But what was unexpected was that they encountered an even more troubleso group, not the refugees yet.
"Did these damned Cave Dwellers revolt?" soone cursed angrily. The Cave Dwellers' attack targets varied and were not limited to military targets. Sotis, even granaries and manor houses were within their hunting range.
Although Jandener's main army has not yet assembled, these elusive attacks have already caused panic within the Territory. The damage caused by the attacks is not significant, but Pallas is worried that it might delay the army's assembly ti.
Especially recently, it has developed to the point that the camps where the mountain people gather have been attacked, making this the second camp to be attacked.
The Cave Dwellers move extrely fast in the forest, initiating their attacks before the mountain people have prepared for defense. As a result, these monsters intruded from the north side, causing significant casualties and then quickly retreated.
The complex terrain in the forest prevents the cavalry from deploying, making tracking impossible, which worsens the situation.
"How many people were lost?"
"Not many, around a dozen dead, but many injured."
"How many in total this week?"
"Nearly a hundred," the Knight replied, "and that doesn't include combat losses."
"Why are there combat losses?" Pallas turned back to ask, leaving the battle was still early, and the mobilization speed of food and other supplies was far below expectations. The mountain people also gathered slowly—so far, less than one or two tenths have assembled.
But what puzzled him was that he had never issued any orders for combat losses.
"It's because a group of mountain people privately assembled to retaliate but were ambushed upon entering Min Tai Territory. Only one or two returned." the Knight replied.
"These fools," the Old Knight cursed, "What's the total loss from the first attack until now?"
The Knights exchanged glances before one answered.
"Over three hundred."
"Only two weeks—" Pallas shook his head; actually, he could accept this loss. Because if he didn't initiate attacks, he couldn't find any effective way to deal with these foes.
But he viewed it as the opponent's desperate last struggle.
Over the past two months, Pallas had gathered enough intelligence. Those noble private soldiers fleeing back from Fir City brought him plenty of valuable information—for example, he knew Brand had Cave Dwellers under his command, numbering in the hundreds, possibly even thousands.
Hundreds of Cave Dwellers and over a thousand rcenaries—Pallas felt confident of victory if he played it safe. He would never make the sa mistake as Sir Min Tai—the fact is, this Old Knight understood that given his personality, he wouldn't even make the mistake the first ti.
His hand brushed the tal sword hilt as he heard Caglis was also captured by those rebels. He had been worried about his student these days.
Pallas's original plan required about a month and a half more, even if a thousand mountain people died during this period or even one third withdrew from the combat sequence. He didn't care.
But the Old Knight understood that on the battlefield, numbers aren't calculated like this.
Because if his predictions ca true, it would be a fatal blow to morale and might plunge the mountain people remaining in the area into chaos.
He saw that the opponent was pressuring him, attempting to force an early decisive battle.
But the issue is not so simple. The ambushed mountain people well illustrate the problem. Pallas understood he must not act rashly, but on the other hand, the incessant mountain people's leaders were giving him a headache.
They had a point too. During this week, Cave Dwellers, even deep in the forest, burned down one of Pallas's granaries within the Territory—this made him suspect that sothing went wrong in Shafelund because the Cave Dwellers could only enter the Territory from that direction.
But Shafelund's spies reported everything was normal, and he sent a second batch of spies without finding any anomalies.
It led this Old Knight to curse Ogins for overseeing Shafelund like a sieve anyone could penetrate.
However, he hadn't considered that without this sieve, his own people might not have infiltrated.
Pallas touched his sword, calming his impulses and shaking his head saying, "Let's go back."
"Lord," the Knights were a bit puzzled, "We just let it go? What about the Cave Dwellers?"
"Have the mountain people tighten defenses, change the material distribution routes, and reassess the granary locations. The enemy is hidden, and we are in the open; only heightened vigilance will work—"
"But it wastes too much ti. Why don't we just attack and eliminate them!"
"If you think that way, your enemy will be glad," Pallas replied coldly, "Madara's Undead, the mountain people, even food and other materials aren't ready yet! If you lose Pallas Territory, then where does Lord Jandener save face—"
"We have several thousand people in our hands, and the mountain people's army is approaching two thousand," the Knight said, "Even with Cave Dwellers, they're not our match."
"Sir Min Tai, that old fool, thought the sa; did you see his end?"
"But if we do this, it will affect the assembly ti, Lord."
"That's good. It's best to delay until Spring Dawn Moon—going into battle in winter is not a good on—" Pallas Knight shook his head—though these sporadic harassnts weren't significant, they were like slaps to his face, yet he had no ans to counter.
He was cautious, and the opponent seed to have targeted this trait.
But Pallas's only confidence now was that he wouldn't act impulsively due to anger and make an early attack decision. This Old Knight believed the opponent was a cornered beast fighting back, so he would play it safe and slowly corner the opponent, not giving any chance to break the situation.
Today's humiliation, he planned to recover in the future.
"Delay until Spring Dawn Moon? That long, won't Count Gan bla us? Three months, Martha above, how much food will that need?"
"Lord, doing this, Count Gan will kill us!"
"Quite the opposite," Pallas looked at his old subordinates, "The longer we drag this out, the better. You must see farther; the battlefield is not limited to Tonyger—anyway, before this war ends, the Lord won't bother you."
"So things can't just be asured by monetary cost," Though the Old Knight was purely a military person, his rich experience allowed him to see the undercurrents behind this seemingly calm situation: "Of course, if we handle it well, Count Gan will rest even easier—"
"Naturally." The Knights echoed.
...
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