On the Austrian side, sixteen thousand soldiers, under General Starray, were posted from Mayence to Renchen; and fifteen thousand, under General Kienmayer, were guarding the defiles of the Black Forest from Renchen to the Höllenthal. These two corps constituted Kray's right wing. The main body, forty thousand strong, commanded by Kray himself, was at Villingen and Donaueschingen; and the reserve, numbering nineteen thousand, was guarding the Austrian magazines at Stokach. Cavalry detachments and outposts, to the number of about five thousand, from these several corps, were observing the Rhine and the defiles of the Black Forest; and an Austrian flotilla was on Lake Constance. Beyond the lake was Kray's left wing, numbering about twenty-five thousand men, of whom six or seven thousand were Tyrolese militia. This wing was commanded by Prince de Reuss, and extended well up into the mountains bordering eastern Switzerland, thence eastward into the Tyrol. The natural base of operations for Kray's army was the Bohemian Mountains and the Enns River, which are about two hundred miles east of the Black Forest. The Austrian lines of communication to this base were over two roads: one by way of Stokach, Memmingen, and Munich; the other along the Danube by way of Mosskirch, Ulm, and Ratisbon. The temporary base of operations for the Austrians in the Black Forest was Ulm. At this place, during the preceding year, the Archduke Charles had constructed an immense intrenched camp. Knowing that it was necessary to gain a decisive victory over the Austrians in the Black Forest before the Army of Reserve could begin its operations in Italy, the First Consul submitted a plan of campaign which he desired Moreau to carry out. Bonaparte proposed that Moreau should concentrate his forces on the south side of the Rhine between Schaffhausen and Lake Constance, cross the river in force, and attack the flank and rear of the Austrians in the Black Forest. He calculated that, by an attack in this direction, Moreau would be able to defeat Kray, sever his communications, and either capture or destroy his army. To this plan Moreau objected. It seemed to him a difficult operation. Cautious by nature, he looked upon the proposed manoeuvres of Bonaparte as being too bold and hazardous. He argued that his left and centre would have to make long flank marches in order to join his right; and that while the movements were taking place Kray would be given the opportunity of concentrating his forces near Schaffhausen, where he could oppose the passage of the French corps, or crush them in detail as they crossed the river. The First Consul replied that the Rhine afforded just the kind of protection necessary to screen the French corps during their concentration; and that these manoeuvres, if successfully executed, would, in a short time, bring about great results.