The debate went on and on, and the longer it went on the more animated it became, with raised voices and name-calling, and the less possible it was to draw any kind of overall conclusion from what was being said. Listening to this polyglot babel of shouted proposals, plans and counter-proposals, Prince Andrey stood back amazed at what they were all saying. Ideas which he had long held and often thought about during his military service – that there was no such thing as a science of warfare, and never could be, and therefore there could be no such a thing as ‘military genius’ – struck him now as entirely true and self-evident. ‘What kind of theory and science can there be when conditions and circumstances are indeterminate and can never be defined, and the active strengths of the warring parties are even more indefinable? No one can, no one ever could, know what the positions of our army and the enemy will be at this time tomorrow, and no one can know the relative strengths of the various detachments. Sometimes, when there is no coward up front to run away shouting, “We’ve been cut off!”, but there is a brave and cheery soul shouting, “Hurrah!”, a detachment of five thousand is a match for thirty thousand, as happened at Schöngrabern, and on other occasions fifty thousand will run away from eight thousand, as they did at Austerlitz. What kind of science can there be when, as in all practical matters, nothing can be defined, and everything depends on an incalculable range of conditions which come together significantly at a moment that no one can know in advance? Armfeldt says our army has been cut off, but Paulucci says we have the French army caught between two fires; Michaud says the big disadvantage of the Drissa camp is that the river is behind us, while Pfuel says this is its strength. Toll proposes one plan, Armfeldt proposes another; they are all equally good and bad, and the advantages of any one proposition will only become clear after the event. So why all this talk about military genius? Does it take genius to get the biscuits delivered on time or know when to march the troops right or left? People are called geniuses only because of the pomp and power invested in the military, and because there are always plenty of wheedling rogues ready to fawn on power and credit it with the spurious quality of genius. It’s the other way round – the best generals I’ve ever known have been stupid or absent-minded. Bagration was the best – Napoleon himself admitted that. And as for Bonaparte! I remember his smug look and tight little face on the field at Austerlitz. A good military commander has no need of genius or any outstanding qualities; quite the reverse, he needs to be devoid of the finest and noblest of human attributes – love, poetry, affection, a philosophical spirit of inquiry and scepticism. He needs to be narrow-minded, totally convinced that what he is doing is very important (otherwise he would never have enough staying-power), and only then will he become a valiant military commander. God forbid that he should be like a human being, a prey to love and compassion, hesitating over right and wrong. It is obvious why a theory of genius should have been fabricated for them by people of old – such men and power are the same thing. Credit for any success in battle belongs not to them, but to some soldier in the ranks who shouted “Hurrah!”, just as blame for failure belongs to one who shouted, “We’ve had it!” And it’s only there in the ranks that anyone can serve and be absolutely certain he is doing something useful!’
This is what Prince Andrey was thinking about as he listened to the buzz of chatter, and he came to his senses only when Paulucci called across to him just as the meeting was breaking up.
Next day at the review the Tsar asked Prince Andrey where he wished to serve, and Bolkonsky wrote himself off for ever in court circles by opting for army service when he could have requested a post in attendance on the Tsar’s person.
CHAPTER 12
Before the campaign began Nikolay Rostov had received a letter from his parents with a few words about Natasha’s illness and the breaking off of her engagement, which they described as a rebuff from her, and another plea for him to retire from the army and come home. On receiving this letter Nikolay made no attempt to apply for leave or retirement; he wrote back to say how very sorry he was that Natasha was ill and had broken off her engagement, and he would make every effort to do what they wanted. To Sonya he wrote separately.
