ed
his army between Rain, where the Lech falls into the Danube, and
Augsburg, a distance of sixteen miles--all the assailable points being
strongly occupied, with small bodies of cavalry in the intervals to give
warning of the approach of the enemy. He had been joined by Maximilian
of Bavaria, and his force amounted to 40,000 men.

Gustavus gave his army four days' rest at Donauworth, and then advanced
with 32,000 men against the Lech. His dragoons, who had been pushed
forward, had found the bridges destroyed. He first attempted to repair
that at Rain, but the fire of the artillery and musketry was so
heavy that he was forced to abandon the idea. He then made a careful
reconnaissance of the river, whose course was winding and erratic.

Finding that at every point at which a crossing could be easily effected
Tilly's batteries and troops commanded the position, he determined to
make his attack at a point where the river made a sharp bend in the form
of a semicircle, of which he occupied the outer edge. He encamped the
bulk of his army at the village of Nordheim, a short distance in the
rear, and erected three powerful batteries mounting seventy-two guns.
One of these faced the centre of the loop, the others were placed
opposite the sides.

The ground on the Swedish bank of the river was higher than that facing
it; and when the Swedish batteries opened they so completely swept the
ground inclosed by the curve of the river that the Imperialists could
not advance across it, and were compelled to remain behind a rivulet
called the Ach, a short distance in the rear of the Lech. They brought
up their artillery, however, and replied to the cannonade of the Swedes.

For four days the artillery duel continued, and while it was going on a
considerable number of troops were at work in the village of Oberndorf,
which lay in a declivity near the river, hidden from the sight of the
Imperialists, constructing a bridge. For that purpose a number of strong
wooden trestles of various heights and with feet of unequal length for
standing in the bed of the river were prepared, together with a quantity
of piles to be driven in among and beside them to enable them to resist
the force of the current.

On the night of the fourth day the king caused a number of fires to be
lighted near the river, fed with green wood and damp straw. A favourable
wind blew the smoke towards the enemy, and thus concealed the ground
from them. At daybreak on the