Alleria would have liked to send those two hundred gryphon riders to carpet-bomb the orcs, but ammunition was desperately short, so precision bombing was their only option.
Although precision bombing caused far less destruction, their goal was merely to disrupt the orcs' construction work or slow the building of their fortifications.
"An attack of this intensity should be enough!" Unable to wait until noon, Sylvanas rose early and flew toward the orc camp with twenty gryphon riders. Rather than a bombing run, it was really a reconnaissance mission.
At noon, Sylvanas returned with the twenty gryphon riders, bringing detailed information on the terrain of the Quarry and its surroundings, as well as the orcs' basic deployment.
"Behind the Quarry, up in the mountains to the northwest, there's another stretch of level ground in a high mountain valley. The valley is quite large, and a narrow trail leads up to it from behind the Quarry. The terrain is extremely defensible. This valley connects to the valley containing the Quarry, with sheer drops forming a series of terraces."
"The orcs haven't discovered it yet. If we use the gryphon riders to carry some troops up there, hold the entrance to that narrow trail, and attack from above, wiping out these orcs won't be difficult at all.
"By the same token, if the orcs discover it and occupy it first, we'll have a hard time attacking them later. Even if the gryphon riders have enough ammunition, it'll still be tough.
"That's because it's a level plateau halfway up the Impassable Mountains, with quite a few taller peaks on either side. If the orcs station archers on those peaks, our gryphon riders won't dare descend far enough to bomb the main orc force in the valley.
"At that point, the gryphon riders would have