Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

One of the pontoon bridges collapsed, but there was still another one that could be used. Now that the remaining French were here, even the rear guard realized that the time to escape was approaching.

As for the Russian troops coming from all directions, with the strength they have, it would be good enough if they can hold out for a while.

If we were to follow what the old soldier of Arboise, who had lost both ears, said, those who were shouting "Long live the Emperor" the day before but are now lying on the ground like corpses, I'm sure these people would have a lot of complaints.

Being an emperor sounds great, but there is a fine line between greatness and ridiculousness.

The reason why Frederick survived was not only because he had an admirer of the German Tsar, but also because a royal family that had been passed down for many years would not be weakened too much, unless he wanted to commit suicide by taking poison.

As for hanging or beheading, only the British did it at that time.

And it now seems that Napoleon's failure was caused by his arrogance.

He had begun to believe in his own strength and was able to command such an army, but he was very illegitimate. He invaded Russia with ideas that were beyond his time and was finally defeated by an army composed mainly of "illiterate" soldiers. If this army really only had courage and even no culture, then shouldn't these officers in the French army who had some background jump into the Berezina River and turn into frozen baguettes?
The night of November 11th was disastrous for the French.

For veteran Martial, his luck is not bad. In fact, it is the kind of luck that is bad but a little bit good.

He fell into the water, but he did not freeze to death in the freezing water. Instead, he climbed onto a piece of ice and was swept forward along this section of the river, finally reaching the shore at the bend of the river.

The war was probably over for him now, to hell with the Emperor and France.

He had fulfilled his responsibilities, but almost all of his comrades and superiors were left. Even the engineers who had taken him in were missing. He was the only one left, and all he had to do now was to survive.

But to be honest, his luck was very bad, as a sturdy middle-aged woman was pointing a shotgun at him.

"Don't shoot, I'm French, I surrender."

As for the fact that he raised his hands to show that he had no hostility, it actually made the peasant woman not feel any hostility towards him.

"You, Frenchman, this way."

She was even afraid that the French soldier might not understand, so she pointed her shotgun at the wooden house on the side.

Actually, Martial was dressed fairly neatly and could be recognized as a French soldier, so he was not mistaken for a bandit.

When I entered the room, there were only three people in it.

There was an old lady, a young boy and a girl who was cutting bread.

"Mom, why did you bring back a Frenchman?"

"We caught him by the river. We can't just leave him to freeze to death. Give him a bowl of hot soup and wait until your uncle comes back. Then we'll see whether we should hand him over to the master or what to do."

Martial always thought that he was doomed. After all, some French people did bad things on the road, and even if he was a good person, he would probably be implicated.

Although he protected a Russian master on the way and warned the Russian prisoners that something bad might happen because some Germans were coming to escort the prisoners.

Apart from this, he still took good care of his comrades, but there was no one left, including his superiors, except himself.

Probably the only skill I have now is that I am good at accounting, and I often go to the quartermaster to help.

In addition, the young lieutenant, after taking me in, has been talking a lot about mathematics and physics, which are subjects that he seems to understand but not quite.

His belief is probably to survive. As for whether he can go home, that is another matter.

But when he saw the hostess, although she was very strong, he was now tired and hungry, and probably couldn't beat her.

The girl and the boy, who were probably her children, looked quite handsome.

Well, for Martial, it was the first time he met a Russian woman. She looked even better than the Polish woman, but this girl might be even younger. She was not like the Polish woman their leader found when he was in Poland. She was very slim, and even in the countryside of his hometown, it was difficult to find a girl who looked so beautiful without makeup.

After drinking the hot soup, he did not forget to wash his face and tried his best to tidy up his appearance.

Speaking of which, while everyone else had thrown away their weapons and armor, he still retained the appearance of a French soldier, even if it was in the minimum state.

Moreover, the reason he was able to escape was probably because of his good abilities. Besides, a good person cannot have a bad ending, because that would be unreasonable.

"Merci, no, I, thank you."

The girl looked at the French soldier and found it a little funny. At least this family hid here to avoid the French soldiers, to cover some guerrillas operating nearby, and to accommodate the wounded.

Soon, several bearded men carried over a Russian officer.

However, when they saw the French soldiers, they were not nervous. It seemed that capturing prisoners and dealing with these French soldiers had become a habit.

"What's the matter with this French soldier?"

"My mother brought him back. He seems to be quite honest. He is not like those French soldiers before. This soldier is quite polite."

"Ah, in that case, what should we do with him?"

It would be easy to deal with if there was someone who knew French. Soon a guerrilla officer came, but his French was also very poor, which only prevented the two sides from glaring at each other.

Martial was lucky, as he made good use of the French's talkative nature. These people didn't think he was making it up, and even found his ID and notebook on him.

Even if the literate French are not well educated, they can still do the math, which is always useful, much more useful than the French soldiers they captured before.

"You unlucky fellow, just stay here with us. Our village needs someone who can manage accounts. The one who was in the guerrillas was killed by your French fellow countrymen."

So Martial settled down in the village. As for whether he would get married and become a son-in-law in Russia, that was another story. Of course, he thought this pretty girl was good.

Although he is a veteran, he is still relatively young. Even after washing his face, he looks good. His success rate is probably not low. After all, the French are veterans in this area.

He also made up his mind that if he could get married and have his own children, he would have to learn some skills.

Back on the battlefield, the French were in a very bad situation as a pontoon bridge had been destroyed.

