‘We’ll see what happens.’
Another pause.
‘Well, drop by if you need anything. Someone at staff headquarters can always help . . .’
Dolokhov grinned. ‘Don’t worry. What I want, I’m not going to ask for. I’ll get it myself.’
‘Yes, well, I only . . .’
‘Me too.’
‘Goodbye.’
‘Keep well.’
Go fond flier, ever higher,
To your country far away . . .
Zherkov put spurs to his horse, which reared on its hind legs two or three times in great excitement as if it couldn’t decide which foreleg to lead off with, then it galloped past the company, and caught up with the carriage, still moving to the rhythm of the song.
CHAPTER 3
Once back from the review, Kutuzov took the Austrian general into his private room and summoned his aide, asking for certain papers concerning the condition of the newly arrived troops, and some letters received from the Archduke Ferdinand, who was in command of the advance army. Prince Andrey Bolkonsky came into the commander-in-chief’s room with the necessary documents. Kutuzov and the Austrian representative of the Hofkriegsrath were sitting over a plan that lay unfolded on the table.
‘Oh yes,’ said Kutuzov, looking round at Bolkonsky and using the phrase as an invitation for his aide to stay with them. Then he continued his conversation.
‘I have only one thing to say, General,’ said Kutuzov, using French of such agreeable elegance and persuasive intonation that the listener was obliged to concentrate on each carefully enunciated word. And Kutuzov was clearly not averse to the sound of his own voice. ‘All I can say is that if this were a matter of my personal preference, the desire of his Majesty, Emperor Francis, would have been fulfilled long ago. I would have lost no time in joining the Archduke. I give you my word that for me personally to hand over the high command of the army to more knowledgeable and experienced generals – which Austria has in abundance – and to cast off such a heavy responsibility, this for me personally would be a relief. But circumstances are sometimes too much for us, General.’ And Kutuzov smiled with an expression that seemed to say, ‘You have every right to disbelieve me, and I don’t much care whether you do or you don’t, but you have no grounds for saying that out loud. And that’s it.’
The Austrian general looked unhappy, but he dared not adopt the wrong tone with Kutuzov.
‘On the contrary,’ he snapped with a petulance that belied the meaning of his unctuous words. ‘On the contrary, the participation of your most high Excellency in our joint enterprise is highly appreciated by his Majesty. But we do believe that the present delay is depriving the gallant Russian troops and their commander-in-chief of the laurels they are accustomed to winning in the field,’ he concluded a sentence obviously prepared in advance.
Kutuzov bowed, still smiling the same smile.
‘But I am equally certain, to judge by the last letter with which his Highness the Archduke Ferdinand has honoured me,’ he said, ‘and I put it to you indeed that the Austrian troops under the command of so skilful a leader as General Mack have already achieved total victory and have no further need of our assistance.’
The general frowned. Though there had been no definite news of an Austrian defeat, there was too much circumstantial evidence confirming this as an unpleasant possibility, and that made Kutuzov’s assertion of an Austrian victory sound rather like a sneer. But Kutuzov’s brief smile contained the same suggestion as before – that he had every right to say what he did. As it happened the last letter he had received from the army of General Mack had informed him of victory, and of the army’s most favourable strategic position.
‘Hand me that letter,’ said Kutuzov to Prince Andrey. ‘See here.’ And Kutuzov, with a sardonic smile playing about the corners of his mouth, read out in German for the benefit of the Austrian general this excerpt from the letter of the Archduke Ferdinand:
‘We have a fully concentrated force of nearly seventy thousand men, and therefore stand ready to attack and defeat the enemy in the event of his crossing the Lech. Since we already hold Ulm we are in a position to maintain the advantage of commanding both banks of the Danube, and therefore would be able at a moment’s notice, should the enemy decide not to cross the Lech, to cross the Danube ourselves and fall upon their line of communications, recross the river downstream and frustrate the enemy’s intentions should he decide to mount a mass attack against our faithful ally. On this account we shall await with confidence the full readiness of the Imperial Russian Army, whereupon we shall easily proceed together in preparing for the enemy that fate which he so richly deserves.’
Kutuzov gave a heavy sigh as he finished reading the extract and he turned sympathetically to the representative of the Hofkriegsrath, eyeing him closely.
