When Arthas resolved the black dragon hidden danger and resurrected Archbishop Alonsus Faol, the thunderous war drums on Kalimdor's Barrens completely sounded.
A coalition of Tauren, Humans, and Dwarves was blocking the Centaur army on the great plains south of the Barrens.
In fact, engaging the Centaur on the plains was a reluctant measure by Varian and Cairne Bloodhoof, because their ultimate goal was to help the Tauren tribes evacuate the Barrens.
Now that the Tauren tribes had begun their migration, they had to block the Centaur's furious charge to ensure the safety of the rear.
But the cost was that the plains were the most suitable terrain for the Centaur, who were almost entirely cavalry and mounted archers, to exert their strength, which was bound to be a fierce battle.
Baine Bloodhoof, son of Cairne, chieftain of the Bloodhoof Clan, led the Tauren to retreat towards the Mulgore Plains in the northwest.
Once they passed through the valleys and mountain passes, the Centaur would not be able to catch up to them.
Cairne Bloodhoof, along with the most elite warriors and hunters of his clan, joined the front lines against the Centaur.
With the support of the Alliance, they finally got the chance for revenge after suffering long under the oppression and harassment of the Centaur.
The eyes of many Tauren warriors were bloodshot; some of their relatives and friends had died one after another under the Centaur's butcher knives in earlier years, and the entire Tauren race's hatred for the Centaur had reached its peak.
Cairne picked up the Runespear, a legendary weapon passed down through generations of Bloodhoof Clan chieftains.
This legendary weapon was inscribed with ancient texts left by his ancestors, each section a legend and epic left by the Bloodhoof Clan's ancestors.
This Runespear had drunk the blood of countless powerful enemies and witnessed the rise and fall of countless races on the plains.
It was a symbol of the Bloodhoof Clan and a symbol of legend.
Cairne hurled the Runespear, embedding it in the ground before him.
With the revenge and survival of his race at stake, even the wise and steady Cairne felt a burning rage ignite in his chest.
The chieftain roared to his warriors, his highly infectious voice resonating with the powerful heartbeats in every Tauren warrior's chest.
"Warriors of Shu'halo! For decades, we have suffered enough from the brutal aggression of these four-legged savage races; they cruelly took the lives of our relatives, loved ones, and friends."
"We have always pursued peace and nature, avoiding disputes with other races, but that does not mean we can continue to swallow our anger in the face of the Centaur's wanton actions!"
"It's time to let the Centaur see our wrath!"
Under Cairne's inspiring speech, the Tauren warriors erupted with their wrath and courage, choosing to stay and fight to the death against the Centaur army for their relatives, loved ones, and friends.
They had endured long enough; it was time to explode.
"Roar!!!"
Compared to the enraged Tauren, the Alliance side seemed less somber, as they did not bear the life and death of an entire race on their shoulders; they were merely there to help the Tauren through their difficulties.
But Varian and Muradin showed no slack, for they knew the opponents they were about to face were unlike any they had encountered before, meaning their usual strategies and methods would be limited.
Moreover, their understanding of the Centaur was limited to some information provided by Arthas's spies, which would lead to more uncontrollable factors in the situation.
After motivating his soldiers, Cairne lifted the tent flap of the command tent and walked in, bending low, his horns brushing the tent ceiling.
Upon seeing Cairne's appearance, Varian said apologetically, "Sorry, this tent wasn't designed with Tauren physique in mind."
"It's alright, your aid to us is already a great favor."
Cairne placed his hand on his chest and bowed to Varian; the Alliance's assistance came very timely and was undoubtedly a godsend for the Tauren.
"We will help all allies who show us goodwill, and we will repel any enemy who dares to threaten us."
Varian nodded to Cairne; as fellow warriors and leaders, he understood Cairne very well.
Leading a vast clan alone to live on dangerous plains, in Varian's view, Cairne's situation might be even more difficult than his own, after all, after Stormwind's reconstruction, aside from internal conflicts, external threats were relatively not that severe.
