Chapter 10 chapter Ten

But the strange thing is that all these instructions, cares, and plans, no worse than those issued in similar circumstances, yet do not touch the essence of the matter, like the hands of a clock, out of the mechanism, out of mesh with the gears, arbitrarily, Turning blindly. In terms of military affairs, Thiers, speaking of the genius plan of the campaign, said: quesongenien'avaitjamaisrienimaginedeplusprofond, deplushabileetdeplusadmirable. Thiers, in his debate with Mr. Van, proved that this genius plan was formulated for October 5th. , not for October 4th, the plan was never and could not be carried out, because it does not come close to the actual situation in any way.For the defense of the Kremlin, la Mosquee ② (Napoleon called St. Basil's Cathedral) should be razed to the ground, and this is not even of any use.Mining the Kremlin is only to facilitate the emperor's wish to blow it up after leaving the Kremlin, just like a child wants to hit the floor that hurts him.The pursuit of the Russians, which was a great concern of Napoleon's, resulted in unheard-of grotesques, and the French generals were ignorant of the whereabouts of 60,000 Russian troops. Only then did I finally find the Russian army like a needle.

-------- ①French: Never has his genius been played so deeply, so skillfully, so convincingly. ②French: Mosque. In diplomacy, Napoleon's arguments about his magnanimity and impartiality to Tutormin and to Yakovlev, who mainly wanted an overcoat and a cart, were useless, because Alexander did not receive them. The two messengers also did not respond to their mission. On the judicial front, the other half of Moscow burned down after some alleged arsonists were executed. Administratively, the establishment of the Municipal Council did not prevent the looting, only those who participated in the Municipal Council benefited, and they, under the pretext of maintaining order, either robbed Moscow themselves, or protected themselves from being robbed .

On the religious side, in Egypt Napoleon visited a mosque and the problem was easily resolved, but in Moscow nothing came of it.Two or three priests were found in Moscow to carry out Napoleon's will, but one of them was slapped on the mouth by a French soldier during church service.On the other, the French officer reports thus: "Lepretre, quej'avaisdecouvertetinvitearecommenceradirelamesse, anettoyeetfermel'eglise, Cettenuitonestvenudenouveauenfoncerlesportes, casserlescadenas, dechirerleslivresetcommettred'autresd' esordres."① -------- ①French: I found a priest and asked him to come to mass. He cleaned the church and locked it up. He came again that night and broke the door and lock, tore up the books, and did other bad things.

On the commercial side there was no response to the proclamations to the industrious workers and peasants.There were no more hardworking workers in the city, and the peasants caught and killed those who carried notices too far out of the city. There was a similar failure in establishing theaters for civilian and military entertainment, and those opened in the Kremlin and at Poznyakov's house were immediately closed because actors and actresses were robbed. Even philanthropy has not received the expected results.Real and counterfeit banknotes flooded the city of Moscow and were worthless.For the plundering of the French, all that is needed is gold.Not only the fake banknotes that Napoleon gave to the disaster victims were worthless, but the value of silver was also reduced compared to gold.

The most striking example of the failure of supreme directives at the time was Napoleon's efforts to stop looting and restore discipline. This is what the army chiefs reported. "Although an edict prohibiting robbery has been posted, the phenomenon of robbery in the city continues to occur. The order has not yet been restored, and no businessman is conducting business in a legal way. Only military peddlers dare to do business, but what they do All that was sold was loot.” "Lapartiedemonarrondissementcontinueaetreeenproieaupillagedessoldatsdu3corps, que, noncontentsd'arracherauxmalheureuxrefugiesdansdessouterrainslepeuquileurreste, ontmemelaferocitedelesblesseracoupsdesabre, commej'enaivuplusieursexemples."①

-------- ①French: My district continues to be looted by soldiers of the 3rd Corps, who are not satisfied with what little they have from the unfortunate residents hiding in the basement, and brutally cut them with their sabers. seen it myself. "Riendenouveauoutrequelessoldatssepermtentdevol-eretdepiller. Le9octobre."① "Levoletlepillagecontinuent.Ilyaunebandede voleursdansnotredistrictqu'ilfaudrafairearreterpardefortesgardes. Lelloctobre."② "The emperor was extremely dissatisfied. Although the robbery was strictly prohibited, groups of guards returned to the Kremlin snow after the robbery. Among the officers and soldiers of the old guard, yesterday, last night and today have been buzzing They went out to loot and harass more viciously than ever before. The emperor was saddened to see that these soldiers, carefully selected to protect the holy car, should set an example of obedience and discipline to carry out orders, and yet they disobeyed orders to such an extent that they robbed The basements and warehouses where the supplies of the army were stored. Some soldiers were so ridiculous that they not only refused to listen to the dissuasion of the sentinels and officers, but also insulted and beat them.

Legrandmarechaldupalaisseplaintvivement.” wrote the Viceroy, “quemalgrelesdefensesreiterees, lessoldatscontinuentafaireleursbesoinsdanstouteslescourtsmemejusquesouslesfenetresdel’empereur.”③ -------- ①French: There is nothing to report except that the soldiers robbed and stealthily. —October 9th.But the army stood still. ②French: Robbery and robbery are still raging. There is a group of thieves in our district, and severe measures must be taken against them. —October eleventh. ③French: The court secretary complained that despite repeated bans, soldiers were still defecating in the yard and even under the emperor's window.

This army, like ungrazed cattle, trampled under its feet the fodder that used to save them from starvation, this army, idle while they were stationed in Moscow, crumbled and perished day by day. When the baggage train was robbed in Smolensk and there was a battle with Tarutino, the army panicked and began to flee. According to Thiers, Napoleon, who was on a military parade, unexpectedly received the news of Tarutino's attack. Having received the news of the battle, which aroused in him the idea of ​​punishing the Russians, he issued the dispatch that the whole army was demanding. Every member of this army carried loot with them when they fled Moscow.Napoleon also took away his personal tresor. ① Napoleon was taken aback (according to Thibers) when he saw the train that dragged down the army.However, because of his war experience, he did not order all excess vehicles to be burned as he had done with a field marshal's vehicles during the rush to Moscow.He looked at the various vehicles in which the soldiers were riding, and he said, this is very good, because these vehicles can be used to transport food, grass, sick and wounded.

-------- ① French: treasure. The state of the army as a whole is that of a wounded beast that feels itself doomed and does not know what to do.To study the ingenious tactics and purposes of Napoleon and his army from the time they entered Moscow until their destruction is like studying the significance of the jerks and twitches of a mortally wounded beast just before its death.Often, at the slightest rustle, a wounded beast would rush at the muzzle of the hunter, rushing back and forth, and hastening its own demise.Napoleon, under the pressure of his whole army, did just that.The rustling sound of the Battle of Tarutino alarmed the beast, and it rushed towards the direction where the hunters were shooting. Napoleon did the same.A rustle from the Battle of Tarutino startled the beast, and it sprang in the direction of the shot, ran up to the hunter, and turned back again.In the end, like any beast, he fled back along the most unfavorable, dangerous, and yet most familiar old tracks.

We once thought that Napoleon was the leader of the whole movement (just as the same savage thought that the god carved on the prow was the power that steered the ship), and that Napoleon was like a child during the whole period of his activities, He grabbed the straps tied to the inside of the car, thinking he was driving the car himself.