Chapter 11 Chapter Eleven

Before Prince Andrei could send Pfuel away with his eyes, Count Beignison hurried into the room. He nodded to Bolkonski, gave some instructions to his adjutant without stopping, and entered the study .The emperor was still behind him, and Bennigsen came in a hurry to prepare something to meet the emperor.Chernyshev and Prince Andrew went up to the porch steps.The emperor got off his horse tiredly, and Marquis Paulsi was talking to the emperor.Listening to Paolosi's enthusiastic chatter with his head turned to the left, the emperor seemed to want to end the conversation and move forward, but the red-faced and excited Italian, forgetting etiquette, continued after him:

"Quantaceluiquiaconseillececamp, lecampdeDrissa," said Paulsi, as the emperor, having come up the steps, saw Prince Andrei, and looked at the unfamiliar face. -------- ① German: As for the person who built the Drissa position. "Quantacelui, sire," continued Paolosi, desperately, as if unable to restrain himself, "Quiaconseillelecampde Drissa, jenevoispasd'autrealternativequelamaisonjauneoulegibet." The emperor did not finish listening, or perhaps did not listen to the Italian, but recognized Bolkonski , and said kindly to him: "It is a pleasure to see you, go and wait for me over there where they gather." The Emperor entered the study, followed by Prince Peter Mikhainovich Volkonsky Baron Stein entered the study, and the door closed behind them.Prince Andrew, taking advantage of the emperor's permission, entered the drawing-room where the party was taking place, together with Paulsi, whom he had known from his Turkish days.

-------- ① German: Your Majesty, as for the man who built the Drissa position, I think he has only two places to go: one is the madhouse, and the other is the gallows. Prince Pyotr Mikhainovich Volkonsky took up a post similar to that of the Emperor's Chief of Staff. Volkonsky came out of his study and went into the drawing room with some maps, which he spread out on the table. I asked a few questions, and I would like to hear your opinions on these issues.What happened was that in the evening a message was received (later proved to be incorrect) that the French army was going to attack Drissa's position in a detour.

General Armfield was the first to speak, and he unexpectedly proposed a completely new (except that he deliberately showed that he could also give an opinion) proposal that could not explain anything.Taking up positions on the main roads to Petersburg and Moscow, he thought it necessary to gather troops there to wait for the enemy, so as to get out of the present situation.It appears that Armfield had already drawn up the plan, and that he is presenting it now not so much as an answer to the proposal (which he did not answer), but as an opportunity to publish it.This was one of innumerable proposals which, apart from the significance of the specific features of the war, had as good reason as others, and some were against his opinion, and some were for it.The young Colonel Toll contradicted the Swedish general more vehemently than any of the others, and during the argument he drew from his pocket a notebook full of handwriting, and begged to be allowed to read it. In his notebook, Thor proposed a plan of battle that was the exact opposite of that of Armfield or Pfuel.Paulsi came up with a plan to push forward and attack while opposing Thor.According to him, this plan will free us from the confusion and the trap we are in (this is what he calls the Derisa position), and during these debates, Pfuel and his interpreter Worzogen (His bridge to the court) was silent.Pfuel just sniffed contemptuously and turned his head away, expressing that he would never bother to refute the nonsense he was hearing now, but when Prince Volkonsky, who was moderating the discussion, asked him to express his opinion, he just Say:

"Why ask me? General Armfield has a brilliant idea of ​​an exposed rear. Or attack Vondiesemitalienischen Herrn, sehrschoCn. Or retreat, Auchgut. Ask me what?" he said. Do you understand?" But when the frowning Volkonsky said that he was asking his opinion on behalf of the Emperor, Pfuel got up and began suddenly with great interest: -------- ①German: The opinion of this Italian gentleman is very good. ② German: also very good. "Everything is broken, everything is disorganized, everyone wants to be better than me in understanding, and now they come to me. How to fix it? There is nothing to fix. It should be done in accordance with the principles I have articulated." He said As he spoke, he tapped on the table with his bony fingers. "Where is the difficulty? Nonsense, Kinderspiel." ① He approached the map, pointed it with a muscular finger, and began to speak rapidly, proving that no accident could alter the propriety of Drissa's position, that everything It was foreseen that if the enemy really wanted to make a detour, it would definitely be wiped out.

Paul Si, who didn't understand German, asked him in French.Worzogen, who came to the aid of his own officer, who spoke poor French, as interpreter, could barely keep up with Pfuel, who hastily demonstrated that not only everything that had happened, but everything that could happen, Everything was foreseen in his plan, and if there were any difficulties now, it was all at fault for not carrying out his plan exactly.He continued to show a sneering sneer, proving and proving, and finally he stopped proving contemptuously, as if he were a mathematician who stopped using various calligraphy to check a proven calculation problem.Worzogen continued to explain his thoughts for him in French, and said to Pfuel from time to time: "Nichtwahr, Exellenz?" He reprimanded Woerzogen and said: "Nunja, wassolldenndanochexpliziertwerden?" ③Paulsi and Michaud refuted Woerzogen in French in unison.Armfield spoke to Pfuel in German.Thor was explaining to Volkonsky in Russian.Prince Andrew listened and watched silently.

