At the same time that dense smoke was seen rising in the north, Lt. Col. Robert ordered the Bridgelin camp to prepare for war.
The troops at the Bridgelin camp were divided into two parts: "those who could sortie" and "those who could not."
Winters's hundred-man team was, because of their strong combat power, assigned to the side of the forces that could sortie.
The premonitions of the two "pessimistic" officers soon came true.
As the sky was just beginning to lighten, an envoy cavalry, who had lost his helmet, brought Alpad's ring and a verbal message: The Bridgelin camp's defenders were to move out to meet them.
"Could this be a fake?" objected Lt. Varga, opposed to the idea of a sortie: "Would General Alpad ask us for help?"
Lure the defenders out of their solid camp and then surround and annihilate them. This trick had already been overused by the barbarians, cautioning the Paratu People to be wary.