Wittgenstein finally had some threats to the crossing area, and now he wanted to make more efforts, so he was also seeking reinforcements. The unlucky Chichakov on the other side of the river was unable to stop many French people. Even after he reorganized his troops, he could only watch these French soldiers pass through. There were still many people blocking him in front of him. Even after Victor's troops crossed the river, they were still supporting the French army to resist Chichakov.

Napoleon had gone far away. By the morning of November 11, some remnants of the French army were still crossing the river, but their numbers were sparse. Many of them had even lost the desire to escape and just sat there, waiting for the final blow from the "barbaric" Russians.

But these French people probably thought too much. Although the Russians were a bit "barbaric" and often uncultured, except for the Cossacks on the distant border, they were generally civilized.

Even the Cossacks of the Don and the Kuban were reluctant to take action to marry the young French girls among the refugees. And if we talk about barbarity, the French army that invaded Russia was perhaps even more barbaric.

Even contrary to the previous strange comments, the Russians seem to be more civilized.

Poncelet saw the Russian abacus used by the Russians in a village on the way to his arrest. After he was released and returned to his hometown in 1814, he vigorously promoted mental abacus in France. During his detention, because of his great knowledge, he was even given a single room to study mathematics. He also served as a tutor for the children of nearby nobles and taught mathematics to the children in the manor.
Russian Abacus
These people are now hanging here with their heads down. Some of them may die on the road or in detention due to the harsh environment and disease, but their lives will not be in danger for the time being.

Kutuzov was still on his way to the banks of the Berezina River. He heard the news from Wittgenstein and was quite satisfied.

"That's fine, but are the French still struggling now?"

"Commander-in-Chief, the French are burning the pontoon bridge."

"It seems that they are going to give up these poor fellows. Captain, go back to the count and ask him to go to the villages around Borisov to rest for a while. There is no need to rush after Napoleon. This fellow will definitely run to Poland in a hurry."

After Wittgenstein's adjutant left, Konovnitsyn and von Toll were somewhat puzzled.

"Commander-in-Chief, are you really going to let him get away?"

These two people are relatively reliable. Yermolov had teamed up with them before, and finally got rid of the annoying Bennigsen.

"Mr. Wilson from England is not here today. I will say it again. If Napoleon were to be destroyed by us here, the British would probably be the ones who would benefit in the end. They could send Louis XVIII back to Paris."

After all, Kutuzov was often involved in diplomatic activities. He was in Prussia during the Italian expedition, and his talents in this area were also able to be utilized in subsequent operations.

"Let the English establish a French king?"

"That's right. We can't let them succeed. This will be disadvantageous to the emperor."

Kutuzov believed that Alexander's capture of Napoleon was not a good thing.

It might be better if Solovyov could share what is in his mind with these generals who are older than him.

However, this was unlikely. He soon received a report from Solovyov that the 3rd Army had finally reached the bank of the Berezina River. Although they gained nothing, no soldier was left behind on the road.

"Ask Misha to lead the troops across the river. Don't rush to build a pontoon bridge or repair the bridge. We will soon reach the border. When that time comes, we will wait for new orders."

What worried Kutuzov was that the emperor and his entourage were about to join the army.

If Alexander himself had come, he would probably have simply ordered his army to continue moving westward toward Europe.

He had to carry out the monarch's orders unwillingly, and the other thing he had to do was to go to the front to inspect the army.

Now the four armies of Chichakov, Tormasov, Miloradovich and Wittgenstein finally met on the banks of the Berezina River, but Napoleon had escaped.

He would probably take this road north of Minsk and head west.

But sometimes Kutuzov would not think about what Napoleon would do at this time.

But victory was already in sight. The French lost tens of thousands of prisoners on the Berezina River. The 126th Line Infantry Regiment, which was at the rear, surrendered after the pontoon bridge was burned and finally laid down its arms.

However, the words "1812 Berezina" were later written on the flag of this regiment, and they have been retained to this day.

When Kutuzov reached the river, officers and soldiers from different units also gathered there to celebrate the victory.

The commander-in-chief arrived here in a carriage and he also wanted to review the troops.

Although Napoleon escaped, his army had now been defeated, and the Russian army finally achieved an undoubted victory.

Compared to Archduke Karl who defeated Napoleon in just one battle, Kutuzov's victory this time was always due to Napoleon's own stupid mistakes, which eventually ruined the entire army. The total force at the time of invasion was 61, and more than 45 entered Russia, but only a limited number of people escaped at this time.

"Misha, what are you doing here?"

Kutuzov saw several generals gathered together, but when he called Solovyov, he ignored the fact that Mikhail was everywhere, including himself.

But the person who should answer always stands up.

"Commander-in-chief, it's just that we let the enemy escape this time. We have been fighting since June, and his army of more than 6 has now been wiped out here."

"Yeah, and no one invited him."

The generals were here, and Kutuzov exchanged greetings with them for a while. Then he would review the troops and finally say something to his brothers.

On both sides of the road, the Russian soldiers were not only in high spirits because of the victory. Although they looked a little tired, they were full of energy because of the victory.

At the same time, these French soldiers on the side looked like an army of beggars, or a defeated attack.

Now that there is no emperor here, they don’t need to shout “Long live the emperor”. They can only wait for the final arrangements of the victor.

But the Russian generals were now civilized and chivalrous, and only intended to receive these prisoners, not as the French themselves expected.

French engineers building a pontoon bridge

French troops in retreat
The collapse of the floating bridge

Fleeing French cavalry

French Retreat from the Berezina River
Napoleon on the Berezina River (End of this chapter)