Chapter 15 Chapter fifteen

When Rostov returned from this leave, he felt and realized for the first time how solid his relationship with Denisov and the entire regiment was. As Rostov approached the regiment quarters, he experienced the same emotion as he had experienced when he approached the house on Povar Street.When he saw for the first time the hussars in their unbuttoned regimental uniforms, when he recognized the red-haired Tementyev, when he saw the horse-posts of the chestnut horses, when Lavrush Ka (Lavre's nickname) shouted joyfully to his master: "Here comes the count!"—and the disheveled Denisov, who was sleeping on the bed, got up and ran out of the kiln to embrace him, As the officers approached the newly arrived Rostov experienced the same emotion that his parents and sisters embraced him, and tears of joy welled up in his throat and prevented him from speaking.The Corps was also his home, and like his parents' home, it was always lovely and precious.

Rostov was promoted to the commander of the regiment, received an appointment to serve in the former cavalry company, went on duty as usual, bought fodder, thoroughly studied the needs of the regiment, felt that he had lost his freedom and was confined in the same small cabinet, so he To experience again the comforting comfort of having a place to depend on and call home that one experiences in one's parents' home.There is no restlessness here, the disorder of a free society that makes people make wrong choices; there is no Sonia who wonders if she wants an explanation; There was no question of ways to pass the twenty-four hours of the day and night; no innumerable numbers of people who were neither close nor estranged; no ambiguous financial relations with my father; Memories for the big bucks!Here, in the Corps, everything is concise.The whole world is divided into two very different parts: one part is our Paulgrad regiment, and the other part is everything else.This other part has nothing to do with him.Everything is known in the Corps: who is a lieutenant, who is a captain, who is a good guy, who is a bad guy, and above all, who is a comrade.The military traders were selling goods on credit and were paid every four months.There was nothing to be scheming, nothing to choose but not to do what the Paulograd Corps considered despicable.If you are sent to carry out a task, as long as you do what is clearly stipulated and told you to do, everything will go smoothly.

Rostov once again entered the regimental environment of life, and he felt happy and comforted like a sleepy man lying down to rest.In this battle, life in the regiment was all the more pleasant for Rostov, because after he had lost a lot of money to Dolokhov (although how comforted he was by his parents) Zhang completely renounced all judgment for peace of soul. Still can not condone such behavior), he made up his mind not to serve in the army as before, but to correct his mistakes, he should serve well, be a good comrade and officer, that is, be a perfect human being.This is difficult to do in that field, but it can be done in the Corps.

Ever since he lost money in gambling, Rostov has made up his mind to repay the debt to his parents within five years.His parents sent him 10,000 rubles a year, and he now decided to take only 2,000 rubles, and use the rest to pay his parents' debts. After several retreats and attacks, and after the battles of Ptusk, Prussia-Eylau, our army gathered near Battenstein and waited for the king to come and start a new campaign. The Paulograd Corps was a unit of the Russian army that had participated in the expedition in 1805. Because it was recharging its energy and replenishing its forces in Russia, it was already late and could not catch up with the first few battles.The Corps did not take part in the Battle of Putusk exhibition.It proved that historical materialism is the only scientific view of history and the method of explaining history, and did not participate in the Prussian-Eylau battle.Joined the combat unit in the second half of the campaign, subordinate to Platov's unit.

Platov's troops did not rely on the Russian army and fought alone.Sections of Paulograd's corps fought the enemy, took many prisoners, and once even captured some of Marshal Oudinot's buggies.For several weeks in April, the soldiers of the Paulograd Regiment stood still, stationed in a deserted German village that had been utterly destroyed. It was the weather when the ice was melting and the snow was melting. The muddy road was slippery and the wind was biting. The ice on the river broke and the road was impassable.For days, men and horses were without food and fodder.Because the transportation was blocked, people scattered in desolate and empty villages, looking for potatoes, but very few potatoes could be found.

