All language subtitles for 1812 - 1815. Overseas Trip. Episode 2. Documentary Film. Russian History

2014 The Year of Culture

Supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation

April of 1813, Austria

Who are you?

Dismount your horse!

Trofim, search him!

Don't move!

Your sword!

Turn about!

Who are you?

You could have just said!

– Samoilov, give him the sword back. – Yes, sir!

– Sinyukhin, help him to the HQ! – Yes, sir!

Follow me.

And you, Samoilov, before searching him,

should have looked at the sheath, fool!

Yes, sir!

WARSAW

BERLIN

LUTZEN DRESDEN

KULM

LEIPZIG

CHAMPAUBERT MONTMIRAL

FERE-CHAMPENOISE CHATEAU-THIERRY

PARIS

FOREIGN CAMPAIGN

The Russian army was marching along the roads of Germany.

Six months earlier, they destroyed Napoleon's horde in Russia.

French emperor fled to Paris, gathered a new army

and moved it against the troops of Alexander I.

Prussia, Austria and Sweden joined Russia,

but it was the Russian soldiers who had to bear the brunt of the war.

Alexander knew what a heavy burden it was for his soldiers.

It had cost them dear to liberate their Motherland

and now they had to bring freedom to Europe.

Only his army could break the domination of Napoleon in Europe,

and only the victory in this war

could guarantee Russia peace for many years to come.

What hardships the troops will have to face on this night!

How can I not love the military

and prefer them to those gentry

I'm watching sometimes from the palace's windows!

After having a good sleep in a soft bed,

they make for their offices at eleven o'clock!

How can one compare this service with the military one?

Your Majesty,

a messenger arrived.

Your Majesty, an urgent message from Vienna!

The Austrians want to make peace with Napoleon.

After two our defeats

the Austrian court doesn't believe in the victory anymore.

If ever, in fact.

Metternich, their minister of Foreign Affairs,

is in talks with the cabinet of Napoleon.

Two defeats in a row.

And yet only shortly before, the French army had been destroyed!

I think one more failure,

and Austria will leave the Coalition.

Though recently nearly defeated in Russia,

Napoleon triumphed again and again.

It seemed the course of history was reversed

and the French Emperor would again

be dictating his will to the whole of Europe.

The Austrian Emperor Franz I

was Napoleon's father-in-law.

His daughter Marie-Louise was married to the French monarch.

Franz disliked and feared Napoleon,

but what he feared more was that Russian influence in Europe

would increase after Napoleon's fall.

Austria wanted neither Napoleon's domination nor his abdication.

Using Napoleon as a threat to his neighbors

and as his powerful ally at the same time,

the Emperor of Austria himself wanted to rule Europe.

Well, the Austrians keep betraying as they did before.

They have their own empire, we have our own one.

The late Kutuzov was right saying

that we'd come back with our faces bashed in.

God save us from such allies!

Kutuzov was a soldier. But you and I are the State.

What if Napoleon had started his campaign

not from the Niemen, but the Dnieper?

Our goal is to push the boundaries of the Empire west.

It's worth of dying for.

I won't put up with any new invasion of Russia –

neither by the French nor by the Austrian one.

I want any foreign troops to keep 100 miles away from the Russian border!

But what shall we do with Austria?

We need to make Austria fight!

I think the commander of the Allied forces

should be an Austrian Field Marshal.

Schwarzenberg, for example.

How do you like it?

Our water is better.

– Look, our allies arrived. – I see.

Looks like they will appoint an Austrian to command.

Let them!

Our Germans are not any better, right?

Ours are ours. Kind of tame ones.

Barclay isn't even angry with me – almost.

Tell me, Alyosha, if you were a tsar

who would you appoint as the commander?

– If I were? – I'll kill you, Samoilov!

Well, I would appoint, say, Karpov.

Tell me, Karpov, if you were a supreme commander,

how long would it take you to do away with the French?

One week.

One week? Fancy that!

On Monday, I would send the Austrians back home.

On Tuesday, the Prussians.

Then three days to dismiss all our Germans at HQ. There's a lot of them.

