Accompanying the massive casualties were also abundant spoils of war. The Alliance suffered nearly 30,000 deaths in this battle, but in exchange, the Burning Steppes were littered with over 50,000 corpses of Orcish laborers and warriors combined.
Aside from the Firebrand Clan, the Warsong Clan, and the Bleeding Hollow Clan, no other Orcs escaped the Alliance's encirclement. Stromgarde captured the chieftain of the Thunderlord Clan, and Uther and Gavinrad jointly annihilated the infamous Death Knight Order.
The chieftains of some smaller clans also failed to escape, and were captured by various armies to serve as war trophies.
After a simple physical bone setting and Holy Light healing, Lothar's left arm was bandaged and treated with life potions specially supplied by Galen.
Once his body and mind were soothed, Lothar moved the command headquarters to Lakeshire in Redridge Mountains.
The Burning Steppes was truly not a good place. The surface temperature remained consistently around fifty degrees Celsius, with high temperatures and a lack of water.
If it weren't for Galen frequently summoning water elementals for drinking water, the fresh water transported from Lake Lork in the north would not have been nearly enough. Every day in the Burning Steppes was a 'fiery' ordeal for the Alliance soldiers.
The logistics pressure on the Alliance's hundreds of thousands of troops was immense. Moreover, now that the north-south Orcish blockade had been broken, with Liam's tens of thousands of troops and Kul Tiras's fleet in the south, the nobles in the rear of Lordaeron, upon receiving intelligence that the Horde's main force had been eliminated, clamored for their private armies to be recalled due to a shortage of young labor for farming.
Terenas couldn't withstand the pressure from the nobles. In the end, Lordaeron's army only left the Tirisfal Brigade on the front lines, with the remaining troops all withdrawing north to their hometowns for rest and reorganization.
To Lothar's relief, Stromgarde continued to support the restoration of the Kingdom of Stormwind as always, and five legions remained steadfastly by Lothar's side.
The army continued to advance south.
However, Galen had little interest in continuing to pursue and eliminate the remaining Orcish forces to the south. He directly introduced his Shattered Hand camp to Liam. These Shattered Hand had lived in the Swamp of Sorrows for six years and were familiar enough with the surrounding terrain to be helpful in clearing out the remaining Orcish forces.
The wounded followed the northward-bound army to be resettled in the north, and the prisoners were also sent to the Hillsbrad area in batches. Under Terenas's proposal, a prisoner-of-war camp was already being built there, using the land of the Kingdom of Alterac, with expenses shared by all countries, taking the name of benevolence for themselves.
A typical case of generosity at others' expense.
This was also where Terenas provoked criticism from the dwarves. These hot-tempered, forthright dwarves couldn't stand others scheming against them.
Galen also liked their personalities, generously showing goodwill, and providing a large amount of supplies and wine to the besieged Ironforge. Galen had never mentioned asking the dwarves to pay for these supplies to this day. The dwarves wouldn't renege on their debt, but this approach made them feel very comfortable.
The dwarves' straightforward and fiery temperaments meant they didn't like the intrigue of politics. Coincidentally, Galen didn't like it either, so he let his old man and his team of strategists go to the negotiating table and banquet table to compete for Stromgarde's share of the pie.
"Galen, thank you for your help, otherwise, this old bone of mine would have been forever left in Blackrock Mountain," Lothar said with a delighted expression as his left hand was now wrapped in thick bandages and splints.
"Don't blame me for disturbing that sacred duel," Galen was afraid that Lothar would be old-fashioned, paying attention to personal glory, and blaming him for using some tools to win in the duel, not being a true warrior.
"Haha!" Lothar gave Galen a meaningful look. "In your eyes, am I such a pedantic person? Galen, in my eyes, the importance of every soldier's life in the Alliance far exceeds my personal honor or disgrace."
Lothar sighed: "Orgrim Doomhammer is indeed a respectable warchief, but that is for the Orcs. My mission is to defeat him, and I don't care about the way to defeat him, even if it is despicable, no matter how shameless, I will not hesitate!"
Galen thought of the news he had previously obtained from the retired Master of Assassins, that multiple forces had posted bounties at Ravenholdt Manor, with the names of various famous Orcish clan chieftains listed, among which Orgrim Doomhammer, as the warchief, had the most generous reward, as high as 200,000 gold coins!
Galen had previously suspected that this might be the work of the Kingdom of Stormwind, and it was highly likely that someone would eventually take Orgrim Doomhammer's head to claim the reward, and the House of Wrynn would ultimately pay the money.
It seemed that Lothar and Llane were both pragmatists, which suited his taste. After all, he didn't like those flashy things either. As long as it didn't violate his conscience, what method couldn't be used?
Moreover, what were Orcs!
They were invaders!
Slaughterers!
They wantonly slaughtered unarmed civilians on the border of the Kingdom of Stormwind. Goldshire, Lakeshire, Eastvale, Northshire Abbey—their heinous crimes were truly unforgivable to Lothar.
"It's just that with the defeat of the Orcs, the Alliance doesn't know if it can continue to exist!" Lothar felt a little melancholy in his heart.
He used to be a general, and now he was a marshal in charge of leading troops, but that didn't mean he didn't understand politics. Lothar understood that at the latest, when the Dark Portal was closed by the mages, his position as the marshal of the Alliance would be relinquished. It was basic practice for the countries of the Alliance to take back military power. No king could allow Lothar, whose prestige was soaring, to still hold heavy troops in the absence of foreign enemies!
In case one day our Anduin Lothar's ambitions were aroused and he inherited the will of Emperor Thoradin to unify mankind, their group of kings would be embarrassed. The nobles under them would still be nobles, only changing their allegiance, and the royal families of various countries would instantly become rebellious traitors.
"In my heart, you are still the Grand Marshal of the Alliance!" Galen said sincerely. Galen admired this elder. In the original timeline, Lothar single-mindedly restored the country and helped Anduin regain the throne. He truly exhausted himself and died, without any other thoughts.
"No, Galen, you don't understand what I mean. The external enemy is gone, and the next step is the internal division of spoils. Aiden's betrayal has made the Kingdom of Alterac a huge cake. No matter how small the country is, it is a piece of fat, and I am afraid that they will fight to the death at that time!"
After Lothar finished speaking, he glanced at Galen again.
Damn it, why are you always looking at me like that?
I admit that I did play a role behind the scenes in this matter, and a large area of Alterac land has already gone into Stromgarde's pocket. There is no way we are going to spit it out!
Moreover, Galen had deeper thoughts.