The Second War - Battle of Kharanos

The Battle of Kharanos was the first major engagement of the Second War, the Orcs advancing Northward from the ruined kingdoms of men to decimate the snowy lands of Dun Morogh under the harsh command of Doomhammer.


Little is known of the planned strategies of the Orcish Horde for taking Dun Morogh; never had they seen Dwarves before. They knew little of Dwarven tactics, and only in the first stages of the Dun Morogh invasion did Doomhammer realise quite how stubborn the Dwarves would be.

Skirmishes broke out between mountaineers and the first mobs of Orcs in the searing mountains, and before long reports from scouts came through of a large invasion force coming from the South through the mountain passes. At the same time, but less known to the Dwarves; was the advance of the mounted Frostwolf clan from the East, creating a double-front for the Dwarves to hold.

For a week minor engagements had sprung up in the mountainous regions to the South, all the while Doomhammer’s primary force of Bleeding Hollow grunts marched North to eradicate the Dwarves. Numbers are not exact, but it is estimated in the early stages of the Orc advance, the Bleeding Hollow clan’s invasion force numbered nigh on 15,000 – whilst the Dwarves held with a meagre 1,500 readied soldiers. The advantage lay however, with the Dwarves. The Dwarves had the high ground at Kharanos, with aerial support and heavy siege weapons to quell the number of Orcs in the attacking force.

Two days before the battle started, 400 men from the 8th Stormwind Cavalry Regiment, led by Knight Colonel Tiraln Lancer, arrived at Ironforge to aid the defence. The men from the unit were mostly survivors from the First War, those who had escaped from Stormwind or were in Lordaeron when the southern kingdoms fell, and most, if not all, were furious and eager for revenge.

Altogether, the Alliance force numbered at roughly 2000, with a number of heavy siege weapons, and a number of aircraft. Out of the 2000, 400 were mounted soldiers from the 8th Cavalry of Stormwind, 1000 were Dwarven riflemen, and 600 were Dwarven heavily-armoured soldiers.

The day before the battle, the last remaining mountaineers in the South withdrew to the defensive lines at Kharanos. All the mountain outposts had fallen, and so too had the gates to the Searing Gorge in the East. The Dwarves were now completely isolated, it was simply a matter of time.

The Frostwolves attacked from the Eastern pass, eliminating everything in their path. During the night before the battle, they captured and burned alive any Dwarf they found, impaling their charred remains on spikes around the Frostwolf camps.

During the night, Magni Bronzebeard and his closest advisers, a long with Tiraln Lancer of Stormwind, drew up the plans for defence. It was decided that Bronzebeard’s army would hold Kharanos, creating strong defensive lines which he believed would be almost impenetrable. Tiraln Lancer, with aerial support and artillery fire, would ride out and engage the mounted Frostwolves. Although the Frostwolves were believed to be numerically superior (which in fact they were, outnumbering Lancer’s men almost four to one), with heavy cannon fire and bombing it would be ensured that the numbers would be equal by the time Tiraln’s unit had made contact.

There were potential problems with the defensive plans, but it could not be avoided with such short notice. Bronzebeard’s defence covered the Bleeding Hollow advance, and Lancer’s covered the Frostwolf, but if the artillery and bombing was not deadly accurate, the Cavalry ran the risk of being overwhelmed by the wolf riders. If Lancer’s men did not hold, there was no way the Dwarves could hold off a large-scale lightning assault from the mounted Frostwolves as well as the continuous waves of Bleeding Hollow grunts. Kharanos had to hold to ensure the Dwarven civilian population could make it to Ironforge.

At sunrise the next morning, two weeks after the declaration of the Second War, the horns of Doomhammer rang across the Southern mountains. To the East, the war-howls of the Frostwolves could be heard on the wind, and Kharanos was silent.

The battle began as the Bleeding Hollow force charged towards the Southern defensive lines. For half an hour the Orcs attacked in waves, each one repelled with deadly effect by the Dwarven riflemen. Out of the ten waves sent in the first hour, none reached the lines at Kharanos. The snow was stained red with the blood of hundreds of dead Orcs, the air filled with the sent of gunpowder, and before long the artillery began firing on the charging Frostwolves. Lancer’s men readied themselves and after five minutes of heavy siege fire, they rode out to meet the deadly onslaught.

Wave after wave of Bleeding Hollow came, a long with catapult fire from the Orc lines. The Bleeding Hollow Orcs made it into Coldridge Valley, killing everything they came across before returning to the initial attack.

The men of Stormwind rode through the snow of the Gol’Bolar Plains with ferocity never seen before, and never seen again since. These men fought for what they had lost, for what the Orcs had stripped from them six years before, and they had determination to slaughter those responsible. The men matched the aggression of the Frostwolves, and after charging head-on at each other, the two mounted forces clashed like two titans colliding. In the first five minutes of combat the Orcs that had survived the bombardment had lost one hundred of their number, almost a quarter of what remained. Tiraln’s men had suffered only fifteen killed or seriously wounded.

