And who can resist?

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Off the coast of Durotar, five weeks later...

The USS Hornet, the reactivated Essex-class, was sailing under a light escort of four destroyers and one cruiser. On her deck was something one wouldn't expect: the F4U Corsair. This aircraft was the mainstay in the late Pacific War period, and now, it is both acting as the more mundane Coalition Fighter Aircraft from the Elves from both continents, and as training aircraft for the Americans, with missions to hunt for vessels being the chief roll for the latter.

Captain Songwhisper, having been selected to be the Thalassian liason to the Coalition Navy, was the most interested in the potential of air power at sea. "So... how many carriers did your navy deploy at one time in the age where these flew as the mainstay?"

A woman in her thirties answer, Rear Admiral Jenifer Styer. "We had over fifty carriers of various types. Then again, that was when numbers was more of a factor, since precision strikes were in their infancy. Then again, everything was much cheaper to produce too. No fleet could handle a sudden strike of over two hundred aircraft from a carrier group. The Japanese were good, but just couldn't keep up with innovation and production..." The woman chuckled before nodding to a controller.

He made the necessary commands before the sailors on the flight deck assumed positions. Today's exercise was to simulate an interception of an enemy wave. American pilots, from the USS Midway, were the attackers, and the Hornet's pilots, being of Thalassian Origin, were to intercept.

Silverpine Forest

The relative peace was broken as a ship slowly approached the coast before stopping and opening the bow, revealing the first deployment of the M1 Abrams. Its 105mm smoothbore cannon and turbine engine were the first in Azeroth history, and they were about to make history by their deployment. Following two of those brand new MBTs were the M113s, followed by trucks towing several 155mm howitzers.

Above them, flying in on Hueys and Chinooks were the infantry not within the M113s. The situation with the Alliance Army was tenuous at best. The Forsaken, having been divided onto three fronts in the Hinterlands, were effectively pushed north to Andorhal and the Silverpine border. Now, with the losses and low morale, the Forsaken, outside of the Royal Death Guard and Dark Rangers, were on the brink of decisive defeat.

The American response, in turn, was an emergency deployment of elements of the Third Armored Regiment and Fifth Infantry Division by air and sea in Southern Silverpine, and then rush to the border to reinforce the defense, where they would hold as the US Army of Engineers erected harbor facilities to bring in even more forces by sea. In tandem, the USAAF would launch a campaign to hit logistics and important targets, such as artillery and 'tanks'.

After three hours of assembling, the combined infantry and mechanized elements rushed towards the defense lines. At the same time, the first wing of F-15Es arrived in the theater, and were vectored into their designated patrol zone. Armed with bombs and missiles, along with their usual 20mm Vulcan Machine Gun, they would have a relatively easy time. Of coarse the Riders from Aerie Peak would contest the air, but with the intended air power meant to establish air superiority would outright outnumber the Wildhammers.

On the ground, the Forsaken were still struggling to hold ground. The battle formations managed to withdraw in good order, but outside of the Dark Rangers attached to the army conducting a delaying action, no one really wanted to fight. "Despite these Americans destroying the Human Navy, they haven't affected the war on the land, where it counts..." "Shut it... They simply don't want to send their forces in small pieces."

At the border, after 6 hours of constant running, the Americans begin to set up defensive positions, digging foxholes and bringing their guns down range. A few hours later, the Forsaken main army returned, to be followed by the Dark Rangers. A man by the name of First Lieutenant Johnathan Smith, someone who fought in the Vietnam War, and dreaded starting another one. But considering that it seems that only the Elves really had a knack for insurgency in this world, he wasn't too worried.

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