In the blink of an eye, Napoleon had held Sedan for a week.
After the initial three days of fierce attacks, the coalition found the fortress well-prepared and the morale high, making a quick victory unlikely; hence they began the siege and earthworks.
That morning, just as Napoleon had woken up, the Chief of Staff rushed over to report: "Acting Commander, today an Austrian officer has come to defect to us because he admires the Republic!"
Napoleon was overjoyed: "What? Such a thing happened? No, wait, there might be deceit, I need to meet him!"
Then Napoleon hurriedly went to the Fortress Commander's office.
Previously, to prevent a night raid by the coalition, Napoleon had been sleeping directly in the command office, lying on the floor. Only in the past couple of days had the attacks subsided, and he had returned to his room and slept comfortably in his campaign bed.
