Before Hotze had finished speaking, the marching column beside him suddenly came to a halt.
He frowned irritably. "Damn it, what happened now?"
A messenger officer rode up from the front and reported loudly, "General, a French Army force has been spotted on the south bank of the Aare River. Our Engineer Battalion has come under attack."
"The French?!" Hotze said in astonishment. "What are the French doing here?"
"We don't know... But the Engineer Battalion says the enemy may number more than ten thousand."
Hotze was somewhat stunned.
When he had left Zurich, he had heard nothing about France sending troops into Switzerland. It had been less than five days, yet the French Army had already appeared deep within Switzerland?!
The Jura Mountains lay between France and Switzerland. To detour from the southern side of the mountains to Lausanne at Switzerland's southernmost end, then head north to the vicinity of Biel, would take at least half a month.
What he did not know was that on the third day after Austria declared war, Massena had already begun leading his army over the Jura Mountains through Roches Pass, in accordance with the operation plan.
Though this pass was narrow, Massena had ample time. After taking more than twenty days to reach the southern foothills, he had endured another half month of freezing cold there before receiving news of the Allied Forces' invasion of Switzerland.
Hotze quickly recovered his composure through the discipline of a professional officer, began making his deployment, and then personally headed to a tributary of the Aare River to inspect the enemy.
While he was still far from the riverbank, rolling cannon fire reached his ears.
A staff officer beside him hurriedly said, "General, the Hussars report that the French Army on the opposite bank has around