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Volume 8 From the Mediterranean to... Chapter 104 Battle in the direction of Moscow...

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    On November 12, the French forward troops retreated in the southwest direction, passing through Krasoni, Borisov, and along the Berezina River to Minsk.  Behind them, Kutuzov's troops were approaching step by step, while Platov's more powerful cavalry and Miloradovich's main troops were also approaching from the north and south.  What's even more serious is that Vychestan's large force of 25,000 to 30,000 people, which now controls Vychebsk and Polotsk, is also moving westward, and the 30,000 troops led by General Chichakov  A team of 4,000 people was rushing towards Napoleon's army from Minsk - and Napoleon originally planned to retreat to Minsk for temporary refuge.  At this point, Napoleon was still completely unaware that he was surrounded.  At the same time, Napoleon's Sixth Army guarding the west of Plotsk was also abandoned by their coach Kurt von Reed of Bavaria. It was leaderless and defeated.  Only the nearly 8,000 men led by Oudinot joined forces with Victor's 11,000 men northwest of Minsk.  After arriving at Krasnoye on November 15, Napoleon spent two full days waiting for the rest of his troops to arrive.  However, his Imperial Guard suffered heavy losses when they broke through Kutuzov's interception on the way to Minsk; but they also repelled nearly 35,000 Russian troops and achieved a small victory.  On November 16, the Russian army intercepted and surrounded the French army's rear column in Krasny. Prince Beauharnais' army was first severely damaged. Later, Davout received and assembled the remnants of Eugene's 4th Army together with  His own troops worked hard to break out of the siege, but then the Russian army strengthened its forces and surrounded Ney's army, which was at the end. In the end, Marshal Ney's army of more than 6,000 people was destroyed, and only a few people, including Ney, were able to survive.  escape.  Napoleon was furious about this and pointed the finger directly at Davout. He claimed that the destruction of Ney's Army was entirely due to Davout's failure to return to the army in time for rescue.  However, in fact it was Napoleon's own mistakes that led to this situation.  Due to the cold weather at that time, in order to enable the troops to rest in residential areas, Napoleon divided the troops into many parts and stipulated the spacing of the queues when the columns were marching. In this way, the French army was divided into separate echelons that could not rescue each other, giving the Russians  The army provides favorable conditions for defeating each one.  At that time, Davout's army and Ney's army were separated by a full day's journey, and almost the entire main force of the Russian army was separated in between. How could Davout use his few troops to carry out such a crazy adventure?  But Napoleon could not allow such a mistake to happen to him-especially when his military reputation had been greatly damaged. He needed another person to be responsible for it, and Davout became the scapegoat.  In the General Headquarters, Napoleon's opinion was unanimously echoed, because this not only relieved Napoleon of his responsibility, but also relieved the responsibility of the entire headquarters.  According to Caulaincourt's recollection: "It is impossible to describe the irresistible anger and contempt for Marshal Eckmuir, (this anger and contempt) even when he came before the emperor or directly faced them.  Undiminished." The good and trusting partnership between Napoleon and Davout collapsed completely, and the best marshal became a sinner abandoned by everyone.  On November 20, Marshal Davout, who was dismissed from his post, chose to remain silent.  His only plea was to leave the emperor's side and follow Prince Eugene's troops to continue their retreat.  Napoleon agreed.  In Prince Eugene¡¯s military camp, Davout unexpectedly enjoyed a sumptuous canned dinner, including a variety of chicken, duck, fish, and canned fruits.  And these are delicacies that even the emperor himself could not get when the army was on the way.  In today¡¯s French army, the price of a can of meat is comparable to gold worth 800 francs.  The huge treasures plundered by the French soldiers from Moscow were either abandoned halfway or robbed by the Cossack cavalry, or were used by Gypsies, Jews, and even Cossacks who came out of nowhere to use the treasures produced in Poland or Canada.  Ty's cans were exchanged for cheap.  Although Davout was full of doubts, his hunger still prompted him to sweep away the sumptuous food and half a bottle of brandy on the table. After wiping his greasy lips with a white clean cloth, the First Marshal of the Empire asked: "This is  Did Desai send someone to provide it?" Ou Ren didn't hide anything. "Everywhere I went, someone sent a letter to the military camp, telling them where the military supplies were buried. They were only for 3,000 people for about five days.  Consumption. Two weeks ago, military cotton clothes were added to the list. "Davoud was angry. He shouted and accused Desai, who was nowhere to be found, "This bastard, coward! Since he can plan everything in advance,  But he was still unwilling to send troops to reinforce the army. His 200,000 troops in Poland, East Prussia, and Lithuania remained motionless, watching Kutuzov and the Russians kill us one by one in the endless snowy wasteland!  