And on Saturday, Samoilov and I would bring Bonaparte to you.

– Right, Samoilov? I'll kill you! – Yes, Your Honor!

On Saturday it'll be okay.

You said one week. What about Sunday?

Well... Samoilov!

I beg to report, Your Excellency,

on Sunday there'd be a mass, a pass and review of troops.

Is it your Cossacks, Karpov, who fought with the Prussians yesterday?

No, sir! Impossible.

We just kind of talked...

We have no biscuits for 3 days now. Men are hungry.

And what about boots... Samoilov! Present your boots.

Okay, Karpov. I'll have the matter sorted out.

Samoilov! Go to the village and get an armful of hay.

I'm ashamed before the generals because of you!

Yes, Your Honor!

The number of the Russian army in Europe reached 173 000.

All these people were to be clad and shod, and fed,

supplied with ammo, and their horses — with fodder.

The army was far from Russia,

but the command did everything possible to supply the troops.

Since the start of the campaign

the army received from Petersburg

54 000 uniforms and overcoats.

In Poland and Germany, there were bought 740 000 yards of cloth.

Sewing workshops appeared in the rear.

Footwear was a special cause for concern.

In Saxony, they bought leather for 100 000 pairs of boots.

A lot of footwear was captured from the French

but it happened to be too tight for Russian soldiers.

Soldiers were supplied with food to last for 10 days,

4 days' worth of it kept in haversacks and 6 days' worth – in carts.

The Prussians and Austrians had undertaken to deliver supplies.

but they did it in small amounts and not always in time.

Sometimes the allies were really fighting over food.

The bread baked in field bakeries quickly went bad,

so soldiers would rather eat biscuits.

A convoy of 3 000 carts reached Poland

delivering about 100 tons of biscuits for the army.

Besides, bread was baked and dried in field kitchens.

While on the march, soldiers often fell ill,

so each division had its own field hospital.

In Prussia and Silesia, sick soldiers

were sent in Prussian hospitals — at 70 kopecks per day per patient.

The hard-fought war continued to draw

the treasury's money as well as human lives.

By the summer of 1813, the Allies

had 492 000 men and 1383 guns.

Napoleon's forces consisted of 440 000 men with 1200 guns.

The Anti-French Coalition was divided into three armies:

the Northern Army under command of the Swedish Crown Prince Bernadotte,

the Silesian Army under command of the Prussian Field Marshal Blucher

and the Bohemian Army commanded by

the Austrian Field Marshal Schwarzenberg.

The Russian troops were distributed among all these three armies.

The fourth army under command of Bennigsen was being formed in Poland.

By mutual agreement of the Russian,

Austrian and Prussian monarchs,

the supreme command of the Allied armies was entrusted to

Field Marshal Schwarzenberg.

Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg,

was an Austrian field marshal and generalissimo.

In 1812, when Austria was an ally of France,

he commanded an Austrian corps in the Napoleon's army

and participated in the invasion of Russia,

opposing to the troops of General Tormasov.

He happened to avoid big battles with Russian troops

but he covered the retreat of the French army.

Schwarzenberg was a brave soldier,

but a mediocre general.

Besides, his position was difficult.

In the Supreme Headquarters they were never to agree –

the Russians, Prussians and Austrians,

and Schwarzenberg had to be more a conciliator than a commander.

Congratulations on our new Commander in Chief!

Well, if he fights as he did in Russia

we won't do away with Bonaparte for ten years more.

Let him command.

When our Cossacks will ride along Champs Elysees,

the Austrians will surely be more flexible.

We ought to play it smart.

We need at least one major victory.

At midnight on July 30th, the French army

was informed that the truce was over.

The war flared up again.

Schwarzenberg as their commander?

Schwarzenberg as their commander!

It's me who promoted him to Field Marshal.

Their Coalition will collapse after our two or three victories!

The French Emperor realized the difficulty of his position,

but he was as good in politics as any other monarch.

Under instructions from Vienna, the Schwarzenberg's Bohemian Army

was not going to fight very hard, and Napoleon knew it.

Curiously enough, the Commander of the Northern Army,

Swedish Prince Bernadotte,was one of Napoleon's former marshals, too.

