He had before him Brussels, Antwerp, Mechlin, Ghent, Dendermonde, and other powerful places, which he was to subjugate.

Here was a problem not easy of solution.

Given an army of eight thousand, more or less, to reduce therewith in the least possible time, half-a-dozen cities; each containing fifteen or twenty thousand men able to bear arms.

To besiege these places in form was obviously a mere chimera.

Assault, battery, and surprises--these were all out of the question.
Yet Alexander was never more truly heroic than in this position of vast entanglement.