"This..."
Lidun's intention caught Count Roberts off guard and made him feel troubled, even frustrated. Originally, according to his psychological expectations, the main forces in the West should have already been wiped out by the East Africans.
After all, from the start, Count Roberts assumed that the East Africans would first eliminate the main British forces in the West and then continue eastward to encircle Shao Kui.
This wasn't without basis, because from the start, Count Roberts believed that the East African forces were numerous, though exactly how many was unclear. The intelligence on East Africa was exceedingly difficult to obtain, and this lack of information was an important reason for the repeated failures of the British Army.
Moreover, the main western forces had lost contact with Shao Kui's headquarters a long time ago, which was also an important reason why Count Roberts believed that the Western main forces had been eliminated by East Africa.
