Chapter 1020 One-Eye and the Secret Organization

December 25th in the Western calendar is Christmas in the Western world.

But in the Ural River Basin, on the battlefield filled with war, the so-called 'Christmas dinner' only added an extra piece of barbecue to the dinner of Russian soldiers. Even for Count Andreevich himself, who serves as the leader of the regiment, the 'Christmas dinner' is not as sumptuous as the ordinary dinner he enjoyed at home in the past. But this is war!

Tonight is a clear night. Count Andreevich is lying on his elbows in a dilapidated farmhouse in an unknown village. His regiment is stationed on the edge of the village. He looked through the cracks in the broken door panel at a row of thick birch trees outside the building along the fence. The branches had been cut off, and the trunks were straight. They were probably fifty or sixty years old. Outside were two blazing bonfires and a pile of tangled dry branches. Count Andreevich was very calm. The Russian cavalry brigade he was in had suffered a defeat just two days ago. Although the development of the war situation on the Eastern Front made him depressed and painful, he was high-spirited and continued to fight. Just like seven years ago on the eve of the Three Emperors' Battle, I felt excited but without fear.

He had already received orders from above regarding tomorrow's battle, and issued relevant orders for tomorrow's battle to his soldiers during dinner. He has no fear about tomorrow's battle, although he is not at all sure of victory either.

The first task of the cavalry unit to which Andreevich belonged was to attack the Chinese logistics supply team and detect their movements. This mission is very dangerous. The cavalry regiment of more than 600 people now only has 500 people left. Now, Andreevich no longer has the confidence to win the final outcome of the war, but he will still fight until the last drop of blood in his body for Russia.

Compromise and surrender did not exist in Andreevich's mind.

So he doesn't need to spend a lot of time 'thinking' in his mind. There was nothing for him to do at the moment.

Andreevich did not think about tomorrow's battle because he knew nothing about the situation at the destination. As Andreevich, who was born in a noble family, he was a brave warrior. He "conceived" a war without knowing anything about the enemy. In his opinion, this was called worrying about gains and losses, and was a sign of cowardice.

The simplest and clearest thoughts made him the most terrifying warrior on the battlefield. O fearless man!

He knew that tomorrow's battle would be the fiercest of all the battles he had ever fought, and for the first time in his life he thought with certainty and simplicity of the possibility of death, but that was death.

During the Battle of the Three Emperors, Andreevich, who was still serving in the Guards, watched the Russian army collapse one position after another. What he did was to quickly leave the battlefield with the Tsar behind him, but in his heart What he wanted more to do was lead a cavalry counterattack against the French.

The possibility of death did not scare Andreevich, and he did not consider the impact his death would have on his family, because the main assets of the Andreevich family were near St. Petersburg, and he also had three sons. .

Therefore, he can go into this war without any worries.

"The honor of the family, the happiness of the family, the love with his wife, the love for his children..." But in Andreevich's eyes, none of these can compare to the sacred Russia. This is Slavic culture.

Andreevich's ancestors [Russ] initially worshiped the Vatican, but they converted to Orthodox Christianity after being defeated by the Byzantine Empire. The last princess of Byzantium in the 15th century was married to early Russia to enhance her status. After Tsarist Russia became powerful, it became known as the Third Rome.

They believe that the first Rome is Rome and the second Rome is Byzantium, so their Roman orthodoxy. This naturally involved the battle between the Vatican and the Eastern Church. Until the 18th century, Catherine II still wanted to regain Constantinople.

Nationalism is an inevitable influence on Russians, nourished by Eastern Christian culture. In Eastern Christianity, where imperial power has always been stronger than religious power, both centralization and autocracy have great influence. Andrejevich is only a representative of one group of people.

The news that Moscow would be burned to the ground had reached Andreevich's ears. After all, Moscow was less than a thousand miles away from the Ural River. This news severely dampened the morale of the Russian army, but Andreevich remained fearless. Because the things he cares about are being swallowed up little by little by the war. Now Andreevich is like a barefooted person, who is not afraid of wearing shoes!

Andreevich finally sat up from the wooden bed. He called the orderly to light the lamp, and then took out the paper, ink, and pen from the leather bag hanging on the wall. He wanted to write a letter to his relatives. letter.

After all, tomorrow's battle is really dangerous, and he has a clear and vivid premonition of death.

“I’m going to be killed tomorrow, the day after Christmas—maybe not even by the French, but by one of my own, like my Captain Nicholas, the poor lad. He was shot in the back, but until he died, the saber in his hand was pointed forward.

So the Chinese would come and drag my body, they would lift my legs and my head, and throw me into the pit so that I wouldn't stink under their noses. …”

Andreevich did not yet know the specific form of the Western Battlefield. He only knew that Kutuzov led the Russian army to evacuate Moscow, and then they burned this city, which was of great significance to Russia, on fire. . So what will the next battle look like? Andreevich hopes for a good outcome, and Russia has the capital.

