Fall of the Horde
Author's Note: This is a fictionalised account of the fall of the Horde faction. I, for one, am sick and tired of the so-called "balance" that Blizzard maintains in Azeroth's Politics and Conflict. Well, here's a different outlook on the War - of what could (and can) happen in Azeroth in this conflict - realistically.
Also do note that I'm not anti-Horde or pro-Alliance. In fact, after this one, I will be writing of the Fall of the Alliance as well.
And to those who are following my previous projects, such as The Chargesheet of Arthas Menethil and Waiting for Nightfall, I apologise, but they are temporarily on hiatus due to an embarrasing case of Writer's Block (=.=). Once I'm finished with this one, I'll resume writing them.
This story is set immediately after the fall of Deathwing. Pandaria is NOT discovered, and no reference will be made of it.
I've made the disclaimers and therefore, I will start.
Oh and one last thing...I don't own World of Warcraft (just as well, for if I did, I'd have deleted Wrynn and Garrosh faster than you can say "Snap" and made Deathwing wear pink armor).
Part I :- The state of Azeroth
Chapter 1
To be fair, no one could have calculated the ramifications of Deathwing's demise. That the Aspect of Death, who had plagued this world for Ten Thousand Years could fall to mere mortals was still a remarkable feat. While none deny it's benefits, it was to change the face of Azeroth forever. And not all of it would be pleasant.
Hitherto, the Alliance and Horde had been in a continuous conflict since the end of the Third War, but it had always been localized and isolated. It was more in the style of Guerrilla Warfare, with small bands of mercenaries (euphemistically termed "Adventurers") striking each others posts, and occasionally raiding the capitals of the factions. And only in times of dire crisis had the factions put aside their differences to face a common enemy.
Now, the last great common enemy, Deathwing, was dead. The Old Gods were sealed away, for no one knew how many millennia. The Burning Legion was in disarray and defeat, stuck forever in Outland. All the Dragon Aspects had surrendered their powers, to an Orc Shaman who would, in all probability, not live for long, considering the weight of the burden he carried, and his age. So who was the common enemy now?
Quite clearly - none. And this afforded the exercising of that age-old concept of politics : There are no Friends or Enemies, There are only Permanent Interests.
However much the leaders in the Alliance and Horde talked about peace, they were no fools. They knew that mutual coexistence was a lie - an impossibility, when one considered the fractious relations they had since the formation of either faction.
And none knew it better than the Warchief of the New Horde, Garrosh Hellscream.
The Mag'Har Orc had always been hot-headed and impetuous. And after Deathwing's demise, a great ambition rose within the Horde. Particularly after the installation of Go'El as the World-Mender. Instantly into the minds of the Horde rushed the myth of Orcish Invincibility - if they could beat the Death Bringer, what had they to fear from the ones he had humbled? They would sweep away all who stood before them.
As such, not one month had passed after the Fall of the Black Aspect when a Conference was called in Thunder Bluff by Hellscream. In this conference, the plans were put forward - to finally decimate and destroy the Alliance, so that the Horde could truly take what they felt was rightfully theirs. The Orcs wanted all of Kalimdor, the Undead wanted all of Old Lordaeron. The Trolls wanted their Ancestral Home of Stranglethorn Vale. Only the Tauren and the Blood Elves had no specific demands - indeed, they were almost averse to the idea of a conflict, but presumably did not speak up for fear of denouncement from the others. The Goblins were primarily there as support for the Orcs, agreeing to whatever they said. As such, it was decided to allocate the Horde forces to accomplish these major objectives, and subsequently destroy the heart of the Alliance - Stormwind. It was on deciding which course to be assaulted first that raised trouble during the Conference.
It is interesting to note the Horde Command structure as such. Most of the Horde was highly diverse, with little or no common factor save for their respect for Thrall and his vision. Each leader had his or her own personal biases, jealousies and hatreds. Vol'Jin hated Garrosh, Lor'Themar despised all Trolls by default and Vol'jin in particular and mistrusted Gallywix, Sylvanas was not on talking terms with Garrosh and Baine. There were other factors as well, none of prime importance, but irritants nonetheless.
This resulted in a Geodesic shape of command, with all holding loyalty only to the Ideal of the Horde (or claiming to) and out of respect for Thrall. As long as there was relative stability, this was no issue, but under strain, cracks came to the fore, which more often than not, threatened the unity of the Horde more than Garrosh would care to admit. And if one wanted to consider the hard core of the Horde, it still was overwhelmingly Orcish or Trollish. The others were still just peripherals to the Horde, important but still nothing more than proxies - such was the reality of the Horde command as it stood at the time.
It was evident that the Undead and the Blood Elves would take the path they considered safest, and it would not necessarily be the path of the Horde. Only the Tauren and Goblin loyalties could be considered rock solid, the Tauren because of their indebtedness to the Orcs for the creation of Thunder Bluff, and the Goblins for salvation during the Cataclysm.
