The Patriotic War of 1812 was the apotheosis of the era of the Napoleonic Wars. The wars themselves were the culmination of a long era of Anglo-French geopolitical rivalry. The Anglo-French confrontation had a turbulent centuries-old history. The wars went on almost continuously and for a long time, there was even a Hundred Years War in history between them. Once again, the confrontation sharply escalated in the 17th-18th centuries.
Before that, the British with difficulty crushed Spain from the pedestal of the mistress of the seas, by the way, not without the help of France, and on the way to world domination inevitably faced a new political rival on the continent. In addition, England was turning into an industrial power and sought to expand its overseas colonies to expand colonial trade. Since the time of Louis XIV, this rivalry for colonial reasons has intensified even more, the Anglo-French wars then went on almost continuously and were very bloody. The abundant bloodshed did not add credibility to the authorities of both sides, and after the Seven Years' War, rivalry began to acquire predominantly hypocritical, undercover and Jesuit forms. Particularly popular then were unexpected, sophisticated, insidious and treacherous mutual blows in the poddy and in the sack. The French were the first to succeed in this matter. With the help of the disgraced British Prince Henry (the younger brother of the English king), they found a weak link in the long chain of British colonies. The French ideologically, morally and financially generously sponsored the insurgents of the North American colonies. In the army of insurgents, French "volunteers" fought in abundance, including in high command posts. For example, General Lafayette was the chief of staff of the rebel army, and Colonel Kosciuszko was in command of the sapper units. Numerous "volunteers" were in such a hurry to provide international assistance that they did not bother to formalize their resignation, or at least leave, that is, were active officers of the French army. In order to hush up this scandal, their former commanders in absentia and retroactively issued them "indefinite leave … for personal reasons … with the preservation of salary." The rebels rampaged with almost impunity and fiercely in the rebellious states, and when the threat of retribution came, they hid abroad and sat in French Quebec. After several years of struggle, Britain was forced to recognize the independence of the North American states. It was a resounding slap in the face. The new British government solemnly promised Parliament and the king to create an asymmetric response to the French, which will not seem enough to them. And they succeeded quite well. The British generously and indiscriminately sponsored a motley, diverse and multi-vector French opposition, nurtured by the government itself in the murky waters of the French Enlightenment (read Perestroika) and created such a boom in France itself that descendants would call this turmoil nothing more than the Great French Revolution. Of course, in both of these cases, internal reasons and prerequisites were the main ones, but the influence of agents, sponsors and ideologists of geopolitical rivals on these events was colossal.
The desire to trip, sweep or stretch a geopolitical rival, help him go mad, get stoned, get crazy with the help of some kind of Perestroika or Reformation, slip, or even better, to tip over and fly upside down from a cliff, and, according to everyone's opinion, solely of his own free will, this is international life is quite by concepts and has been practiced since the creation of the world. In relations between England and France, numerous foreign and domestic agents, sponsors and volunteers roamed the rebellious provinces like at home, incited and sponsored countless riots and riots, fought in illegal armed formations, and sometimes it came to direct military intervention. The revolution in France further intensified the Anglo-French enmity. An ideological struggle was added to the political, colonial and trade struggles. England looked to France as a country of unrest, Jacobins, anarchists, libertines, Satanists and atheists, she supported emigration and blocked France in order to limit the spread of revolutionary ideas. And France looked at England as a "colossus with feet of clay," resting on soap bubbles of usury, credit, bank accounts, national egoism and rough material calculations. England for France turned into "Carthage", which had to be destroyed. But in the murky waters of this great French turmoil, English agents, sponsors and volunteers played so hard that they blinked and underestimated Bonaparte's coming to power. From him the British were only in trouble. Even assuming the post of first consul, Napoleon received an order from the chairman of the Convention, Barassa: “Pompey did not hesitate, destroying pirates on the seas. More than a Roman navy - unleash the battle on the seas. Go and punish England in London for her crimes that have remained unpunished for a long time."
Rice. 1 First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte
At first glance, such an interpretation of the origins and causes of the Napoleonic wars may seem simplistic and monochromatic. There really is a lack of color, emotion and science. But as the classic taught us, in order to understand the true essence of the picture, you need to mentally discard the palette and imagine under it the plot drawn by the creator on the canvas with charcoal. Now, if we proceed from this method and discard demagogy, idealism and pseudoscience, then it will turn out just right, one blatant and naked, albeit cynical truth. Even in the most distant times, to decorate the natural nature of politics and cover this cynical truth, colorful diplomatic clothes were invented - a special language, protocol and etiquette. But for the analyst, these polities are deeply violet, because they can only stir up, and not clarify the situation, he is obliged to see the naked truth. His task and duty is to expose the plot, unravel the tangle of hypocrisy, hypocrisy and contradictions, free the truth from the shackles of science, and if necessary, then mercilessly dissect its body and soul, decompose it into molecules and make it accessible for the simplest understanding. And then everything will be just right. However, back to the Napoleonic wars.
