The next scene was that we have described, in which the armies of
Gustavus and Wallenstein lay face to face at Nuremberg, each waiting
until starvation should force the other to fight or to retreat.
Gustavus had sent for reinforcements, and his army steadily grew. That
of Wallenstein dwindled away under the assaults of famine and
pestilence. A large convoy of provisions intended for Wallenstein was
seized by the Swedes. Soon afterwards Gustavus was so strongly
reinforced that his army grew to seventy thousand men. At his back lay
Nuremberg, his faithful ally, ready to aid him with thirty thousand
fighting men besides. As his force grew that of Wallenstein shrank,
until by the end of the siege pestilence and want had reduced his army
to twenty-four thousand men.
The Swedes were the first to yield in this game of starvation. As their
numbers grew their wants increased, and at length, furious with famine,
they made a desperate assault upon the imperial camp. They were driven
back, with heavy loss. Two weeks more Gustavus waited, and then,
despairing of drawing his opponent from his works, he broke camp and
marched with sounding trumpets past his adversary's camp, who quietly
let him go.
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