Gilnean Liberation Front Coalition Forces (7th Legion)

Date of Foundation: October 17th.

The Gilneas Liberation Front did not ask for aid due to national pride; but it was no matter of dispute that they were in desperate need of it. The Forsaken offensive had pushed directly into Gilneas, largely due to the over-extension of Liberation Forces. It is not to say that the ambushes were unsuccessful, but with over half of the forces caught sabotaging various forsaken machinery and troops in Silverpine, it was all too easy for the South of Silverpine to discount the Forsaken in the North and launch a moderately sized offensive into the South. The Worgen in the North began being whittled down, too. They were deep in the territory of their enemies, and had no manner of finding reinforcements or contacting those in the South.

The moderate offensive push was all it took to break the Liberation Front’s ranks in Gilneas itself, despite their superior ability in most direct combat. They lost a fair bit of their men, or rather, undead men, but once they were set in their positions they could exploit their very real advantages against the Gilnean Liberation Front. And that’s namely: their superior equipment, the plague, and superiority in all aspects of war besides Guerilla tactics and direct fighting upon battlefields.

It was clear that there was a very real lack of organization in the Gilnean Liberation Front, and with the other various dispersed orders fighting for Gilneas simultaneously. The Forsaken did not easily march towards the city while set in the Northernmost regions of Gilneas. The forces of the Liberation Front may not have been organized, but that did not make the guerrilla attacks any less powerful.

The Forsaken picked up their pace during the day, but the siege weaponry slowed them down and allowed time for the Liberation Front to land repeated attacks at the Forsaken. Still, they were not attacks to win a battle but to win a war; and the war might very well not be fought if the Forsaken took the city. They were slowed but not stopped, and the inevitability of them reaching the city was known to each Gilnean.

It was when the forsake attacks were on the very verge of reaching the city, that the entire Seventh Legion Front arrived. It was of course, a truly terrifying sight for the forsaken; especially after expending so many resources upon this very campaign. The Seventh Legion Front instantly began on the work of organizing the Liberation Front. They called to mass in the city, and the combined numbers of the Seventh Legion front provided some needed morale for the Gilnean soldiers.

With futility the Forsaken attempted to siege the city, but their already beleaguered forces had little chance of breaking into the city at this point. A massive counter-attack was launched thereafter. Which wiped the remaining forsaken forces off of Gilneas itself. With the successful attack, an actual organization was created to solidify the alliance between the Legion and the Front, as well as several other orders such as the bloodfang pack.

It was created in Gilneas City itself, while the other forces were occupied in the drive northwards. It effectively merged several orders into a single force for the time being, and provided arms and equipment to the various Gilnean orders. For now, there were 5 combined orders in the Co-alition forces:

-Seventh Legion of Stormwind. -Gilneas Liberation Front. -Bloodfang Pack. -The Gilnean Legion. -Hillsbrad Legion.

The five groups did not stop with the counter-attack, they moved into Silverpine itself. Both of the forces were now composed of large numbers, and were powerful, versatile, and highly organized. A series of brutal battles were fought, with taxed both heavily. Despite the Forsaken’s massive armies and reanimation techniques, they were genuinely threatened to the point that forsaken forces began withdrawing from Arathor and Lordaeron. Ultimately the Forsaken won the series of battles after Crowley surrendered the campaign to save his daughter. Nonetheless, as the Gilnean forces withdrew back into their country, they knew full well that they seriously damaged the Forsaken War machine.

The Gilnean Liberation Front, the largest of all the alliance forces number-wise, was experiencing inner bickering though, after what was perceived as Crowley’s cowardice. There was no physical fighting amongst them, but for some time men refused to listen to Crowley’s commands, rendering them unable to fight. So it fell to the 7th Legion along with the other small forces to decide upon the future of the war.

