第476章

第476章kutuzov，withhisgreyheadhanging，andhisheavy，corpulentframesunkintoaheap，wassittingonabenchcoveredwitharug，inthesameplaceinwhichpierrehadseenhiminthemorning.heissuednoorders，andsimplygaveorwithheldhisassenttowhatwasproposedtohim.

“yes，yes，doso，”hewouldsayinreplytovariousestions.“yes，yes，goacross，mydearboy，andsee，”hewouldcryfirsttooneandthetoanotheroftheadjutantsnearhim；or，“no，betternot；we’dbetterwaitabit，”hewouldsay.helistenedtothereportsbroughthim，andgaveorders，whentheywereaskedfor.butasheheardthereports，heseemedtotakelittleinterestintheimportofthewordsspoken；somethingelseintheexpressionofhisface，inthetoneofthevoiceofthespeaker，seemedtointeresthimmore.fromlongyearsofmilitaryexperiencehehadlearned，andwiththewisdomofoldagehehadrecognised，thatonemancannotguidehundredsofthousandsofmenlingwithdeath；thatthefateofbattlesisnotdecidedbytheordersgivenbythecommander-in-chief，northeplaceinwhichthetroopsarestationed，northenumberofcannons，norofkilled，butbythatintangibleforcecalledthespiritofthearmy，andhefollowedthatforceandleditasfarasitlayinhispower.

thegeneralexpressionofkutuzov’sfacewasconcentrated，quietattentionandintensity，withdifficultyovercominghisweakandagedbody.

ateleveno’clocktheybroughthimthenewsthatthefrenchhadbeendrivenbackagainfromtheflèchestheyhadcaptured，butthatbagrationwaswounded.kutuzovgroaned，andshookhishead.

“rideovertoprincepyotrivanovitchandfindoutexactlyaboutit，”hesaidtooneoftheadjutants，andthenheturnedtotheprinceofwurtemberg，whowasstandingbehindhim：

“willyourhighnessbepleasedtotakethecommandofthefirstarmy？”

soonaftertheprince’sdeparture—sosoonthathecouldnotyethavereachedsemyonovskoye—hisadjutantcamebackwithamessagefromhimaskingkutuzovformoretroops.

kutuzovfrowned，andsentdohturovorderstotakethecommandofthefirstarmy，andedtheprincetocomeback，sayingthathefoundhecouldnotgetonwithouthimatsuchanimportantmoment.whennewswasbroughtthatmurathadbeentakenprisoner，andthemembersofthestaffcongratulatedkutuzov，hesmiled.

“waitalittle，gentlemen，”hesaid.“thebattleiswon，andmurat’sbeingtakenprisonerisnothingveryextraordinary.butwehadbetterdeferourrejoicings.”stillhesentanadjutanttotakethenewstothetroops.

whenshtcherbiningallopedupfromtheleftflankwiththereportofthecaptureoftheflèche，andsemyonovskoyebythefrench，kutuzov，guessingfromthesoundsofthebattlefieldandshtcherbinin’sface，thatthenewswasbad，gotupasthoughtostretchhislegs，andtakingshtcherbininbythearmdrewhimaside.

“yougo，mydearboy，”hesaidtoyermolov，“andseewhethersomethingcan’tbedone.”

kutuzovwasingorky，thecentreoftherussianposition.theattackonourleftflankhadbeenseveraltimesrepulsed.inthecentrethefrenchdidnotadvancebeyondborodino.uvarov’scavalryhadsentthefrenchflyingfromtheleftflank.

atthreeo’clocktheattacksofthefrenchceased.onthefacesofallwhocamefromthebattlefield，aswellasofthosestandingroundhim，kutuzovreadanexpressionofeffort，strainedtotheutmosttension.hewashimselfsatisfiedwiththeessofthedaybeyondhisexpectations.buttheoldman’sphysicalforcewasfailinghim.severaltimeshisheadsank，asthoughhewerefalling，andhedroppedasleep.dinnerwasbroughthim.

theadjutant-general，woltzogen，themanwhomprinceandreyhadoverheardsayingthatthewaroughttobe“imraumverlegen，”andwhombagrationsoparticularlydetested，rodeuptokutuzovwhilehewasatdinner.woltzogenhadcomefrombarclaytoreportontheprogressofthefightontheleftflank.thesagaciousbarclaydetolly，seeingcrowdsofwoundedmenrunningback，andtheranksindisorder，andweighingallthecircumstancesofthecase，madeuphismindthatthebattlewaslost，andsenthisfavouriteadjutanttothecommander-in-chieftotellhimso.

kutuzovwaswithdifficultychewingroastchicken，andhiseyeswerescrewedupwithamorecheerfulexpressionasheglancedatwoltzogen.

withahalf-contemptuoussmilewoltzogenwalkedcarelesslyuptokutuzov，scarcelytouchingthepeakofhiscap.