He said to the men of Succoth, Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.
Denied provisions by these two Israelite towns, Gideon continued to pursue the remaining 15,000 Midianite soldiers (or 15 units) southeast. When he caught up with them he attacked by surprise (Judges 8:11). Perhaps the Midianites had not expected Gideon to pursue them so far, 20 miles east of the Jordan River. The Israelites presumably had not done so when the Midianites had conducted their yearly raids in the past. Gideon routed the remnant of the Midianite alliance and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna.