Fire and Sword

Bernadotte seared his throat.‘Do we have any information about the location of Kutusov or Be

Napoleon shook his head. ‘Not yet. But Murat’s scouts have orders to advance along both banks of the Danube as far as possible to give us the earliest news of the appearance of Russian troops.’

‘And if they do appear before we have crushed General Mack?’

‘Then it will be the job of your corps to hold them back, Bernadotte. As soon as you cross the Danube at Ingolstadt your men will turn east and guard our flank.’

Bernadotte quickly searched for the crossing point on the map and nodded. ‘Very well, sire. But what if the Austrians attempt to bring up their forces from Tyrol, or Italy?’

‘Davout’s corps will block them,’ Napoleon replied with a quick glance at the other officer. ‘That leaves five corps to surround and destroy General Mack. Assuming he doesn’t guess our plans before we can get across the Danube.’

‘And if he does?’

‘Then he will be forced to turn his army round and attempt to march out of the trap before it closes. However, as some of us have discovered in the past, our Austrian friends are not renowned for the speed of their marching.’

Those who had served with Napoleon on his Italian campaigns smiled in amusement at the comment as the Emperor continued.

‘If Mack tries to retreat we should still have time to cut across his line of march, and destroy each of his columns in turn. Either way, we will compel him to fight on our terms, and most likely on ground of our choosing.With luck, the Russians will arrive just in time to witness the surrender of Austria.’

Soult raised his eyebrows and said mildly, ‘That assumes that the Russians won’t reach the Danube for at least another six weeks. Can we be sure of that, sire?’

‘As sure as we can be of anything,’ Napoleon responded dismissively. ‘Time and surprise are on our side, gentlemen. Even the weather seems to favour our cause, for now. I sense that the Grand Army is about to take its place in history.’

At dawn the following day, Napoleon sat with his staff on a hill above the Rhine watching the dense columns of La

Over two hundred thousand men and fifty thousand horses were involved in the vast strategic manoeuvre, and with them went several hundred ca

‘No, sire. I would imagine that he has little enemy contact to report at this stage.’

That was true enough, Napoleon reflected. Murat’s light cavalry would only be sparring with the Austrian scouts for a few days yet. Not until the two armies approached each other would more substantial actions be fought and more definite intelligence gathered. Nevertheless, the whereabouts of the Russian armies marching to Austria’s aid concerned Napoleon greatly. Everything depended on dealing a mortal blow to General Mack before he could be reinforced.

‘Very well, but I want to know the moment we hear from Murat.’

‘Yes, sire.’ Berthier nodded and hurriedly scribbled a line in his notebook.

Napoleon watched his chief of staff approvingly. Now that the campaign had begun he would have the critical facts about his army at his fingertips, thanks to the detailed notebooks that Berthier kept at the field headquarters. Each day every regiment’s strength returns and location would be updated so that the Emperor would be able to control his huge army and time its movements with precision.

Napoleon felt his heart swell with pride at his achievement. Truly there was no finer instrument of war than the Grand Army.

Marshal La

‘Let’s hope the Austrians feel the same.’ Napoleon returned the grin. ‘What is the mood of your men?’

‘Never better, sire. For the most part.’ La

Napoleon looked him in the eye and lowered his voice as he spoke. ‘And you, my old friend, how do you feel?’

‘Sire?’

‘Do you share the men’s confidence? Do you think we can defeat our enemies this time?’

La

Napoleon stared into his comrade’s face, searching for any sign of insincerity. La

Napoleon suddenly leaned towards La

The Gascon beamed with pleasure at his Emperor’s praise and then nodded. ‘Yes, sire. I shall never let you down.’

‘I am counting on that, old friend. But please do me one favour.’