Now there are more than 300,000 troops!" After some hesitation, Eugene corrected Davout's somewhat outdated situation."In addition to continuing to recruit troops in Poland and Lithuania or deploying veterans from Catalonia, five months ago, Desai had assigned one of his generals to aggressively gather troops along the Neman River and the borders of Lithuania and Belarus.  He defeated at least 70,000 to 80,000 troops; in addition, he also forcibly incorporated nearly 30,000 troops from Prussia, Austria and other countries that had evacuated to Poland, and exchanged 30,000 to 40,000 French prisoners of war from the Russians. A conservative estimate is,  Of these 300,000 troops, Desai was able to invest at least 200,000 in the eastern Russian battlefield. As for why he stood still, you also know the reason. He was already the real king of Poland and was unwilling to accept the orders of the French emperor, especially when the Grand Army was unable to do so.  After threatening his own interests. "How long will he have to wait?" Davout asked, knowing clearly that Desai could make peace with the British, Swedes, Austrians, and even the extremely weakened Prussians.  But it will never share a fertile plain with its mortal enemy Russia.  Therefore, Desai must be waiting, waiting for the opportunity, waiting for the time when both the Russians and the French are exhausted.  "I don't know." Eugene went on to explain: "The only thing I know is that Desai promised that he and his army would appear at the most critical moment. As for when and where, no one told me!" Davout was confused.  Well, doesn¡¯t Desai know the war mobilization ability of more than 40 million Russians? Even if in the future, the Polish army is defeated or even annihilates the 150,000 Russian troops chasing Napoleon, Alexander can still organize more soldiers to participate in the war.  In this war of national power attrition, Poland, the weakest country without French support, will fall first.  Unless a miracle happens, Desai is indeed a guy who can create miracles!  ¡­¡­When Ney returned to the base camp, Napoleon felt great comfort when he heard that this Rancillo-like imperial knight had escaped danger.  He ordered that if there was any auspicious news, cannons should be fired at appropriate intervals to report the news.  As soon as he heard the roar of cannons in the distance, he shouted to his generals: "I have more than 400 million francs hidden in the basement of the Tuileries Palace. As long as I can keep my loyal comrade, I will use this money."  I am willing to pay for it all." When we reach the Berezina River, the situation is even more dangerous.  Russian troops in the south seized the bridge at Borisov.  This bridge was Napoleon's safety. Oudinot fought hard but failed to recapture it. He watched the Russian army burn the bridge.  On November 24, Napoleon was shocked when he heard the news in Bobel.  Because he had always been overconfident, he had already destroyed the boat used to build the pontoon on the Dnieper River, and now he could not cross the river.  The Berezina River is usually not very big, but at this time the water in the river surged, and there was only half-melted ice connecting the two banks.  At this time, the 150,000 troops of Chichakov, Wittgenstein, and Kutuzov had swooped over under the overwhelming force of black clouds. Napoleon only had more than 30,000 troops around him. It seemed that his life and death were at stake.  at the last moment.  However, the French army was far from exhausted.  General Corbino asked the local farmers that it was possible to wade across three leagues upstream from Borisov.  He reported it to Oudinot, who immediately prepared to cross the river there.  Napoleon arrived there on the 26th, agreed to the plan, and happily said to the marshal: "Okay, let you be a lockpicking expert and open a way for me." In order to confuse the enemy, Napoleon assigned one or two regiments  , with a long string of merchants and other personnel accompanying the army, pretending to be a large army and heading south.  This clever plan echoed the recent actions of the Austrian army in Minsk, making the Russian generals think that Napoleon's intention was to join forces with the Austrian army.  ¡­ Since Napoleon¡¯s withdrawal from Moscow, Desai has been paying close attention to the movements of the French and Russian armies.  But before early November, the 300,000 Polish troops (allied forces) under his command had remained silent.  Although Napoleon's messengers kept begging the King of Poland to save the defeated Napoleon army, Desai was still waiting for the best position for a decisive battle.  Major Shimon Koletsky left Prince Eugene without saying goodbye the day after Napoleon arrived in Moscow.  Soon, Major Kolecki and more than 10 special operations team members, under the cover of military intelligence agents lurking in Russia, arrived at the enemy's rear areas, in Ryazan, in Kazan, and at important grain depots that the Russians had prepared for a long time.  There are Alpha special forces members active everywhere.  They had only one purpose, to set fire to the winter supply points of Russian soldiers and civilians, and to create famine and chaos in the rear.  After paying the price of eight team members and many lurking Russian spies, within three months from October to December, 100 large and medium-sized official and private grain depots in Russia's rear were successively set on fire, resulting in heavy losses.  ¡­¡­
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