I organized my thoughts.

If the news of the 50,000 strong advance force itself is a "bait," then it's not hard to speculate why it had to be exactly 50,000.

Even though it's not a castle, but a fortress, in battle, the side defending is typically much stronger than the attacking side. It's not that we can't stop them, but we can't overwhelm them either, and in the end, it will just turn into a drawn-out war of attrition, right? That was probably why Jinor suggested, "If it turns into a prolonged war, we are the ones who will lose."

For Brans' army to decisively secure victory, they would need to bring at least 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers. I imagine they could muster 20,000 to 30,000 from their side, as Brans’ army is large, and the population and borders are wide, so they likely have the manpower to spare.

At that point, Epinnel would probably give up the resistance and retreat to the fortress. With the combined forces inside, it would be much more rational to just hold up there.

That’s when I realized something like a "solution."

"If Epinnel wouldn't retreat unless they had 50,000 men... Was it to match that number?"@@novelbin@@

If the goal was to make it seem "possible" to fight, using 50,000 as the bait, the number 53,000 was brilliantly chosen. In fact, it was almost proven when Epinnel yielded.

"Wait."

If that advance force is bait for us, their real target isn't this fortress, which means...

So, what exactly is their goal?

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