The struggle at sea ended with Nelson's defeat of the French fleet at Trafalgar, and the project of a march to India turned out to be impracticable. The continental blockade established by Bonaparte did not lead to undermining the economy of England. At the same time, Bonaparte's military successes on the continent made all the European people completely dependent on him. Austria, Prussia, Italy, Holland, Spain and the Germanic principalities were completely dependent. The brothers of Napoleon were appointed kings of many countries: in Westphalia - Jerome, in Holland - Lewis, in Spain - Joseph. Italy was turned into a republic, whose president was Napoleon himself. Marshal Murat, married to Napoleon's sister, was appointed king of Naples. All these countries formed a continental alliance directed against England. The boundaries of their possessions were arbitrarily changed by Napoleon, they had to supply troops for the wars of the empire, provide for their maintenance and make contributions to the imperial treasury. As a result, dominance on the mainland began to belong to France, dominance on the seas remained with England.
Russia, being a continental power, could not stay away from the Napoleonic wars, although at first it very much counted on it. Neither England nor France have ever been sincere friends and allies of Russia, therefore, when they grappled with each other in mortal combat, Mother Catherine acted purely out of her favorite considerations: "What is the use of this for Russia?" And there was benefit, and it was in the plane of Russian-Polish relations. The zigzags of Russian-Polish relations cannot be considered regardless of the peculiarities of the Polish mentality. In terms of mentality, Poles are a unique people, even by the standards of boundless European hypocrisy, hypocrisy and political prostitution. They fiercely hate all their neighbors, and the Russians, contrary to popular belief in our country, are far from being in the first place in this hatred. It is very difficult and very dangerous for them to live in such an environment, therefore, for their safety, they traditionally look for sponsors and patrons overseas, overseas. Under their patronage and patronage, Poles furiously and with impunity do dirty tricks on all their neighbors, causing them no less fierce hostility. But life is a striped thing, a bright stripe, a black stripe. And during the period of the black strip, when their then main sponsor and protector France fell into a terrible confusion, Poland's neighbors, namely Prussia, Austria and Russia, quickly forgot for a while about their mutual troubles and began to be friends against Poland. This friendship ended in two partitions of Poland. Let me remind you that back in 1772, Russia, Austria and Prussia, having chosen the right moment, already made the first partition of Poland, as a result of which Russia received eastern Belarus, Austria - Galicia, and Prussia - Pomerania. In 1793, thanks to the French turmoil, a new opportune moment came and the second partition of Poland took place, according to which Russia received Volhynia, Podolia and Minsk province, Prussia - Danzig region. Polish patriots revolted. A Provisional Government was formed in Warsaw, the king was arrested, and war was declared between Russia and Prussia. T. Kosciuszko stood at the head of the Polish troops, A. V. Suvorov. Russian troops stormed the Warsaw suburb of Prague, Kosciuszko was taken prisoner, Warsaw surrendered, the leaders of the uprising fled to Europe. Russian-Prussian troops occupied the whole of Poland, then the final destruction of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth followed. The king renounced the throne, and Russia, Austria and Prussia in 1795 made the third partition of Poland. Russia received Lithuania, Courland and western Belarus, Austria - Krakow and Lublin, and Prussia all of northern Poland with Warsaw. With the annexation of the Crimean and Lithuanian possessions to Russia, the centuries-old struggle for the Horde inheritance ended, with centuries of wars continuing. With the conquest of Chernomoria and Crimea, borders with Turkey were established in the west along the Dniester line, in the east along the Kuban and Terek lines. The Polish-Lithuanian state, which had been claiming leadership in the Slavic world for several centuries, disintegrated, and a long struggle ended with the victory of Russia. But with the solution of some problems, others arose. With the partition of Poland, Russia came into direct contact with the peoples of the Germanic race, a potentially no less dangerous enemy than the Poles. "Pan-Slavism" was now inevitably opposed to "Pan-Germanism". With the partition of Poland, one of the largest in the world, at that time, the Jewish diaspora, with Zionism emerging in its depths, also fell into Russia. As further history showed, this diaspora turned out to be no less staunch and stubborn enemy of the Russian world than the Poles or the Germanic race, but much more sophisticated, insidious and hypocritical. But at that time it seemed a trifle compared to the centuries-old Russian-Polish confrontation. The epistemological basis of this Russian-Polish antagonism, both then and now, is a sharp rivalry in the East European