Fire and Sword

And that was where Napoleon intended the Grand Army to find and defeat them.

He turned to Berthier.‘Very well, then. Give the orders for the army to advance. At dawn tomorrow the Prussians will have their reply.’

‘Yes, sire.’ Berthier bowed his head to the Emperor. ‘At once.’

As the chief of staff strode off to implement his master’s will, Josephine leaned forward and spoke quietly into Napoleon’s ear. ‘It seems that you have contrived yet another war for yourself.’

Napoleon twisted round in his chair and looked up at her with an angry expression. ‘I did not ask for this.’

‘You have done all but that.’ Josephine smiled faintly. ‘You manipulated the Prussians into this war.’

‘They made their choice,’ Napoleon replied bluntly. ‘They could have chosen peace, but they chose to wage war on France, to wage war on me. And they will learn the price of such folly soon enough.’

‘And once they are humbled, what next? One day you will run out of enemies, my love, and then what will there be left for you to do?’

Napoleon stared at her for a moment and then shrugged. ‘Enjoy the peace.’

She was silent for a moment and then shook her head sadly.‘War and peace. I don’t think you even know the difference between the two any more.’

‘Difference?’ Napoleon thought for a moment. ‘I wonder if there is a difference in the end. One ca

Josephine straightened up and regarded him with a look of despair. ‘God save us,’ she muttered in a low tone that only the two of them could hear. ‘You are a monster.’

‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘I am Napoleon.’

As the first hint of dawn lightened the horizon, the men of the Grand Army formed into their battalions and tramped across the border. The night had been cold and the chilly dawn air about the marching columns was marked with the swirling puffs of exhaled breath as the soldiers hunched in their coats, waiting for the warmth of their exertions to spread through their bodies. The din of nailed boots crunching over the hard ground was accompanied by the jingle of harness and rumble of heavy wheels as the limbered guns and wagons of the Grand Army rolled forward between the columns of marching infantry.

Napoleon had taken his leave of Josephine in a soured atmosphere. She had kissed him dutifully, but there was no warmth in her embrace, no affection in her eyes, and he felt an ache in his heart at her cold expression. He hoped that it did not portend an ill outcome for the coming campaign. Fortune had blessed him in the past, and where many men had been killed or crippled on the field of battle Napoleon had come through unscathed. The odds against his survival must surely be growing with each new campaign, he mused, as he took her hands and squeezed them.

‘I will return, my love.’

‘Yes,’ she responded softly. ‘I know. Until the next war.’

Napoleon looked sadly into her eyes, then released her hands and turned away to mount the horse that was held ready for him by one of his staff officers. Once he had heaved himself into the saddle, Napoleon adjusted his stirrups and took up the reins, and at a click of his tongue and a nudge from his heels the horse walked forward.

‘Napoleon!’ Josephine suddenly called out. ‘Be careful, my love. Come back to me.’

Napoleon turned to her with a smile and waved his hand, then spurred his horse into a trot and rode away to lead the Grand Army to war.

Berthier and his staff proved their worth once more as the three columns of the French army followed their carefully pla

Then, on the morning of the third day, a hurried despatch from La

Berthier had chosen an i

At once the room was filled with the sound of scraping chairs as the officers rose and stood at attention.

‘At ease!’ Napoleon waved them back to their desks as he crossed the room towards Berthier. He quickly related the details of La

Berthier reached to one side of the table and pulled a map over. He unrolled it and weighted the corners before leaning forward and tapping his pencil where the town of Plauen was marked.‘I’ve had word from Soult that he has beaten an enemy column here. They are now retreating towards Gera.’

‘Gera?’ Napoleon leaned over the map and traced a line from Plauen, through Gera and on towards Leipzig. ‘It’s as I thought.They are in this direction.’ He paused and frowned and thought aloud. ‘Then why send that column of Prince Louis’s so far to the west where it would be cut off and powerless to act on its own? It doesn’t make sense.What reports have we had from Murat?’

‘I’m still waiting for today’s reports, sire.’

‘Very well.’ Napoleon took a last look at the map before he straightened up. ‘I am going to rest. As soon as you hear anything about the enemy’s location wake me.’

‘Yes, sire.’

Napoleon took a seat by the i

‘Sire?’

Napoleon’s eyes snapped open and he saw Berthier looking down at him.