第618章

第618章theso-called“partisan”warfarehadbegunwiththeenemy’sentranceintosmolensk.beforetheirregularwarfarewasofficiallyrecognisedbyourgovernmentmanythousandsoftheenemy’ssoldiers—ling，marauding，orforagingparties—hadbeenslainbycossacksandpeasants，whokilledthesemenasinstinctivelyasdogssetuponastraymaddog.denisdavydovwasthefirsttofeelwithhisrussianinstinctthevalueofthisterriblecudgelwhichbelabouredthefrench，andaskednoquestionsabouttheetiquetteofthemilitaryart；andtohimbelongsthecreditofthefirststeptowardstherecognitionofthismethodofwarfare.

thefirstdetachmentofirregulars—davydov’s—wasformedonthe24thofaugust，andotherssoonfollowed.inthelatterstagesofthecampaignthesedetachmentsbecamemoreandmorenumerous.

theirregularsdestroyedthegrandearméepiecemeal.theysweptupthefallenleavesthatweredroppingofthemselvesfromthewitheredtree，andsometimestheyshookthetreeitself.byoctober，whenthefrenchwerefleeingtosmolensk，therewerehundredsofthesecompanies，differingwidelyfromoneanotherinnumberandincharacter.someweredetachmentsthatfollowedalltheusualroutineofanarmy，withinfantry，artillery，staff-officers，andalltheconveniencesoflife.someconsistedonlyofcossacks，mountedmen.othersweresmallbandsofmen，onfootandalsomounted.someconsistedofpeasants，oroflandownersandtheirserfs，andremainedunknown.therewasadeaconattheheadofsuchaband，whotookseveralhundredprisonersinamonth.therewasthevillageelder’swife，vassilisa，whokilledhundredsofthefrench.

thelatterpartofoctoberwasthetimewhenthisguerillawarfarereacheditsheight.thatperiodofthiswarfare，inwhichtheirregularswerethemselvesamazedattheirownaudacity，wereeverymomentindreadofbeingsurroundedandcapturedbythefrench，andneverunsaddling，hardlydismounting，hidinthewoods，inmomentaryexpectationofpursuit，wasalreadyover.theirregularwarfarehadbynowtakendefiniteshape；ithadbecomecleartoalltheirregularswhattheycould，andwhattheycouldnot，accomplishwiththefrench.bynowitwasonlythecommandersofdetachmentsmarchingwithstaff-officersaccordingtotherulesatadistancefromthefrenchwhoconsideredmuchimpossible.thesmallbandsofirregularswhohadbeenatworkalongwhile，andwereatclosequarterswiththefrench，founditpossibletoattemptwhattheleadersoflargercompaniesdidnotdaretothinkofdoing.thecossacksandthepeasants，whocreptinamongthefrench，thoughteverythingpossiblenow.