Archduke Charles had always envisioned Lucerne as the decisive battlefield. First, it was the heart of the League of Orthodoxy. Second, every canton except Zug was protected by formidable natural barriers.
The St. Gotthard Pass in particular, to the south, could be completely sealed off with only a small force. Though Heinrich Belaim was not especially capable, holding the pass should have posed little problem.
In truth, this was a choice born of necessity. The Swiss Confederation—and the League of Orthodoxy in particular—was desperately short of officers.
Fortunately, Colonel Charles Duchatelet had gone to Ticino. Otherwise, Archduke Charles would have had to spare another capable officer to suppress the rebels in that canton.
The quickest way for the Free League to end the war was to capture Lucerne, which was also the region best suited to large-scale battles.
But the battlefield Archduke Charles had chosen was not some broad plain. It was a narrow mountain road.
Constantine Siegwart and Ulrich Salis, meanwhile, had once again begun a new round of conscription and requisitioning grain.
There was no choice. The situation in Fribourg was unclear, and with three cantons having rebelled, the League of Orthodoxy was left desperately short of troops.
Just as Archduke Charles was arranging his forces, Dufour's main army made its move. He had decided to launch an all-out assault on Fribourg.
It did not seem like a particularly wise decision. Fribourg's forces had a formidable fortress at the mouth of the valley, too.
These fortifications could not be taken easily just by throwing more men at them. The mountain road was narrow, which meant that only a limited number of troops could join the attack at once.
So no matter how many men they had, they could not turn their numbers into an advantage.
And if the