geopolitical field for the right to leadership in the Slavic world. It is based on the so-called Polish messianism. According to him, the Poles are assigned the role of a leader among the Slavs, i.e. nation superior to the rest of the Slavic peoples for a number of criteria. Superiority in matters of religion plays a central role in the messianic concept. It is the suffering Polish people who atone for the "original sin" of Byzantium, preserving true Christianity (Catholicism) for posterity. It also ideologically reinforces the Poles' hatred of Protestant Germans. In second place is the struggle against Russian Slavophilism, for Russian Slavophiles refuse the Poles to call themselves "true Slavs", which is again connected with the Poles' belonging to the Catholic religion. The Poles, according to the Slavophiles, succumbing to the spiritual influence of the West, betrayed the Slavic cause. In response to this, Polish historians and thinkers constantly exaggerate the topic of the not quite Slavic (Mongolian, Asian, Turanian, Finno-Ugric, etc.) origin of the Russian people. At the same time, the thousand-year Polish history is presented as a continuous defense of Europe from the wild hordes of Tatars, Muscovites and Turks. In opposition of the Russian people to the Polish, the Poles are constantly attributed to a more ancient origin, greater purity of race and faith, higher moral foundations of life. In the social behavior of Russians, the following national traits are constantly played up and emphasized:
- a tendency to aggression, great power and expansion
- Asiatic with its inherent irresponsibility, resourcefulness, a tendency to lie, greed, bribery, cruelty and licentiousness
- a tendency to drunkenness, alcoholism and idle amusements
- extraordinary bureaucratization of public consciousness and the state-political system
- intolerance towards the Uniates and this very idea.
Here is a typical Polish idea of the Russians: “Mos-kal is always different, depending on what day of the week, what kind of people are around him, whether he is abroad or at home. The Russian has no concept of responsibility, his own profit and convenience drive his behavior. The Russian person is very petty and picky, but not because he wants to do for the good of his homeland, but because he is trying for his own benefit, to receive a bribe or to distinguish himself before the authorities. In Russia, everything is dedicated to profit and convenience, even Fatherland and Faith. Mos-kal, even when stealing, pretends that he is doing a good deed. However, having crushed the Rzeczpospolita at the end of the 18th century, the Russians actually proved that despite all their peculiarities and shortcomings, with proper management, they alone are worthy of claiming leadership in the Slavic world. Thus, at the end of the 18th century, Matushka Catherine very worthily and in the interests of the empire used this regular Anglo-French quarrel.
Rice. 2 Partitions of Poland
On November 6, 1796, Empress Catherine the Great died. During the 18th century in the history of Russia, there were 2 reigning persons who, by their activities, turned the Moscow state into a world power. During these reigns, the historical struggle in the west for domination in the Baltic and in the south for the possession of the Black Sea region was successfully completed. Russia was transformed into a powerful state, whose forces became a decisive factor in European politics. However, the great military tension had a strong impact on the internal situation in the country. The treasury was depleted, finances were in disarray, and the administration was dominated by arbitrariness and abuse. In the army, the personnel did not correspond to reality, the recruits did not reach the regiments and were in private jobs for the commanding staff, most of the nobles in the army were listed only according to the lists. The new emperor Pavel Petrovich was hostile to the order that existed under his mother. He outlined extensive plans for raising the prestige of the supreme power, limiting the rights of the nobility, reducing labor service and improving the life of the peasantry, made completely dependent on the tyranny of the landowners. But for the implementation of these plans, not only decrees and orders were needed, but above all the sequence of their implementation and the authority of the ruler. But Paul had neither the one nor the other. He did not inherit from his mother and great-grandfather the character that brought people into obedience, and the changeability of his mood created the greatest confusion. In foreign policy, Paul decided to end hostilities and give the country the necessary rest. But the country was already tightly woven into European politics and the international situation did not allow the empire to relax. In European politics, the French revolutionary government exerted an increasing influence. Emperor Paul tried not to interfere in the European showdown and took measures against the spread of infectious revolutionary ideas. Borders were closed to foreigners, Russians were prohibited from communicating with them, the import of foreign books, newspapers and even music was prohibited. It was forbidden to study at foreign universities.
