Faced with Klein's question, Riegl fell into deep thought.
A battle involves too many factors. Trying to "test the waters" based on guesswork often leads to all sorts of unexpected results. It might reveal the enemy's strength, or it might allow the enemy to gain information about your side during the battle.
If the situation turns unfavorable, it could even lead to a fierce counterattack from the enemy.
Therefore, whether to "give it a try" depends on whether the price paid can yield equal or greater value. Li Ge'er hesitated. Although he hoped to find out the approximate strength of the Yan Army, the risk of taking the risk with his two divisions was quite significant.
"What do you think?" Unable to make a decision, Riegl turned the question to Klein.
After pondering for more than ten seconds, Klein slowly said:
“If we want to test the waters, we certainly can’t take all our troops with us. That means we have to split some of our forces to fight small-scale battles with the Yan army, right?”
Riegl thought that made sense and nodded.
Klein then continued:
"But small-scale skirmishes have in themselves revealed intelligence about our forces."
"If our army had a large force, why would we need to conduct probing? Do you think the Yan people wouldn't consider this?"
"And once they realize that our forces are not large, will they prioritize attacking the Macedonian arms factory, or will they shift their target to us?"
Upon hearing this, Li Ge'er was startled, and his expression instantly changed.
“That’s really true.” He moved his lips and said nervously.
Klein continued, "Therefore, it is not worth testing them. We cannot expose our forces at will. In fact, not exposing our forces is the most effective deterrent against the Yan Army."
"They dare not attack the Macedonian arms factory directly because they have reservations, and they dare not engage us in battle casually because they do not know how many troops we have."
After Klein finished his analysis, Riegl suddenly understood and looked at Klein with a hint of admiration.
Although Klein was in the same grade as him, it must be said that he thought further ahead and considered things more thoroughly.
"Understood, Klein. So, shall we proceed with the evacuation now?" In the end, Riegl chose to hand over all command to Klein.
Klein stroked his chin and said, "Yes, but we can't retreat too far. We need to continue to deter the Yan Army."
"Furthermore, the Yan Army now knows that our army has arrived here, so it is worth considering what they will do next."
At this point, he suddenly looked up and said, "Let's retreat first. I'll talk to you on the way."
Then, he turned his head and said, "Be on high alert and guard against an enemy attack!"
Immediately, the troops brought by the two began to slowly retreat, while the sentries extended their vigilance range further.
——
Outside of Port Bruno.
After reaching a consensus with everyone, Dingle, as the temporary commander-in-chief, led the entire port force to head towards the Macedonian military factory.
Compared to the night, marching in the bright sunshine of the day made the army much faster, but even so, it would still take at least ten hours for such a large force to reach the Macedonian military factory.
Last night's deployment had kept everyone awake all night, and they would have to march quickly during the day. Therefore, they would need to rest for a night after arriving at their destination. Thus, Dingle believed that at least a day and a night would be needed before they could start fighting.
Now, with plenty of sunshine and rising temperatures during the day, Dingle urged the soldiers, though they were somewhat tired, to make the most of this time to travel as far as possible.
As the sun rose higher and higher, it got past one o'clock in the afternoon.
Dingle received a new message.
"The enemy forces rushed to the Macedonian military factory first, leaving our troops behind. They are now stationed 10 kilometers northwest of the Macedonian military factory."
The messenger cavalry that Klein sent back to Bruno Port encountered Dingle's army on their return journey, and thus they brought this message.
“While we were leaving, General Klein was setting up the defensive line,” the cavalry captain said to Dingle.
After he finished speaking, the officers' faces all darkened, and Lieutenant General Harbor's face was extremely ugly.
“The worst thing has happened. Those damned Yan people are too fast. They’ve already targeted the Macedonian military factory. They just captured Foster Harbor last night, which is less than a day ago…” Harbo said with a furrowed brow.
"As expected, the Yan Kingdom's follow-up troops caught up, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to act so quickly."
"I wonder how many troops this force has," said Lieutenant General Hopkins, who was of the same rank as Lieutenant General Harbor.
As soon as he finished speaking, Dingle said with a cold expression:
"That depends on when they attack the Macedonian arms factory."
"If they are attacking right now, then they must have a large force and dare to quickly seize the Macedonian military factory."
"On the contrary, if they are timid and hesitant to attack immediately, it means they have concerns."
"This concern may stem from their belief that they do not have enough troops to capture the Macedonian military factory in a short time, and it was also raised by Generals Klein and Riegl."
At this point, he turned to the cavalry captain who had come to deliver the message and said, “Your commander’s judgment was correct. Although the last-minute change of plans to coordinate the deployment at the Macedonian military factory failed to achieve the desired effect, it was right not to rashly engage the Yan army. Without knowing the strength of the enemy’s troops, a rash attack would only weaken our combat power.”
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