They resolved that they would first destroy the last remnants of the Forsaken upon Gilneas itself: And there were more than they had expected. Nonetheless, they were small, isolated encampments, and the forsaken were weak in direct fighting. It was not quick, due to the time it took to find the encampments themselves. But once they were found, the forsaken were easily overwhelmed by the various squadrons. Growing more confident, they split into four different groups spread across Northern Gilneas to eradicate the various Forsaken camps left.

<span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">It turned out to be far too audacious. The Forsaken caught wind of it, and they quickly assembled their forces to launch a frontal attack upon Gilneas. Normally, this would be immensely difficult, but with the Legion being split up and the Liberation Front still smarting, they were able to take the entirety of the Northgate Woods in a matter of days, and then push into both the Northern Headlands and emberstone to secure their flanks. Instead of fighting back, the seventh legion was ordered to flee.

<span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">The Gilnean Liberation Front soon joined the battle once again, but the Seventh Legion hesitated in counter-attacking the forsaken. They knew that they were safest within the heavily fortified city, and many of the soldiers were in desperate need of healing as well as time for recuperation after the Forsaken push. The Forsaken chose not to directly attack the city either, fearing for the battle to end as it did last.

<span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">So the Forsaken amassed their forces, armies traveling down from Silverpine at unnaturally fast paces to reach the Northgate Woods in a mere matter of days. The Seventh Legion desperately sent more men to the forts they had built north of the city, in hopes of holding the Forsaken back until more reinforcements from Stormwind arrived, or until some manner of a plan was formulated.

<span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">For the soldiers traveling to the forts just south of the Northgate woods, this was a suicide mission. Nonetheless, the Seventh Legion was the best of the best, most were ready to give their lives. In the city itself, plans were hotly debated, some argued fleeing before the massive army, and others wished to try an offensive against one of the Forsaken’s flanks. It was a young Gilnean engineer by the name of John Hartford who would decide upon the plan.

<span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">He spoke of the industrial capacity of Gilneas city. Much of the machinery was not completely broken; it had the ability to be salvaged. The plethora of factories could be transformed into machines that churned out anti-siege weaponry. The technology of Gilneas proved to be far superior to that of Stormwind, many of the metals extremely hardy and durable. The Seventh Legion was taught how to operate the factories, and in due haste they began creating Gilnean Demolishers, the likes of which the Forsaken had never seen before. <span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">They were armed with weaponry that was foreign to most of those of the Seventh Legion, but they soon grew accustomed to it. They had to, after all. The Forts eventually fell as expected, but not without heroic efforts from those of the Seventh Legion.

<span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">It was a loss to the numbers of the Legion, but in ensured the time needed to produce dozens upon dozens of the demolishers. They found hidden caches of rebel weapons, as well as a plethora of other metals they could use in the factories to build the energy-guzzling machinations.

<span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">There were a fair bit of fortifications around the city itself, and the Forsaken army was delayed for as long as it possibly could be before the siege began. The forsaken did not know that the city was currently in the business of creating weapons, and expected to engage with what limited anti-siege machines that the Seventh Legion had brought over the see. Thus as they first began raining chaos upon the city, they found that the return of fire was far greater than they had ever expected.

<span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">The Seventh Legion moved the metallic behemoths outwards of the city, positioning them in tactical spots. The Forsaken were ordered to destroy the siege weaponry, to go forth and lay fire on it. They found that each time they moved towards the weaponry, the Gilnean Liberation Front ambushed and held them back from it. Despite the size of the Forsaken army, each individual soldier was far weaker than an elite fighter of the Seventh Legion or a beast such as a Worgen, so they did not risk any manner of direct frontal attack.

<span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">The Forsaken hoped to win by some manner of attrition, and they began to slowly encircle the city. The salvageable materials were not infinite, and although most of the Forsaken’s siege weaponry was destroyed, the actual army was not. The Co-alition forces did not risk attempting to send any regiments of soldiers to fight the forsaken, either. It was far too dangerous, and they had a great chance to be overwhelmed by their sheer numbers.