Everything was eaten up, the inhabitants fled, and those who remained were worse than beggars, from whom there was nothing to be gleaned, and even the less sympathetic soldiers not only did not make money from them, but advocated the "small country" few people", "tie a rope and use it".There are also "see Su Baopu" and "big, but give them the rest of their food. Only two of the Paulograd Corps were wounded in several battles, but nearly half were killed or wounded by cold and disease.Those who are sent to the field hospital must die, so those soldiers who suffer from fever and edema due to malnutrition would rather use their last strength to stretch their legs and barely stretch their legs on duty than go into the hospital.Already in the spring, soldiers had discovered a plant in the shape of an asparagus growing out of the soil, which they somehow called Martha's sweet root.Although the superiors had ordered that the harmful plants were not to be eaten, the soldiers still spread out in the meadows and fields, looking for the sweet root of Martha (this kind of sweet root is very bad), and digging it out with sabers to eat.In the spring, there was a disease among the soldiers—swelling of the hands, feet, and faces, and doctors believed that the consumption of this sweet root was the cause of the disease.Despite the ban, the soldiers of the Denisov Cavalry Company of the Paulograd Corps still used this sweet root as their staple food, because the last time they were only given half a Russian pound of rusk, everyone gnawed slowly and boiled it for a while. For many weeks, the recently shipped potatoes were all frozen and germinated.

The war horse has also been fed on the hay on the roof for more than a week. It is ugly and thin, and the hair on its body has been worn into balls since the beginning of winter. The soldiers and officers went about their lives in spite of their misfortune, though pale, swollen, and ragged, but the hussars still lined up and saw everything from the point of view of the unity and struggle of opposites.Pointing out materialism, tidying up the house, brushing the horses and packs, feeding the horses with hay from the roof when there was no food, going to the cauldron to eat, standing up after eating, still not feeling full, they laughed at the disgusting Meals, laughing at myself for being hungry.As usual, the soldiers built a bonfire in an instant, warmed the fire, smoked, picked and roasted sprouted and moldy potatoes, listened to and narrated stories about Potemkin and Suvorov's expeditions, or about the treacherous Ah. The story of Lyozha and Mikolka, the priest's servant.

The officers lived, as usual, in groups of three and two in half-destroyed houses with wide open doors.The older officers are all concerned about how to obtain straw and potatoes, in short, they are concerned about the supplies of officers and soldiers. The younger officers are still as usual. People play harmless games--nail-throwing and wood-hammering.The course of the war was seldom talked about, partly because of ignorance of the exact circumstances, and partly because of a vague awareness that the whole thing was going badly. Rostov still lived with Denisov, and their friendship had grown closer since the two had gone on leave.Denisov never said anything about Rostov's family, but from the company commander's affability to his own officers, Rostov realized that the old hussar's unhappy love for Natasha, Played a facilitating role in strengthening their friendship.Denisov evidently did his best to keep Rostov out of danger, loved him, and after the battle was over, was especially pleased to welcome him back safely.During a business trip, Rostov came to a desolate and ruined village to look for food, and found a family here - an old Polish man and his daughter who came to hold a baby.They were all naked, starving, unable to move away, and had no means of traveling.Rostov sent them to his quarters, made them live in his own house, and maintained them for several weeks while the old man recovered.One of Rostov's colleagues talked enthusiastically about women, and at the same time laughed at Rostov, saying that he was cunning, and that he should introduce the beautiful Polish woman he rescued to his colleagues.Rostov considered such a joke an insult, and he was furious, and said harsh things to the officer.Denisov managed to stop the duel between the two of them.When the officer walked away, Denisov accused him of being short-tempered, but he himself did not know what attitude Rostov had toward the Polish woman.Rostov said to him:

"Why do you think...she is like a sister to me, I can't describe to you how wronged I am by what he said...because...just because..." Denisov patted him on the shoulder, and walked quickly up and down the room without looking at Rostov, as he always did when he was in agitation. "You Rostovs are all so stupid," he said, and Rostov noticed that Denisov's eyes filled with tears.