When, on the 2d of June, General Ott received the orders of Melas, the negotiations for the capitulation of Genoa were pending. He delayed until the 4th of June to receive the surrender of Masséna. On the 6th, having left a sufficient force to garrison the city, he sent a brigade towards Placentia by way of Bobbio; and with the remainder of his forces, numbering sixteen thousand soldiers, he himself marched towards the same place by way of Novi, Tortona, and the Stradella Pass. During these operations, Bonaparte remained at Milan, perfecting his arrangements and issuing the orders for the movements of his troops. He had already sent forward Berthier to direct the operations along the Po. On the 6th of June Moncey's corps arrived. This re-enforcement of fifteen thousand men increased the effective forces under the immediate command of Bonaparte to about sixty thousand. Immediately upon the arrival of Moncey, thirty-two thousand soldiers under Lannes, Victor, and Murat, began to cross the Po. The remainder of the army were thus stationed: four thousand, under Thurreau, were at the foot of the Mont Cenis Pass; two small detachments were occupying Fort Bard and Ivrea; ten thousand were posted at Vercelli and along the Ticino from the foot of Lake Maggiore to Pavia; three thousand were at Milan; and ten thousand were along the Adda, and at Cremona and Placentia. All these troops, except the division of Thurreau, which was isolated and held in check by an Austrian force near Turin, were available for the operations about Milan and along the Po. On the 6th of June Lannes and Victor crossed the Po near Belgiojoso, a few miles below Pavia, and marched thence to the Stradella Pass. On the following day Murat crossed at Placentia. In these passages the French met with considerable opposition from small detachments of cavalry and infantry that Melas had directed thither from Alessandria and elsewhere to hold the crossings of the Po until General Ott should arrive; but these detachments having been defeated and driven back, the French occupied Placentia and the Stradella Pass. At the latter place a fortified camp was constructed, and between Pavia and Placentia five bridges were built for the use of the French in case they should be forced to retreat. During these operations two Austrian couriers were captured. One was carrying despatches from Melas to Vienna; the other, from the Aulic Council to Melas. The despatches of the former told of the surrender of Genoa, and of the plans and movements of Melas. Those of the latter informed the Austrian commander that the Army of Reserve was a mere myth, and that he should pay no attention to the rumors concerning it, but should make every effort to capture Genoa and force the crossings of the Var.