Bernadotte?

He will be just marking time.

They have no marshals of their own at all –

but mine?

Sire! I heard Alexander had invited General Moreau.

Moreau?

And Moreau, too?

This miserable traitor?

Once he was good.

But traitors always end badly.

Moreau was considered one of the most talented generals of France.

He was banished from the country and hated Bonaparte for this.

That's why he agreed to help Alexander I –

as a man who knew well Napoleon's weak and strong points.

Napoleon will crush your armies separately.

Dresden is his weakest point.

Hundreds of leagues from Paris, he needs this city's reserves.

Take Dresden – and you will take Napoleon.

Napoleon considered Dresden as the most important city.

The supplies stored there were enough

to last 300 000 French soldiers for two months.

Dresden was well fortified.

Its garrison of 30 000 men

could hold out up to 15 days.

This city was the heart of his army.

We're going to attack Blucher.

Marshal St. Cyr is to defend Dresden.

We can't afford to lose the city!

I'd let them cut me off from the Rhine, but not from Dresden!

Napoleon marched against the Silesian Army under Blucher,

hoping to quickly destroy it

and then attack the Bohemian Army under Schwarzenberg.

– Off you go! – Yes, sir! Let's go!

It's an adjutant of Marshal St. Cyr with dispatches to Napoleon...

It became clear from the captured papers

that there were no French troops covering Leipzig

and Dresden's garrison was not very strong.

We need to seize Dresden while Napoleon is away.

Alexander was hurrying up Schwarzenberg

but it took five days for the Allied forces

to go 70 km to Dresden.

None of the Allied supreme command could assume

that Napoleon and his army would need only 3 days

to cover a distance of 115 km

and reach the city almost simultaneously with the Allies.

On August 13, near Dresden,

60 000 Russo-Austrian troops were already deployed.

On this day, the city was defended by 40 000 troops under St. Cyr.

However, instead of an immediate assault

there was held a council of war.

Our force is not enough to take the city.

Where are the rest of the troops?

The army is on the march.

I thought to assault immediately

but as you wish, Your Majesty.

The city would have been already in your hands!

We must attack right now.

Who needs an army,

which makes five leagues for five days?

At night, new Coalition troops moved in,

but the time was lost.

Meanwhile, Napoleon's army approached Dresden.

At 11 am, Alexander was surprised to see

the troops drawing up in battle formation.

As it turned out, Schwarzenberg had ordered to start the battle

without ever informing the Russian Emperor about it.

Call the Chief of Joint Staff quickly!

Commander in Chief to His Majesty!

Alexander told Schwarzenberg that Napoleon

was in Dresden, and that it was disadvantageous to attack the city.

Fruitless discussions started all over again.

Oh, damn!

Now I don't wonder why you've been beaten for 17 years!

Your Majesty!

This man will lose everything!

Generals continued to argue.

At 4 pm, there was given a signal of

three cannon shots, and troops started to advance

not even aware of the objectives they should reach.

Dresden's fortifications withstood these weak attacks

and the Allied troops had to retreat.

There was a heavy rain at night.

The French were sheltered in houses,

while the Allied troops were wet, cold and unhappy.

There was no shelter, no food for men.

Word came among soldiers that they would retreat.

The next day Schwarzenberg ordered to repeat the assault.

It was raining again.

Gunpowder got wet. Muskets failed to fire.

Soldiers ran through the mud relying only on their bayonets.

A furious cannonade roared.

See that group of horsemen? Train the guns on them!

Open fire on the hill!

There was a legend among the soldiers

that the Emperor recognized Moreau from a distance

and he himself loaded the gun and aimed it at him.

Your Majesty,

we have been spotted.

I think we'd better move away.

A cannonball tore off Moreau's right leg and fractured his left knee.

Doctors amputated his both legs,

but two weeks later the general died.

General Moreau was buried at the Catholic church of St. Catherine

on the Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg.

At the other end of Nevsky Prospekt,

in the Alexander Nevsky Monastery,

there was buried another commander –

Alexander Suvorov, who fought Moreau in Northern Italy.

