Editing Battle of Nördlingen (1645) (section)

===Geography===
The 16,000-man Imperial-Bavarian army, led by [[Field Marshal]] [[Franz von Mercy|Franz Baron von Mercy]] and [[Johann von Werth]] entrenched on rising ground near the village of Alerheim, 10&nbsp;km southeast of Nordlingen. One km to the northeast of the village, the ridge rises to a height called the Wennenberg. Exactly 1&nbsp;km to the southwest of the village is the Schloss Alerheim, which crowns a hill. Mercy and Werth deployed their right wing on the Wennenberg, anchored their left wing on the ''schloss'' (castle) hill, and posted their center on the low ridge between the wings. In the 17th century, Alerheim was smaller and entirely to the northwest of the Imperial battleline between the Wennenberg and the ''schloss''. To protect their weak center, the Bavarian and Imperial officers had some dismounted dragoons and foot soldiers barricade themselves in the village. They hoped to defeat the French by forcing them into a disadvantageous attack uphill into the fire of the Imperial cannon.