Chapter 1564: Chapter 1470: Great Prophecy Technique

Yes, Joseph was explaining to the General Staff about the historical defeat of Napoleon in Russia.

Faced with such a desperate situation, he couldn’t come up with a good tactic, so he decided to let his excellent officers solve the problem.

He believed that with a prior understanding of the difficulties to be faced and the possible strategies of the enemy, Saint-Cyr’s capabilities, even if they couldn’t create miracles, could at least minimize Poland’s losses.

The next day at noon, after a night of hard travel, Saint-Cyr finally met Kosciuszko at the Polish headquarters in Yartsevo.

The latter warmly embraced him, then gestured towards a tent not far away, "Please forgive us, Colonel, the icy landscape makes it impossible to hold a decent banquet, but there is still some elk left from last week’s catch..."

Saint-Cyr, however, paid no attention to the banquet, anxiously asked, "How much food and forage do the troops have left?"

Kosciuszko whispered, "About half a month."

Saint-Cyr frowned immediately.

This place was 340 kilometers from Minsk, and even without enemy obstruction, it would take more than half a month to retreat. What’s more, he heard that General Madaliniski was commanding over 30,000 soldiers to Dorogobuzh, which was still over a hundred kilometers away.

Just then, a Polish staff officer hurried over, saluted Kosciuszko, and said, "Marshal, the reserves have assembled and are ready to cross the river at any time."

The latter nodded, "Send them."

"Wait a minute!" Saint-Cyr hurriedly stopped him and said seriously, "What you need to do now is to retreat all the troops as soon as possible!"

"May I ask for your reason, Colonel?"

"You don’t have enough logistical supplies, it’s very likely that..."

Kosciuszko smiled indifferently, "You needn’t worry, General Madaliniski will soon be able to take Dorogobuzh. There are only a few hundred Russian soldiers there."

Saint-Cyr stared at him, speaking distinctly, "But what if Dorogobuzh doesn’t have what you urgently need? For instance, if it’s an empty city."

Kosciuszko was startled for a moment, then shook his head, "Pardon me for saying so, Colonel, but that’s absolutely impossible, because there is an important Russian transit station there."

The staff officer beside him whispered, "Marshal, what about the reserves?"

"Cross the river immediately."

Saint-Cyr shouted, "No, have them return!"

"Colonel, you can’t command my troops."

"I don’t want to see you fall into a trap!"

"My mission is to occupy Moscow, Colonel."

Saint-Cyr took a deep breath and insisted, "At least, please let me tell you a story first."

In the tent where the reception dinner was held, a group of Polish officers looked at the roasted venison in front of them, but no one touched their knives and forks.

Because Saint-Cyr’s story had put them all into deep thought. If the Russians were ruthless enough, they might really encounter the terrible situation described in the story.

During this time, Kosciuszko’s reserve army commander repeatedly sent people to ask whether to cross the river, but Saint-Cyr rudely interrupted them.

It was delayed until nightfall, and Kosciuszko reluctantly ordered the reserve army to stay put.

Early the next morning, a somewhat angry Kosciuszko personally came to the camp to command the soldiers to set off.

Saint-Cyr was pondering how to stop him, when a courier rushed in and said loudly to Kosciuszko, "Marshal, yesterday at noon, General Madaliniski successfully captured Dorogobuzh!"

The surrounding soldiers immediately burst into cheers, "Great! The Russians are simply no match for us!"

"Advance towards Moscow!"

"Victory belongs to the Polish people!"

The courier, looking at the excited crowd, added, "Only, the cowardly Russians might have caught wind of it and all fled."

Kosciuszko frowned, "Did the Russian garrison flee?"

"Everyone in the city fled, Marshal. When we entered the city, there wasn’t a single soul."

Kosciuszko nervously asked again, "Then what about the food and forage? How much was found?"

"When I set out, I hadn’t found any food or forage, Marshal."

The Polish officers, including Kosciuszko, looked at Saint-Cyr in shock.

This was exactly what he had described last night!

The Russians had fled, leaving an empty city. Except there was no fire.

In fact, the empty city in Joseph’s story referred to Moscow, but at this moment everyone thought he was talking about Dorogobuzh.

Bad news never comes alone, as Kosciuszko’s face started to turn pale, another courier came from the west to report that three days ago a new batch of logistics convoys was attacked by nearly a thousand Cossack cavalry in Borisov. Fortunately, Hussars reinforced in time, saving most of the supplies, but the convoy retreated into a difficult-to-pass valley to evade the Cossacks, and it might take a week to get the wagons out.

Mokronovsky gritted his teeth, "Damn! Those audacious fellows!"

Borisov was less than 70 kilometers from Minsk, which could be considered the Polish rear, yet the convoy was still attacked here.

But no one found it surprising, given that disregarding the soldiers’ lives was a "fine tradition" of the Russian Army. Kutuzov was more than willing to use a few hundred Cossack cavalry to trade for the Polish Army’s logistical supplies.

Even in the minus 15-degree cold wind, cold sweat broke out on Kosciuszko’s back.

Colonel Saint-Cyr was right.

Empty city, harassment, winter, at this rate, within half a month, his soldiers would either freeze to death or starve to death in large numbers.

He turned to Saint-Cyr, solemnly raised his hat in salute, "Thank you for stopping me yesterday, otherwise it would have taken at least two more days for these over 20,000 soldiers to return from the other side of the river."

Mokronovsky, anxious, asked, "Marshal, what should we do now?"

This time Kosciuszko did not hesitate and ordered the Order Officer, "Immediately order General Madaliniski to retreat!"

He turned again to command the staff, "Filonikov, gather all the forage and send it to the vanguard corps."

Compared to food, the Polish Army’s forage was even more lacking, especially for the Madaliniski Corps, which had been fiercely attacking. Now, if they wanted Madaliniski to retreat quickly, they must let his horses eat their fill.

Saint-Cyr raised his hand to stop the staff and said to Kosciuszko, "Marshal, if I’m not mistaken, there should be more than one group of Cossack cavalry waiting on the road from here to Dorogobuzh."

The Poles were stunned. Yes, if the Russians dared to act in Borisov, they would certainly try near here. The forage sent out might be burned within 30 kilometers.

Vavretsky stepped forward, "Marshal, I’ll escort the convoy with two infantry regiments..."

"Absolutely not!"

Saint-Cyr really wanted to kick him. They were discussing how to retreat, and he was still trying to lead troops further into the Russian interior.

He looked at Kosciuszko, "I suggest letting the Madaliniski Corps abandon all the horses."