These factors combined to create certain constraints on the shape of the plan, tentatively called The Durotan Offensive. It was to also shape the course of events and eventually lead to an outcome that would stun all of Azeroth. Though this was expected when the Conference was being conducted, none of the leaders could guess the changes it would bring about in the coming months, nor it's implications for them and their people.
The Conference initially decided that the leaders for the Horde Armies would be Lord Varok Saurfang (promoted as such to High Overlord of the Horde) for the fight in Kalimdor, and Ranger-Commander Halduron Brightwing for the Eastern Kingdoms (promoted subsequently to Ranger-General - the very title Sylvanas had held when she lived). A Bilgewater Trade Princess called Mida was appointed for overseeing the logistics side of the Plan, while Sylvanas and her Forsaken Troops were put in reserve.
The last point deserves special attention. The Forsaken resented their role as reservists, and Sylvanas made her distaste very clear. She was heavily rebuked by nearly every leader, citing the poor performance of her soldiers in the Gilneas Conflict, which had caused horrendous casualties for the Horde Navy, in addition to the loss of Southern Silverpine and the unauthorised use of the New Plague in Hillsbrad Foothills. As such, no one was willing to trust the Forsaken Army with a major offensive in the near future, and hence were subordinated to the Blood Elven militaries. Sylvanas raged that it was her troops who solely responsible for the denial of the Alterac and the Arathi regions to the Alliance, and that therefore, she deserved the command more than the Blood Elves. And after several arguments, she eventually did receive the command, having bullied the other leaders into obedience with her tantrums. It was to prove a fatal mistake.
As such, the final outline of the plan was as follows -
1. Primary Objectives were the,
a) Capture of the Lordaeron Continent and containment/destruction of all Alliance forces in the region.
b) Capture and (if possible) destruction of Ironforge and Stormwind.
c) Containment/Destruction of Night Elven armies in Feralas, Ashenvale and Darkshore.
d) Capture and (if possible) destruction of Teldrassil and the Exodar.
2. Secondary Objectives were the,
a) Pacification of Gilneas.
b) Capture and control of Stranglethorn Vale.
c) Capture and control of the Stonetalon Mountain region.
3. Commanders appointed,
a) High Overlord of the Horde Armies Varok Saurfang for the Kalimdor Offensive (hereafter referred to as KO).
b) Banshee Queen Sylvanas Windrunner for the Eastern Kingdoms Expeditionary Forces (hereafter referred to as the EKEF).
c) Trade Princess Mida for logistics for both Offensives.
d) Chieftain Baine Bloodhoof as reserves commander.
The majority of the TKO comprised Orcs and Trolls, while the EKEF comprised mostly Forsaken. There were only a few Blood Elven units, in particular a large Division-sized contingent of Blood Knights under Knight-Lord Bloodvalor and a single Farstriders Division under Ranger-Commander Neriah Dawnchaser. There are many reasons given for this lack of Blood Elven army units and fierce criticism, but it may simply have been because they were unwilling to fight alongside the Horde in full force, the memories of Silvermoon's destruction holding them back considerably from deploying too many of their somewhat meagre forces into a war that promised to be very blood-soaked.
As such, the EKEF was relatively smaller than the KO, though in essentials there was little or no difference in formations deployed. The Frostwolves, in particular, had been deployed in the Eastern Kingdoms for a long time, and were simply attached to the EKEF, though from reports recovered from that time, the decision was hardly congenial for the Clan, whose leader Drek'Thar was in failing health.
However, the lack of Blood Elves was wholly made up for with the presence of the Horde Air Force, which comprised solely of Blood Elves. However, this organisation, recently formed as a result of pressures in Northrend and from battle-hardened fighters from Outland demanding air support, was quite small with just some one thousand fighters overall. They depended primarily on Dragonhawks, and the Wyverns were few in number. Most of the fighters were either Rangers or Mages, or an occasional Warlock. It had little long-range capacity and was inefficient in long drawn-out battles, but was powerful in it's own right. Most were deployed with the EKEF, though a few hundred were sent to Kalimdor.
In all, the Horde Armies comprised some 25 Divisions, with 14 of them in Kalimdor and 11 in the Eastern Kingdoms. Of these, there were just 4 Divisions with any sort of Siege equipment, and three were in the Eastern Kingdoms under the Forsaken. Only one Division, the Third Siege Division under Warcaller Gorlach was present in Kalimdor, the assumption being that there would be little in the way of fortifications to seige in the battles for Kalimdor. This was to be challenged severely in the coming months.
The Horde Navy depended mostly on Forsaken and Orcish ships, the latter being of very poor quality. The Zeppelins were also in use, but the risks involved in operating them precluded extensive deployment, though in subsequent months of the fighting, they would be the mainstay of the Horde Navy until the end of the war.
Such was the state of the Horde just prior to the outbreak of total war. While less powerful in terms of technology, they had the advantage of stronger fighters and logistics. It's effectiveness was to be put to the real test in the battles that followed.