THE ACTIONS of the Russian and French armies during the retreat from Moscow to the Niemen resemble a game of Russian blindman's buff, in which there are two players, both with their eyes bandaged, and one rings a bell at intervals to let the other know of his whereabouts. At first he rings his bell with no fear of his opponent; but when he begins to find himself in a difficult position, he runs away as noiselessly as he can from his opponent, and often supposing he is running away from him, walks straight into his arms.

At first Napoleon's army made its whereabouts known—that was in the early period of the retreat along the Kaluga road—but afterwards, when they had taken to the Smolensk road, they ran holding the tongue of the bell; and often supposing they were running away, ran straight towards the Russians.

Owing to the rapidity of the flight of the French, and of the Russians after them, and the consequent exhaustion of the horses, the chief means of keeping a close watch on the enemy's position—by means of charges of cavalry—was out of the question. Moreover, in consequence of the frequent and rapid changes of position of both armies, what news did come always came too late. If information arrived on the second that the army of the enemy had been in a certain place on the first, by the third, when the information could be acted upon, the army was already two days' march further, and in quite a different position.

One army fled, the other pursued. From Smolensk, there were a number of different roads for the French to choose from; and one would have thought that, as they stayed there four days, the French might have found out where the enemy was, have thought out some advantageous plan, and undertaken something new. Yet, after a halt of four days, the crowds of them ran back; again not to right or to left, but, with no man?uvres or plans, along their old road—the worst one—by Krasnoe and Orsha, along their beaten track.

Expecting the enemy in their rear and not in front, the French ran, straggling out, and getting separated as far as twenty-four hours' march from one another. In front of all fled the Emperor, then the kings, then the dukes. The Russian army, supposing Napoleon would take the road to the right beyond the Dnieper—the only sensible course—turned also to the right, and came out on the high road at Krasnoe. And here, just as in the game of blindman, the French came bearing straight down on our vanguard. Seeing the enemy unexpectedly, the French were thrown into confusion, stopped short from the suddenness of the fright, but then ran on again, abandoning their own comrades in their rear. Then for three days, the separate parts of the French army passed, as it were, through the lines of the Russian army: first the viceroy's troops, then Davoust's, and then Ney's. They all abandoned one another, abandoned their heavy baggage, their artillery, and half their men, and fled, making semicircles to the right to get round the Russians by night.

Ney was the last, because in spite, or perhaps in consequence, of their miserable position, with a child's impulse to beat the floor that has bruised it, he lingered to demolish the walls of Smolensk, which had done nobody any harm. Ney, who was the last to pass with his corps of ten thousand, reached Napoleon at Orsha with only a thousand men, having abandoned all the rest, and all his cannons, and made his way by stealth at night, under cover of the woods, across the Dnieper.

From Orsha they fled on along the road to Vilna, still playing the same game of blindman with the pursuing army. At Berezina again, they were thrown into confusion, many were drowned, many surrendered, but those that got across the river, fled on.

Their chief commander wrapped himself in a fur cloak, and getting into a sledge, galloped off alone, deserting his companions. Whoever could, ran away too, and those who could not—surrendered or died.

在从莫斯科撤退到涅曼的途中，俄、法两国军队的行动就像是一种捉迷藏的游戏。两个作游戏的人都被蒙上眼睛，其中一个人不停地、时断时续地摇一个小铃铛，铃声把自己所在地点告诉了对方。起初，那个被捉的人不怕他的对手，大胆地摇着铃铛，但是当他处于逆境的时候，他极力悄悄行动，躲避着敌方。可是常常自以为已经躲开了，却一下落入敌人的手中。

一开始，拿破仑军队在沿着卡卢日斯卡雅大道行进的时候，还让人知道他们所在的地点。可是，当他们走上通往斯摩棱斯克大道时，他们就不再“摇铃铛”了，悄然逃跑，他们常常以为自己已经逃避开了，这时却又迎头碰上了俄国人。

法国人在前面逃命，俄国人在后面追击，行动都十分迅速。战马都精疲力尽，而马又是在战斗中能大体确定敌人位置的主要手段。用骑兵进行侦察已不能使用了。此外，由于双方军队位置的变动是如此频繁，如此迅速，在这种情况下，即使获得情报也不可能及时地送达部队。如果第二天得到消息说敌方头一天在某地，那么在第三天要采取什么措施时，那支军队已经向前走了两天，进入了一个完全不同的方位了。

一方的军队在前面逃命，另一方的军队在后面追击，从斯摩棱斯克出发，法国人本来有许多条不同的道路可供选择。从表面上看，法国人在他们停留的四天之中，完全可以弄清楚敌人在什么地方，作出有利的战略决策，采取点新措施。可是在停留了四天之后，这一群乌合之众，没有新战略，没有新措施，既不从左边走，也不从右边走，又沿着最坏的老路——沿着那条他们熟悉的大路，向克拉斯诺耶和奥尔沙逃跑。

法国人以为敌人在后面，而不是在前面，他们在逃跑中兵力过于分散，距离拉得过长，首尾相距二十四小时的路程。逃在最前面的是皇帝，然后是王侯们，再后面是公爵们。俄国军队料想拿破仑一定会从右面渡过德聂伯河，这是唯一合理的选择，所以俄军也向右转，沿着通往克拉斯诺耶的大道前进。就像捉迷藏一样，法国人在这儿遇到了俄军先头部队。法国人出乎意料地碰上了敌人，陷入了一片混乱，由于出乎意外而吓得不知所措，停了下来，接着前面的法国人扔下跟随其后的同伴，又继续奔逃，就这样，法军的各个部分，先是王侯们的，然后是达乌的，再随后是内伊的，就好像是从俄军的队列中通过一样，一连过了三天。他们扔掉了所有的笨重的东西，扔掉了大炮和一半的人员，没命地奔逃，各不相顾，他们只敢在夜间逃跑，向右边绕着半圆形的圈子逃跑，以避免与俄国人遭遇。

走在最后面的是内伊，这是因为他要执行炸毁对任何人都不会构成威胁的斯摩棱斯克城墙的任务（虽然他们的处境已很不幸，或者正因为这种不幸，他们才捶打那块跌伤了他们的地板），内伊率领的那个军团本来有一万人，他跑到奥尔沙拿破仑那里的时候，就只剩下一千人了。他把其余的人和大炮全都抛弃掉了。他在夜晚穿过森林偷偷渡过德聂伯河。

他们又从奥尔沙沿着通往维尔纳的大路继续向前逃跑，还是那样，和追击的军队又玩起了捉迷藏的游戏。在别列济纳河他们又乱作一团，有很多人淹死在河中，有很多人缴械投降，但是渡过河去的那些人又继续往前奔逃。他们的那位主帅身着皮外套，坐着一辆雪橇，扔下他的同伴们，独个儿往前狂奔，能逃跑的就逃跑，不能逃跑的就投降，还有的就倒毙在逃命的途中。