or the first time since the disastrous offensive mounted against the Wrathgate, the might of the Alliance military marched towards the misty valley of the Icecrown glacier, facing innumerable Scourge forces comprising thousands of undead horrors. Their aim was to bloody the nose of the Lich King, and while the assault mounted under the command of Coragon Havencrest was measured a success it was at a cost that is still being counted.

Planning for the offensive began secretly months ago, not long after the Alliance began construction of the staging area at the Wrathgate, in case the unthinkable happened and the first offensive led by Lord Fordragon failed. The plan was to muster a much larger ground force and march over to assail the various tactical constructions the Scourge arrayed behind the practically-unassailable cliffs of the Icecrown glacier and the great defensive walls thrown up by the undead. Last week  several convoys of men, equipment and supplies had reached the edge of the glacier via the mountain pass to the Argent Crusade’s Vanguard Outpost which was the scene of fierce battles against Scourge forces trying to remove the only foothold our allies hold on the glacier. General Havencrest discussed battle plans into the early evening with the commanders and representatives of numerous Alliance regiments and military units including the Theramore Marines, the Ironforge Guard, Tinkers Guard and the Defenders of Khaz Modan, the Stormwind City Guard Auxiliaries and the King's Rifles. Joining them was a conclave of sorcerers from the Violet Covenant. A detachment of soldiers from the Order of the Ebon Blade also loitered on the outskirts of the gathered forces, seemingly still not fully trusted in the cold lands of the north.

After a muster and a rousing speech, General Havencrest sent several units carefully into enemy territory to set up a forward medical post for the expected casualties and cut off any potential outflanking manoeuvres made from Scourgeholme. Shortly afterward the order to march was given and in orderly ranks the arrayed forces of the Alliance marched onto the glacier and met the massed hordes of undead head-on.

Across the Broken Front the army began a disciplined march across the glacier, meeting resistance from Scourge necromancers, risen dead and foul constructions made from numerous corpses and even fallen giants. The massed forces of the Alliance shattered the Scourge lines, the only thing that slowed their progress being a titanic undead giant barring the gate. The behemoth was brought low by combined might and magic and the first gate was passed.

Alliance flyers swept over the field, pounding the hundreds of undead with bombs. Equal support was provided by the mighty Skybreaker and distant fire rained down in an attempt to weaken the forces that would be faced at the next gates. Once the air was clear of gyrocopters and bombers the march began again, though this time progress was much slower due to the sheer number of Scourge units between the army and its objective. Some heavy support was gained from an unexpected quarter when a small group of Horde tanks hammered the field with cannon fire. Later it was discovered that these war machines had been ‘commandeered’ by a small flanking party of Alliance soldiers and was not acting under orders from either the Horde or seemingly the Alliance high command.

Despite being hugely outnumbered, the second gate was reached and breached. Casualties in the second phase of the battle were however much worse. Countless soldiers were simply overwhelmed, dragged down and ripped apart by the seemingly endless number of undead. One of the Violet Covenant’s magi was grievously wounded and taken from the field to the medical post, which was then forced to move onto the cleared field of the Bombardment to cope with the influx of wounded streaming back from the frontlines.

The third gate now stood across the glacier. The Alliance forces were by now a much diminished force, and before them stood the last line of the Scourge. This force however was bolstered by several units of undead vrykul warriors, more giants and constructs, and a flock of frost wyrms. If that was not enough the gate was defended by a magical sheet of blue fire that would bar passage for anything living. Despite this, General Havencrest led the army across the ice.

With each wave of horrors though, the line began to falter. Troops broke rank, drawn into small knots of combat. Frost wyrms blasted the lines with cold fire and carried off soldiers in their talons. Casualties again began to mount. A different tactic of moving along the canyon wall yielded better results and eventually the path to the last gate was clear.

The flaming barrier was expertly extinguished by the combined actions of the Violet Covenant’s mages; one bravely ran into the flames to detonate a magical device while the others shielded her from the fire. Once again the army regrouped, and prepared for the final, most daring section of the plan. Operating at roughly half the strength they had begun with, the force split into two raiding parties; one was to target the structure known as Mord’rethar, while the other would assault the Scourge construction site of Malykriss, hopefully destroying the forges and at least slowing the work on the saronite necropolis being built there. Meanwhile the huge numbers of casualties were moved to a final field hospital on the east flank of the battlefield near the Fleshwerks. Those too badly injured to move further were airlifted to safety in a daring manoeuvre made by the crew of the Skybreaker, which ventured into enemy airspace to recover those most grievously injured.

The force that assailed the dark cathedral of Mord’rethar met superior numbers of Scourge cultists and despite their most valiant efforts was forced into retreat without causing significant damage to the assembled Scourge. Meanwhile the demolitions team planted charges in the forges with minimal interference from undead defenders. The retreating primary force led by Coragon Havencrest linked up with the saboteurs and together they managed to plant explosives in the floating skeleton of the Malykriss necropolis. Once all was set the combined battle group took cover and detonated the charges with dramatic results; the forges were destroyed outright, as were masses of construction materials and stockpiled saronite ore and the necropolis was damaged enough to put the Lich King’s construction plans back by a few months. Their goals as well achieved as possible and no weakness discovered in the walls of Arthas’s fortress complex, the surviving soldiers began a swift withdrawal from the battlefield to the forward field hospital at the Fleshwerks.

The remainder of the forces made it to the field hospital and almost all required some medical attention. After a few minutes were taken to stabilise those most badly injured, the brave men and women of the Alliance escaped the glacier by taking a treacherous path down part of the mountain that had collapsed into the Sholazar Basin. Despite meeting resistance from scattered packs of undead swept down in the avalanche, all the survivors endured the descent.

After the dust had settled the Alliance was able to take stock of the success of the mission. While the force had not succeeded in destroying Mord’rethar the damage wrought to Malykriss and the Scourge war machine was considered worth the sacrifice. Also the sheer number of undead troops destroyed has surely given pause to the Lich King’s expansion in Northrend. General Havencrest has publicly announced the mission into Icecrown a success and the majority of those in the nobility agree. Success or not, the fact remains that it is estimated that several hundred soldiers of our Alliance laid down their lives for the principles of our society and the basic desire to continue to simply exist. For this is what taking the fight to the Lich King represents; our defiance in the face of our foes and our sheer will to fight any enemy to our world, no matter how intractable, no matter how fearsome. While soldiers fell and blood was spilt on that cold plain, the Lich King now knows we will not simply surrender our souls to him. And he shall face this again and again, as long as the Alliance exists.