War and Peace

Chapter 49

"Has it passed?!" Princess Molière said when his body lay motionless in front of them and gradually turned cold.Nates stepped forward, looked at Duke Andryl, and closed his eyes.She closed his eyes for him, but instead of kissing those eyes, she stuck her body against this body that could evoke her fond memories.

"Where did he go? Where is he now?..." When the washed and clothed body was put into the coffin, everyone came to say goodbye, all weeping bitterly.Nates and the princess wept too, but not for their own sorrow.They were thrilled by the devout sentimentality that flooded their hearts as they realized the mystery of death, simple and majestic.

Part Two

[One]

In historical events, the most primitive condition is first the will of God, and secondly the will of man standing in an obvious position, that is, the will of heroes.However, as long as we have a deep understanding of the nature of these events and the affairs of all the participants in these events, we will find that the will of heroes not only does not dominate people's behavior, but is often dominated by people's behavior.Of course, this is the result we get when we abandon looking for reasons in a certain character.

Historians believe that the most serious event after the Battle of Polaghero, the fall of Moscow, and the massacre was the retreat of the Russian army from Ryazan to Kaluzhskaya Avenue to Tanlutinlo, the so-called crossing March across the flank of the Red Pahla River.They believe that this is a thought-provoking initiative by someone.This judgment is very puzzling, because it is impossible to understand where the wisdom of this military operation is manifested. Secondly, if this flanking operation is not coordinated with other factors, not only will it not bring benefits to the Russian army, but it is likely to bring great harm to the Russian army. The Russian army was destroyed.Third, the action cannot be attributed to a single individual.The abundance of food in Kaluga Province caused the Russian army to move southward, from Tula Avenue to Kaluzhskaya Avenue, and came to Tanlutinlo in the middle of the two supply lines.Just as we have no way of answering the question of how Moscow gave up, we cannot answer who decided to move to Tanru Tingluo.

[two]

The famous flanking action took place in this way: when the French stopped attacking, the Russians retreated in the opposite direction of the French attack, and at the same time changed the straight direction originally chosen.After getting rid of the obstruction of the French army, they naturally turned to places with sufficient supplies.

Kotusov’s credit does not lie in the so-called genius’s strategic shift, but in the fact that he alone understood the significance of this event at that time, he alone knew the consequences of the French army’s inaction, and he alone believed from beginning to end The Battle of Polagello was a victory, and he was the only one in the position of commander-in-chief who tried his best to prevent the Russian army from making meaningless sacrifices when the others advocated an attack.

During the month when the French army was scrambling in Moscow and the Russian army was stationed in the Tanru Tingluo camp, the balance of power between the two armies changed suddenly, and the Russian army gained an advantage in morale and numbers.The balance of power has changed suddenly, and conflicts are inevitable.

[three]

The staff of the Russian army was reorganized, and the positions of the dead Bogarageo and the departed Barclay were filled.In the headquarters, due to the conflict between Kotusov and Chief of Staff Bennigsen, the existence of the emperor's cronies, and personnel changes made the internal partisan war more complicated.

On October [-], Shapovalov, a Cossack soldier on patrol, shot and killed one rabbit and wounded another.Deep in the woods he encountered the unsuspecting left wing of Murat's army while chasing the wounded rabbit.When a second lieutenant officer heard the news, he immediately reported it to his superior.

What the Cossacks saw was confirmed by the patrolling cavalry, which showed that the circumstances of the incident were ripe.It's like a clock whose mainspring is tightly wound. As soon as the mainspring is loosened, the clock will be struck loudly.

Although Kotusov had his superficial power, wisdom and experience, he thought of Bennigsen's memorandum, the unanimous wish of the whole army and the attitude of the emperor he imagined, and the intelligence of the Cossack soldiers. There was no way to prevent the inevitable outcome of this event, so he gave orders that were useless and harmful, and he surrendered to reality.

[Four]

On the morning of October [-], Kotusov signed the operational arrangements.When sufficient copies of this disposition had been prepared, he called for an officer, sent him to Ermolov, and entrusted him with the papers for execution.The young Guards cavalry officer was delighted with the urgent task entrusted to him by the commander-in-chief, and soon set off for Ermolov's headquarters.

But Kotusov's herald had not found Ermolov until six o'clock in the afternoon.He is nowhere, no one knows where he is.Finally, at General Fund's ball, the herald finally found General Ermolov.

"Do you think he walked away by chance?" a colleague of the General Staff said to the herald when the incident was mentioned afterwards. Just watch, there will be a good show tomorrow!"

