting with the Elves advisor upon his return, she finally agreed to Zul'ra's request and gave him the required amount of copper coins.
After finalizing the orders for food and arrows, Jaina handed over the armor, swords, and spears that her advisor had brought back to Zul'ra. This armor was for human infantry and was not as heavily armored as knight plate armor. It consisted of two breastplates, two shoulder guards, a helmet, and a set of dense brass chainmail.
After discussing the matter, Zul'ra, still somewhat cautious, temporarily adjourned the meeting and summoned the Goblins technician in charge of the steel mill, showing him the armor and weapon designs from Theramore for his opinion.
After some consultation, Zul'ra offered to accept Jaina's orders for a simple steel plate armor set (breastplate and helmet) for three gold coins each, a full set of bronze chainmail for fifteen gold coins each, a steel sword for one gold coin and fifty silver coins each, and a steel spearhead for eighty silver coins each, on the condition that Jaina pay the initial copper coins as soon as possible, otherwise the Horde would not have the materials to make bronze chainmail.
Jaina immediately placed an order for 7,000 sets of simple plate armor, 700 sets of chainmail, 5,000 steel swords, and 1,000 steel spearheads, and promised to deliver a batch of copper coins as soon as possible as materials for making the copper chainmail.
After a series of discussions, weapons, armor, food, and other supplies were all completed, and Jaina and Tyrande Whisperwind breathed a sigh of relief. However, they did not expect that Zul'ra would start placing orders with them in the opposite direction, demanding gauze, cotton cloth, and various herbs.
Jaina and Tyrande Whisperwind were a little confused by the order demand from Zul'ra, but after Zul'ra explained that it was for the Allied Forces' medical reserves, their gazes softened somewhat, as everyone had contributed to this war.
From Tyrande Whisperwind, Zul'ra obtained a large quantity of herbs at a low price, while Jaina promised to give him enough cotton products. These would be used by Witch Doctor and workers to make potions and bandages for the Allied forces' war, representing the Horde's economic contribution.
After making preliminary logistical calculations, Tyrande Whisperwind and Jaina left Orgrimmar separately, each taking a radio and a operator with them, ready for use in communication at any time. Meanwhile, Zul'ra began to formally notify Thrall in the Eastern Kingdoms that the Horde was about to Horde to war, but the Warchief was still unaware of anything.
Thrall quickly replied with a telegram, praising Zul'ra's efforts to lead the Horde in defending the world. He explained his situation: he was currently in Blackrock Mountain, dealing with the remnants of the Old Horde, trying to establish relations with Ironforge, and also taking on the task of saving the world. In short, he couldn't return for the time being, and the Eastern Kingdoms couldn't mobilize their forces either, so this battle was entrusted to him.
The Horde is currently engaged in operations on multiple fronts. In the north, they are still expanding into Northrend, and the troops from the Eastern Kingdoms cannot be recalled. Zul'ra has already prepared himself mentally and has not made too many demands. He has simply focused on urging production and preparations for war. His role for the Horde in this great war is to provide logistical support, develop some weapons to counter the Zerg, and then leave the main force to the Alliance and the Kaldorei!
Ultimately, the Horde's population is too small, which is a headache for Zul'ra. Currently, Gaodier is gathering intelligence on the Alliance for him. The Alliance's population in Theramore alone is approaching 300,000, while Stormwind's population is around 1.2 million. The population of Kul Tiras is currently unknown, but it is definitely no less than 400,000.
Based on the current situation, the total population of several human nations combined definitely exceeds two million. If Lordaeron still existed, this number might even exceed three million, possibly reaching four million.
Even with the advantages of their racial physique, coupled with a series of industrial enhancements and the potential for future alliance members, Zul'ra still felt somewhat uneasy about the huge population gap. To Horde the tribe's safety, they would need to create more obstacles for the Alliance in the future. This War of the Shifting Sands might be an opportunity, and they hoped that the alliance could send more people to the front lines.
While Zul'ra was thinking about how to trap the Alliance, she was also planning how to gain benefits from their opponents in this war. Although they had secured some orders, the Horde also needed to make expenses in this war. The only thing the Horde could gain was that their industrial system would become more mature after being developed.
Economic expenditures aside, the Horde may also suffer casualties this time, so they must find a way to squeeze some money out of the Qiraji. Zul'ra made up his mind and ordered the Kor'kron in Silithus to conduct reconnaissance in the south and look for any available resources, such as gold mines, oil, trees, anything.
After sending the telegram, Zul'ra sent another telegram to Ratchet and Gadgetzan, asking them to prepare a batch of airships to help the Allied Forces transport supplies. The Horde would pay for the transport. The Goblins had already caught wind of this, and Gazlowe rushed over, wanting to ask the Allied Forces for some orders.
The Horde has already Horde all the orders, so there's no room for Ratchet. However, Zul'ra has thrown out a lot of gold and silver to hire a Goblins fighting team from Steamwheedle Cartel. The Horde has a small population, so they need to be generous when it comes to spending money, and Steamwheedle Cartel is more than happy to do so.
Thank you to ErdouDadios for the donation and support. That's all for tonight.