Napoleon's next objective was Kutusov and the Russians: by
threatening Vienna he would force the allies to concentrate there. But
Kutusov refused to be gulled into a defence of the Austrian capital that
would hand the initiative to Napoleon and so retreated, forcing Archduke
Frederick to go with him. For the first time Napoleon's well-laid plans
began to go awry. Murat the glory-hunter set out with his cavalry to be
the first in Vienna instead of harassing Kutusov, and earned the
Emperor's angry censure. Bernadotte, whether through incompetence or
conscious treachery, brought his corps across the Danube a day late, thus
vitiating Napoleon's clever plan for the encirclement of Kutusov. French
honour was restored by Mortier who, with General Dupont, fought a
numerically superior Russian force to a standstill at Durrensten. But, as
with all French battles with the Russians, this one was marked by its
heavy casualties: 3,ooo on the French side against 4,ooo Russians.
On 12 November Murat and his riders reached Vienna; there was no
resistance as the Austrians had declared it an open city. While the Grand
Army took possession of soo cannon, roo,ooo muskets and a huge cache
of ammunition, the Emperor, arriving on rs November, amused himself
by spending the night with an Austrian beauty; they conversed in the
language of love, since she spoke no French and Napoleon no German.
But by 23 November the Emperor was forced to rest the Grand Army:
the troops who had campaigned non-stop for eight weeks were exhausted
and on the point of cracking. The critical point of the entire strategic
operation had now been reached. French lines of communication were
stretched taut and likely to snap if the Russians retreated any farther. On
the other hand, there was an abiding danger that the Archduke Charles
might retreat from the Italian front and link up with the Russians on the
Danube. There were also fears that Prussia was about to enter the war on
the Allied side, and any retreat by the French, be it never so strategic,
could be construed as a defeat and thus give Berlin the final nudge.
Lacking the resources to envelop the enemy, Napoleon had to tempt
them to attack by feigning weakness.
Learning that Kutusov had retreated north towards Olmutz, where he
linked up with a second Russian army under General Buxhowden,
Napoleon sent one-third of his army, under Soult, Lannes and Murat, to
occupy the village of Austerlitz, east of Brunn in Bohemia (later
Czechoslovakia), and the nearby Pratzen heights. Having thinned his
army to 53,000 - a tempting target for the 89,000-strong allies -
Napoleon laid plans for the rapid arrival of 22,ooo reinforcements (under
Davout and Bernadotte) who would come on the scene of the intended
battle by forced marches. He gave every sign of being weak and having
marcin
(Marcin)
#1