[five]

Early the next morning, the old Kotusov got up and said his prayers. He got dressed and thought sadly of the battle he was about to command which he did not want.He got into a wagon and drove from Letashevka, five miles from Tanrudino, to the point where the columns were to converge.

It's a cold, damp autumn day, and the sky is just getting brighter.As he approached Tanrutino, Kotusov noticed the cavalry leading their horses across the road to drink water.He stopped the carriage and asked which regiment they belonged to. According to the plan, the regiment to which these cavalry belonged should be said to be ambushing far away. "Is something wrong?" Kotusov wondered.He continued to drive for a while, and saw that the infantry regiments were carrying guns, and the soldiers were wearing underpants collecting firewood to cook porridge.He called for an officer, who reported that they had not received any orders to attack.

Kotusov turned purple and got angry at the called staff officer, not because the officer had done anything wrong, but because he was qualified to be the target of his anger.

[six]

The next night, the army assembled at the appointed place, and set out that night.

Count Orlov led a group of Cossack soldiers to the place on time.Before dawn, Count Orlov was awakened, and someone brought a French deserter.He said that Murat was sleeping a mile from them, and that he could capture Murat alive if he was given a guard of 100 men.After arguing, Major General Grekov decided to take two Cossack regiments and the Polish sergeant to accompany him.

On the right of Count Orlov, our columns should have appeared on the vast hillside.Count Orlov, looking around, felt that the French were already on the move, and his good-sighted aide-de-camp confirmed his feeling.Orlov looked at the enemy camp, and hastily ordered his adjutant to chase Grekov back.The adjutant's horse galloped into the woods.When Grekov was brought back, as the infantry columns could not be waited for, and the enemy was already in front of him, Count Orlov was agitated and decided to attack.

Following his order, the sound of "Ulla" resounded throughout the woods.The Cossack soldiers raised their guns, crossed the creek one by one, and happily rushed to the opposite enemy camp.

The French, who were the first to spot the Cossacks, uttered a cry of despair and terror, and before the whole battalion had time to put on their clothes, they fled sleepily, throwing away their armor and armor, like dogs in the water.

If the Cossacks had continued to block the French regardless of everything around them, they might have captured Murat and captured everything.But the Cossack soldiers ignored the commander's order and stopped acting after getting the spoils and some prisoners.

The French were not pursued, they regained their composure, formed into formation, and began shooting.Orlov waited for the other columns and did not continue the attack.Among the other columns, some did not arrive at the designated place, and some arrived at the designated place, but they arrived too late, did not play any role, and became the target of the enemy's shooting.

[seven]

At this time, another column was supposed to attack the front of the French army, but Kotusov was in this column.He knew that this battle against his will would lead to nothing but great confusion in the army, and so he controlled it as far as his powers allowed him.

The entire meeting was limited to the efforts of Orlov's Cossack corps, and the remaining columns lost hundreds of lives in vain.

For this battle, Kotusov received a diamond medal.Bennigsen also owned some diamonds and one hundred thousand rubles, and the rest got their own satisfactory rewards.After the battle, the staff of the headquarters had new transfers again.

The battle of Tanlu Tingluo did not achieve Thor's expected purpose: the army did not fight as deployed; Earl Orlov's purpose of "capturing Murat" did not become a reality; the purpose of Bennigsen and others was not realized: The entire division of the French army was completely wiped out; the officers did not achieve the purpose of participating in the battle; the Cossack soldiers did not get particularly many spoils of war.Because of this, this is the battle that was needed at that time, and it is difficult to imagine what other consequences this battle will have.The biggest result of this battle with the least effort, the most chaos, and the least loss was that the Russian army turned from defense to offense, and it also promoted the imminent escape of the French army.

[eight]

After a brilliant victory on the Moskva River, Napoleon entered Moscow.It was obvious that the victory belonged to the French, and the Russians abandoned the capital and retreated.

It doesn't take a particular genius to hold on to that honor.To achieve this goal, it is only necessary to do the following most mundane things: prohibit soldiers from looting, prepare winter clothes (this condition is also available in Moscow), and properly search for supplies in the city that are sufficient for the entire army for more than half a year.But Napoleon, the genius of military geniuses, did none of them.

On the contrary, he made use of his power, and of all the ways out, he chose the most unfavorable and stupid course for the whole army, that is, let the whole army stay in Moscow until October, and let the soldiers sack the city, Finally withdrew from Moscow without preparing a reserve, and when he came to the side of Kotusov, he did not engage, but turned to the right, came to Yaroslavl, and did not follow Kotusov's marching route Going down, but retreating to Mozhaisk along the desolate Smolensk road, is an unimaginably stupid decision.

