Napoleon paused to let his commanders take in the situation. ‘The Austrians have already made their first mistake, in dividing their strength.They assume that this war will be like the last and fought out on two fronts, either side of the Alps. But this time we will undertake only one offensive, over the Danube. Our forces in Italy will merely contain the Austrians. The Grand Army has been given the best men and resources to carry out its task and there is no enemy in Europe that can match our men.The main danger facing us is the possibility of the Austrians’ trading space for time in order to combine with the Russians. It is imperative that we seize the chance to strike at the Austrians, before the Russians arrive, and crush them individually.’

Napoleon leaned forward and tapped the area of the map that depicted the Black Forest. ‘We begin by making a feint here. Murat’s cavalry will move towards the upper Danube, as if screening our advance.While General Mack’s attention is focused on the Black Forest the real offensive will begin.’ Napoleon swept his hand in an arc across the map, from the Rhine through Bavaria and over the Danube. ‘The Grand Army will strike east, as fast as it can march, until it is level with Munster, and then turn south, cross the Danube and cut General Mack’s lines of supply.Then he will be forced to surrender, or be overwhelmed. Once Mack has been dealt with, we will attack the other Austrian armies in turn. If we move fast enough we will knock Austria out of the war before the Russians can intervene.’

Bernadotte seared his throat.‘Do we have any information about the location of Kutusov or Bennigsen, sire?’

Napoleon shook his head. ‘Not yet. But Murat’s scouts have orders to advance along both banks of the Danube as far as possible to give us the earliest news of the appearance of Russian troops.’

‘And if they do appear before we have crushed General Mack?’

‘Then it will be the job of your corps to hold them back, Bernadotte. As soon as you cross the Danube at Ingolstadt your men will turn east and guard our flank.’

Bernadotte quickly searched for the crossing point on the map and nodded. ‘Very well, sire. But what if the Austrians attempt to bring up their forces from Tyrol, or Italy?’

‘Davout’s corps will block them,’ Napoleon replied with a quick glance at the other officer. ‘That leaves five corps to surround and destroy General Mack. Assuming he doesn’t guess our plans before we can get across the Danube.’

‘And if he does?’

‘Then he will be forced to turn his army round and attempt to march out of the trap before it closes. However, as some of us have discovered in the past, our Austrian friends are not renowned for the speed of their marching.’