Chapter 4 Chapter Four

After the Battle of Vyazma, Kutuzov could no longer stop his army from wanting to defeat and cut off... the enemy's wishes. The French fleeing for their lives and the Russians chasing after them continued to move forward. Before Noye, he had never fought a war.The French fled so quickly that the pursuing Russian army could not catch up.Even the artillery and horses were too tired to run, and the information about the movements of the French army was always inaccurate. The Russian army was forced to march forty versts in a day and night, exhausted by this continuous movement, and it was impossible to do it any faster.

To understand the extent of the Russian attrition it is sufficient to understand the significance of the fact that during the whole period of Tarutino's operations the Russians suffered no more than five thousand casualties and fewer than a hundred prisoners.However, out of 100,000 Russian troops at Tarutino, only 50,000 remained at Krasnoe. The forced march of the Russians in pursuit of the French and the desperate flight of the French have caused huge losses to themselves.The only difference is that the pursuit of the Russian army is free, without the threat of death hanging over the heads of the French army; Stay on your own soil.The main reason for the downsizing of Napoleon's army was the excessive speed of movement.It is the unity of the infinite and the finite.The material world of motion has no beginning in time, and the attrition of the Russian army proves beyond doubt for the same reason.

The whole of Kutuzov's activities in Tarutino and Vyazma were directed (to the best of his ability) not to prevent France's self-destruction (which the Petersburg and Russian generals wanted to prevent). it), but to facilitate such action while slowing down its own march. However, in addition to the obvious exhaustion of the army and the severe attrition caused by too fast action, another reason was that Kutuzov wanted to slow down the pursuit and wait for a more favorable opportunity.The purpose of the Russian army was to track the French.And the route of the French army's escape is unpredictable, so the tighter they follow, the more they will run.Only by keeping a certain distance can we take a shortcut to intercept the zigzag route taken by the French army.All the ingenious tactics proposed by our generals are to move troops frequently and increase the distance traveled.And the only reasonable goal is to reduce the distance traveled.Throughout the campaign from Moscow to Vilna, Kutuzov acted to this end—not occasionally, for a while, but consistently, without altering it in the slightest.

Kutuzov does not rely on intelligence or science, but because he is a Russian, he is connected with every soldier, that is: the French are defeated and are fleeing for their lives. will be transformed into what is known. , to drive them out; he and the men knew all the hardships of marching at such unprecedented speed and at such a season. However, generals, especially foreign generals, who want to express themselves, make a big splash, and capture a duke or king for ulterior purposes, and any fight at present is not only disgusting but also meaningless, but these generals think that it is It's time to fight a few battles and defeat someone.Kutuzov just shrugged his shoulders when he was presented with such poor plans one after another: their execution would require the use of soldiers with worn-out shoes, no fur coats, half-starved soldiers who had not fought for a month. The number of soldiers was cut in half, and the chase continued to the border even under the best of conditions.The road ahead is farther than what has been traveled.

When the Russian army and the French army encountered each other, the desire to show off, to fight mobile warfare, to straddle and cut off the enemy was particularly evident. It happened at Krasnoye, where they wanted to find one of the three French columns, and they ran into an army of 16,000 troops led by Napoleon himself, although Kutuzov tried to Save your troops and do everything in your power to avoid that devastating encounter.However, the exhausted Russian army slaughtered the routed French army for three days in a row. Thor draws up a battle order: dieerste Colonne marshierst, 1 etc.However, as usual, no action was taken as ordered.Prince Yevgeny of Württemberg, shooting from the hills, called for reinforcements, which had not yet arrived.At night the French, dodging the Russians, fled in scattered numbers into the forest, and those who managed to escape continued to flee for their lives.

Miloradovich, who himself said he did not want to know about the supply of the troops at all, called himself a "chevaliersanspeuretsansreproche" and could never be found when he was needed.But he was eager to negotiate with the French. He sent people to the French army to demand the surrender of the French. He wasted time in vain. He did what he was not ordered to do. -------- ①French: The first column is moving towards a certain place. ② French: Fearless and blameless knight. "Brothers, I leave this column to you," he said to the cavalry as he rode up to the troops, pointing to the French.So the cavalry mounted their almost immobile horses, and with spurs and swords they beat their mounts, overtook the column brought to their mouths, overtook the froze and starving flock of Frenchmen; So the column that was brought to the mouth dropped its arms and surrendered. In fact, this group of French had long hoped to do so.

Twenty-six thousand prisoners were taken alive at Krasnoye, hundreds of cannons and a stick called the "Marshal's Staff" were taken, and then the people argued about who deserved it, and were very happy about the battle, but It was a great pity that Napoleon was not captured, not even a hero or a marshal, for which they blamed each other, and especially Kutuzov. This group of people, dazed by victory, are nothing but blind enforcers of the saddest inevitability, but they regard themselves as heroes, thinking that they have done the most honorable and noble things.They accused Kutuzov of preventing their victory over Napoleon from the very beginning, that he only knew how to gratify his own desires, that he stopped at the linen factory for comfort; that he stood still at Krasnoye because he knew that Napoleon was There, panicked; said he had a tacit understanding with Napoleon, was bribed, and so on, and so on.

Not only the people who were dazed at the time said that, but even future generations and history recognized Napoleon grand②. As for Kutuzov, foreigners said he was cunning, lustful, and a weak old bureaucrat; Russians said he was elusive and a puppet. Somewhat useful, only because he has a Russian name...③ -------- ①The linen factory, the place name of the village and town, is located between Kaluga and Viazma.Kutuzov rested from Kaluga to Vyazma and did not pursue the fleeing French. ②French: Great. ③See Wilson's diary. — Tolfstein Note. (Robert Thomas Wilson (1774-1849), served as British Military Commissioner at the Russian Army Headquarters from 1812 to 1814. His diary was published in 1861.)