Oudinot grimaced. "Do we have no choice but to wait for the Prussians to surrender? I don't want to waste more than ten days in this godforsaken place."
They had previously sent Blücher half a month's worth of food. If rationed carefully, it could even last nearly twenty days.
Massena frowned, beginning to seriously consider the necessity of storming the Prussian Army's defenses.
But making the soldiers suffer casualties merely to save a dozen or so days was equally not worth the cost.
Just as he hesitated, a messenger officer came galloping over and called loudly, "General, an enemy force has appeared east of Basel."
Massena and the others were immediately delighted. Though they did not understand why the Allied Forces had suddenly decided to rescue Blücher again, at least their efforts had not been for nothing.
"Notify General Sérurier at once and have him move toward Basel," Massena told the Orderly Officer. "Tell the soldiers to prepare for battle."
Their ambush site was less than nine kilometers from Basel. The enemy would run into them as soon as they left the city.
On the other side, in order to put on a show of actively rescuing the Prussian Army, Picton did not allow his troops to linger in Basel.
However, the moment they left the city, he immediately ordered them to slow their march.
He had already received orders from the Duke of York to establish a defensive line around Basel and prevent the Massena Legion from leaving Switzerland.
As for the location of the defenses, he had long discussed it with his officers. They had chosen a spot ten kilometers southeast of Basel.
There, the Jura Mountains and the Rhine River hemmed in a narrow strip of land only three kilometers wide. Artillery positions could also be set