Chapter 38 Chapter fifteen

Having accepted the command of the whole army, Kutuzov remembered Prince Andrew and summoned him to the general headquarters. The day Prince Andrew came to Tsarev-Zaymiche coincided with Kutuzov's first military parade.The commander-in-chief's carriage was parked outside the priest's house in the village, and Prince Andrew stopped there.He sat on a bench by the gate and waited for the chief seat—that's how everyone called Kutuzov nowadays.In the fields outside the village, the sound of military music and the sound of "Ula" cheering for the new commander-in-chief can be heard from time to time.Outside the gate, ten paces from Prince Andrew, two orderlies, a messenger, and a steward were sunning and chatting in the absence of the commander-in-chief.A short, dark-skinned lieutenant-colonel of hussars with whiskers rode up to the door, glanced at Prince Andrei, and asked: Does the chief lieutenant live here? Is he coming back soon?

Prince Andrei said that he did not belong to the Headquarters and was also a foreigner.The lieutenant-colonel of hussars asked a well-dressed orderly.The orderly said with that peculiar contempt which an orderly of the commander-in-chief is accustomed to address to officers: "What, Chief? I'll probably be back soon. What do you want?" The lieutenant-colonel of the hussars sneered at the tone of the orderly, dismounted, handed the horse over to the orderly, went up to Prince Andrew, and bowed slightly to him.Prince Andrew made room for himself on the stool, and the lieutenant-colonel of hussars sat down beside him.

"Are you waiting for the Commander-in-Chief too?" asked the Lieutenant-Colonel of Hussars. "It is said that he is easy to deal with, thank God. Not as difficult as the sausage shop owner. No wonder Ermolov asked to be naturalized as a German. It seems that now The Russians can talk now. Otherwise, God knows what they're up to. Always retreating, retreating. Have you ever been in a war?" he asked. "Not only did I have the honor to take part in the retreat," replied Prince Andrew, "but I also lost everything valuable during the retreat, not to mention the manor and the house... Even my father died because of his concern for the country and the people. I am Small Lensk people."

"Oh?...Are you Prince Andrei? It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Lieutenant Colonel Denisov, but I'm known as Vaska." Denisov said, shaking Prince Andrei's hand, Looking at Prince Andrew's face with special kindness, "Yes, I have heard," he said sympathetically.After a pause, he went on: "It was a barbaric war. All was well, except for those who have suffered. Are you Prince Andrei?" He shook his head. "Fortunately." Yes, prince, it is a pleasure!" he added with a wry smile, shaking Prince Andrew's hand. Prince Andrew had heard from Natasha that Denisov had been the first to propose to her.This sweet and bitter memory has not appeared for a long time, and it has been buried in his heart, and now it has resurfaced.He had been through so many important events lately, such as the abandonment of Smolensk, his trip to Bald Mountain, and the recent news of his father's death, that he hadn't thought about them for a long time, and even if he thought about them, he was not as excited as before.For Denisov the name of Prince Andrei called up in him a series of memories, a poetic distant past.After dinner that day, after Natasha finished singing, he couldn't help but propose to the fifteen-year-old girl.He smiled as he remembered the scene and his love for Natasha, and turned at once to his present preoccupation.This is the battle plan he drew up at the outpost when he retreated.He had suggested this plan to Barclay de Tory, and now he wanted to present it to Kutuzov.The basis of this plan was that the French lines were too long, and that we should not intercept them, but attack their lines of communication, or both.He explained his plan to Prince Andrew.

"It is impossible for them to hold the entire line of communication. This is impossible. I am responsible for cutting them off; as long as you give me five hundred people, I can cut them off. I am sure! One way is to fight guerrilla warfare." Denisov got up and, with gestures, explained his plan to Prince Andrew.While he was explaining, the cries of troops coming from the parade became more and more dissonant and scattered, mingling with military music and singing.There were hooves and shouts in the village. "Here he comes!" cried the Cossack who was standing at the door, "and on horseback!"

Prince Andrew and Denisov went to the gate, where a guard of soldiers (guard of honour) stood.They saw Kutuzov coming down the street on a short bay horse.Followed by a large entourage of generals.Barclay was almost abreast of him; a swarm of officers ran after them, and there was a huh-huh all around. Several adjutants ran into the yard first.Kutuzov hurried the horse trotting under his heavy body impatiently, nodded frequently, and raised his hand to the brim of his white heavy cavalry hat with a red band but no brim to salute.He ran up to the mostly decorated guard of grenadiers who saluted him, gazed at them for a minute with the determined gaze of an officer, then turned to the generals and officers beside him.A sudden elusive look appeared on his face, and he shrugged in bewilderment.

"With such fine warriors retreating again and again!" he said. "Well, good-bye, General!" he added, urging his horses past Prince Andrei and Denisov to the gate. "Ulla! Ulla! Ulla!" came a cheer from behind him. Kutuzov had grown slack and puffy since Prince Andrew had last seen him.But the white eyes, the scars, the fatigued look on his face and body, so familiar to Prince Andrew, remained the same.Kutuzov wore an army uniform, a whip made of thin leather strips over his shoulders, and a white heavy cavalry cap on his head.He sat on his steed, swaying awkwardly from side to side.

"Shhhhhhhhh." Kutuzov rode into the yard, whistling softly.After the tense ceremony, he had a relaxed look on his face, as if he wanted to take a break.He pulled his left foot out of the stirrup, turned his whole body on his side, frowning with difficulty, and finally lifted his foot onto the saddle, put his elbow on his knee, and with a grunt, fell into the arms of the Cossacks and adjutants who were about to help him. inside. He gathered himself together, squinted his eyes, glanced around, glanced at Prince Andrey, evidently did not recognize him, and staggered up to the steps.

