He who so sheds dwarf blood, by dwarf shall his blood be shed !
Troubles in Coldridge Valley
The orders came early in the morning: All recruits are to assemble in the Military Ward, in formation and ready to march out.
Destination : Coldridge Valley.
Recently, the dwarven outposts have reported an increased Troll activity in the area and have sent news to Ironforge about an imminent Troll invasion of lower Kharanos and surrounding regions.
As would be expected, the regular Army of Ironforge was deployed too far from the land - all the way up in the Burning Steppes, trying to keep those Dark Iron Dwarfs at bay.
In their absence, only a couple of Mountaineer divisions were sent to deal with the Trolls in Coldridge Valley.
Late last night, reports came to Ironforge that the 2 divisions of Mountaineers were pinned down by Trolls, which were barricaded in the caves system and were planning an attack on the dwarven divisions, somewhat caught in the middle, surrounded by the caves system.
We were only a handful of recruits to start with :
90 recruits from the Heavy Infantry Division, making their way into battle hardened Warriors
125 recruits from the Infantry Support Division : Paladins, Battle-Medics and Engineers
50 recruits forming up 5 mortar teams from the Artillery Batteries
100 recruits from the Rifles Division
And last but not least, 4 Battle Tanks repaired from the Artillery Batteries, reentered in service after spending a couple of years in the Military Ward showcasing for new recruits.
In all , about 400 recruits, gathered in marching formation in front of the Military Ward.
Heavy Infantry up front with their spiked shields, followed by the Infantry Support, Rifles and, taking care of business from a distance, the Artillery Batteries at the rear.
We set out marching through the Gates of Ironforge, as so many dwarves before us, thousands of Divisions, in the same spirit as them - to defend the dwarven homeland of Dun Morogh and controlled territories.
We were greeted with enthusiasm in Kharanos, taking our last goodbyes and heading off to battle.
Not before long, we reached the Coldridge Pass, linking Dun Morogh to the Valley.
Commander Stonebreaker dismounted and gave the order :
- Rifles Division, form up a patrol and send some scouts ahead in the Pass to check for Trolls. Remember , one shot - to the throat. Don't get greedy, you'll have your share of blood once we reach the Mountaineers Divisions in the Valley !
I was chosen, along with other 4 rifleman to scout ahead and clear any resistance.
As we were making our way through the Pass, the tunnel was getting darker and darker, only the torches lighting up chunks of the trail. In the cold, dark, wet galleries, we heard digging sounds, like miners digging a tunnel.
Approaching carefully, we were surprised to see a dozen Troggs digging a tunnel to make their way secretly in Dun Morogh.
We took cover behind some rocks, rested our rifles on the hard cold rock and signaled the assault. We all fired at the same time, each aiming for his target. With the first volley, 5 Troggs fell, spilling their blood on the floor. After the second volley, another 5 Troggs found their death from dwarven copper bullets.
While we were quickly reloading, 2 remaining Troggs realized they were ambushed and tried to flee, running towards the Pass exit , on the other side of the Valley. If they would have escaped, they would have surely raised the Hordes and send us back with a counter-attack.
Just as they were ready to come out of the Tunnel , 2 bullets swooshed through the air and found their necks. They stumbled and fell to the ground, unable to scream for help.
Apparently all that training in Ironforge has it's uses in real life, who would have known that aiming for the throat serves a specific purpose : to not be able to scream for help.
Once we made sure the Pass was clear, we returned to the main force and reported our first mission success ! We were briefly commended by our Officer and then we made way into the Pass.
Coming through the other side, we arrived to a site hard to imagine, yet alone to describe :
The Anvilmar Outpost was barely holding out, many dwarven camps were ransacked, supplies burned, livestock butchered and not few dwarves, still holding on to their axes, grimed at us from the cold death.
We made our way to Anvilmar and started organizing the Mountaineer's rescue.