There were two lines of conduct
open for Napoleon's choice. One was
to wait for the invasion of r ranee. By
doing so he would gain several weeks,
and time was precious. The other
was to assume the aggressive and
attack the armies marching against
him before they could unite or make a
preconcerted invasion. Napoleon's
genius lay in attack. With charac
teristic energy he adopted the latter
alternative, and decided to march on
the armies in Belgium before the
Russians and Austrians could unite,
and attack him from the east..