After four hours of continuous fighting, Doomhammer called up the reserves of his horde. More Frostwolves arrived, going through the mountain passes to the South directly below the Cavalry. Lancer and his men could not hold, and so began to retreat to the lines at Kharanos, where the Dwarves on the Eastern hilltops of the town began to pummel the Frostwolves with artillery and heavy rifle fire.

Bleeding Hollow re-enforcements arrived at Kharanos, bolstering the number from 6,000 (out of the 15,000 or so that attacked initially) all the way up to 20,000. After holding out for another hour, and having been in combat for five hours, Magni Bronzebeard ordered the Ironforge defences be prepared: the Dwarves could hold no longer.

Doomhammer ordered all his forces to rush the defensive lines, hoping to overwhelm and crush the Dwarves. In a swift and gigantic charge, the Bleeding Hollow grunts sped up the slopes, completely destroying the initial Kharanos line. This created a void in the iron defence, and the Orcs rushed through before Magni rallied his men and viciously beat back the onslaught. Half the town was now taken by the Orcs, and the horns of Ironforge sounded, the riflemen beginning to retreat and form a new line at the slopes up to the city whilst the cavalry and armoured soldiers held the remainder of Kharanos.

Gradually Magni and his men were beaten back, and they retreated to the newly-made lines. The Orcs came under intense artillery fire as they approached the slopes. Completely exposed and entirely in view of the hilltop guns, hundreds of Orcs were annihilated in a matter of minutes until they got so close to the defensive lines that the shells risked hitting their own men.

Inch by inch the Dwarves lost ground, exhausted and battle-worn. After six hours of battle, the Bleeding Hollow Orcs and remaining Frostwolves had nearly reached the Dwarven city of Ironforge.

Magni Bronzebeard declared Kharanos and Dun Morogh fallen, and so for the safety of his people made the decision to seal the gates to the city, cutting the Dwarves off from the outside world. Magni informed Tiraln Lancer and his men, who were down to a mere 134 from their initial number of 400, that the gates would be sealed, and that they should leave then or choose to remain with the Dwarves in the city. Tiraln chose to leave, and the remaining Cavalry rode through a mountain pass into Loch Modan, which was also under intense attack from the Dragonmaw clan.

After another few hours, with nightfall approaching rapidly, the last few refugees from the various Dwarven territories arrived. Fifty of the most loyal royal guards of Ironforge stepped forward to the Thane, and offered to hold the line whilst the gates were sealed. Reluctantly, but knowing that someone had to do the grim task, Magni agreed, and dressing themselves in the most ornate armour in their possession, the banner of Ironforge held high, the blessed protectors moved to the front of the line. The horns sounded, and the Dwarves fell back through the gates and they were sealed, and the fifty guards engaged and held off the Orcs in a glorious defence. Those few who sacrificed themselves knowingly for the cause of protecting their homes, with no route of escape and no chance of survival, are examples of Dwarves who will be remembered eternally for bravery and determination in the Second War. With the sound of the horns of Ironforge and the gates swinging closed, fifty stood against 17,000 – and they stood their ground on the narrow slope for fifteen minutes until the last man fell.

The aftermath of this battle left Dun Morogh lost to the hands of the Orcs. Loch Modan fell shortly after, the surviving Dwarves falling back to the Wetlands, and then further on to the Thandol Span. The Orcs, although victorious, learnt the hard way the stubbornness of Dwarves; over 9000 Orcs fell by the hand of the defence.

Over 1200 Dwarves fell in the battle, and 266 men of the 8th Cavalry. They will be eternally remembered for their sacrifice, and none shall be forgotten.

We aieen Dwarves, fewn ‘umber bo’ so stout o’ hart, shall nawt e’er fall aninch to ‘ese monsters! Weel stan’ our grun, an’ we wonnae be afraid a’ nout! They com’ere to kill a’er families, a’er friens, bro’ers, sesters, wives, husbands, bo’ will we le’em? No! No, they shall fall by a’er han, by a’er gun, by a’er cannon, the’er sten this snow red, the’er bodies el litter the landscape – an’ so ah se’ le’em com! Le’em com’ tetaste a’er metal! Fer’ Khaz Modan!! – Thane Magni Bronzebeard, as the Bleeding Hollow charge commenced at Kharanos.

The account of this battle has been brought together by veterans, and by other documents. I chose to write it as I believe we should all be educated in history which has so greatly affected us all.

I thank all those who have lent aid to me when I needed it, and as a veteran of the battle myself as part of the 8th Cavalry, I pray for those comrades who fell, man or Dwarf. Light watch over them forever.