As the capital of the forest trolls, Zul'Aman's location had naturally been chosen with great care.
It stood on high ground, with the sprawling Eastern Mountains at its back.
If the situation became untenable, the city's residents could retreat into the mountains for shelter.
Directly opposite Zul'Aman's gates, the forest trolls had built a broad slope leading into the forest to the west.
A mountain path on the northern side also led up to the high ground.
But that path was narrow and winding, making it difficult for a large army to pass through quickly.
If the high elves gathered in the western forest, the troll leaders in Zul'Aman would mobilize a vast army to meet them.
If they came from the north, it was generally just a harassment raid.
All the trolls needed to do was concentrate their troops and defend the narrow mountain path.
For thousands of years, both sides had followed this pattern.
The high elves had powerful arcane golems, while the forest trolls had their formidable Amani War Bear troops.
The arcane golems were tall and imposing, but the Amani War Bears stood just over four meters tall on their hind legs, not much shorter than the golems.
Some particularly powerful Amani War Bears were even about as tall as the arcane golems.
There were also plenty of Amani War Bears. Gathering a hundred or more at short notice was no problem.
Against these powerful, thick-skinned tanks, the arcane golems really did not have much of an advantage.
The high elves had mages, but the forest trolls had troll witch doctors of their own.
The troll witch doctors' voodoo looked primitive, but at its core lay powerful shadow energy.
Azeroth's higher powers fell into six categories.
Light (holy), void (shadow), life (nature), necromantic (death), order (arcane), and chaos (fel).
Shadow was also a higher power, no weaker than arcane.
Moreover, outside the barrier, the high elf mages' power diminished considerably, and they were not in particularly good condition either.
It was difficult to determine a winner when the two sides clashed with spells.
What truly determined the course of a war was the vast number of ranged troops on both sides.
The forest trolls' ranged troops were a disorderly mix.
They used bows, throwing spears, and throwing axes together.
The high elves' ranged troops, by contrast, all used bows.
In terms of equipment quality, the high elves were certainly superior.
But the art of enchanting weapons was not exclusive to the high elves.
The seemingly primitive and backward forest trolls also had ways to enchant their weapons.
Shadow energy gave their weapons considerable offensive power!
As a result, there was not much difference in the two sides' fighting strength, and one-sided routs were rare.
The forest trolls had long since grown accustomed to wars of attrition.
Following their usual battle practices, they held the mountain path and waited in readiness.
Among the attacking high elf troops, the Windrunners concerned them most.
Those accursed Windrunners always fired arrows from far away, picking off their troops with deadly precision.
Even after discovering that two Windrunners had entered the battlefield, the forest trolls were not particularly alarmed.
The Windrunners could attack from over a thousand meters away, but ordinary troops did not have that kind of range.
They stayed behind cover as much as possible, waiting for the ordinary high elf troops to come within range.
This time, however, those ordinary troops had a new trick.
With over five hundred meters still separating the two sides, the high elves stopped and peered in their direction while holding strange objects.
The troll hunters using Eagle Eye were baffled by the enemy's actions.
The only part of those strange objects they recognized was the scope.
Before they could figure out what the objects did, a row of dazzling flashes blazed across their vision.
The high elf rangers had fired together in perfect coordination.
The New-Style Rifles were not too bad, as their muzzle suppressors kept the flames in check.
But most of the firearms on the battlefield were still old-fashioned, long-barreled muskets.
Their exposed muzzle flashes frightened the troll hunters so badly that they fell to the ground.
Though no bullets had hit them, the immersive vision granted by Eagle Eye still gave them a terrible fright!
Fire could disrupt regeneration, making it the bane of all trolls.
As such, no troll could calmly face those muzzle flashes.
The dazzling flashes had barely faded when many of the trolls crouching behind cover, with part of their bodies still exposed, fell in unison.
Quite a few trolls had their heads blown apart outright.
Those struck in the chest could not regain their fighting strength anytime soon either.
The high elf rangers had practiced for only half a month, yet they had already become proficient with muskets.
These firearms were far more accurate than bows or crossbows. Combined with the rangers' tremendous natural talent for shooting, they could hit almost every shot.
Seeing their astonishing accuracy, Herad clapped and cheered excitedly.
"That was so cool! What a spectacular sight!"
The two Windrunner sisters were stunned as well.
Although Alleria had previously tested a gun on captive trolls.
She had been completely unable to imagine the sight of so many muskets being used in actual combat!
After enduring an exceptionally brutal volley, the troll defenders' morale plummeted.
They all flattened themselves behind cover, hiding from the bullets fired from afar.
Seeing how effective the attack had been, the high elf mages ordered the arcane golems to advance while casting Fireball at the defenders' cover.
The high elf rangers armed with bows approached the mountain path and attacked the troll defenders with arcing shots.
The high elf warriors followed closely behind the arcane golems.
They prepared to approach the position under the protection of these hulking constructs.
What should have been a back-and-forth battle of attrition had turned into a battle of annihilation with the introduction of firearms.
Threatened by the powerful muskets, most trolls dared not show their heads.
The troll warlord commanding the battle watched the arcane golems advance onto the mountain path, momentarily at a loss.
He glanced at the Amani War Bears, which could stand toe-to-toe with the arcane golems.
After weighing his options repeatedly, he sent these assault beasts into battle.
The enormous Amani War Bears wore wooden armor reinforced with magic.
Though the armor's material was poor, its magical reinforcement still allowed it to stop bullets effectively.
Bullets capable of piercing thick steel plates burrowed into the wooden armor, but the Amani War Bears showed no reaction.
Clearly, the bullets were not enough to breach their defenses.
Even the mages' fireballs merely flared once and went out when they struck the wooden armor.
The wooden armor was slightly charred, but the damage was negligible.
Clearly, this crude-looking armor, fashioned from humble wood, also carried an Anti-Magic Shell.
Anti-Magic Shell was a defensive spell that condensed shadow energy into a powerful shield.
It did not grant immunity to magic, but it could absorb a large portion of magical damage.
Naturally, it was extremely useful against mages!
Protection against both physical and magical attacks made these Amani War Bears elite troops.
Seeing them join the battle, the troll defenders, who had been pinned down so thoroughly that they could not raise their heads, felt their morale surge.
But when the excited troll defenders stood up to support the Amani War Bears, the scorching projectiles hurtling toward them from afar brought them back to reality once again.
Rifle bullets traveled faster than sound.
Even the most agile troll rogue could not guarantee that he could dodge a bullet.
The Amani War Bears could withstand bullets with their armor and thick hides.
If the troll defenders dared show their heads, they could forget about keeping them.
The troll warriors wearing wooden helmets would not die from a single shot.
But the holes punched through their wooden helmets robbed them of the courage to charge again.
Standing up meant certain death. Better to wait for the Amani War Bears to pass, then follow them into battle.
Watching from below the high ground, Herad saw over a hundred Amani War Bears enter the fray to salvage the situation, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"Good. You're the elite troops I've been waiting for!"
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