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Volume 8 From the Mediterranean to... Chapter 99 Battle in the direction of Moscow (6...

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    The capture of the "Great Fortress" made the battlefield situation favorable to Napoleon's side. All French commanders began to believe that the time to launch a decisive attack on the center of the Russian army seemed to be coming, as long as they could withstand the last Russian counterattack.  After conquering the "Great Fortress", Prince Eugene immediately changed his tactics. He managed to mobilize some cavalry reinforcements from nearby troops and deployed them on the east side of the Great Fortress.  At this time, the cavalry of other friendly forces was still attacking the retreating Russian army, taking full advantage of the enemy's confusion, expanding the gap in its defense line, and preparing in advance for the final fatal blow.  However, the Russian army retreated in an orderly manner and quickly re-stabilized their position. At this time, the exhausted French cavalry encountered a stubborn resistance from two newly arrived Russian cavalry units, who tried to block the gap in the defense line.  Due to the decisive numerical advantage of the Russian army and the extreme fatigue of the French cavalry after the continuous attack, the French army was forced to retreat near the "Great Fortress".  Here, they received support and cover from the Italian Army led by Prince Eugene, and gained a short period of rest.  When the Russian cavalry continued to attack, Eugene's artillery troops had been deployed in the fortress, including 12 heavy mortars donated by Desai.  Perhaps only God knows how Major Kolecki transported them.  The dense columns of Russian infantry advanced slowly. When they came within range, the French artillery fired fiercely. Countless shells blasted the huddled Russian columns into one piece after another. However, with their tenacity and bravery, the French artillery fired fiercely.  The famous Russian soldiers still pushed forward tenaciously despite the hail of bullets, but the end result was heavy losses. After paying the price of thousands of people, the Russians had to stop. Later, the Russian artillery also entered the battle, and both sides  The artillery began a new round of competition.  During the interval of the artillery battle, Marshal Ney and Prince Eugene expressed their urgent request to Napoleon to put the elite Imperial Guard into the battlefield to ensure the final victory.  Napoleon would never accept it, insisting that the time was not yet ripe.  The large-scale mutual shelling between the Russian and French armies lasted until nightfall.  It was completely dark, and a cruel and bloody battle ended.  The Russian army took advantage of the cover of darkness and began to retreat toward Moscow. Although it suffered heavy casualties, it still maintained a good formation and did not suffer a collective collapse.  In a letter written to the Tsar that night, Kutuzov described the heroic Russian army as having won a great victory in the Battle of Borodino and had preserved its strength and vitality.  But at the same time, the Russian Marshal ordered the troops to slowly retreat eastward toward Moscow, and left the bodies of tens of thousands of dead soldiers and more than a thousand seriously injured people who could not move to the French.  In addition, there were 400 destroyed vehicles, 20,000 horse corpses, and millions of various pieces of debris.  According to statistics, in this fierce battle, the Russian army lost more than 58,000 people, 22 generals and dozens of artillery pieces; while the French army lost nearly 50,000 people and sacrificed 47 generals, including Colain.  The brother of the ancient Marquis, General Caulaincourt.  In the Battle of Borodino, the two sides failed to determine the real winner, but it created conditions for the Russian army to consume the French army and shift to a counterattack.  Although from a tactical point of view, the French army won the Battle of Borodino and the Russian army withdrew from the battlefield, the Russian army was not wiped out, and Napoleon's sole purpose of invading Russia was defeated.  Both sides suffered heavy casualties during the battle, but the Russian army still had reserves that could be put into battle at any time, and its logistical supplies were intact; Napoleon's transportation lines were too long to maintain the supply of his existing troops.  As a result, it was the French army, not the Russian army, that suffered a devastating blow a few weeks later.  Napoleon later talked about his thoughts on this bloody battle, saying: "In all the battles in my life, nothing frightened me the most than the battle under Moscow. During the battle, the French army should have won, but  However, the Russian army won "invincible rights."  ¡± Afterwards, Major Kolecki gave a truthful description of the situation after the battle in his report to Desai. At that time, Major Kolecki was accompanying Napoleon as a guard of Prince Eug¨¨ne.  Early in the morning, the emperor led the legion commanders and their assistants to inspect the bloody battlefields covering several kilometers. The weather was extremely bad that day. It rained non-stop and the wind blew fiercely. The emperor looked at the mountains of people and horses.  The corpses were silent, and their faces looked gloomy and terrifying. Vultures and crows were pecking at the internal organs of the dead, causing some of the wounded who were still alive to lift themselves up from the ground, trying to attract people's attention so that others could come to rescue them.  Hearing the cries of the wounded immediately, he became furious and loudly accused those responsible for evacuating the wounded for their delay. When the inspection was completed, the emperor silently turned around and left the battlefield, although he showed great concern in supervising the search and transport of the wounded.  be merciful and treat the wounded soldiers of the Russian army as well as the wounded soldiers of the French army.treatment, but I think this is unnecessary mercy!  I admit that I have never seen so many dead people on the battlefield.  Around a small village where fierce fighting had taken place, Russian corpses piled up.  