War and Peace

Chapter 53

A regiment of rifles (now reduced from 3000 to 900) was the first to reach the bivouac.The regiment, like a monster with many limbs, was preparing lodging and food.Some soldiers went to the birch forest with knee-high snow, and felled there; some soldiers were busy beside the carriage, some took out iron pots and dry food to make dinner, and some were feeding the horses; The soldiers split up in the village to prepare quarters for the staff officers, to carry out the corpses of the French soldiers in the farmhouses, to find hay for the fire, and to drag some fences to make a defensive fence.

The soldiers went about their business with vigor and got everything in place without any orders.

[eight]

People felt that the Russian army was in such difficult conditions at that time. They had no warm boots, leather jackets, no shelter and all food, and they were in the cold wilderness. The soldiers must be very sad and depressed.

But the actual situation is just the opposite. Even in the days when the material conditions were the most favorable, the army did not experience such high morale and joyful excitement.People blow with their mouths or fan the fire with their coats, and the logs crackle happily in the fire.The soldiers sat down together and smoked.A soldier holding firewood, warming his hands around his waist, stomped his stiff feet on the spot.People happily chatted about interesting things in the war, danced, sang, and laughed.Beside the dying fire, several people fell asleep.The rest turned over and continued to warm themselves by the fire, talking occasionally.Next to another campfire a hundred paces away, there was another burst of happy talking and laughing.

[Nine]

The fifth company camped in the woods.A campfire blazed among the snowdrifts, melting the icicles that hung from the branches.

In the middle of the night, the soldiers heard the sound of footsteps and branches coming from the woods.

"Brothers, here comes the bear." A soldier shouted hastily.People looked up and looked carefully, only to see two strangely dressed people walking towards the campfire, supporting each other.

These were two Frenchmen hiding in the woods, speaking in hoarse voices that the soldiers could not understand, and they came to the campfire.The officer of poor health was named Lebanon; the man in the hood was his orderly Morel.They came to the Russian soldiers and began to feast on the porridge that the soldiers handed them.At this time, the Huanshi soldier continued:

"Give him some porridge. It is impossible to be full immediately when you are so hungry." So Morel happily ate three bowls.The faces of the young soldiers who looked at Morel were full of happy smiles.The veterans thought such a thing neither worth mentioning nor honorable, so they still lay by the campfire, occasionally raising themselves to watch it all with satisfaction.

One of the people who covered his body with a military overcoat said: "They are human beings, even if they make mistakes, they still have to survive."

The stars seem to know that no one will pay attention to it at the moment, so they blink happily in the dark sky, whispering mysterious intimate words to each other.

[ten]

The number of French troops is gradually decreasing.The Battle of Berezina, which has been preached by historians, is only a necessary stage for the collapse of the French army, not the decisive factor of the war.

Judging from the overall data, the real result of forcibly crossing the Berezina River is that the weapons and casualties of the French army are much less than those in the Battle of Karashloy.The only result of the forced crossing of the Berezina was that it proved that all plans to cut off the enemy's retreat were wrong, and that the only action demanded by Kotusov, namely, to drive the enemy back, was completely right.For the French army, the back is certain demise, while the front is hope.

Apart from fleeing in a group, they had no way to save themselves.Therefore, all the final strength of the French army was concentrated on this kind of escape in a group.

This is Kotusov, the old man with political and military talents, who was elected commander-in-chief against the emperor's wishes in August of this year, the man who separated the crown prince and the grand princes from the army. , this person who decided to abandon Moscow by virtue of his own power and contrary to the emperor's will, now, he soon understood that his time was over, and his false power was about to be eliminated.He felt this, first because of the attitude of the court towards him, he felt that his mission was over, and second, he felt that his aging body was getting weaker and weaker and needed to be recuperated.

On November 29, Kotusov entered his "dear Werner".

Against the will of the Emperor, Kotusov stationed most of his troops in Vilna.At this time, he was already in poor health and mentally depressed. He reluctantly presided over military affairs, but he had handed over all the power to the generals.While living a leisurely life, he waited for the emperor's order.

On December [-]th the Emperor left Petersburg with his retinue—Count Tolstoy, Prince Volkonsky, Arakcheyev, etc. accept.

