After the Elf Gryphon Rider disappeared into the distant sky, Uther opened the map the rider had given him. Looking at the large red circle and the red route marked on it, he understood that this was the retreat route the elves had left for them.
"Commander, should we now..." Uther's adjutant was also studying the map.
"Order the troops to assemble and attack!" Uther said, putting the map away.
Obeying orders was a soldier's duty, and Uther's adjutant embodied that saying to perfection. He did not ask what he should not ask, say what he should not say, look at what he should not look at, or think about what he should not think about. He followed those four prohibitions to the letter. He merely saluted, answered, "Yes, sir," and went to relay the order.
After receiving the returning Elf Gryphon Rider's reports on the battle situation and Uther's actions, Shidewa not only found Uther's stubbornness incomprehensible, but also felt genuinely helpless at ordinary elves' lack of diplomatic tact.
Elves really were not very good at communicating with humans. He shook his head with a wry smile and turned his thoughts elsewhere.
Most things in life did not go as one wished, and that saying perfectly described Shidewa's current situation. No plan could account for every twist of fate. Everything had been carefully arranged, yet no one had expected the main force to encounter so many difficulties on the march that it failed to reach the designated position on schedule. And now, of all times, a band of uncooperative Paladins had appeared, hell-bent on doing things their own way.
Shidewa felt that things were showing signs of getting worse. All he could do was send Xingluoge orders three times a day, urging him to bring the corps' main force