第490章
第490章therussianarmy,retreatingfromborodino,haltedatfili.yermolov,whohadbeeninspectingtheposition,rodeuptothecommander-in-chief.
“thereisnopossibilityoffightinginthisposition,”hesaid.
kutuzovlookedathiminwonder,andmadehimrepeatthewordshehadjustuttered.whenhehaddoneso,heputouthishandtohim.
“givemeyourhand,”hesaid;andturningitsoastofeelhispulse,hesaid:“youarenotwell,mydearboy.thinkwhatyouaresaying.”
kutuzovcouldnotyettakeintheideaofitsbeingpossibletoretreat,abandoningmoscowwithoutabattle.
onthepoklonnayahill,sixverstsfromdorogomilovskygate,kutuzovgotoutofhiscarriageandsatdownonabenchbythesideoftheroad.agreatcrowdofgeneralsgatheredabouthim.countrastoptchin,whohadcomeoutfrommoscow,joinedthem.allthisbrilliantcompanybrokeupintoseveralcircles,andtalkedamongthemselvesoftheadvantagesanddisadvantagesoftheposition,oftheconditionofthetroops,oftheplansproposed,ofthesituationofmoscow—infact,ofmilitaryquestionsgenerally.allfeltthatthoughtheyhadnotbeensummonedforthepurpose,itwasreally,ifnotostensibly,amilitarycouncil.allconversationwasconfinedtopublicquestions.ifanyonedidrepeatorinquireanypieceofpersonalnews,itwasinawhisper,andthetalkpassedatoncebacktogeneraltopics.therewasnotajest,notalaugh,notevenasmile,tobeseenamongallthesemen.theywasallmakinganobviousefforttorisetothelevelofthesituation.andallthegroups,whiletalkingamongthemselves,triedtokeepclosetothecommander-in-chief,whosebenchformedthecentreofthewholecrowd,andtriedtotalksothathemighthearthem.thecommander-in-chieflistened,andsometimesaskedwhathadbeensaidnearhim,butdidnothimselfenterintoconversationorexpressanyopinion.forthemostpart,afterlisteningtothetalkofsomegroup,heturnedawaywithanairofdisappointment,asthoughtheywerenotspeakingofanythinghecaredtohearaboutatall.somewerediscussingtheposition,criticisingnotsomuchthepositionitselfastheintellectualqualificationsofthosewhohadselectedit.othersarguedthatablunderhadbeenmadeearlier,thatabattleoughttohavebeenfoughttwodaysbefore.otherstalkedofthebattleofsalamanca,whichafrenchman,crosart,wearingaspanishuniform,wasdescribingtothem.(thisfrenchman,whohadjustarrived,hadwithoneofthegermanprincesservingintherussianarmybeencriticisingthesiegeofsaragossa,foreseeingapossibilityofasimilardefenceofmoscow.)inthefourthgroup,countrastoptchinwassayingthathe,withthemoscowcityguard,wasreadytodieunderthewallsofthecity,butthatstillhecouldnotbutcomplainoftheuncertaintyinwhichhehadbeenleft,andthathadheknownitearlier,thingswouldhavebeendifferent.…afifthgroupwasmanifestingtheprofundityoftheirtacticalinsightbydiscussingthedirectionthetroopsshouldcertainlytakenow.asixthgroupweretalkingarrantnonsense.