But it was not possible to sit out in isolation, and European politics came to Russia anyway. The reckless decision of the emperor to become a master of the Order of Malta forced Paul in 1798 to join the anti-French coalition. This happened after Bonaparte seized Malta in passing on his way to Egypt. Paul was enraged by this act and entered the war with France. The head of the Austro-Russian troops during the campaign in Italy was A. V. Suvorov, and with his corps there were 10 Don regiments. Despite the brilliant victories of Suvorov, the campaign against the French, due to the double-dealing of the Austrians and the British, ended in general disastrously. Angered by the betrayal of such unreliable allies and driven by the unpredictable fickleness of his character, Paul entered into an alliance with France and declared war on England. In accordance with the strategy of the Franco-Russian alliance, Napoleon and Paul outlined a joint campaign to India through Central Asia and Afghanistan. Astrakhan was designated the starting point. Due to difficulties in Italy, the French corps of General Moreau did not arrive in Astrakhan on time, and Pavel ordered one Don Army to march. On February 24, 1801, the 41 Don regiment, two companies of horse artillery, 500 Kalmyks set out on a campaign. A total of 22507 people. The army was commanded by the Don Ataman Orlov, the first brigade of 13 regiments was commanded by M. I. Platov. On March 18, the regiments crossed the Volga and continued on their way. But, thank God, this disastrous adventure for the Cossacks was not destined to come true.
Emperor Paul by nature possessed extraordinary abilities and good spiritual qualities, was an excellent family man, but had a big drawback - lack of self-control and a tendency to fall into psychopathic states. His hot temper manifested itself towards persons regardless of their rank and position, and they were subjected to cruel and humiliating insults in the presence of other persons and even in front of their subordinates. The emperor's arbitrariness caused general discontent and a conspiracy was formed among the courtiers to eliminate it. First of all, the conspirators began to remove from the emperor those loyal to him and replace them with conspirators. Pavel's bodyguards, the officers of the Life Guards Cossack Regiment, the Gruzinov brothers, were discussed and convicted. At the same time, the arrest of Ataman Platov for an evil libel, but he was released and sent to the Don on the occasion of a campaign in India. The campaign of the Don Cossacks to India alarmed England and the British ambassador in St. Petersburg began to actively help the conspirators.
They took advantage of the complex relationship between the emperor and the heir to the throne, Alexander Pavlovich. Their relationship was ruined during the lifetime of Empress Catherine, who was supposed to transfer the throne to her grandson, bypassing her son. Relations became so strained that the nephew of the Empress (Paul's wife), the Prince of Württemberg, arrived in St. Petersburg, and the Emperor promised to put him in a position that would “amaze everyone”. In such conditions, the Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich was also involved in the conspiracy. On the night of March 11-12, Emperor Paul was killed. Alexander's accession to the throne was greeted with joy throughout Russia.
Upon accession to the throne, the first manifesto announced an amnesty to all those who suffered under Paul the First. They turned out to be: 7 thousand imprisoned in the fortress, 12 thousand exiled to different places. The trip to India was canceled, the Cossacks were ordered to return to the Don. By April 25, the regiments returned safely to the Don without loss of personnel. The new emperor, brought up in the ideas of liberalism, set himself the goal of improving the life of the people. To implement these ideas, an unspoken committee was created and reforms began. But in relation to the Cossacks, at first, no changes occurred, and the government kept the order indicated at the time by the commander of the Azov region, Field Marshal Prozorovsky: “Don Cossacks should never be turned into regular units, since, remaining an irregular cavalry, the Cossacks will perform their service in the best possible way. historically developed methods. But life demanded reforms in Cossack life as well. After the death of Ataman Orlov in 1801, M. I. Platov and he started reforms.
