Under the deliberate instigation of certain interest groups, the public opinion of the government and the opposition in the Assanian Empire quickly tilted towards Engel's faction, but Sigmunt, like a stubborn rock, still refused to go along with the mainstream argument and insisted on his unwavering stance against the Eastern Crusade.

Just when the two sides were arguing, the head of the court, Baron Steinmeier, brought an edict from Emperor Charles, and the final word was made.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that His Majesty's edict expresses the attitude that the discussion on the Eastern Crusade can continue, but the focus of the discussion is not "whether the Eastern Crusade should be launched", but "how to ensure that the war is won cleanly"!

Now that Emperor Charles has made it clear that he supports the launch of the Eastern Crusade as soon as possible, Sigmund cannot openly contradict His Majesty the Emperor, so he can only take a step back and stick to the final bottom line:

"Far Easterners can launch military operations against the still warm Twilight Valley in February and March, but it is difficult for the imperial officers and soldiers to gain a firm foothold on the east bank of the icy and snowy Turbidity River, and marching and fighting must also conform to the laws of nature, forcibly violating the laws of nature is like committing suicide, if the Eastern Crusade is inevitable, at least we should not rush to launch an offensive this winter."

Will the harsh winter in the Far East be able to halt – to what extent – the eastward advance of the Imperial armies? This is another topic that has sparked heated debate among various factions.

The young generals led by Franz Engel generally lacked experience in commanding operations in the harsh cold environment of the north, but this group of high-achieving students felt that they could make up for the shortcomings of experience in other more scientific ways. For example, we collect historical examples of wars that broke out in severe cold regions, summarize relevant data for statistical analysis, and estimate the extent to which cold weather affects the outcome of wars by controlling for other variables.

When it comes to arranging data and solving equations, Marshal Sigmunt, who still does not know what linear algebra and calculus is, and has to hire a math teacher to make up for his own lessons, is a big step behind those genius staff officers who easily get full marks on the "History of Measurement of War" exam and write their papers impeccably.

After reading Engel's quantitative analysis of many examples of cold warfare, even Marshal Sigmund could not help but waver, and privately admitted that there seemed to be some truth in Engel's two conclusions in this treatise, which skillfully used various quantitative and statistical tools, was logically rigorous, and precisely worded.

Engel's first conclusion begins by acknowledging that the cold weather is indeed beneficial to the defenders of war, often the natives of the cold regions, and to a certain extent of distress to the attacking side. On the premise that the attacking and defending sides are equal in strength and the supply of military supplies is fully guaranteed, if the defending side finally repels the invaders, how much does the cold weather contribute to their victory?

According to Engel's statistics, climatic factors contribute 10 to 15 percent to the victory of the defending side. This figure cannot be said to be insignificant, but climatic factors are far from being as decisive in the outcome of a war, as people might think. Why, then, is there such a high emphasis on the role of climate factors on both sides of the war?

Engel sees this as a psychological bias. Extreme climatic environments, such as ice and snow, such as long stretches of yellow sand, have a strong sensory impact, making people, especially those who have not settled in these environments for a long time, instinctively feel fear for physiological reasons, and the fear further encourages people to exaggerate the cold of ice and snow and the heat of the desert, but the aboriginal people feel that the local environment is not as harsh as outsiders imagined, otherwise how can they settle in the local area for a long time?

"Does the fact that people always remember that the expeditionary forces that were repulsed by the bitter cold could not even cite a single counter-example, that all the offensives launched into the cold regions ended in failure? However, an empirical analysis of a large number of similar examples in history has come to a conclusion that defies common sense: on average, about 44 out of every 100 military operations attacking cold regions end in a complete victory for the attacking side. ”

"Why do most people remember only those fifty-six defeats and are keen to spread them in an even more exaggerated way, while they all selectively forget the forty-four victories? This cannot but be said to be the common prejudice at the level of human psychology. ”

At the end of his essay arguing for the influence of climatic factors on the outcome of the war, Engel does not forget to mock Sigmunt:

"It is normal for ordinary people not to understand the real war and to be prejudiced against the climatic factors in the war, but it would be a pity that those high-ranking generals who are responsible for the lives of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers are also blinded by prejudice and make wrong judgments, and they really cannot be called competent commanders."

Engel's well-founded rebuttal was published publicly, winning praise from both the government and the opposition, while Sigmunt's conservatism and prejudice attracted more ridicule.

By early February, the dust had finally settled on the long-running controversy. Despite the ridicule, Sigmunt's persistence had achieved some results after all, and Engel's faction, on the premise of controlling the overall situation, did not mind pitying the old boss and saving him the last shred of face. The final plan for the Eastern Crusade mainly reflected the will of General Engel, and incidentally also took care of the mood of Marshal Sigmunt, which had a certain eclectic color.

According to this plan, the Imperial Crusade was to enter Fort Olevi at the end of February 1625 to exert military pressure on the rebel authorities in the Far East; At the same time, Admiral Lucien, the commander of the Navy, will also lead the main fleet of the Imperial Navy to anchor at the base of Marina City, enter the Stormy Ocean through the "Belt Canal", enter the Golden Horn in the east, and control the Parnia Peninsula, thus echoing the "Order of Naro" in the Twilight Valley, and exerting pressure on the Far Easterners from the three directions of Fort Olevi on the western front, the Parnia Peninsula in the southwest, and the Twilight Valley on the southern front, so that they will fall into an embarrassing situation.

By the end of April this year at the latest, the Imperial Navy will take full control of the Parnia Peninsula, forcing the authorities in the Far East to move more forces to the south in response to increasing pressure from the sea. At this time, it was almost the spring season in the Far East, and the main army force of Fort Olevi could take advantage of the warmer weather to launch an offensive from the western front and the southern front at the same time with the cooperation of the Naro Order, striving to capture the Fort of Atonement within four weeks, and then wave their troops north, exterminate the remnants of the rebel party in one go, and recover the entire Far East before the arrival of winter that year!