"Shhhhhhhh," he whistled, and looked back at Prince Andrew.As is often the case with old people, it took a few seconds before Prince Andrew's features reminded Kutuzov of him. "Oh, hello, prince, hello, good boy, come on..." said Kutuzov wearily, looking around, and with difficulty climbed the steps that creaked under his feet.He unbuttoned it and sat down on the bench by the steps. "Hey, what happened to your father?" "The news of his death was just received yesterday," said Prince Andrew curtly. Kutuzov looked at Prince Andrew with wide eyes, took off his hat, and crossed himself: "May he enter the Kingdom of Heaven soon! May God's will come to each of us!" He sighed, Say no more. "I love him, and I feel sorry for you." He embraced Prince Andrew, and held him to his fat chest, and did not let go for a while.When Kutuzov let him go, he saw the old man's thick lips quivering, and tears in his eyes.He sighed, standing up with his hands on the stool.

"Come on, come with me, let's talk," he said.But at this moment Denisov, who had no scruples before the officer as well as against the enemy, boldly slammed his spurs and went up the steps, ignoring the murmurs of the angry adjutants on the steps.Kutuzov propped his hands on the stool and looked at Denisov disapprovingly.Denisov reported his name, saying that he was reporting to the chief executive on major state affairs.Kutuzov looked at Denisov impatiently with tired eyes, put his hands on his stomach, and asked: "Is it a national matter? What is it? Tell me!" Denisov looked like a child. Blushing like a girl (the blushing of this bearded, alcoholic man was awkward), he spoke boldly of his story of cutting off the enemy's line of communication between Smolensk and Vyazma. plan.Denisov had lived in the district and knew the terrain well.His plans are undeniably good, especially when he speaks with confidence.Kutuzov watched his feet, and occasionally looked back at the next farmhouse, as if there might be some trouble there.While Denisov was speaking, a general with a briefcase stepped out of the farmhouse Kutuzov was looking at.

"What?" Kutuzov interrupted while Denisov was speaking. "Are you ready?" "All right, sir!" said the general.Kutuzov shook his head, as if to say: "How can one person have time to do so many things." Then he continued to listen to Denisov's report. "On my honor as a Russian officer," said Denisov, "I can cut off Napoleon's lines of communication." "What is your relationship with Quartermaster Kirill Denisov?" Kutuzov interrupted. "It's my uncle, Chief." "Oh! We're old friends," said Kutuzov cheerfully. "Well, well, good boy, you stay at the headquarters and we'll talk tomorrow." He nodded to Denisov and turned To pick up the document Konovnitsyn handed him. "Chairman, please go to the room first," said the general on duty dissatisfied, "We need to review the plan and issue some documents." At this time, an adjutant came out of the door and said that everything in the room was ready.But Kutuzov obviously wanted to finish his business before entering the house.He frowned... "No, good boy, tell them to bring the little table here, and I'll read the papers here," said Kutuzov. "Don't go," he said, turning to Prince Andrew.Prince Andrei remained on the steps, listening to the report of the general on duty. While the general was reporting, Prince Andrew heard a woman's murmur and the rustle of a woman's silk dress at the door.He glanced over there a few times and saw a beautiful woman behind the door, wearing pink clothes and a purple silk scarf, with a plump body and a rosy face, holding a plate in her hand, apparently waiting for the commander-in-chief to enter.Kutuzov's aide-de-camp bit Prince Andrew's ear, saying that it was the landlady, the priest's wife, who was offering bread and salt to the head seat as a welcome.Her husband greeted the head seat with a cross in church, and she welcomed him at home... "She is very beautiful," the adjutant added with a smile.Kutuzov looked back when he heard this.Kutuzov listened to the report of the general on duty (mainly critical of the Tsarev-Zaymichel position), as he listened to Denisov's report, and as he listened to the debates at the Austerlitz military council seven years ago .He listened, evidently because he had two ears, and though one of them was stuffed with a bit of ship's rope, he could not help listening; but it was obvious that the report of the general on duty not only did not surprise him at all, but completely He didn't pay attention to it, he knew it all, and he listened because he couldn't help it, just as he couldn't help hearing church prayers.Denisov's words are justified and wise.The words of the general on duty are more reasonable and wise.But Kutuzov clearly despised knowledge and wisdom, and he knew that it was not knowledge and wisdom that determined the problem but something else.Prince Andrei watched the commander-in-chief's face carefully, and saw that there was nothing but boredom on his face, and that the commander-in-chief was eager to know what the woman at the door was chattering about, but he could not ignore the etiquette.Kutuzov obviously despised intelligence, knowledge, and Denisov's patriotic zeal, but he did not despise them on the basis of intelligence, feeling, and knowledge (for he did not want to show off those qualities), but by something else.He despised them because he was old and experienced.While listening to the report, Kutuzov only issued an order regarding the looting by the Russian army.The general on duty finished his report and handed over an official document.It was a report by the commander of the army in response to a landlord's request for compensation for cutting green wheat, and asked the chief to sign. After hearing the report, Kutuzov smacked his lips and shook his head. "Throw it into the furnace... and burn it! I tell you plainly, good boy, burn all such papers. Cut the crops, burn the wood, let them do it. I don't give orders, and I won't do it, but I can't make compensation either. It's the only way to do it. There will inevitably be debris when chopping firewood." He looked at the official document again. "Oh, the Germans are so serious!" he said, shaking his head.