The conquest of the France-Comté was initially…

The conquest of the France-Comté was initially only supposed to be the prelude to a broad campaign in the spring.

The army's size has been increased to one hundred and thirty-four thousand soldiers.

The plan is that the King and the Maréchal de Turenne will conquer the remaining part of the Spanish Netherlands with sixty thousand men.

At the head of a force of ten thousand men, the brother of the King, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, is to advance into Catalonia, while the Prince de Condé, with twenty-two thousand men, is to defend against any potential offensive by the Holy Roman Empire in the dioceses of Metz, Toul and Verdun.

However, after Louis XIV has secured the Franche-Comté as a bargaining counter, the immediate question is whether he should bow to the demands of the triple alliance, or whether he should continue the war.

The Marquis de Louvois, the Secretary of State for War, as well as Turenne and Condé, favor continuing the war, as the situation seems advantageous, since the Spanish are significantly weakened.

On the other hand, the foreign minister, Hugues de Lionne, and the finance minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, both prefer to see a peace treaty signed quickly, as the costs of continuing the war are incalculable (so far it has cost most than eighteen million livres), and the international conditions do not make a victory seem likely.

This is especially the case since Spain has in the meantime signed the Treaty of Lisbon with Portugal and can now concentrate on the war with France.

Louis XIV is forced to realize that France is no match for the coalition of Spain, the Netherlands, England, and Sweden, and therefore announces a cease-fire until the end of March 1668 and starts negotiations.