Cait the Proud Trans Woman on Nostr: 2/10 Right. The French are now nearing their goal. Moscow is on the horizon. They ...

2/10

Right. The French are now nearing their goal. Moscow is on the horizon. They face the Russians at Borodino, in a huge, chaotic battle, and really, neither side wins a victory. Both sides claimed it, but it wasn't clear for either side.

France didn't proceed, but the Russians didn't break them either.

So now it's late autumn, and the Russians now call on their long-time ally, General Moroz. Moroz is "frost" in Russian.

Meaning, the Russian winter arrived. The French, had Moscow. But they had no supplies getting in, and the Russian government had pulled out. Left the empty city to the French. Who could do nothing with it of value.

Napoleon paused. For several weeks, as I recall, he vacillated. By the time he figured out that retreat was called for, it was too late. Winter had arrived.

Now they had to make that 2000-lm+ trek back to their start line, only this time with Russian Cossack cavalry harrying their every move, picking off stragglers, and generally pushing them to keep moving. People started to die in the cold, and of lack of supplies. They were strarving.

On and on the retreat went, more haggard every day, until a meagre total of 60,000 men struggled back to Poland and out of Russia. Napoleon had been defeated; the Russian myth of invincibility was born.

The crucial part of this myth: they didn't talk about the fact that it had only been possible because they were defending the whole time. They retreated, trading land for time, luring the French to go too far, and let the winter sort them out along with the partisan activity crushing their supply lines, keeping their troops awake all night, and things like that.

All in all, a miserable time for the Emperor of France.

Fast forward 130 years. 1941, June 22.

Russia is hit with a "surprise" invasion by their nominal allies, the Germans.