December 25 in the Western calendar is Christmas in the Western world.

But in the Ural River Valley, on the battlefield full of war, the so-called 'Christmas dinner' only adds an extra slice of barbecue to the dinner of Russian soldiers. Even Count Andreyevich himself, who was the head of the regiment, did not have a 'Christmas dinner' as lavish as the ordinary dinner he used to enjoy at home. But this is war!

It was a fine evening, and Count Andreyevich was lying on his elbows in a dilapidated farmhouse in some nameless village, where his regiment was stationed. He looked through the cracks in the tattered door panels at the row of thick birch trees along the bottom of the hedge, the branches had been cut off, and the trunks were straight, I am afraid they were fifty or sixty years old. Outside, there were two roaring campfires and a pile of messed up dry branches. Count Andreyevich was calm, the Russian cavalry brigade he was in had suffered a defeat only two days earlier, and although the development of the war situation on the Eastern Front had made him depressed and painful, he was as high as he had been seven years ago on the eve of the Battle of the Three Emperors, with excitement and no fear.

He had already received orders from his superiors for tomorrow's battle, and had given his soldiers the order for tomorrow's battle at dinner. He had no fear of tomorrow's battle, although he was not sure of victory.

The first task of Andreyevich's cavalry unit was to attack the Chinese's logistical supply teams and detect their movements. The task was very dangerous, and the cavalry regiment of more than 600 men now had only 500 people left. Now, Andreevich no longer has any belief in the final outcome of the war, but he will still fight for Russia to the last drop of blood in his body.

Compromise and surrender do not exist in Andreevich's head.

So he doesn't need to spend a lot of time in his head 'cranky'. At this point he had nothing to do.

Andreevich did not think about tomorrow's battle, because he did not know anything about the situation at his destination. Andreyevich, who came from an aristocratic family, was a fierce warrior who 'conceived' war without knowing anything about the enemy, which in his opinion was called a sign of cowardice.

The simplest and clearest thoughts, thus making him the most feared warrior on the battlefield. O fearless man!

He knew that tomorrow's battle would be the fiercest of all the battles he had ever participated in, and for the first time in his life he had thought of death with certainty and simplicity, but it was death.

During the battle of the Three Emperors, Andreyevich, who was still serving in the Praetorian Guard, watched the scene of the collapse of the Russian army's positions one by one, and what he did was to surround the Tsar and leave the battlefield quickly, but what he wanted to do more in his heart was to lead a cavalry to counterattack the French.

The possibility of death did not frighten Andreyevich, and he did not think about the impact of his death on his family, because the main assets of the Andreevich family were near St. Petersburg, and he had three sons.

Therefore, he can devote himself to this war without any worries.

"The honor of the family, the happiness of the family, the love with the wife, the love for the children...... but none of these in the eyes of Andreyevich can compare with the holy Russia. This is Slavic culture.

Andreyevich's ancestors [Rus] worshipped the Vatican at first, but they converted to Orthodox Christianity after being defeated by the Byzantine Empire, and in the 15th century, the last princess of Byzantium was married to early Russia to improve its status, and after the Tsarist Russia became strong, it became known as the Third Rome.

They considered the first Rome to be Rome and the second Rome to be Byzantium, so their Rome was orthodox. Naturally, this involved the struggle between the Vatican and the Orthodox, and until the 18th century, Catherine II still wanted to recover Constantinople.

Nourished by Eastern culture, nationalism is an inevitable influence of the Russians. In the Eastern religion, where imperial power is always stronger than clerical power, centralization and poisonous autocracy have great influence. Andreyevich is just a representative of one of them.

The news that Moscow would burn itself to the ground had reached Andreyevich's ears, after all, Moscow was less than a thousand miles from the Urals. This news seriously dampened the morale of the Russian army, but Andreyevich was still fearless. Because what he cares about is being swallowed up by war little by little, and now Andreevich is like a barefoot man, barefoot is not afraid to wear shoes!

Andreyevich finally sat up from the plank bed, he called the orderlies to light the lamp, and then took out paper and ink, as well as pens, from the leather bag hanging on the wall, and he was going to write a letter to his loved ones.

After all, tomorrow's battle is really dangerous, and he already has a clear and vivid premonition of death.

"Tomorrow I will be killed, the day after Christmas—maybe not even by the French, but by my own people, like my Captain Nikolai, a poor lad who was shot in the back, but he died, and the saber in his hand was pointed forward.

So the Chinese would come and drag my body, and they would carry my legs and head and throw me into the pit so that I wouldn't stink under their noses. ……”

Andreyevich did not know the exact form of the western theater of operations, he only knew that Kutuzov led the Russian army to evacuate Moscow, and then they also burned down the city, which was important to Russia. So what will happen next? Andreevich hopes for a good outcome, and Russia has this capital.

In Vladimir and Tula, at least 100,000 Russian recruits and reserves are waiting. The cold winter had arrived, and Kutuzov set Moscow on fire, which was an extraordinary decision, and not a single grain should be left for Napoleon. And Napoleon's army, which lacked fuel and food for the winter, would definitely not be comfortable.

