Berthier quickly raised a question. "Your Highness, at present, the only veterans in Baden are the Second Army Corps, along with parts of the First and Fifth Army Corps—around 70,000 men in total.
"If we are to conduct operations deep behind enemy lines, that force is clearly insufficient.
"Furthermore, Freiburg has nearly 30,000 English troops, as well as more than 40,000 men from Kossakov's Corps.
"They could launch an attack on Baden at any time, so part of our forces must remain behind to defend it. That will further reduce the troops we can commit to central Germany."
Joseph nodded.
It had to be admitted that the commanders of the Anti-French Alliance were quite clever as well. They had swiftly adjusted their front lines instead of continuing to grind away against the French Army in Italy or Switzerland, thus gaining a time advantage.
If they waited another month, the large numbers of newly mobilized French recruits would complete their training and enter the battlefield, while the First and Fourth Army Corps in Switzerland would return to the Rhine River region. Their available forces would then be extremely ample.
But by then, the Allied Forces would already have entered their predetermined positions, and the best opportunity for a flanking breakthrough would vanish with the wind.
After a brief moment of thought, Joseph said, "The task of defending Baden can be handed over entirely to the Sixth and Seventh Army Corps."
Berthier instinctively wanted to shake his head—both Army Corps consisted of newly formed recruits. If anything went wrong, France would lose its only base east of the Rhine River.
Yet Moreau replied with some excitement, "We can also redeploy part of the Third Army Corps. Using the railway near Trier, they can reach Strasbourg within five days."
Berthier finally could not