Thus, these two leaders of hostile armies

were buried in the same city and on the same street

though at its opposite ends.

When General Moreau was carried away in a stretcher

the French cavalry under Murat broke the left flank of the Austrians.

10 000 were taken prisoner.

The French straddled several roads leading to Dresden

thus cutting off the Allies' line of retreat.

Schwarzenberg hesitated. He still had a lot of troops in reserve

but the threat of encirclement sent him into panic.

The Russian Emperor called for attacking the city

but the supreme commander insisted upon a retreat.

How so? How come we retreat?

– We didn't even fight! – I don't know, sir.

Beat a retreat!

At my command!..

The French seen on the Pirna road!

Your Majesty, you must leave. Immediately.

The Pirna road is cut off by the French.

Dammit! Retreat?

On whose orders?

Such is the decision of the Commander in Chief!

What about the reserves?

He is in charge of this matter, too.

We should have appointed Blucher!

Is it the end?

So much hard work

has gone for nothing.

Now the Coalition had only one road to retreat on,

which wasn't yet cut off by the French.

Over 200 000 Allied troops were moving along the road.

It was choked with supply trains. Marching columns got confused.

Carts got jammed blocking the path.

It was a terrible mess. The curses in all languages were heard.

The Allied armies retreated to Bohemia

through the valleys of the Ore Mountains.

The road went through a narrow pass

looking like a small gorge.

If the French had managed to block this passage

Schwarzenberg's army would have been trapped.

In order to block the entrance to the gorge

and cut off the way of retreat

Napoleon sent General Vandamme to intercept the enemy.

They are in my hands.

Tell Vandamme

if he fulfils the mission, I'll give him a marshal's baton.

Yes, my Emperor!

If Vandamme does it,

the war will end in a few days.

The retreat of Schwarzenberg was about to turn into a crushing defeat.

All the Allied armies together with the Russian and Prussian emperors

could have been encircled and taken prisoner.

The defeat and fall of the Coalition seemed inevitable.

Vandamme was to overtake the Allies at Teplitz moving by a shorter way.

Near a town of Kulm, 40 km away from Dresden,

a corps under Osterman-Tolstoy was taking up position.

I can't believe it!

We could have won!

Everything is lost.

All down the drain.

We're running like a deer.

Vandamme's corps is coming, Your Excellency!

35 000 troops! What do we do, Your Excellency?

We won't hold them back.

What do we do?

Here we go again!

We are to stand and die.

Osterman-Tolstoy's corps was positioned near a village of Priesten

blocking the exit of the gorge.

10 000 Russian soldiers were to stand up against

35 000 French troops under General Vandamme.

We'll die here like a mouse in a trap.

Stop nagging!

We are still alive,

so we'll live eternally.

Forever and ever, amen.

Battalion!

The first French attack was repulsed.

The narrow gorge didn't allow the enemy to advance in full force.

At noon, Vandamme launched a new assault.

So, you still standing and dying?

– Why are you so happy? – Look, what a fight!

Lieutenant General Ermolov's Guards Division, sir!

Get away with you!

Sashka!

Alyosha, take command.

– I'm through with fighting. – Hurry up!

The first time Osterman-Tolstoy was wounded in 1807.

A French bullet went through his leg.

In the battle of Borodino he got contused at the Raevsky redoubt.

On May 9, 1813, near Bautzen,

a bullet hit his shoulder.

Who are you?

What do you want?

We are doctors, Your Excellency.

Doctors...

Well, you...

I like your face... You shall cut my hand off.

Fix bayonets!

– Egorov! – Sir!

Tell singers

– to sing my favorite one. – Yes, sir!

For the faith,

the Tsar

and Fatherland!

– Your Excellency? – What?

– Drink it. – What is it?

Alcohol.

Hell with that.

Don't waste vodka on me.

I'm used to it.

Grigoriev, you'll be assisting me.

Egorov!

– Egorov! – Sir!

What about the singers?

Ready, Your Excellency!

Wait a minute!

Let's, brothers, get together

And have a good time.

Let's drink but not get drunk...

Come on!

Doctor...

There's no salvation but glory,

Which shines like a beautiful sun.

