The darkest moment in Napoleon’s life was when he played himself to death, and tens of thousands of French troops died in the East
We usually have the view that the cold winter was the reason why Napoleon failed to invade Russia. But the actual situation is not like this. It was not nature or the Russians that sent most of the French people to heaven (you must know that the Russians had to stay close to them even if they were freezing), but the French army's own retreat.
On October 19, 1812, Napoleon, who had stayed in Moscow for six weeks, finally decided to leave this place that had made him depressed for a long time. Previously, the Russian army had just defeated Murat, who was stalking Murat, at the Tarutino camp southeast of Moscow. This had already laid the shadow of failure for Napoleon's retreat. But what is even more troublesome is that the French army does not have enough food. . .
▲The French army must of course sack Moscow again before retreating (after all, historical tradition)
In the previous plan, the best retreat plan was of course He walked back and forth from where he came, sneaking all the way from the wide road to the supply base in Smolensk, and then back to Poland. However, the areas along the highway have been destroyed, and the French army will be unable to obtain food and grass supplies. So the alternative is to go to Kaluga, southwest of Moscow, which is the main supply base of the Russian army. You may be able to get some supplies here. More importantly, this move can also give the enemy the illusion that the French army is still attacking.
So the French army used Murat's cavalry as the vanguard and moved all the way to conceal their march. However, they were still discovered by the Russian guerrillas on the evening of October 22. Kutuzov, who learned the news, quickly dispatched , the Italians under Eugene and the Russian army launched a bloody battle around the monastery in Maloyaroslavets, but by evening, no one was able to break through the other side's defense line, and the casualties were roughly the same. Both sides lost about 7,000 people. . But Kutuzov could return to Kaluga to regain his health, and the French army could only say that they wasted another 9 days running in the wilderness.
▲ (The monastery of Maloyaroslavets, the focus of the competition between the two sides)
The Battle of Maloyaroslavets marked the official start of the second phase of the autumn war: the French army began to run away La.
Napoleon knew that his army was already on its last legs, and passing through the Smolensk Road without any supplies meant starvation. The French army could only march quickly, but such a march itself was suicidal. In the report to Kutuzov, he praised, "The French army is abandoning baggage, sick and wounded, and the dying or dead can be seen at every step." The road was filled with death, disease, and the ubiquitous Cossack cavalry attacks, and the French rearguard could not organize even a decent resistance. However, you must know that this is still October before the heavy snow arrives!
But Kutuzov was not in a hurry to take action, because the pursuing Russian army had all the difficulties encountered by the French except that no one was chasing them to fight. So the marshal planned to eat slowly, since it was still far from the border anyway. Since the French army stretched for more than 50 kilometers from front to back, the Russians planned to eat the tail of the French first at Vyazma, but poor tactical coordination still allowed most of Davout's army behind them to run away. But at Vyazma, the Russian army suffered far more casualties than the French army for the first time. At this time, the first snow of 1812 came belatedly after the third day of the Battle of Vyazma.
▲Route Map
On November 9, Napoleon finally arrived in Smolensk, where supplies were sufficient. However, the hungry and chaotic troops that entered the city turned supplies into robbery, and the food that could have lasted for a week was consumed in one day. The troops who arrived first received far more supplies than they needed, leaving those who came later to graze. By the time the French army left on the 12th (the horses suffered heavy losses during the retreat, the French army was unable to organize reconnaissance), they had no idea that the Russian army had already moved in front of the French. But Kutuzov still did not intend to confront Napoleon head-on, because the Russian army was already very weak after running for so long. For three consecutive days, the Russian army set up artillery near Krasny, the only route for the French army to advance, and named the French troops one by one (Napoleon ordered his men to leave Smolensk one corps per day). On the 17th, the French rearguard force of Ney began to withdraw. This time the Russians finally succeeded. In just one day, the 15,000-strong Ney army collapsed in the encirclement. Only hundreds of people, including Michel Ney, escaped from the forest.
▲The soldiers ate all the food they could find
However, the escaping French army encountered new troubles. Admiral Chichagov (you didn’t read it) The legion led by the Admiral (Wrong was the Admiral) had set out from Brest many days ago and marched north to occupy Minsk. This new force was composed of veterans of the Danube Corps, and its combat effectiveness was considerable. The Chasseur Regiment led by the Russian forward Count Rambert (a Frenchman) attacked decisively, occupying and burning the pontoon bridge outside Borisov that could cross the Berezin River. . Blocking Napoleon's road to Vilna. What's even worse is that the originally severe cold weather suddenly turned warm, and the ice floes on the Berezin River began to melt. This forced the French army, which could have directly crossed the river, to build a pontoon bridge.
But Napoleon successfully fooled the Russian army into thinking that the French army was going to cross the river south of the city. In fact, French engineers secretly built two pontoons in the north of the city.
On the 26th, the French army began to cross the river. Two chasseur regiments and a cavalry artillery company guarding the west bank of the river were quickly expelled. However, the capacity of the two pontoon bridges was really limited, and 60,000 to 70,000 people blocked the bridge.
▲The chaotic scene of the French army crossing the river
From the 26th to the 28th, the French army carried out a series of tenacious resistance on the west bank, making it difficult for the Russian army to break through the bridgehead defense line. But on the 28th, Wittgenstein's army also engaged Marshal Victor's French rearguard on the east bank. The onslaught from both sides put the French army in a precarious position. On the 29th, Russian artillery fire collapsed the bridge across the river, and countless people drowned in the cold river water. Less than half of the more than 60,000 French troops successfully crossed the river, and the last intact army commanded by Marshal Victor also Annihilated in rearguard battle.
At the beginning of December, the real cold winter was long overdue. However, at this time, there were only less than 20,000 French troops left. But Napoleon is still worthy of satisfaction. After all, he has successfully escaped from an impossible place, and most of the French army's officers and staff have also successfully escaped. These people became the backbone of the new French army in 1813.
On December 18, Napoleon's motorcade had slowly entered the Tuileries Palace. At this time, the remaining more than 20,000 French troops who were fleeing for their lives in Poland finally tasted the power of the Russian winter. But at least they don't have to worry about the Russians catching up, because facts show that, at least in Russia, in terms of anti-freeze, the woolly bear actually has no better measures than the Gallic chicken.