In Vladimir and Tula, at least 100,000 Russian recruits and reserves are waiting. The cold winter has arrived, and Kutuzov burned Moscow. This was an extraordinary decision, and not a grain of food should be left for Napoleon. Napoleon's army, which lacked fuel and food for the winter, would definitely feel uncomfortable.

- In fact Napoleon was fooled by the Russians regarding Moscow.

After the Battle of Borodino, the Russian army lost nearly half, and they no longer had the power to stop Napoleon. Napoleon was confident that Russia would surrender.

The opportunity for peace lies in Moscow. He believed that once the French army successfully captured Moscow, it would force Alexander to see the situation clearly, and at the same time force the Russian nobles to face reality. They will reconsider whether to prolong the war. If the French army liberates the Russian serfs, Russia's huge wealth will be destroyed!

Then, Murat, who was at the forefront of the army, sent a message: the Russian army was withdrawing from Moscow, and the Russian army requested that hostilities cease when they passed through the city of Moscow.

Napoleon agreed to the Russian army's request, because in his view, such a 'weak' request symbolized that the Russians' attitude was softening. At the same time, he also ordered Murat to follow the Russian army closely and force the Russian army to do everything possible. Far from Moscow.

Facing the "imminent" victory, Napoleon did not want the French army to pay more blood and sacrifices. He also asked Murat to summon the city's celebrities as soon as possible to form a delegation, and he would receive them at the city gate. He also instructed Dirosner to serve as the governor of Moscow and asked him to select enough gendarmes to accompany him into the city, establish order in the city, occupy public buildings, and emphasized the need to guard the Kremlin. Now Napoleon was in a good mood, and he seemed to have seen the delegation holding the keys to Moscow and bowing to him, just like what happened in Berlin and Vienna.

But the next day, while Napoleon was waiting for "victory", Murat and Dirosner sent the latest report: there was not a single socialite in Moscow, and not even a long-term resident could be found. Except for a few people from the lower social classes, the street was almost deserted. This news was like a thunderbolt in the blue sky, deeply shocking Napoleon, and an expression of pain and disappointment immediately appeared on his usually very cold face. Napoleon knew that the delegation holding the keys to Moscow was unlikely to appear, and Alexander's initiative to seek peace was even more hopeless. What awaited him was the endless war.

At noon, Napoleon went to the Kremlin. The abandoned city was enveloped in a dull and quiet atmosphere, and the long streets were deserted. At 8 o'clock in the evening, flames suddenly broke out on the outskirts of the city, and the French army went to great lengths to extinguish the fire. But this did not attract the attention of the French army. They thought it was just caused by the troops accidentally lighting a bonfire. Until 10 o'clock in the evening, someone reported that a fire broke out in a block farthest from the Kremlin. The fire was blown by strong north winds, and the raging flames were spreading toward the city center, becoming more and more fierce.

Several Russian policemen and farmers who were setting fire to flammable materials were caught on the spot. They confessed that they were ordered by Moscow Mayor Rostopchin to burn down the entire city overnight.

Napoleon knew this fact, but he could not stop the spread of the fire. The flames continued to expand from one block to another. The French army seemed to be helpless because the Russians took all fire-extinguishing equipment with them before withdrawing. Gone.

Luxurious theaters and large buildings were shrouded in thick smoke. It was unknown how long the fire would burn because people could no longer control it and conquer it. On the Moscow city wall, which was trampled under the feet of the French army, Napoleon looked pale in the face of the violent sea of ​​fire. "What a terrible sight! They set the fire themselves... What a determination! What a group of people!"

…

Chen Ming does not know the outcome of the Franco-Russian War now, but he knows that it is already the middle of November of the lunar calendar, and the Franco-Russian War should have come to an end long ago. Chen Ming wants to know, in this time and space, will Napoleon still retreat from Russian soil with only 20,000 to 30,000 defeated troops?

…

Mianhui in London looked out the window at the bare sycamore trees motionless, the white bark shining in the sun. Today is a rare good weather!

Suddenly he heard the voice of someone speaking. It was his wife.

"Who is here? My dear." Mianhui, who followed the local customs, spoke with a European touch.

Mianhui walked out of the room, and then he saw a distinguished guest - William, an attendant of Prince Edward.

"Oh, it's you, William!" He said with a bright smile on his face, "Which wind brought you here? I can't believe it."

When Mianhui spoke, his eyes were closely watching William's expression. From his eyes and the expression on his face, Mianhui not only saw William's indifference but also jealousy and hostility. Mianhui immediately became vigilant. got up. He did not offend William. Mianhui's heart immediately raised, did he offend Prince Edward inadvertently?

In Mianhui's eyes, William was a dog of Prince Edward, and dogs look at their masters. To a certain extent, William's attitude towards him reflected Prince Edward's attitude.

"I came here because I have an invitation to hand over to you. January 1st, don't forget it." The jealousy in William's eyes was simply unconcealed at this moment. He looked at Mianhui with complicated eyes, and then looked at the invitation in his hand. There was no other decoration on it, only Prince Edward's personal mark and a one-eyed man.

"It's really interesting, really interesting..., an Oriental..." William was jealous. That great organization actually wanted to recruit an Oriental!