Why did he wait so long, and then choose the night of all times?
Not all thoughts are instantaneous, sahib; some seem to develop out of patience and silence and attention.

Moreover, it takes time for captured men to readjust their attitude--as the Germans, for instance, well knew when they gave us time for thought in the prison camp at Oescherleben.

When we first took the Syrians prisoner they were so tired and timid as to be worthless for anything but driving carts, whereas now we had fed them and befriended them.

On the other hand, in the beginning, the Turks, if given a chance, would have stampeded with the carts toward Angora.
Now that both Turks and Syrians had grown used to being prisoners and to obeying us, they were less likely to think independently--in the same way that a new-caught elephant in the keddah is frenzied and dangerous, but after a week or two is learning tricks.
And as for choosing the night-time for the change, every soldier knows that the darkness is on the side of him whose plans are laid.
He who is taken unawares must then contend with both ignorance and darkness.

Thieves prefer the dark.