Strategic Grand Detour (Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader Lin Jia Er Shi)

Yeger's face went pale. "Why are the Poles here?"

"I don't know either."

"Didn't you say the Emperor's army had beaten the Poles badly?"

Yakov stared blankly. "Master Gumilov said so..."

"But I think those Poles are terrifying!"

In Bryansk City.

A Captain saluted Kościuszko. "Reporting, General, the city's food stores are critically low."

Kościuszko nodded and looked at Dombrowski beside him. "Clearly, the Russians were prepared."

"The wheat we got from Trubchevsk can still last us more than half a month," said the cavalry regiment commander. "Enough for us to charge all the way to Moscow's gates."

But Kościuszko frowned toward the east. "You've probably noticed as well. There are more and more Russian troops around us."

"Indeed. But they've kept their distance from us. Aside from the occasional sneak attack, they show no intention of launching a large-scale offensive."

"But this will slow us down." Kościuszko sighed. "The farther east we go, the more frequent these harassing attacks will become.

"We are destined not to reach Moscow within half a month."

While marching, an army formed into a long, narrow column, but such a formation was incapable of fighting.

Thus, once attacked by enemy troops, it had to immediately shift from marching columns into line formations for defense.

But converting the formations of such a massive corps inevitably consumed a great deal of time.

Ever since the Russian Army had begun using its "delay and avoid battle" tactics, the Kościuszko Legion's marching speed had been cut by roughly half.

Dombrowski calculated silently for a moment, his expression turning grave as well. "Yes. At most, we can reach Kaluga. It seems we must find the Russian main force and fight a decisive battle."

"No. That would only bog us down here completely."

"But Moscow is our objective. Are we