Rice. 3 Ataman Matvey Ivanovich Platov
By a decree of September 29, 1802, the military chancellery, of which the ataman was the chairman, was subdivided into 3 expeditions: military, civil and economic. The entire land of the Don Cossack was divided into 7 counties, named by the detective authorities. Members of the detective authorities, served by choice for 3 years. The former towns were called stanitsas, and villages were called khutors. In Cherkassk, a police was established, the chief of police was approved by the Senate on the proposal of the ataman. The military reform established headquarters and chief officer ranks for 60 regiments. Their resignation was allowed no earlier than 25 years of service. Each Cossack received an allotment of land and did not pay any taxes or taxes to the state, and was obliged for this to always be ready for service, having his own weapon, clothing and two horses. The Cossack, who in turn had to go to the service, could hire someone else for himself. The benefits of the Don Cossacks included duty-free fishing in the Don rivers, the extraction of salt in the Manych lakes and the smoking of wine. On September 1, 1804, at the suggestion of Platov, the "commercial Cossacks" were established. Cossacks, who were engaged in trade and industry on a large scale, were exempted from serving military service and annually paid 100 rubles to the treasury for the entire time their peers were in the service. By decree of December 31, 1804, due to annual floods, the capital of the Troops was moved from Cherkassk to Novocherkassk. The Cossacks finally turned into a military class, the whole internal life and social structure was reduced to the development and maintenance of the combat properties of light field cavalry. In terms of tactics and conduct of battle, this was the complete legacy of the nomadic peoples. The main formation of the battle formation remained lava, which once constituted the main power of the Mongolian cavalry. In addition to straight lava, there were several of its subspecies: an angle forward, an angle backward, a ledge to the right and a ledge to the left. In addition, other traditional techniques of nomadic cavalry were used: ambush, venture, raid, detour, coverage and infiltration.
Rice. 4 Cossack lava
The Cossacks were armed with the same pikes and sabers, but with the development of firearms instead of bows and arrows - guns and pistols. The shape of the Cossack saddle had nothing to do with the saddles of the Russian and European cavalry and was inherited from the cavalry of the eastern peoples. The military organization and training in the military formation was carried out according to the age-old customs and skills of nomadic peoples, and not according to the rules of the cavalry. For the Russian government, the Cossack cavalry, in addition to its excellent fighting qualities, had another feature - the cheapness of its maintenance. Horses, weapons and equipment were purchased by the Cossacks themselves, and the maintenance of the units was acquired by the military treasury. The government's remuneration for the service of the Cossacks was military land, thirty dessiatines per Cossack, starting at the age of 16. Using power, Cossack officials and commanders received vast lands on the western borders of the Army and quickly became large landowners. Working hands were required to cultivate land and care for livestock, and they were acquired by buying peasants within Russia and at fairs within the Don, which turned into real slave markets. The largest trading place for slaves-serfs was the village of Uryupinskaya, where the landowners of the Russian provinces sent peasants and peasant women for sale to the Don Cossacks at a price of 160-180 rubles. Despite the land surveying carried out under Catherine II, the land was distributed extremely unevenly, the mass of the Cossack people was suppressed by want. The poor begged for weapons and equipment in the villages. By the decree of 1806, this outrage was stopped and some of the large landowners' lands were withdrawn in favor of the Cossacks, and some of the serfs turned into Cossacks.
After Alexander's accession to the throne, the policy towards France was gradually revised and Russia again took part in the anti-French coalitions. During these military campaigns, Napoleonic troops met with the Cossacks, but they did not impress them. And Napoleon himself, who first met the Cossacks in the battle of Preussisch-Eylau, did not appreciate and did not understand their tactics. Moreover, looking at them, he said that this is "the shame of the human race." The short European campaigns did not give the French the opportunity to sense all the danger that the Cossacks could pose. However, soon the war of 1812 corrected this annoying gap in the military erudition of the French. After Russia's unsuccessful participation in several coalitions against France, Napoleon again forced Russia to participate in the continental blockade of Britain and peace and alliance was concluded in Tilsit.
Rice. 5 Meeting of Napoleon and Emperor Alexander I in Tilsit
But the peaceful relations established by the Tilsit Treaty caused not only moral protest from the masses, this treaty laid a heavy burden on the country's economy. The continental blockade deprived Russia of the opportunity to trade with the huge British Empire, which had a heavy impact on the country's economy and finances and led to a rapid drop in the exchange rate of Russian banknotes. All this became a new reason for dissatisfaction with Alexander in all classes of the state. This discontent was skillfully maintained in society by English agents and French emigres. In addition, the Russian Mediterranean squadron did not have time to leave for Russia, and was captured by the British in Lisbon. The benefits derived from the alliance with Napoleon - his consent to the annexation of Finland and neutrality in the war with Turkey - could not compensate for the losses imposed on the country. Therefore, the conditions imposed by the treaty could not be fulfilled by Russia in good faith, and sooner or later this provision was bound to lead to a rupture. The reasons for the cooling of the political order were added to reasons of a personal nature, such as, for example, the refusal to marry Napoleon to the sister of the Emperor Alexander. Under the influence of economic and political reasons, popular discontent and opposition from the emperor's entourage, Russia began to violate the terms of the Tilsit Treaty and both sides began to prepare for war. Seeking by the threat of the use of force to force Alexander to comply with the conditions of the continental blockade, Napoleon began to concentrate troops in the Duchy of Warsaw. Russia has also concentrated its military forces on its western borders. In the army, changes were made in management. Barclay de Tolly was appointed Minister of War instead of Arakcheev.
