Chapter 77 Mysteries of the Five Wars

Everyone knows that the initial stage of the war was tense, chaotic, difficult, and critical for the armies of both sides, but the British army was even more critical than the French army. It rained all night; after the storm, it was muddy; the fields were full of puddles, and the water was in the pits, as in basins; in some places the wheels of the carts were half submerged, and the dripping mud; and all movement, especially in the valleys around Papelote, would have been impossible had it not been for the barley and rye barley, overwhelmed by the swarming vehicles, to fill the ruts and underlay the wheels.

The war started late, and Napoleon, as we have said, was wont to hold the whole battery in his hand, like a pistol with a barrel, pointing now at one point of the battle, now at another; A well-trained artillery team can run freely; to do this, the sun must be out to dry the ground.But the sun lingered, and this time it did not keep its promise like Austerlitz did.General Cowell of England looked at his watch when the first shot was fired. It was eleven thirty-five. At the beginning of the battle, the French left flank rushed upon Hougoumont, perhaps more violently than the emperor had expected.At the same time, Napoleon attacked the center and ordered Gio's brigade to attack Saint-Lahe. Ney also ordered the right wing of the French army to advance to the left wing of the British army occupying Papelot.

Ugumont's offensive has a somewhat deceptive effect on the enemy.The idea had been to lure Wellington there, to make him more to the left, and that was the plan.Had the four companies of the British Guards and the brave Belgian division under Perponchet not held the line, the plan might have succeeded, but Wellington did not concentrate on Hougoumont, but only sent additional troops. The Fourth Company of the Guards and the battalion headquarters of Brunswick went to the aid. The attack on Papelotte by the French right wing was completed, and the plan was to crush the British left wing, cut off the road to Brussels, cut off the approach of the Prussian army that might reach it, press on Mont St. John, and try to drive Mr. Wellington It was obvious to drive to Hougoumont, then to Branlal, and then to Arles.If there is no accident, the attack along the way will definitely succeed.Paperot took it, and Saint-Laye took it.

Incidentally.In the British infantry, especially in Lambert's brigade, there are many recruits.Those young fighters were tenacious in front of our brave infantry. They were inexperienced, but they fought bravely. They especially fought well as skirmishers. There is the kind of independent fighting and indomitable energy of French soldiers.Those bratty soldiers were quite impulsive, and Wellington was not happy about it. After the capture of Saint-Lahe, the battle became a stalemate. That day, from noon to four o'clock, there was a period of confusion; the situation of the battle was almost unknown, and it became a state of chaos.As dusk approaches, thousands of troops and horses float back and forth in the twilight. It is a thrilling spectacle. The appearance of the army at that time is no longer visible today, with red tasseled caps, floating swords, crossed leather belts, grenade bags, and light cavalry. The coiled sash military uniform, thousand pleated red boots, feathered crown with many wreaths, one color vermillion, British infantry with large white rings instead of epaulets and almost pure black Brunswick infantry complement each other, and brass hoops on their heads Hanoverian hussars with red tassels and oval leather caps, Scotch soldiers with their knees exposed and in checkered clothes, and long white leggings of our Habayashi army. These are pictures, not lines of battle, for Salvador Roza needs it, not Gribovar.

There are always changes in every war. "Unpredictable." Every historian writes as much as he pleases about the chaos.No matter how the generals plan, when it comes to confrontation, there will always be ever-changing changes, advancing and retreating from time to time; in the course of the battle, the plans made by the generals of the two armies will inevitably diverge from each other and check each other.One point of the battlefield engulfed more fighters than another, as if the sponges in those places were more or less absorbent, and therefore absorbed water more slowly.The generals had no choice but to fill in some places with more soldiers.That was an unexpected drain.The battle line is like a long snake, meandering and turbulent, the blood is like a stream, flowing arrogantly, the forwards of the two armies are turbulent like waves, the armies are advancing or retreating, intertwined like a corner of the sea, and all the reefs are facing each other, floating constantly The artillery team meets the infantry, the horse team chases the artillery team, and the team is like a cloud of smoke.There is clearly something there, but it disappears when you look closely, the sparse places move erratically, the dense smoke and dust move in and out, and there is a kind of dark wind that pushes the pile of flesh and blood people forward, and then drives them back, sweeping them to a place. place, and then dispersed them in all directions.What is a melee?It's a back and forth movement.Sophisticated planning is a dead thing, good for a minute, not for a whole day.To depict war, one must have a painter with great talent and vigorous brushwork; Rembrandt is better than van der Meeren.Van der Meeren correctly painted the situation at noon, but not the truth at three o'clock.Geometry is not enough, only hurricanes are real.Therefore, Fular has reasons to refute Polybius.We should add that, at a certain point, war often turns into hand-to-hand combat, which is fought by man himself, and is broken up into innumerable details.Napoleon said: "Those episodes belong to the life history of the regiments, not to the history of the army." In that case, the historian obviously can only give a sketch.He can only grasp the main outline of the battle, no matter how faithful he is, he can never describe the shape of the battle cloud.

That's true for any big battle, but especially for Waterloo. However, at some point in the afternoon, the battle situation gradually became clear.