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‘Sire, we have a report from Marshal La
Napoleon sat up, wincing at a stiffness in his neck. ‘What time is it?’
‘Five o’clock, sire.’
Little more than an hour and a half had passed, then. Napoleon stood up. ‘Well?’
‘La
‘Let’s see.’ Napoleon yawned as he led the way back to Berthier’s table and examined the map. ‘Erfurt, eh? Seems that I was mistaken, Berthier.’
His chief of staff remained silent and Napoleon could not resist a small smile. ‘It happens, Berthier. So, our enemy is to the west of us. Well, once he receives word that La
Chapter 22
Jena, 13 October 1806
‘I would say that there are perhaps forty, maybe fifty thousand Prussians to the west of us,’ said Marshal La
Beside him Napoleon considered the estimate for a moment and nodded. ‘In which case, that should be the main body of the enemy. There will be other formations nearby, guarding their flanks, but that must be the main body.Very well then, we must concentrate the Grand Army at once. I want every available man here within twenty-four hours. Meanwhile, you and the Imperial Guard must hold this position.’ Napoleon gestured to the surrounding heights that rose up between the town of Jena to the east and the plateau to the west where the Prussian army was making camp for the night.‘What do the locals call this place, Berthier?’
‘The Landgrafenberg, sire.’
Napoleon shook his head. ‘These Germans come up with some incomprehensible place names.When the campaign is over, I will make it a priority to cut them down to size.’
His staff officers laughed, and Napoleon was grateful for their good humour.There were risks involved in choosing this ground for what he hoped would be the decisive action of the campaign. Given a full day he could summon nearly a hundred and fifty thousand men to the area around Jena. Until then, La
He turned to Berthier and indicated to the ridge.‘We have to fortify that position. I want as many guns up there as possible.Twelve-pounders would be best, so that we can command the approaches to the slopes.’
Berthier stared at the steep rise that led up to the ridge, then sucked in a sharp breath. ‘Twelve-pounders? That won’t be easy to do, sire.’
‘I didn’t say that it would be easy,’ Napoleon replied quietly. ‘I said that it will be done.’
‘Yes, sire. I will give the orders at once.’
Napoleon nodded, then folded his arms as he turned to regard the Prussian army again. The autumn evening was drawing in and already the fine spirals of the first campfires were marking the clear, still sky. Apart from a handful of cavalry pickets patrolling across the plateau there was no sign of any activity that presaged any attack. Napoleon called for his horse.
‘I’m going back to the headquarters in Jena. La
La
‘Good. If the enemy are content to sit on their arses through the night and into the morning, then they’re in for the surprise of their lives.’
As night fell the staff officers of the imperial headquarters worked at a frantic pace to issue the orders to concentrate the separate columns of the Grand Army. The Emperor had decided on a battle the following day and marching schedules had to be drafted and issued to every division. Ammunition trains had to be brought forward ready to replenish the ca
Napoleon and Berthier had taken over a large room and at once spread out maps of the surrounding lands across the floor. Napoleon took note of the scale of the main map and adjusted his dividers accordingly to measure half a day’s march. He knelt down on the map and leaned forward to inspect the details of each unit Berthier had marked in pencil. Every so often Napoleon walked the dividers across the map towards the area around Jena and then made appropriate allowances for night marches, and the reported conditions of the roads and tracks his men would have to march along. Any questions he asked about the strengths of the units sent Berthier scurrying to the small chest of notebooks, which were updated every day from the returns sent directly to headquarters from each brigade.
At length Napoleon was satisfied that he would be able to amass sufficient strength before noon the following day to mount a successful attack on the Prussians. The critical phase of the coming battle would occur well before midday. In order to provide room for the advancing French columns to cross the Saale and make their way through Jena, the bridgehead would have to be pushed forward. That meant that La
Napoleon dictated the final details to Berthier, then stood up and a