Three days later.
Mantua Fortress.
Napoleon glanced at Desaix's personal seal on the letter in his hand, then looked at Desaix's orderly officer. "Let me guess—there was fighting, wasn't there?" He knew this orderly officer well; he had seen him several times during the fighting at Trento.
The latter was clearly somewhat nervous, but the "attendant" standing behind him was actually a Security Bureau agent, so he only dared to faithfully repeat what Lefebvre had instructed him to say:
"Yes, General. We were attacked by the Austrians, and many soldiers died. Later, we pursued them to Klagenfurt Fortress and unexpectedly captured it."
Napoleon immediately smiled and opened "the letter Desaix had sent."
It was in the handwriting of Desaix's aide-de-camp. He did not suspect anything; when officers were particularly busy, it was common enough to have an aide write on their behalf. In the letter, Desaix stated that everything was going smoothly, but more than two thousand men of the Leo Legion had retreated to Graz, and he asked what should be done next. He also mentioned that their ammunition reserves might not be sufficient to launch a large-scale offensive and needed replenishing as soon as possible.
Napoleon put away the letter, inwardly berating Desaix for being indecisive, actually hesitating over a mere two thousand Austrian soldiers.
He immediately said to the orderly officer, "Tell Major Desaix to launch an attack on Graz as quickly as possible. If the Austrians come to their senses, we'll be facing enemies several times our number."
"Yes, yes, General."
After Desaix's orderly officer hurried away, Napoleon summoned Mantua Fortress's quartermaster and told him that Oudinot had been attacked by the Austrians, ordering him to immediately transport every last piece of ammunition in the fortress there.
That afternoon, Napoleon set out for Klagenfurt with his