But the Tauren were different; besides facing fierce beasts in the Barrens, they also suffered oppression from savage races like the Centaur and Boar People.
Although in terms of individual combat power, the Tauren were much stronger than these two, the Tauren's numbers were a world apart compared to the Centaur and Boar People.
The Boar People occupied a considerable part of the Barrens.
These fellows had everything in their diet, and their unique Thornfen Forest ensured their habitats were largely safe from threats.
The Centaur were even more straightforward; they had no fixed settlements at all, or rather, their settlements were tens of thousands of miles away from the Barrens.
These bloody and cruel invaders, relying on their speed, galloped all the way from the westernmost part of the continent to the Barrens to vent their ugly desires.
The Boar People and Centaur occasionally clashed, but both sides knew they were not to be trifled with, so these fellows' sinister ideas quickly aligned, and they unanimously put their butcher knives to the necks of the Tauren.
This was why the Tauren in the Barrens could only live within a very small range and were still plundered by the Centaur and Boar People.
There was no other way; the Tauren did not always act together.
Whether for hunting or to follow the footsteps of nature, they often camped in small settlements throughout the Barrens.
The unsuspecting Tauren naturally became the best targets for the Centaur and Boar People's attacks.
Although countless tragedies had occurred, the Tauren had become accustomed to gathering into large tribes and moving together, but due to their way of life, there would always be times when they separated for nomadic hunting.
Cairne had long wanted to unite other clans to permanently solve the threats of the Centaur and Boar People.
He had used the reputation of the Bloodhoof Clan to unite many small clans, but he pessimistically found that their manpower and strength were still too weak compared to the Boar People and Centaur.
Not to mention that some clans were reluctant to join the great clan led by Cairne, and some elders and chieftains within the great clan were also dissatisfied with Cairne's conservative policies.
Cairne had nothing to say about this.
Every time he held a meeting with the leaders of other clans, he did not want to bring up this issue: it was not that he wanted to conservatively retreat to a corner of the Barrens, allowing enemies to plunder Tauren villages.
Rather, it was because the disparity in strength between the two sides was too great; one misstep could push the entire Tauren race into an abyss of no return.
Just as Cairne perceived that the internal and external contradictions were about to reach their peak, the Alliance, like a timely aid, sent an alliance treaty, giving all the Tauren new hope.
They intervened in the disputes of Kalimdor's local forces in a way that the Tauren could hardly refuse.
Cairne did not know why the Alliance wanted to get involved in this muddy water, but the genuine help from the Alliance deeply moved Cairne.
That was why he sent his most capable assistant, and the wisest and most steady elder in the clan: Hamuul Runetotem, to the Alliance city for negotiations.
However, what made Cairne uneasy at the time was that he did not know what benefits the Alliance would gain from allying with the Tauren, and he feared that behind the false friendship lay a truly dirty face.
However, a Tauren elder who usually disagreed with Cairne, with a fiery temper and stubborn personality, instead supported Cairne's actions.
Her name was Magatha Grimtotem.
The Grimtotem Clan she led was the most warlike of the Tauren clans, and Magatha herself was a powerful Shaman.
She followed the ancient traditions of the Tauren tribes and had long been frustrated with Cairne's conservative policies.
The arrival of the Alliance made this Shaman foresee something.
She spared no effort to promote the alliance between the Tauren and the Alliance, even though she herself felt that Dwarves and Humans were not favored by the earth mother and the spirits of nature.
But she believed in the enlightenment nature gave her, and she believed that the Alliance was the only one who could pull the Tauren out of a terrible vortex.
Magatha also foresaw that within the Alliance, there was a terrifying yet respectable existence.
Half of him was light and justice, and half was darkness and evil.
Contradictory concepts and energies intertwined within a mortal; this was something Magatha had never anticipated.
