But tonight he felt too tired, too drained, and the usual phrases of an ardent lover seemed stale and insufficient. It was no longer enough to commit his emotions to paper. He needed Josephine here and now. Dipping his pen in the inkwell, Napoleon wrote a terse note, asking why he had not heard from her for several days. If she truly loved him, he wrote, then she would do all in her power to be at his side without delay, and he expected that of her. He signed it with a formal expression of affection and then folded the paper and sealed it, tossing it on to the other correspondence to be sent to Paris in the morning.

Napoleon rose early the next day to read the latest intelligence reports. The Austrians had established a new line of defence stretching southwards from Lake Garda to the fortress town of Mantua. As ever, the key to driving the Austrians from Italy was taking Mantua, but to do that the fortress had to be cut off from the rest of the Austrian army. At the morning conference Napoleon outlined his plan.

‘We must take Mantua before the end of the year. Once we have Mantua, Austria is finished this side of the Alps,’ he began. ‘Accordingly, we will have to force a crossing of the Mincio river and drive Beaulieu north, away from Mantua, which will be besieged by Serurier.’

Berthier raised his eyebrows.

‘Do you object to my plan, Berthier?’ Napoleon asked curtly.

‘No, General, it’s sound enough, provided we can get across the river. Where do you intend to cross?’

‘At Valeggio.’

‘But that’s in the centre of Beaulieu’s line. He’ll be able to strike at us from either flank, even if we do manage to force a crossing.’>

‘That’s why we must stretch his lines of defence to breaking point,’ Napoleon smiled. ‘Augereau is to take his division up the west shore of Lake Garda. He’s to make a great show of it so that Beaulieu is fully aware of his movements. Beaulieu will recognise the threat to his supply lines and will be forced to shift his weight north to counter the threat. As soon as he does that we will cross the river.’

‘And what if he doesn’t take the bait, sir?’ asked Berthier.

‘Then Augereau’s division will march east and cut Beaulieu’s supply lines. Either way he has to react and move forces to his right flank. Then we cross the Mincio.’

‘That still leaves Mantua, sir,’ Junot pointed out. ‘We don’t have any siege artillery with the army. That means we will have to starve them out.’