While the Austrians expected the Germans to drive directly for Vienna, they also felt it vital to keep routes to Italy open. Tirol could not be abandoned without a fight, as the Brenner Pass would have to be held in case the Italians could be convinced to intervene. The Austrian 6th Division tasked to defend the region had been stripped of many of its assets to bolster the Traun Line, but it still retained the toughest infantry in the Federal Army.

The Kaiserjäger had been the elite mountain troops of the old Imperial and Royal Army, and added to their war record under German control during the Second World War. A redoubt of monarchist feeling, Tirol never fully accepted Nazi rule and provided a large percentage of the nationalist Austrian officer corps. In 1809 Tirolean insurgents had perfected the "Saxon Vise" as their preferred method of dealing with Bavarian invaders: strike the head and tail of an enemy column to prevent its escape, and then destroy it at leisure. The tactic surely would have seen use 129 years later as well.