The hard part was making sure that her opponent was acting intelligently with the resources that he had. There is no tension if her opponent is an idiot. The enemy could just swarm, but I want the enemy to value his men. You want the biggest victory possible with the lowest cost to men, as you need those men for the next fight on.
I removed another 6,000 words. I am now down to 10,000 words. Once I expand things out, I should expand to 20,000 words.
I feel like Peleus wrestling with Thetis. She just keeps changing shape, and wrestling this ever-changing beast down is quite the challenge.