EPISODE 11: MOSCOW ## CHAPTER 1: THE GATHERING June 1812. The Niemen River. The largest army in history assembles. Six hundred thousand men. Twenty nationalities. A thousand cannon. Horses beyond counting. Supply wagons stretching to the horizon. Napoleon has summoned the military power of a continent for this single campaign. "This is a war of extermination," Napoleon tells his officers. "Russia must be humbled. The Continental System must be enforced. There will be no compromise." The men cheer. They have followed their Emperor across Europe, winning glory at Austerlitz and Jena and Wagram. They believe themselves invincible. Napoleon gazes east, across the river, into the endless Russian steppe. "Gentlemen," he says, "we enter a land where conventional rules do not apply. Move quickly. Force battle. Destroy the Russian army before winter." It sounds simple. It will prove impossible. --- ## CHAPTER 2: THE RUSSIAN STRATEGY The Russian army retreats. General Barclay de Tolly, commanding Russian forces, refuses battle. As the French advance, he falls back. Villages are abandoned. Crops are burned. Wells are poisoned. The Russians leave nothing for the invaders. "Stand and fight!" Napoleon demands. "Give me a battle!" But Barclay understands what Napoleon refuses to see. Russia's greatest weapons are space and time. The deeper the French advance, the longer their supply lines. The later the season,...