But before long, they weren't laughing anymore, because Zug had actually surrendered.
The League of Orthodoxy's leaders had gone to great lengths and spent considerable resources to hold on to Zug, yet it had surrendered without a fight. That was a huge blow to morale.
Even more damaging to morale was the news that General Frey Holose of the Free League had declared that he had routed the main mercenary force of the League of Orthodoxy, and that the remaining troops had mostly surrendered as well.
The League of Orthodoxy had once again fallen into a dire disadvantage. Rumor had it that the few remaining cantons were also secretly in contact with the government led by Joseph Loei.
As the dismal reports kept coming in, the two leaders of the League of Orthodoxy sank into despair. Yet every so often, they glanced at Archduke Charles, hoping he would tell them, "Austrian reinforcements will be here any moment."
Instead, all they got was a reassuring promise: "Don't worry. I'm here. We won't lose this war."
Archduke Charles now understood the state of the war even more clearly. He knew the fighting had only just begun, and that the so-called League of Orthodoxy had no strong leader at all.
At this rate, they wouldn't even need to fight. Infighting born of distrust and fear would be enough to drag down the entire country.
The League of Orthodoxy needed a major victory to steady itself, but for a force at such an overwhelming disadvantage in numbers, that was nearly an impossible task.
Fortunately, Dufour had already lost a considerable number of troops through reckless overconfidence. He would likely think twice about bypassing Loisburg, or else wait for reinforcements before deciding what to do.
Archduke Charles planned to strike Augustin Keller's main force head-on