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What news about the Battle of Marengo changes the political situation in Tosca?

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Art Nouveau poster by Adolfo Hohenstein for Puccini's opera Tosca, showing a woman in a gold dress standing over a fallen figure, with dramatic red and black background and bold title text. — Tosca Poster by Adolfo Hohenstein for Giacomo Puccini's opera *Tosca*, 1906.

In the opera Tosca, the news of the Battle of Marengo significantly alters the political situation by signaling a major defeat for the forces of Baron Scarpia and the royalists.1

Initially, the characters believe that Napoleon and his troops are in retreat, a report that prompts a celebratory Te Deum in Act I. However, in Act II, the tide turns when Sciarrone rushes in to announce that Napoleon has actually won the battle. This victory for the French forces represents a collapse of the power held by Scarpia’s side. Upon hearing the news, the prisoner Cavaradossi is emboldened to shout his defiance, crying out "Vittoria!" (Victory!) in celebration of the political shift, which further enrages Scarpia and seals his determination to proceed with the execution.21