The orc fleet had been crippled by the human fleet, and the human fleet had been scattered by a red dragon.
Orgrim knew, however, that the orcs were the real victors.
They had taken a terrible beating from the human fleet and nearly sunk into the sea to feed the sharks.
But the red dragon that had saved the fleet at that critical moment was precisely the secret weapon the Dragonmaw Clan had sent to solve the problem.
The red dragon had won, so the Horde had not lost.
After all, the human fleet had suffered considerable losses as well.
Gul'dan had created death knights as a secret weapon.
The Dragonmaw Clan had red dragons as its secret weapon.
The Horde still held a tremendous advantage!
Orgrim had no interest in why the red dragons obeyed the Dragonmaw Clan.
He needed to be certain of only one thing: the Dragonmaw Clan would fight for the Horde.
As long as the Dragonmaw Clan remained loyal to the Horde, victory in this war was assured!
The orc fleet returned to the Wetlands to recover, and corpses covered a vast stretch of the coastline.
Caught in cramped cabins as shrapnel shells exploded, the orcs could only be turned into sieves unless they were made of iron.
Their devastating casualties, however, had much to do with their having taken off their armor.
There was little chance of fighting enemies at sea, so few orcs wore their armor throughout the voyage.
Of the fifty thousand troops crossing the sea, nearly ten thousand had been killed or wounded without even getting close to the enemy.
Thinking of that humiliating outcome sent Orgrim's blood pressure soaring.
Fortunately, he was very good at controlling his anger and would not burst a blood vessel from rage.
He made a blunt demand of the elderly warlock beside him, who exuded a sinister aura.
"Zuluhed, speed up the training of your Red Dragon Riders. Try to have them ready to serve the Horde the next time we cross the sea."
Zuluhed was the first warlock to defect to Orgrim, and he was also the chieftain of the Dragonmaw Clan.
Because he was the Dragonmaw Clan's chieftain, Orgrim had given him a chance to surrender.
Orcs were straightforward by nature, with little taste for scheming.
Even evil warlocks were no exception.
Since Orgrim had spared him, he had certainly done him a kindness.
Zuluhed therefore never forgot the debt he owed Orgrim for sparing his life and was willing to give everything for this Warchief.
Even after his clan gained control of powerful red dragons, he still obeyed Orgrim without question.
"Warchief, please wait patiently for half a month. Our clan's finest young warriors will soon be able to ride red dragons into battle for the Horde!"
With a firm answer at last, Orgrim excitedly patted Zuluhed on the shoulder.
"Excellent. Then I'll give you half a month. In half a month, the army will gather here and reclaim the Horde's glory!"
On this side of the sea, the Horde had already set the date for its next departure.
On the other side, however, the Alliance was shrouded in gloom.
The Kul Tiras fleet had lost several warships and a prince in the red dragon's attack.
Fortunately, the red dragon had not attacked the flagship and burned Admiral Daelin, their king, to death.
Otherwise, left leaderless, the Kul Tiras fleet might well have been wiped out at sea that day.
Although the Kul Tiras fleet still had fighting strength, it no longer dared take the initiative.
Despite losing its strongest naval force, the Allied Forces still had to keep fighting.
But whenever they thought of those rulers of the skies inexplicably siding with the orcs, dread set in.
Before battle had even begun, the Allied Forces' leaders had already lost half their nerve.
With virtually invincible defenses and dragonfire that killed whole swaths of soldiers in a single breath, how were they supposed to fight?
An adult red dragon fighting at full strength could annihilate an entire army.
And there was almost no possibility of shooting one down.
But the presence of that word, "almost," meant that the red dragons controlled by the orcs could be shot down.
The red dragons the orcs could control had been forcibly matured with dark magic, starting from their eggs.
A red dragon's centuries-long growth cycle had been forced to completion in ten to fifteen days.
These unnaturally grown red dragons lacked certain substances in their scales, leaving them weaker than true dragon scales.
Otherwise, Herad would not have developed large-caliber anti-aircraft guns to deal with them.
The inferior red dragons ridden by the orcs were the only option for mortals who wanted to experience the thrill of slaying a dragon!
Of course, that was Herad's view as a prophet.
Those who did not know the truth could not help shuddering at the mere mention of red dragons.
While the Alliance's leaders trembled at the name of red dragons, the envoy Herad had sent to the Hinterlands had already found the Wildhammer Dwarves living in seclusion there and was building ties and discussing business with them, while also enticing them to join the Allied Forces.
Ever since the Dwarf Schism War more than three hundred years ago, the Wildhammer Dwarves had lived in seclusion in the heavily forested Hinterlands.
The Hinterlands bordered the Hillsbrad Foothills.
But towering mountains separated them, and the forests were full of trolls, so humans rarely set foot in that region.
After finishing his arms sales in the Hillsbrad Foothills, Jindi flew his helicopter around the general area Herad had indicated and successfully found the secluded Wildhammer Dwarves.
Although the dwarves had split apart in a civil war, each branch remained allied with the gnomes.
The Wildhammer Dwarves were naturally delighted to discover that an ally they had not contacted in a long time had come to visit.
They welcomed Jindi warmly and asked what new engineering gadgets had appeared.
Cut off from mainstream society for more than three hundred years, the Wildhammer Dwarves had made almost no technological progress.
At most, they had advanced from matchlocks to flintlocks.
Looking at all those novel technological creations, the Wildhammer Dwarves could hardly wait to upgrade their equipment!
Jindi had come precisely to cultivate new customers.
He first set them up with a full range of samples.
Then he drew up a detailed purchasing list based on their specific needs.
As Falstad, king of the Wildhammer Dwarves, fiddled with a radio, he "happened" to tune in to a broadcast reporting that Ironforge was under siege by orcs.
He learned that a band of green-skinned orcs who had appeared from who knew where were wreaking havoc across the continent and had even attacked Ironforge.
The hot-tempered Falstad immediately burned with rage.
Although the Wildhammer Dwarves had failed to seize Ironforge and had been forced to travel far away to start anew, that did not change how they felt.
Ironforge would always be the holy city in their hearts.
The orcs who had appeared out of nowhere immediately earned a place on Falstad's Kill List.
Falstad was an old dwarf who had survived the civil war more than three hundred years ago.
Even after all those long years, his volatile temper had barely mellowed.
Growing angrier the more he thought about it, Falstad slammed the table and rose furiously to his feet.
"Aaargh! Those damned greenskins dared attack Ironforge! I'll only be satisfied when we've smashed them into pulp!"
Jindi, who was recording the order details, was so startled by Falstad's sudden outburst that he jumped to his feet.
Wanting to smash an enemy into pulp at the slightest provocation-wasn't that a little too barbaric?
But the Wildhammer Dwarves' name had never been just for show.
Their favorite pastime was smashing their enemies to pieces with warhammers.
Having offended these violent maniacs, the orcs could hardly expect a peaceful resolution.
After venting his anger, Falstad soon calmed down.
He began to consider more meaningful matters.
"Those green-skinned orcs are still heading north. Could they be planning to attack us here?"
At Falstad's words, Jindi nodded firmly.
"Yes. The humans are already assembling the Allied Forces to resist them."
"Then we should join the Allied Forces and fight the orcs too. Hmm, that's definitely a fine idea!"
His mind made up, Falstad hurriedly began mobilizing for war.
The Wildhammer Dwarves had not been idle in the Hinterlands; they frequently fought the forest trolls.
They had plenty of combat experience and could field a force for war at any time.
Before you continue