On the hill behind the small village, the bodies of two fallen Russian Guards soldiers were scattered all over the high ground. Of course, they all died under the fierce bombardment of our artillery.  As for the interior scene of the huge Russian fortress, it is even more astonishing. During the fierce fighting, this earthen fortification was reduced to a charnel ground.  The corpses of men and horses were piled up in the trenches outside and the earthen walls of the fortress. Since the battle inside the fortress was the most brutal, the ground was covered with the mutilated corpses of soldiers from both sides, even stacked up to eight levels, which was horrifying.  The emperor carefully inspected all parts of the battlefield, the positions of the legions, their lines of attack, and the obstacles they had overcome.  At every place, he stopped to ask about every detail of the battle, and praised and encouraged the soldiers for their bravery and achievements.  Wherever the emperor went, he received the usual warm welcome from the officers and soldiers.  The emperor also observed the abandoned positions of the Russian army.  As I walked along the line stained with the blood of General Caulaincourt, I noticed the indescribable sadness of the Marquis Caulaincourt.  Although the whole army gave him high praise and enthusiastic praise in memory of this warrior, which gave the Marquis some relief, I believe his heart still could not calm down On a position in the "Great Fortress"  , the emperor saw more than fifty soldiers in ragged uniforms gathered around two officers, seemingly doing nothing. The more he looked, the more annoyed he became, accusing one of the officers and asking: "What are you doing here?" A man in his 30s  The captain walked silently to the emperor, his expression sad and silent.  "Which group do you belong to?" "The 72nd Infantry Regiment." "Why do we stop here?" "We were ordered to stop here." "Whose order?" "The colonel's order." "Where is your regimental commander?" "  Behind me, right there," the captain stretched out the only intact finger of his left hand and pointed towards the tunnels and trenches surrounding the fortress.  "Gather your regiments!" the emperor ordered.  The captain cried, "There, too, except us! Everyone, 29 officers and 756 soldiers, are there, lying with our colonel!"  After inspecting the position, the emperor rode back to chase the vanguard.  According to the report sent by the King of Naples in the morning, except for the Cossack troops, there was no trace of the Russian army in the front.  In addition to catching a few straggler Russian soldiers, our army abandoned a total of less than one carriage of supplies.  Marshal Murat originally planned to lead the army across Mozhaesk and asked the emperor to station his headquarters there at night.  However, when he chased to the city of Mozhaisk, he found that the city was defended by a Russian force composed of infantry and powerful cavalry.  It was almost dusk when I followed Prince Eugene there.  As the enemy's position had not been reconnoitred, we had to stop the attack.  At night, the emperor camped in a village outside Mozhiesk.  The enemy abandoned the city and fled at night. Our army entered the city at dawn the next day without firing a shot.  If we put aside this far unsatisfactory victory, the current situation of the French army as seen by the emperor is very sad, and the combat effectiveness is generally greatly reduced.  His victory came at a heavy cost.  He was already convinced that a bloody battle with an enemy that was not disorganized even in retreat would achieve nothing other than to gain some more land.  However, the prospect of occupying Moscow still tempted him. If the Russian army was not crushed, even occupying Moscow would not solve the problem.  Everyone noticed that the emperor was thoughtful and anxious, although he later announced that peace was in Moscow.  Once our army successfully captures their capital, it will force my brother Alexander to see the situation clearly, and at the same time force the great Russian nobles to face reality.  They will reconsider whether to continue the war.  If I liberate the Russian serfs, it will destroy Russia's huge wealth!   The next day, in order to boost the somewhat decadent military morale and morale, after Napoleon issued the order to continue attacking Moscow, he made a loud shout to his senior generals and the Old Guard soldiers on the scene: "Expedition"  The Russian war was originally the most famous war in modern times, because it was a wise war for real interests, a war for the appeasement and security of all mankind; it was a purely peace-loving and stable war.  A great purpose, for the end of unexpected events and the beginning of a stable new realm.??New causes are emerging, and peace, happiness, and prosperity for all mankind are emerging.  The institutions of Europe had been laid down, and all that remained was to establish them further.  ¡°After these big issues have been satisfactorily resolved and everything becomes peaceful, I will have my Congress and the Holy Alliance.  They stole these ideas from me.  In this great assembly of princes of nations, we should discuss our interests as one family.  And report to the people of all countries like an accountant to his master.  If we do this, Europe will soon become a unified nation. No matter where a person travels, it will be like entering a common motherland.  I call upon all rivers to be navigable by all, the seas to be common, and the great standing armies to be reduced to the Guards of all sovereigns.  Returning to France, to my great, powerful, magnificent, peaceful and glorious motherland, I want to declare that her national borders will never change; all future wars will be defensive in nature; any expansion is contrary to national interests; I want to declare  Together with my son, I will take charge of imperial politics. My dictatorship will end, and his constitutional government will begin Paris will become the capital of the world, and the French will become the object of admiration from people all over the world!  ¡­At that time, I will use my leisure and old age to drive my own carriage to all corners of the empire to receive complaints while my son is receiving royal education, accompanied by the Queen, like a real rural couple.  Redress injustices, spread knowledge and give favors everywhere.  "
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