Austerlitz

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Two months had passed since what had now become known as the Battle of Ulm, but many of the men refused to call it a battle as they felt cheated out of a proper battle with the Austrians who had meekly surrendered with only their cavalry causing any real fight. As soon as the Russian army under General Kutusov heard of the defeat of the Austrians. They abruptly began to retreat back towards Poland, to meet up with the other Austrian and Russian armies. The Emperor not wanting to lose his prey sent the Grande Armée to hunt them down.

They'd been marching ever since Ulm and the pain in Alain's feet had given way to an uncomfortable numbness that seemed to consume his entire lower legs. His new boots had become creased and worn over the days and days of walking. The men around him advanced like ghosts their faces grey and their eyes sunken hollows, for the first month there had been light chatter and even some singing but they no longer had the energy, they all stared straight ahead hoping for a destination to reveal itself.

The sun began to rise once more over the misty trees in the distance casting strange shapes and shadows along the frozen fields. Boots caked in mud trudged through the torn up road, each step in itself was a challenge, not everyone can beat a challenge. The ranks in front of Alain began to part around the shape of a man in the middle of the road, no one stopped to help as they knew that if they stopped they too would falter and fall. The ranks closed up again and the man was no more than a memory. Miles passed but time now meant nothing.

A sergeant screamed and bellowed in the distance, when they finally caught up to the scene the sergeant was yelling at another shape of a man in the mud at the side of the road. The sergeant continued shouting at the silent and unmoving form, again and again he shook the man but he wasn't getting up. The sergeant knew the protocol and drew his sword his hand shaking in anger, he slashed at the man's back thrice in turn and still no movement. The sergeant re-sheathed his sword and with his foot unceremoniously rolled the body into the ditch, he turned stone faced towards the men passing him and glared. He needn't say anything. His eyes told the whole story.

By the end of the day they reached a village, they filed off into any space they could find to sleep. Alain ended up in a barn with many other soldiers but it was almost silent, the only sounds he could hear were the shallow breaths of men around him and the wind wistfully blowing through the gaps in the old building. Occasionally he would hear the creak of the wooden beams above him, many of the men were too tired to sleep and stared open eyed through the ceiling above them imagining the stars above.

Morning filtered into the barn and again they were up and walking. Two men laid still in the hay, their grey faces so similar they could have been brothers but that mattered no longer. Their eyes were open and still, the steaming breath that flowed from the mouths of the men around them did not come from their lips. It was simple. They were dead.