<span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">Starving them, the forsaken considered, would be quite easy. They had no need for food, no need for water, and could easily block of any supplies from getting into the city with the size of their army. It was upon a later date, that the Seventh Legion was saved by perhaps what could be considered sheer luck. A small but fervent group of fighters whom had so far refused to work with those from Stormwind, named the “Bane of the dead” led what could only be considered a –brash- attack into the Forsaken’s flanks. They were easily outnumbered, but they were not easily defeated. Little of the men had any care for their own self-preservation.

<span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">The co-alition forces quickly decided to exploit the situation by sending several regiments of those of the Liberation Front to strike the Forsaken from behind while they were occupied. The attack was a resounding success, and the Legion finally achieved something of a hold upon the land just west of the city. The Forsaken soon attempted to retake it, but the demolishers were quickly sent to defend it. Legions of Forsaken were mowed down by the demolishers. The Forsaken in the East took the opportunity to attack the city while it did not have the demolishers.

<span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">It was still held though, and had regular patrols of soldiers. The Forsaken in the East ended up suffering a resounding defeat as well, and the Liberation Front and Seventh Legion pushed steadily towards the force in the North with the aid of the demolishers, while the three other organizations in the co-alition held of those in the South as they pounded away at the city.

<span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">Soon the remaining forsaken forces fled upwards, back into Silverpine itself. The Southern force was surrounded and completely demolished. The Forsaken, although smarting from the assault, had recently won victories in both Arathor and northern Lordaeron. More Legions came, but they did not attack Gilneas. They fortified huge forts in the southernmost parts of Silverpine, which loomed above the wall itself.

<span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">The co-alition forces did not dare attack the Forsaken, despite being the largest fighting alliance army in all of the Eastern Kingdoms. Instead they too built their fortifications, calling in money from Stormwind to do so. Many of the Lord’s in Stormwind began to protest the excessive tax rates required to levy the money. Nonetheless, they obliged without rebellion as the money went off to sending steel and other metals to fortify Forts along the Northgate Woods.

<span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">The line of Forts, of which there are about one dozen, became known as “Liam’s Line.” Its intent was to stop the Forsaken from launching any other attack upon the city again. Of course, they could not leave Gilneas, not with the Forsaken so near in Silverpine, seeming to have the ability to launch powerful offensives at any moment. So the Co-alition forces bided their time. They finally convinced the nationalistic group to join the Co-alition, thus making six groups officially part of the co-alition itself.

<span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">There were frequent skirmishes in the Northern-most parts of the Northgate woods, but it was no longer a complete war, but the thread of it erupting once again was ever-present. The co-alition forces became known as one of the most powerful forces that the alliance has ever assembled, and eventually elected a representative and achieved a very real administration to manage finances, politics, and possible alliances. Pooling their resources, the Legion published an official document to the leaders of the alliance military regarding numbers, assets, and resources.

<u style="margin:0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">Statistics

<span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">Total personnel in the co-alition forces: 17,000 peoples. <span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">Fighters in the Co-alition forces: 16,500 peoples. <span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">Seventh Legion fighters: 5,500 peoples. <span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">Gilnean Liberation Front Fighters: 7,000 peoples. <span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">Bloodfang pack fighters: 2,000 peoples. <span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">Hillsbrad Worgen fighters: 800 peoples <span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">The Gilnean Legion fighters: 500 fighters. <span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">Bane of the Dead fighters: 700 fighters.

<span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">Firearms possessed: 8,500 firearms. <span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">Gilnean Demolishers: 250 demolishers, more in production. <span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">Siege Tanks: 125 Gnomish Siege Tanks possessed. <span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">Gilnean Cannons: 225 Gilnean Cannons possessed, more in production. <span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">Gnome and dwarf produced cannons: 200 possessed, more coming by boat. <span style="color:rgb(194,157,109);font-family:Arial;line-height:18px;">Territory secured: All of Gilneas except Northern Northgate, which is in conflict.