Napoleon in 1812

Chapter 6

Napoleon’s cry from the middle of the grasslands – 5

This land was located about 2,000 kilometers away from the homeland of the expeditionary soldiers. Due to the condition of the army, which was moving farther away, countless deserters were leaving the French Empire’s forces every day. General Barclay and Prince Bagration released the Cossack cavalry, who were good at chasing and hunting, to capture all the fleeing French deserters. It was to get information from them about the French army.

“It’s not the big fish I was hoping for, but it’s still quite good.”

“Motpacarowne (excellent)!”

The faces of the Russian generals brightened when they saw some Austrian officers among the deserters. Prussia and Austria were allies of France in name and had sent a considerable number of troops on this expedition, but their actual relationship was worse than expected. Since France had struck them down and forced them to sign demanding treaties, Prussia and Austria had only been looking for a chance to avenge themselves.

They were potential allies of Russia. Even now, they could exchange information and opinions. If they were to betray France now, then when the Russian won, they would support Prussia and Austria. In other words, what an Austrian officer with no loyalty to France said was very credible.

“There has been a major revolt in Paris that made it impossible to continue the expedition. I don’t know anything more about it. They don’t really give proper explanations to foreign-born officers like us…”

General Barclay could not fully believe the testimony of the Austrian officer, and listened carefully to the French deserters.

“I only heard from afar that something happened in Paris…”

“The officer of our unit said it was a rebellion caused by the Bourbon royalists…”

“I saw officers talking about a revolt in the capital. More than that, I don’t know…”

Afraid of being treated harshly, they trembled and revealed everything they knew even if they were not threatened. All the deserters’ testimonies mentioned a revolt in Paris. General Barclay deliberated with his head down.

“What more are you thinking about? This is a golden opportunity to end the dictatorship of that Emperor from Corsica! Do you really want to follow in the unfortunate footsteps of the former Marshal Bennigsen?”[1]

Prince Bagration was ready to give a blow as soon as the decision to fight was made. During Napoleon’s expedition in Prussia and Poland, Bennigsen had been overly passive and had been defeated in the Battle of Friedland and forced to retire by Alexander I. The officers’ faces were red and tensed. General Barclay eventually nodded.

“…Sounds good. If it’s like this, let’s get to Napoleon.”

The Russian generals and officers cheered and applauded as if they had only waited for these words. But Barclay’s expression remained serious.

If it was true that the French expeditionary forces were truly retreating due to problems in their home country, they would inevitably head to the free city of Danzig, where their forces’ supply centers were concentrated. To go from the Neman River to Danzig, they had to go through the cities of Hrodna and Augustów, located southwest of the Neman River. Otherwise, they would have to pass through the northern plateau but it would not be a suitable path for 400,000 troops.

Barclay and Bagration were in Lida, a city between Varna and Minsk. To hide the presence of more than 170,000 troops, the Cossack cavalry was busy running around, killing the French scouts. Meanwhile, the two armies gathered their soldiers and prepared themselves for battle, giving the marchers some rest.

An enemy who believed in the overwhelming strength of their troops and allies, and in their geographical advantage. Napoleon recalled the Battle of Jena, in which he had defeated the Prussian army in central Prussia. A decisive battle that had pushed a large number of troops into unexpected positions, dividing and crushing the enemies, and completely destroying the Prussian main force.

After winning the Battle of Auerstedt that had followed, Napoleon had put the Prussians on their knees with just two fights. Having completely lost the power to oppose France, they had eventually signed an agreement and left the anti-French alliance.

“I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or not, but Napoleon of this world also fought in the Battles of Jena and Auerstedt. But the process and results were very different.”

The number of casualties in both battles, in the other world and in this world, was roughly the same. However, there were important differences: the number of prisoners, the amount of looting, and the following war. The Nabot of this world had lost 60 cannons, 15,000 Prussian prisoners had fled, and they had later conspired with Russia to form a new front. On the other hand, the ‘real Napoleon’ (Napoleon decided to call himself like this) had predicted the enemy route and had sent a unit there in advance to capture all the remaining soldiers of the defeated troops and crush the Prussians’ will to fight. Napoleon thus proved that not only his strategic judgment but also his tactical abilities were superior to this Nabot’s from here.

It was not important anyway…

“At the Battle of Jena, I took the lead, dealt the first blow to a separated enemy and won. This time, it’s the opposite. This situation will make the enemy strike a separated ally.”

Napoleon intended to show his plans to his officers and to his enemies, written by his hand. You’re going to be surprised. Even if it’s different from Nabot’s usual plans, it’s too different. Napoleon chuckled thinking so.

His last destination was Hrodna

TL notes

[1] Levin August von Bennigsen was a German general in the service of the Russian Empire.