But a repeat of the earlier incident, where an enemy commander accidentally blew himself up when his cannon burst, was unlikely.
Still, using a surprise force to attack from both sides—or simply rushing into Lucerne and capturing Constantine Siegwart—was entirely feasible.
Unfortunately, the vanguard of his surprise force had kept its heads down and pressed on without noticing the Austrian squad hidden in the valley.
The Free League's small vanguard even lit a bonfire, effectively signaling to the troops behind them that the area was safe.
The smoke rising from it looked much like the smoke from an ordinary hunter's or shepherd's fire. Only their own men could tell the difference.
On the cliff face, Austrian soldiers advanced toward their assigned positions in single file, linked at the waist by a long rope.
The main force under Dufour, tasked with the surprise attack, had little reason to be on guard under Colonel Corbel's command. The battles so far had gone far too smoothly, and their vanguard had already sent back the all-clear.
Colonel Corbel believed he would become a hero. He would capture the great traitor Constantine Siegwart, and then he would become a real colonel.
(At this point, he was still a lieutenant, merely given the temporary rank of colonel.)
But General Dufour had forbidden looting, which, in Colonel Corbel's eyes, was an outright insult to war.
After all, many men enlisted to make money, and there was no better way to make money in the army than war. War was profitable because it allowed you to loot.
Colonel Corbel had already made up his mind. He could loot Lucerne first, and if Constantine Siegwart had the sense to buy him off, Colonel Corbel could give it some serious thought.
At that moment, a gunshot shattered the silence of