Hugues clenches his fist.

I could lift that siege and destroy that army at Staufen if I only had an army worth the name.

I could hire mercenaries once I cross the Rhine and that would give me enough men, but the cost would be high.

The situation along the upper Rhine and Switzerland grows grim. The forces in Bern will reconstitute and strike west again. If Staufen falls, the German army there will join them. So we pay now for the mercenaries, or we pay later rebuilding our burnt cities.

Failing this, I will fall back to the Moselle ford.