We routed Khan Mamai

And defeated the Swedes.

We didn't give in to Frederick on the field of victories.

All the attacks of Vandamme's troops were repulsed.

By the evening, there arrived the main forces of the Russian army

under Barclay de Tolly and Emperor Alexander.

Whose troops?

Ermolov's Guards Division, Your Majesty!

We should support him.

One more defeat and the campaign may be considered lost.

This is not a defeat.

Not a defeat at all.

Your Majesty, I must join my men.

All the French attacks were beaten off,

but the Allied armies were still in danger.

General, I would like to convey thanks from the Tsar

and from myself personally.

Thank you for your courage.

You yourself have it enough and to spare.

Are you wounded?

Wounded, my foot!

My uniform caught on a bayonet.

My new uniform... Enough, Nikita.

What do you think about all this?

I think we can knock them off.

What?

Well, give me the map!

Squadron!

The next day, Russian troops suddenly attacked

the right wing of Vandamme's corps.

Austrian troops began to bypass his left flank.

Prussian General Kleist gained the rear of the French position.

In a few hours the French corps was completely surrounded.

Vandamme was trying to break through, but to no avail.

By 2 pm, 10 000 French soldiers

and their general were taken prisoner.

Prisoners, Your Honor!

I am Cossack Captain Karpov.

I am General Vandamme.

This man takes me for the Emperor?

No, he just thought

that he carried a portrait of General Vandamme

and now is very disappointed.

Your sword, sir!

Take him away.

Your Honor,

it's not him.

You've captured General Vandamme, Matvei,

the best friend of Napoleon.

Now you'll surely get the Cross of St. George.

Van Damme, my foot!

It was for nothing I rode my horse down.

You'd better get rid of your statuette. It will ruin you.

Take it!

The Battle of Kulm was the first major victory of the Allies.

The battlefield was visited by the Russian Emperor

and the King of Prussia Frederick William III.

Impressed by the courage of Russian troops

the King of Prussia ordered to present all Russian soldiers

and officers, who fought thereon,

with a special award – the Kulm Cross.

In Prussia, the one and only soldier's award was the Iron Cross

and only Prussian subjects could be invested with it

for certain acts of courage or merit.

That's why willing to decorate Russian soldiers

the King of Prussia created this special award.

The Kulm Cross only differed from the Iron Cross

by not having the King's monogram and the date of the battle.

The Kulm Cross was to be presented to 12 066 men.

The set of awards was made only by 1815,

but by that time, out of all participants of the battle

only 7 131 had survived,

and it was they who were eventually awarded.

But the victory itself and the news about the award

excited Russian soldiers so much

that while still on the battlefield

they began to make crosses and sew them to their uniforms.

They cut them out of steel cuirasses,

plenty of which were scattered on the field,

alongside of dead horses of the French cavalry.

We are sympathizing with you, General.

Your Majesty!

I am honored to be wounded for our Fatherland!

As far as my left hand, I still have my right one.

I need it for making a sign of the cross

as a symbol of faith in God

I set all my hopes upon.

General of Infantry Alexander Ostermann-Tolstoy

was awarded the Grand Prussian Iron Cross.

Only seven persons have ever received this award.

Soon Count Osterman-Tolstoy would leave the army.

In 1828, he had to leave Russia for good.

Till his death in Geneva in 1857, he had in his study

a portrait of Alexei Ermolov hanging on the wall

as a living reminder of their glorious past.

The victorious battle of Kulm did actually give a reason

to hope for a breakthrough in the war.

Now there was a breathing space after three weeks of fighting.

Warring parties were rallying their forces.

Napoleon's strategic position was deteriorating.

Stiff battles and exhausting marches,

diseases and scarce supplies

caused him to have greater losses than the Allies.

In August and September, due to diseases and desertion,

the French army lost 180000 men.

In early October, the reinforced Allied armies

went on the offensive.

After having left a strong garrison at Dresden,

Napoleon moved his troops to Leipzig.

It was here that on October 16, 1813,

he faced all Coalition forces.

According to various sources, by the beginning of the battle,

the Coalition had around 200 000 soldiers with 893 guns.