The era of Napoleon, militarily, was a transitional stage from the linear tactics of the 18th century to the conduct of battle in columns with wide maneuver when approaching the battlefield. This form of war provided ample opportunities for the use of light field Cossack cavalry, using its mobility. This made it possible to use a wide maneuver, to act on the flanks and rear of the enemy. The basis of the tactics of using the Cossack horse masses was the old methods of nomadic cavalry. These techniques were capable of keeping the enemy under the threat of attack all the time, penetration to the flanks and rear, readiness to attack on a wide front, encirclement and complete destruction of the enemy. The Cossack cavalry was still alien to the statutory formation of closed formations, the sedentary masses of the cavalry of European peoples. The war of 1812-1813 against Napoleon was one of the last in which the Cossacks could display the highest qualities of the light field cavalry of the outmoded nomadic world. Favorable conditions for the actions of the Cossack cavalry in this war were also the fact that there were still Cossack commanders who retained the ability to use light horse masses in the best way, and also the fact that the Cossack units were distributed not only between individual armies or corps, but were kept in large formations under by the power of one commander. As part of the Russian troops before the war there were: in the First Western Army of General Barclay de Tolly there were 10 Cossack regiments (Platov's corps), in the Second Western Army of General Bagration there were 8 Cossack regiments (Ilovaisky's corps), in the third Observatory army of General Tormasov there were 5 Cossack regiments, in the Danube army of Admiral Chichagov there were 10 Cossack regiments distributed in different corps, the corps of General Wittgenstein, who covered St. Petersburg, included 3 Cossack regiments. In addition, 3 Cossack regiments were in Finland, 2 regiments in Odessa and Crimea, 2 regiments in Novocherkassk, 1 regiment in Moscow. Special conditions were required to defend the Caucasian Front. In addition to two infantry divisions, the defense of the Caucasian line was entrusted mainly to the Cossack troops. They carried out heavy cordon service against the highlanders along the Terek, Kuban and Georgia and were divided into separate troops: Terek, Kizlyar, Grebensk and settled regiments: Mozdok, Volga, Khopersk and others. Among these troops all the time there were 20 Don regiments of the Line Army. Thus, by the beginning of the Patriotic War with Napoleon in 1812, the Don Army deployed 64 regiments, the Ural - 10, and the troops of the Caucasian line were entrusted with the task of protecting and defending the border along the Terek, Kuban and the border of Georgia. By the early summer of 1812, the mobilization and concentration of Napoleon's Grand Army (Grande Armee) in Poland and Prussia was over, and war was inevitable. The Emperor Alexander had excellent intelligence, it is enough to remember what Talleyrand himself reported to him, and from this information he greatly panicked. There is a correspondence between Tsar Alexander and the Moscow mayor F. V. Rostopchin, dated in the winter of 1811-12. Alexander wrote to the Moscow head that Napoleon had almost mobilized himself, gathered a huge army from all over Europe, and as always, everything is very bad here. Plans to mobilize and purchase weapons and equipment are thwarted, and only pimas and sheepskin coats have been prepared in abundance. To which the perspicacious mayor replied to the tsar: “Not everything is so bad, Your Majesty. You have two main advantages, namely:
- this is the endless expanses of your empire
- and an extremely harsh climate.
As the enemy moves deeper into the country, his pressure will weaken, and his resistance will grow. Your army will be helpless at Vilna, formidable at Moscow, terrible at Kazan and invincible at Tobolsk.
In addition, the campaign should be tightened until winter at any cost, while the enemy should be left at all costs for the winter without fuel, apartments, provisions and fodder. And if, Your Majesty, these conditions are met, then I assure you, no matter how numerous and formidable the invading army may be, by the spring it will be left only by the Mosly."
And so many people in charge of the strategy thought and acted. Without excluding the possibility of an enemy breakthrough into the interior of the country, a program was carried out to create backup arms factories in Izhevsk, Zlatoust and other places. The hour "H" was inexorably approaching. But that's a completely different story.
