- You’ve got to give it to Kutuzov. Not that he planned the strategy or anything like that, but he did have the bigger vision that the French army was hopelessly wounded. And he had the patience to just let the chips fall where they may instead of doing anything rash.
- Tolstoy compares him to a good hunter who knows when his prey is badly wounded and just waits for it to die.
- Napoleon, meanwhile, writes Kutuzov a letter asking for a meeting to start wrapping things up. It’s hard to tell, but we think he means that the Russians should surrender.
- Kutuzov is all, talk to the hand.
- Sure enough, over the course of the next month the Russian army slowly gains men and strength while the French army loses them...which is just when the Russian army starts itching for a fight.