Chapter 429: The Peril of Lordaeron - Part 2

In the distance, Orgrim Doomhammer, who had witnessed the scene, was ecstatic.

"By the ancestors! Attack that gate!"

The Warchief's voice inspired every orc around him. Those who hadn't participated in the destruction of Alterac roared, the Warchief had promised them a chance for slaughter and destruction. Now, the Warchief was fulfilling his promise.

The orc warriors, as if injected with a stimulant, quickened their pace, transforming their brisk run into a full charge.

Meanwhile, Arthas was in turmoil. Some sharp-eyed archers confirmed to him that the orcs were carrying some pre-made, crude bridges to cross the moat.

This premeditated approach was unlike the orcs he knew. Moreover, those massive wooden bridges were not something humans could carry. Yet, within his sight, only two orcs were carrying such a bridge. Most unimaginably, these orcs were even wearing heavy iron armor.

What terrifying strength!

From the city tower, the orcs looked like ants covering the entire open ground. They quickly crossed this open ground, approaching the city walls. Their numbers were so vast that it shocked Arthas. These brutal beasts, in front of the Lordaeron defenders, slaughtered over two thousand civilians who were still lingering outside the moat like chopping vegetables.

"No—" Some cast hateful glances at the orcs, while others sneakily directed their anger at Prince Arthas.

Arthas was oblivious, for his eyes were filled with orcs.

Now, from the closest point in his vision to the farthest, from the nearby plains and small woods by Lake Lordamere, to the valley split open by the cliffs at the edge of the mountains, he saw a dense mass of orcs.

The dream of waiting for his father to lead the army back first was shattered. The Horde was already there, they filled the valley, surrounding the city. Now, the entire city seemed as precarious as a leaf on a tree in autumn.

In the magical communication mirror, Arthas had personally seen how the orcs treated the conquered Broken Ridge. He didn't want this scene to be replayed here.

The young prince was trying hard!

He initially ordered the ballistae to shoot at the orcs, but the effect was terrible. If it were a neatly lined human army, a ballista could kill more than ten people at once. The scattered charging orcs were clearly the nemesis of these weapons with high single-target damage but no wide-range attack capabilities.

Most of the ballistae didn't hit their targets, which was very discouraging for the already somewhat flustered defenders.

Soon, the orcs entered the range of the archers.

"Loose arrows!"

The hoped-for scene of enemies falling one after another did not occur. These terrifying monsters were wearing thicker iron armor than humans. Just by hearing the clinking sound of arrows bouncing off, Arthas estimated that the armor of these monsters was at least one-third of an inch (8 millimeters) thick.

Arthas suddenly realized: Yes! The military manual written by Alliance Deputy Commander Duke Augustus, and distributed to all high-ranking Alliance officers, had once written this—arrows are meaningless against the robust orcs, only heavy spears can better harm the orcs.

"Spears, where are our spears?" Arthas shouted.

"They were all taken away by His Majesty!" Morley said with a mournful face.

In the midst of hesitation and panic, a large number of orcs had already rushed out of the range of long-range weapons. Thousands of orcs threw crude wooden bridges onto the moat with a bang, and some impatient orcs even began to wade through the river.

Arthas's heart sank like a stone. It was midsummer, and due to the temperature, the water level of Lake Lordamere had dropped. The moat, connected to Lake Lordamere, also had a reduced water level, only about two meters deep. This would be a catastrophe for most humans. But for the large and burly orcs, who often exceeded seven feet (about 2.1 meters) in height, it was a depth they could wade through.

He didn't know why the orcs were so confident to wade into the water directly, but it was clear that the orcs had premeditated this, and they had succeeded.

Either charging across the bridge or using crude shields to protect their heads as they waded through the river, the orcs began to climb the city walls using huge ladders. And because the ladders were generally too heavy and had hooks, the defenders couldn't push these ladders away.

"The gate can't hold!" A scream made Arthas shiver.

Just four orcs had crossed the drawbridge, using massive logs as battering rams to fiercely hammer at the city gate. The magnificent white gate seemed to be on the verge of collapse. If the massive gate wasn't well wrapped in iron, the sheer force alone would be enough to burst the gate open.

From this angle, Arthas couldn't see the whole picture, but hearing the sound of wood splintering and the teeth-grinding sound of metal twisting, Arthas knew that the gate wouldn't hold much longer.

Prince Arthas shook his head frantically, trying to throw these shouts behind him.

He was now in turmoil. More than one orc had climbed onto the city wall not far from the arrow tower where he stood. He immediately realized that if he didn't leave soon, when the nearby city walls were all occupied by orcs, he would only be surrounded and killed in this arrow tower.

Morley obviously also realized this, he waved his hand, and the royal guards rushed down the spiral staircase first to clear the way for Arthas.

The result was quite bad. In just ten seconds, Arthas had already heard at least seven screams of humans before their death.

"Your Highness, hurry!" Morley's voice came from below.

Arthas quickly moved his legs, the metal leg armor made his steps a bit heavy, but he maintained his balance well.

The scene in front of him suddenly brightened, he came out of the narrow stair door of the arrow tower, the terrifying sound of fierce fighting suddenly rushed towards him, this sound was completely different from the high arrow tower that was two or three stories higher than the city wall.

Arthas was momentarily stunned.

A second later, he immediately found that a burly green-skinned orc was swinging a war hammer at him.

His mouth was wide open, revealing his sharp tusks. He was swinging his heavy war hammer.

Arthas had no choice but to swing his sword to parry the orc's hammer.

"Bang!" After a dull sound of metal and wood colliding, the prince was knocked flying, he hit the battlements, seeing stars, and painfully realized that he was not an adult warrior.

Even though he had a more robust physique than his peers and trained himself strictly, his muscles were still not perfect, and his strength had not yet peaked.

"Your Highness!" Morley lunged out like lightning, spearing the orc who was trying to land another blow on Arthas.

Just then, every person in Lordaeron heard the thunderous sound of the city gate collapsing...