"We could perform a preemptive strike. – Send out a regiment, scour all the nooks and crannies that the barbar

"We could perform a preemptive strike. – Send out a regiment, scour all the nooks and crannies that the barbarians might be hiding in... However, this would be risky, and it would mean playing the game by their rules. They'd never face us in a decisive battle, but instead lure our troops deeper and deeper into unknown territory. They'd force us to fight in constant skirmishes, and wear us down until our soldiers simply started deserting en masse."