When alone with Kotusov, the emperor expressed his displeasure at his slow pursuit, the mistakes of Karashloy and Berezina, and at the same time related his plans for the foreign expedition.Kotusov made no objection.Seven years ago, the expression of obedience and helplessness to the emperor's orders in the Battle of Austerlitz returned to his face.

[eleven]

The next day the marshal gave a banquet and a ball, and the emperor came.Kotusov received the Order of St. George, First Class, and the Emperor paid him the highest tribute.However, everyone understood the emperor's disapproval of the marshal.

The emperor's disapproval of Kotusov was particularly strong in Werner, because at this time Kotusov obviously did not want or could not understand the state of the current war.The next day, the emperor said to the officers gathered around him: "You have not only saved Russia, but Europe as well." From this everyone understood that the war was far from over.

Only Kotusov stated openly that a new war would never improve Russia's status and honor, but would instead degrade her position and diminish the honor she had already received, which for Kotusov was already worthless. the highest.He tried his best to prove to the emperor the difficulty of recruiting troops, and talked about the people's sorrow and the possibility of failure.

This view of the marshal made him naturally regarded as an obstacle and obstacle to the war.

The most effective way of avoiding conflict with the old man would be to withdraw the power of Commander-in-Chief quietly from him, as it had been done to him at Austerlitz, as it had been done to Barclay at the beginning of the war.According to this method, the headquarters was reorganized, and Kotusov's powers were transferred to the emperor.At this moment Kotusov's role was over, and in his place a new and indispensable actor appeared, simply and naturally.Kotusov was unaware of the situation in Europe and the role of Napoleon.As an ordinary Russian, as a representative of the Russian people, he felt useless when the enemy had been driven out, the Fatherland had been liberated, and high honors had been won.There was only death for this representative of the people's war, so he died.

[twelve]
During the period from his salvation to his illness, Bin-Air had not left any impression on him.On the day he was rescued, he saw the body of Biga Rostav, and knew that Duke André had lived on for more than a month after the Battle of Poragello, and had died not long ago in Yaroslavl.On this day, he learned of Hanli's death from Jackoff's chat.For these messages, Bin-Air just felt weird, he felt that he could not understand the meaning of these messages.At this moment, what he wants to do is to leave this place where people kill each other, find a quiet refuge, restore his mood, and calmly think about all the new things he saw during this period.

However, as soon as he arrived in Orel, he fell ill.During his recovery, a sense of freedom filled his heart.This kind of freedom is the original, complete and rare freedom of human beings.The questions that had caused him constant pain and relentless search for answers, questions about the standard of life, no longer existed for him.There is no such standard, and it is impossible to have it.It is through its absence that he has a true sense of freedom, and his happiness is derived from this sense of joy.

He has no purpose, because he has faith at this moment, and what he believes in is not a certain system or idea, but a living God who can feel it all the time.In the past, he often went to him with his own standards, but this was just a search.During his captivity, he truly felt what the nanny told him: God is with us, and He is everywhere.He learned that Karatayev's God was greater, infinite, and deeper than the Creator the Masons identified with.He felt that he had been looking over the heads of the people next to him all his life, but in fact, what he needed was right under his feet and by his side.

[Thirteen]
In looks and manners Bin-Air was the same as before.The old princess did not like Bin-Air, and after the death of the old count, she felt that she was indebted to him and was hostile to him. The reason why she came to Orel was to show Bin-Air that although he was ungrateful, But she felt it was her duty to watch over him.But after staying in Orel for a few days, she was surprised to find that she fell in love with him.The servants also found that their master was more polite.

During his last days in Orel he was visited by an old friend of Binair's, the Freemason Count Willangoshje.He was amazed that Bin-Air had fallen far behind in life, and had fallen into what he believed to be callous and selfish.

For all people, Bin-Air has a new way to win people's feelings for him, which is to admit that everyone can think and see things with their own cognition, and also believes that words cannot change a person's feelings. idea.These sensible traits, which had excited and annoyed Bin-Air in the past, were now the basis of his interest and sympathy in his dealings.

On some practical issues, Bin-Air surprisingly felt that he had a backbone that he did not have in the past.He also had a new solution to his wife's debts and whether the Moscow houses and dachas should be rebuilt.

(End of this chapter)