Napoleon had 155-175 thousand troops with 717 guns.

The Coalition was outnumbering Napoleon,

but many of allied troops hadn't yet come to the city.

Besides, Alexander I hated slowness

and indecision of the Supreme Commander,

Austrian Field Marshal Schwarzenberg.

I want the troops to cross to the left bank — up to those marshes

between the Pleisse and Elster Rivers.

To those marshes?

You want to divide the army and send a part of it to the marshes?

Within his right to have his opinion, the Field Marshal

can dispose of the Austrian troops as his pleases.

As to the Russian troops,

they'll cross to the right bank of the Pleisse. That's where they belong.

I don't understand.

Moreau was right.

Schwarzenberg has all our troops, but he's able to lose everything.

I only hope for you.

What's that?

This is Napoleon.

They are getting ready to attack.

At the main sector of battle near a village of Wachau,

Napoleon concentrated 112 000 troops.

Due to orders of Schwarzenberg,

the Allied forces had only 84 000 men here.

So, despite an overall superiority in men,

right here the Allies were outnumbered by 28 000 soldiers.

The next day at 9 am

Napoleon rode to a height near Wachau.

At 10 am, all the monarchs of Russia, Prussia and Austria

arrived at the Wachtberg height, 3 miles away from Napoleon's HQ.

Battalion! Shoulder arms!

Barclay's troops were steadily advancing

when they came under fire from a hidden French battery.

A 100-gun battery under General Drouot opened fire all at once.

The Russian artillery retaliated.

Then the General Drouot engaged another 60 of his guns.

It was the worst artillery duel the world ever saw before.

The ground trembled from an unbearable, deafening roar.

In Leipzig, eight miles away from the battlefield,

the cannonade rattled all the windows.

Entire units were swept away by the fire.

Hundreds and hundreds fell dead and wounded.

Meanwhile, Murat was getting the French cavalry ready to attack.

Get sabres unsheathed!

Murat had 80 squadrons at Wachau to break the Russian lines.

It took 2 hours to arrange the cavalry in attacking formation,

and when Drouot's battery ceased fire

all this mass of riders charged the troops under Barclay de Tolly.

It's estimated that 8-12 thousand horsemen went into battle at once.

In a few minutes, they seized Russian guns and killed all the gunners.

The Russian lines were breached.

The French cavalry was only 80 meters away from the place

where all the monarchs of the Coalition were standing.

Only 80 meters separated Murat from capturing

all the high command of the Allied forces.

The battle and entire campaign could end within an hour.

Tell the Mayor of Leipzig to set all the bells a-ringing.

This is a victory!

There was an unparalleled feat performed

by Alexander's Life Cossack Escort.

The Adjutant General Count Orlov-Denisov

ordered Colonel Efremov, Commander of the Life Cossack Regiment,

to attack Murat's cavalry.

Cossacks struck in the flank of the steel-clad French Cuirassiers.

The forces were unequal, but this attack of a handful of Cossacks

knocked Murat sideways.

His cavalry turned to parry the attack.

This time was enough for Russian reinforcements to arrive.

Alexander I was the first to realize

that the battle reached a critical phase.

He ordered to engage Sukhozanet's battery,

Raevsky's division and a Prussian brigade under Kleist.

Sukhozanet's guns into action!

When the 100-gun battery under Russian General Sukhozanet

opened fire, Murat began to retreat.

From his HQ on the hill, Napoleon saw

how the reinforced Allied troops advanced,

and how fresh cavalry divisions stopped Murat;

they snatched victory from Napoleon who nearly celebrated it.

Engage the Guards!

The Emperor was forced to send a part of his Guards to the right flank.

Austrians were driven back,

the Austrian General Count Merveldt was taken prisoner,

but the plan of breaking the Russian position failed.

In just one day of battle,

both armies lost 60-70 thousand men

but the battle ended in a draw.

At night, troops under Bernadotte and Bennigsen joined the Allied forces.

Now the Coalition had twice as many troops as Napoleon.

Finding himself in a difficult situation,

Napoleon released the Austrian General Merveldt

to hand over a proposal of peace.