Historians absurdly assert that Napoleon's intelligence failed in Moscow.In fact, Napoleon's activities in Moscow also had their brilliance.After entering Moscow and before leaving Moscow, he issued countless orders and made many plans one after another.He had not neglected the interests of the Russians, nor the affairs of Paris, nor the diplomatic strategy of contemplating the conclusion of a peace treaty.

[Nine]

In terms of military affairs, as soon as Napoleon entered Moscow, he ordered General Sebastiani to pay attention to the movement of the Russian army, dispatched troops to various avenues, and asked Murat to look for Kotusov.After finishing his instructions, he began to check the Kremlin's defenses, and made a perfect plan for future wars on the map of Russia.

In terms of diplomacy, he called Captain Yakovlev, who was robbed, shabby, and fled Moscow in a daze, and showed him the lenient policy of the French army. At this time, he wrote a letter to Emperor Alexander, let He was sent to Petersburg.

Judicially, he ordered the arrest and punishment of arsonists.The punishment for Rushdupach was to burn his house.

Administratively, Napoleon reissued a constitution, created a new municipal government, and issued the following series of proclamations:

For the army, Napoleon notified all officers and soldiers to loot Moscow in turn to ensure the future support of the army; religiously, Napoleon allowed priests to resume worship; in terms of commercial and military supply, Napoleon also issued various instructions; in order to boost morale, appease the citizens , Napoleon has been holding inspections, awarding prizes, he even rode among the citizens, and personally went to the theaters he ordered to open; kindness is the embodiment of the noble virtues of kings and dignitaries, and Napoleon has done everything within his power; Ji's officers and soldiers, Napoleon continued to issue orders for punishment.

In short, Napoleon did everything he could think of.

[ten]

It is strange to say that although all the instructions and plans are as good as all the previous instructions and plans in similar situations, but now they cannot touch the crux of the problem, just like the hands of a clock, without the guidance of gears, there is no law. turning around.

In military terms, that genius plan was never carried out, and could not have been carried out, because it was so far removed from the real situation.

On commercial matters, Napoleon's proclamations to artisans and farmers received no response.There were no craftsmen in the city, and the peasants even arrested and killed those who walked out of the city with notices.

Napoleon's order to build a theater was also worthless.The theaters in the Kremlin and Poznyakov's house were forced to close as soon as they were built because the actors were robbed.

Charity has also not received the expected results.Counterfeit banknotes are flooding Moscow, banknotes are worthless.For the French who looted the capital, gold was the most valuable. Compared with this, the value of silver plummeted, and the counterfeit banknotes that Napoleon gave to the victims were just a pile of waste paper.

Among Napoleon's directives, the prohibition of looting and the rectification of military discipline are the most astonishing in their ineffectiveness.Regarding the robbery, an officer reported thus:

"Although there is a strict order against looting, looting is still happening. Military discipline has not yet been restored. The merchants are all conducting illegal transactions, and the peddlers in the army continue to do business, but they are selling looted things." As if a group of no one Cattle in charge trampled the feed available to them.All the time in Moscow this army was crumbling and dying day by day.

The information about the Battle of Tanrutinlo was obtained by Napoleon during his review.The news aroused his will to act, and he issued orders in keeping with the circumstances of the whole army.

When fleeing Moscow, the soldiers took what they had looted, and Napoleon took his "treasures" with him.

Like a wounded beast, this army is aware of its doom but does not know what to do now.The entry of Napoleon and his army into Moscow and their final demise can be studied as well as the dying struggles of a mortally wounded beast.The sound of the Battle of Tanrutine terrified the beast, and it rushed to where it had been shot, and when it came up to the hunters it ran back again, and at last it chose the one it knew best, but which was It is the old way which is harmful and unhelpful.

[eleven]

On the morning of October [-]th, Bin-Air left the shed.When he returned, he started playing next to him with a romping gray dog, a short-legged, long-waisted puppy Karatayev called "little gray."

During this period, many changes took place in Bin-Air.He has lost a lot of weight, but is still going strong.He was bearded, his hair was messy, and he was covered in lice.His gaze was resolute, serious, and deliberate, which had not been seen in him before.The hesitant look in the past has been replaced by a resolute expression now.He was barefoot, and whenever he looked at his bare feet, there was a smile of excitement and pride on his face.

[twelve]
During the four weeks since Bin-Air's captivity, the French offered to move him from the soldier's hut to the officer's hut, but he refused.

(End of this chapter)