—Hotter than justice, yet deeper than evil, his justice was kindness and generosity to allies and people, while his evil was the cruelty that made enemies tremble in fear.
Magatha did not directly tell Cairne about this prophecy, because she feared that Cairne would abandon the alliance with the Alliance and choose other allies instead, in which case Magatha would see no future.
Although she often disagreed with Cairne, Magatha believed that everything she did was for the benefit of the Tauren race.
She affirmed that Cairne was a wise leader, but at times, as a leader, Cairne, due to the burdens on his shoulders, lacked the decisiveness he showed as chieftain of the Bloodhoof Clan.
Cairne might have sensed something; beneath his honest exterior was a shrewd mind.
The Tauren Warchief finally realized that allying with the Alliance might be the key to completely eliminating the Centaur problem.
For this, Magatha unhesitatingly dispatched almost all of the Grimtotem's forces, instructing them to obey Cairne's command and fight the Centaur together.
The change in the "witch" Magatha's attitude surprised Cairne for a moment, but after calming down, Cairne more deeply realized that Magatha and the other clans' actions were a choice to completely entrust the fate of the Tauren into his hands.
"For this, I must do my best; Shu'halo will no longer evade and retreat."
Cairne stroked his long beard on his chin and said in a deep voice to Muradin and Varian, "I am willing to lead my warriors to fight on the front lines."
"I greatly admire and respect your courage, Chieftain Cairne," Varian showed a heartfelt smile, "However, we are not yet at the point where we need to fight so desperately.
A friend of mine told me that before close combat, it's best to try every means to weaken the opponent."
Muradin poked Varian's waist and whispered, "Which friend of yours said that? Sounds very sinister—but I like it."
"Who else could it be?" Varian glared at Muradin, "Are our ammunition preparations sufficient this time?"
The Dwarf patted his chest, "Of course, although it's not easy to transport those big guys to the plains, I believe they can give the Centaur a big 'surprise'!"
After speaking, Muradin said mysteriously, "Moreover, I also brought something else; it's a new weapon that the Gnomes just developed, and they're waiting for me to submit the combat report!"
Varian's expression was a bit strange, "Combat report? —Muradin, are you sure this thing has no hidden dangers?"
Although he didn't understand much about technology, Varian at least knew that while Goblin and Gnome new inventions might differ in many ways, one thing they absolutely had in common was their extreme unreliability.
Moreover, Goblin unreliability usually meant various explosions, but the unreliability of Gnome products... that was completely a matter of metaphysics.
"Don't worry, my Gnome friend said this thing is very stable, the only drawback is that it's quite expensive."
"Alright, suit yourself, but just try not to use those strange gadgets in crowds," Varian no longer dwelled on this issue.
He turned to Cairne and said, "Chieftain Cairne, the Alliance soldiers will first strike the Centaur's vanguard, which should cause some losses to their forces."
"So, if we can break the enemy's formation at the first opportunity, I hope that when the Alliance cavalry launches a surprise attack on the Centaur's flank, you can lead the Tauren warriors to exert pressure on the Centaur from the front."
Cairne thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement, "No problem, as long as I haven't fallen, not a single Centaur will break through our lines."
"Muradin, lead your Dwarf artillery and rifle units to provide indiscriminate suppressive fire on the Centaur.
They rely on charge and speed to gain an advantage, so we must make the path they charge towards our infantry line their grave."
"Artillery teams and rifle teams, stand by!" Muradin put on his helmet and gave Varian a thumbs-up, "But I won't personally command the lads; I want to try if Centaur feel different when smashed."
"Suit yourself, just don't go too deep.
We happen to need more high-strength combat power to suppress the Centaur—pay attention to their spellcasters.
The intelligence Arthas and Chieftain Cairne gave us shows that besides bows and arrows, the Centaur also have spellcasters, and their movement speed is also very fast."
After a series of arrangements, the three discussed all foreseeable problems, and the Centaur vanguard, tracking the Tauren, appeared in the Alliance scout's sight.