I remember well the advice of Moreau not to make truce with Napoleon.

There'll be no answer. Tomorrow we attack.

On October 18, at 8:00 am,

Barclay de Tolly advanced his columns to Leipzig.

Local villages changed hands several times.

Soldiers had to storm and then defend every house,

every street, every inch of ground.

Russian troops under Count Langeron stormed the village of Shonefeld,

whose houses and cemetery, enclosed by a thick stone wall,

perfectly suited for defense.

Langeron himself led a bayonet attack

and after a terrible hand-to-hand fight seized the village.

However, the fresh French troops beat the Russians off.

Two corps under Kleist and Gorchakov entered a village of Probstheida.

The Imperial Guards led by Napoleon himself were engaged against them.

The French drove the Allied troops out of Probstheida

and launched an attack on the main Austrian forces.

Under the blows of the Guards the lines were about to break.

Sire! Bad news...

What? Everything goes right.

We'll crush them, Ney.

Saxons, Sire... They have betrayed us.

In the midst of the battle the entire Saxon army

defected from Napoleon and passed over to the Allies.

Panic terror from the ferocity of the battle

and unwillingness of the Germans to fight against their countrymen

and ebbing of Napoleon's influence

led to his German allies leaving him.

The Empire collapsed directly during the battle. Napoleon was left alone.

Not a word about this meanness!

Remember battles of Krasnoi and Berezina!

We broke through then, we'll break through now!

Marshals Macdonald and Poniatowski are to defend the city.

For all the rest — beat a retreat.

Your Majesty, a messenger arrived!

Let him in.

On the night of October 19,

the French began secretly leaving Leipzig.

I think something exceptional has come up, if you are here.

Judge for yourself, Your Majesty.

It’s incredible. They are retreating.

Call Volkonsky!

You won't capture him now.

But I'd advice you to chase him to the borders of France.

Don't allow Napoleon a moment's rest.

In the morning, the Allied troops stormed the city again.

The French army was still leaving Leipzig.

Soldiers and horsemen got mixed up, so did wagons and artillery trains.

Troops were withdrawing across the Elster River

using the only bridge in the center of the city.

The bridge was mined in case the Allied forces broke through.

There was about 30 000 French troops in the city

led by Marshals Macdonald and Poniatowski.

Soldiers and officers had to plunge into the water.

Many of them, including Marshal MacDonald, had swum the river.

But the bank was too steep

and people sometimes simply couldn't climb it.

Many officers and men, including Marshal Poniatowski, got drowned.

In the street fighting, there were killed 13 000 Frenchmen.

11 000 soldiers, including 20 divisional

and brigadier generals, were taken prisoner.

Thus ended the greatest battle of the day

known as the Battle of the Nations.

About half a million men took part in this battle.

130 000 were killed and wounded,

23 000 of them were soldiers of the Russian army.

By 1 pm, the city was fully taken by the Allied troops.

Napoleon was leaving Central Europe for good.

His empire was collapsing.

He again fled to France to raise a new army,

to demand again that his nation should gather its last strength.

He still didn't give up.

By November 1813, the Russian army reached the Rhine.

The opposite bank was obscured by a gray veil of rain.

It was France.

Great!

I have seen the Rhine before.

But I never saw any border here.

When are we crossing it?

You know me, Alexei Petrovich,

I don't like to rush.

I know.

As for me, I'd cross the river right now.

I know. But...

Well, how they say it...

What's good to a Russian is death to a German.

My tent is already put up.

– So I welcome you to our shanty. – Thank you.

Two months later, the Russian army would cross the Rhine

to continue its march along the roads of France —

the great march from the Moscow walls to the gates of Paris.

FOREIGN CAMPAIGN

Script by Marina Bandilenko

Directed by Pavel Tupik Andrei Vereschagin

Photography by Dmitry Kiptilyi Art Director - Alexander Yakimov

Make up by Galina Korolenko Original score by Boris Kukoba

Music by Maxim Voitov

Produced by Valery Babich Vlad Ryashin

Sergei Titinkov Konstantin Ernst

Commissioned by Channel One, Russia