-------- ① German: children's toys. ②German: Isn't that right, my lord? ③ German: Of course, do you need an explanation? Of all these, the one who most aroused Prince Andrew's sympathy was that angry, resolute, stubborn Pfuel, who was evidently the only one present who had no self-seeking, hostile attitude toward anyone, There was only one thing on his mind--to put into practice the plan he had drawn up according to the theories he had painstakingly studied for many years.He is ridiculous, his sarcasm is unpleasant, but he is infinitely loyal to his ideals, which makes people involuntarily admirable.Moreover, among all the speakers, except Capfer, there was one characteristic in common, which was absent from the council of war in 1805—that is, the The rebuttal expressed fear and bewilderment at Napoleon's genius.They all assumed that Napoleon was omnipotent, that he could be seen in every direction, and that people overthrew each other's assumptions by his dreadful name.Pfuel seems to be the only one who thinks that Napoleon was as much a barbarian as the opponents of his theories.But, in addition to respectful feelings, Pfuel also aroused feelings of pity in Prince Andrew.Judging by the attitude of the court minister towards him, by what Paulsi dared to say to the emperor, and above all by the somewhat disappointed expression of Pfuel himself, although, as everyone else knew and he felt, his downfall The day is not far away.Despite his self-confidence, he had the complaining, sarcastic character of a German, with his brushed sideburns and the tufts of hair at the back, which made him feel pitiful, although he hid them in his rage and contempt, but he sank into despair, for the only chance to test and prove to the world the validity of Earth's theory by large-scale experiments was now lost from him.

The debate went on for a long time, and the longer they discussed, the more violent it became, even shouting and slandering each other, so that it was impossible to draw a common conclusion from all the speeches without listening to this intermingling of languages. He could only be amazed at what he had said to them, what he had said to them.Early and often during his military activities he had had the idea that there was and could be no military science, and therefore no so-called military genius, which now seemed to him a very obvious truth. "If the conditions and circumstances of a war are unclear and impossible to figure out, and the strength of the troops involved in the battle is unclear, how can we talk about the theory and science of that war? No one can know and it is impossible to know. Our side and what the enemy's army will be like tomorrow, and it is impossible to know the strength of this or that army. Sometimes it is the coward who shouts in front: 'We are cut off!' and begins to flee, and sometimes it is the A merry and gallant man in front shouts 'Hurrah!' - an army of five thousand men is worth thirty thousand, as at the battle of Schon Graben; and fifty thousand fled before eight thousand sometimes , as at Austerlitz. In military operations, as in all other practical activities, there is no science, nothing can be determined. Everything depends on innumerable conditions, which no one can predict. The effect of these conditions is determined at that moment. Armfield used to say that our army was cut off, while Paulsi said that the French army was caught between our two armies; But Pfuel said that was the power of a position. Thor made one plan, Armfield another; It only became apparent when the event happened. So where do people talk about military genius? Is genius just in time to order the delivery of rusks, directing who goes to the right and who goes to the left? Because soldiers are awarded honor and power, and hordes of dogs and dogs The bad germs of the generals tend to be powerful, and the qualities of genius that they don't have are given power, so they are called geniuses. In fact, on the contrary, the best generals I know-are stupid and careless people. The best It was Bagration - Napoleon himself admitted this, and Bonaparte himself! I remember the smug face on the field of Austerlitz. A good commander not only does not need genius and those special human qualities, and on the contrary, he strips away those highest and most perfect human qualities-benevolence, poetic temperament, tenderness, skeptical spirit of philosophical inquiry. He must be short-sighted, convinced that what he is doing is very important (otherwise he would not have enough patience), only in this way, he is a brave commander, God bless, don't be the kind of people who cherish some people today, and pity others tomorrow. Always wondering what is Right, what's wrong with people. It goes without saying that powerful people, for whom since ancient times people have invented a theory of genius. In fact, military victory does not depend on them, but on those who People in the ranks who say, 'We're done!' or, 'Hurrah!'. Only by serving in these ranks will you have the confidence that you are useful."

Prince Andrei was listening to the discussion, thinking in this way, and did not wake up until Paulsi called them, and they were all about to leave. The next day, at the parade, the Emperor asked Prince Andrei if he wanted to work there. Prince Andrei did not ask to stay with the Emperor, but to serve in the army, and he lost forever the opportunity to be at court.