Varen proposed the night assault because the daylight engagements had produced results that the daylight could not sustain.
The combined force's effective strength had been reduced to thirty-four thousand from the original forty-seven, the cumulative losses of the new phase's engagements eroding the numerical advantage that the Second Reserve Corps' arrival had been meant to provide. The arrow supply had been destroyed twice. The mage corps' capability remained at the degraded level that the Golden Wolf's shimmer imposed. The siege equipment remained operational and untouchable behind the ogre guard force.
Varen's logic was the logic of a commander who had not yet found a formation or timing or terrain that neutralized the Horde's advantages and who believed that darkness might provide what daylight had not.