- In fact, Napoleon was fooled by the Russians on the question of Moscow.

After the Battle of Borodino, the Russian army lost almost half of its losses, and they no longer had the strength to stop Napoleon. Napoleon was confident that Russia would definitely give in.

The opportunity for peace lies in Moscow. He believed that once the French army had triumphantly occupied Moscow, it would force Alexander to see the situation clearly, and at the same time force the great Russian nobles to face the reality. They will reconsider whether they want to drag on the war. If the French liberated the Russian serfs, it would destroy the great wealth of Russia!

Then, at the forefront of the army, Murat sent a message that Russian troops were withdrawing from Moscow, and the Russians demanded an end to hostilities as they passed through the city.

Napoleon agreed to the Russian demand, because in his opinion, such a "weak" request was a sign that the Russians were softening, and he also ordered Murat to follow the Russian army closely, forcing the Russian army to move as far away from Moscow as possible.

Faced with a victory that was 'imminent', Napoleon did not want the French army to pay more blood and sacrifices. He also asked Murat to gather the dignitaries of the city as soon as possible and form a delegation, which he would receive at the city gates. He also instructed D'Rosnell to act as governor of Moscow, to select enough gendarmes to accompany him into the city, to establish order in the city, to occupy public buildings, and to place special emphasis on guarding the Kremlin. Now, Napoleon was in a good mood, and he seemed to have seen the delegations with the keys to Moscow in their hands, bowing down to him, as had happened in Berlin and Vienna.

But the next day, while Napoleon was waiting for his 'victory,' Murat and Di Rosner sent the latest report: there was not a single celebrity in Moscow, not even a long-term resident. Except for a few people from the lower strata of society, the streets were almost silent. The news shook Napoleon like a bolt from the blue, and an expression of pain and disappointment immediately appeared on his usually cold face. Napoleon knew that it was impossible for the delegation with the keys to Moscow to appear, and there was no hope for Alexander to take the initiative to sue for peace, and what awaited him was the endless war.

At noon, Napoleon went to the Kremlin. The abandoned city has a dreary and quiet atmosphere, and the long streets are deserted. At 8 p.m., a fire broke out on the outskirts of the city, and the French struggled to extinguish it. However, this did not attract the attention of the French, who thought that it was only caused by the carelessness of the troops in lighting the bonfire. Until 10 p.m., a fire was reported in one of the blocks farthest from the Kremlin, and the fire was being blown by a strong north wind, and the flames were spreading towards the city center, becoming more and more intense.

Several Russian policemen and peasants who were setting fire to the flammable material were caught red-handed and confessed that they had been ordered by Moscow Mayor Rostopchin to burn down the city overnight.

Napoleon knew this, but he could not stop the spread of the fire, which continued to spread from block to block, and the French seemed helpless about it, as the Russians had taken all the extinguishing equipment with them before they could leave.

The lavish theaters and large buildings were shrouded in smoke, and it was unknown how long the fire would burn, because people could no longer control it and conquer it. On the walls of Moscow, which was trampled under the feet of the French army, in the face of the raging sea of fire, Napoleon turned pale. "What a terrible sight! This is the ...... they set on fire themselves, what a determination! What a group of people! ”

……

Chen Ming didn't know the outcome of the Franco-Russian War now, but he knew that it was the middle of the eleventh lunar month, and the Franco-Russian War should have come to an end. Chen Ming wanted to know if Napoleon was still retreating from Russian soil with a remnant of only 20,000 or 30,000 defeated soldiers in this time and space?

……

Mianhui of London looked out the window at the bare plane trees, motionless, the snow-white bark glistening in the sun. Today is a rare good weather!

Suddenly he heard the voice of a man in his ears, it was his wife.

"Who's coming? My dear. "Mianhui, who follows the local customs, also speaks with a European flavor.

Mianhui walked out of the room, and then he saw a distinguished guest, William, one of Prince Edward's retinue.

"Oh, it's you, William!" As he spoke, a big smile appeared on his face, "Which gust of wind brought you here?" I can't imagine it. ”

When Mianhui spoke, his eyes were closely watching William's expression, and from the expression in his eyes and face, Mianhui not only saw William's coldness but also contained jealousy and hostility, and Mianhui immediately became vigilant. He didn't offend William. Mianhui's heart immediately raised, could it be that he had invisibly offended Prince Edward?

In Mianhui's eyes, William was one of Prince Edward's dogs, and the dog looked at the owner's face. To a certain extent, William's attitude towards him reflected that of Prince Edward.

"I'm here because I have an invitation to hand you over. January 1st, don't forget. The jealousy in William's eyes was unconcealed at this moment. He looked at Mianhui with complicated eyes, and then at the invitation in his hand, which had no other decorations, only Prince Edward's personal mark and a one-eyed.

"Really funny, really funny...... an oriental...... "William was jealous. That great organization is going to recruit an Oriental!

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