A Man's Romance

Azeroth was, at its core, still a fantasy continent. As long as someone was powerful enough, they could change the entire course of a battle. Rend knew he lacked both that strength and that talent, but in wars between mortals, he could employ many methods that had been impossible to realize in his homeland.

Take kodo beast cavalry, for example. Compared to the cavalry of his homeland—even elephant cavalry—they possessed greater carrying capacity, impact force, and endurance. This was the true choice for heavy cavalry. What limited heavy cavalry? Nothing more than warhorses being unable to bear too much weight or sustain combat for long. Kodo beast cavalry were like rhinoceros cavalry from his homeland, only with even greater endurance.

Rend analyzed the mounts of the major races and their advantages.

Human warhorses were enhanced versions of the warhorses from his homeland: gentle and loyal, well-rounded in every regard, with no obvious weaknesses.

Orc wolf riders possessed considerable combat ability and great speed, and they could move through forested terrain like fish in water. However, their carrying capacity was average. They were suited only for light cavalry, not heavy cavalry.

Dwarven ram cavalry had excellent endurance and carrying capacity, making them a fine choice for heavy cavalry. Their speed, however, left much to be desired. Yet they possessed the traits of goats and could ignore much terrain, treating slopes as level ground. They could be called kings of the mountains.

Tauren kodo beast cavalry were true weapons of destruction on the plains—heavy cavalry for open terrain. Their carrying capacity, endurance, and impact force were all exceptional. Their flaw was that few races besides the Tauren could earn their favor.

Gnomish mechanostriders did not count as cavalry. They were merely means of transportation. But the Gnomes had technology—tanks, aircraft, robots, and all manner of black technology—so they were difficult to evaluate.

Troll raptor cavalry were practically invincible in jungles and swamps, because raptors could treat such places as level ground and appear and vanish unpredictably. Their flaw was equally obvious: raptors had the worst carrying capacity, even inferior to Orc dire wolves. The Amani war bears were quite good, but the Darkspear mainly used raptor cavalry. Still, raptor cavalry were incredibly fast and the best choice for scouts.

Night Elf nightsabers were cut from the same cloth as Orc dire wolves. One was light, the other dark; both were kingly cavalry in forests and capable of assisting in battle.

Forsaken skeletal cavalry had one greatest advantage: skeletal warhorses ignored fatigue. They were practically perpetual-motion machines. They basically inherited the talents of human warhorses, but with undead bodies, they simply ignored exhaustion, their endurance maxed out. In exchange, their carrying capacity and defense had declined greatly in their undead state. Still, Rend recalled a marvelous trick. He would prepare a grand gift for the Alliance someday.

Goblins and Worgen—Goblins were basically the same as Gnomes. Worgen had once relied on warhorses, but later gained the ability to shift forms themselves. They were excellent at ambushes, but on the plains, in a true head-on battlefield clash, they could not replace cavalry at all.

Draenei elekks were super-heavy cavalry capable of contending with kodo beasts. If kodo beasts represented rhinoceroses in this world, then elekks represented elephants. Their carrying capacity and impact force were nightmares for their enemies. But they had a fatal weakness. After Draenor became Outland, elekks had basically gone extinct there. Draenor could only allow the elekks they had already tamed to reproduce on their own and maintain their numbers, so there were simply too few of them to form a proper cavalry force. If their casualties became too severe, the Draenei would have no way to recover, unlike other races that could capture wild mounts and train them without concern.

As for the Blood Elves and their mechanostriders, it was not that Rend looked down on them. The Blood Elves chose them mainly because they suited each other, without paying much attention to their battlefield capability. Fortunately, the Blood Elves had Quel'Thalas warhorses. These magically enhanced warhorses possessed unicorn-like horns that could wound enemies during a charge. Enhanced by magic, Quel'Thalas warhorses surpassed ordinary warhorses in carrying capacity, endurance, impact force, and speed, and their numbers were not small. But what the Blood Elves lacked was not warhorses, but riders. There were too few Blood Elf cavalrymen. Aside from the kingdom's former standing army, the Blood Elves' newly recruited troops were simply unfamiliar with warhorses, having already grown accustomed to mechanostriders, flying carpets, and dragonhawks. Yet the Blood Elves' main standing forces had suffered devastating losses during the Scourge invasion. Later, the prince had taken nearly all the main legions to Outland. By the time they returned, there were far too few soldiers left in forces such as the Sunfury under Lor'themar. What the Blood Elves had always lacked was population and military numbers.

Pandaren had turtle mounts. First, consider their numbers: Shen-zin Su's back could hold, at most, several hundred thousand Pandaren. The two groups of Pandaren who had joined the Alliance and Horde numbered only tens of thousands at most. Although every one of them was a warrior and their monks were incredibly powerful, they could not form a standing cavalry force. The Pandaren temperament also made it impossible for them to adopt the style of cavalry. Still, turtles truly could operate on both land and water, carrying people and supplies across lakes and rivers, so they had their special uses.

Overall, on the Horde side: Orc wolf riders were better suited to light cavalry; Troll raptor cavalry made the best scouts, with jungles as their home ground; Tauren kodo beast cavalry were heavy cavalry, dominant on the plains; Forsaken skeletal cavalry could serve as either light or heavy cavalry, with their limitless stamina as their greatest strength; Blood Elf cavalry were powerful, but limited by their numbers.

On the Alliance side: human warhorse cavalry were numerous and without weaknesses, capable of serving as either light or heavy cavalry; Dwarven ram cavalry were heavy cavalry suited to mountain and special-terrain warfare; Night Elf nightsaber huntresses had long been renowned; Draenei elekks were constrained by their numbers, or else they too would be exceptionally powerful heavy cavalry.

A man's romance was cavalry: sealing the Wolf Mountain and holding the Jiuxu, advancing a thousand miles north. Even with Goblin and Gnomish black technology having already produced hot weapons like tanks, they still could not replace the role of cavalry.

What Rend wanted most was to form a kingly Horde cavalry force. But compared with that, he was still a novice. The true master of cavalry was Grommash Hellscream. This powerful warrior led the Warsong wolf riders through countless southern and northern campaigns, conquering every foe and winning every battle. Even after the Second War was lost, the Alliance had never captured the Warsong Clan. This showed how rich Grommash's experience in mobile warfare was. And with him as their spearhead, the Warsong cavalry were at their most terrifying the moment Grommash charged forward with Gorehowl raised high. Grommash was the soul of the Warsong cavalry, even the soul of all Warsong. With Grommash as their banner, Warsong would be your most terrifying enemy. Whether Grommash lived or died, the Warsong Clan had never possessed a true leader; they lacked that soul, that banner. Only when Garrosh inherited his father's legacy did the Warsong Clan once again make the continent recognize its terror.