Sir Lothar's expression changed dramatically. "We may have fallen into a trap. The strength and troop numbers the Horde displayed when they attacked Stormwind City were nothing like what we encountered in the Hillsbrad Foothills and the Hinterlands. They must have some other objective."
As Lothar recalled, neither the Horde's powerful spellcasters nor its siege engines had appeared. Back then, Stormwind City had barely held out for half a day before catapults loaded with Sticky Oil battered down its gates.
Compared with the defenders of Aerie Peak, the forces the Horde had sent to attack were limited in variety. Apart from some newly appeared red dragons, there had been few different types of troops.
Perhaps the troops here really were not the main force, but merely a feint to conceal the direction of the orcs' main advance.
"Yes, that is indeed a threat to the Alliance," Khadgar agreed. "But whoever is commanding this Horde, he has certainly done an excellent job. The orcs probably knew we would come to Aerie Peak to help you. He left troops behind to slow us down and obscure our view, while he continued onward with the main force. Now he has put distance between us, and we have lost all intelligence on his movements."
Khadgar had taken part in the raid on Karazhan and knew something of the orc army. Neither the Warchief nor the Shadow Council, the orcs' leaders, had appeared in the Hillsbrad Foothills or the Hinterlands, which meant the orcs must have some other objective.
The Hillsbrad Foothills were where the human Alliance armies were massed, while Lordaeron City and its surroundings were almost impregnable. On the waterways, Admiral Daelin Proudmoore had substantial forces stationed in and around Dalaran, while the land routes ran through the heartlands of the various nations,