Final showdown of the campaign in the field of Borodino: the russians await the french onslaught behind their redoubts, at stake the fate of Moskow, and the survival of Napoleon's army.
The Holy Virgin of Smolensk makes the rounds along the russian lines before the battle, inspiring the men to fight to their deaths for the Motherland
The garrison of Borodino stands isolated in no man's land, a tempting target for Eugene de Beauharnais and the imperial right
The heart of the russian positions is the grand redoubt atop a small hill
In the left the three flèches of Bagration defend the flank
And in the extreme left the town and forest of Utitsa
Battle begins with a massive french advance that is answered by concentrated artillery fire
First to come to grips with the russians are the poles and swiss of the french right, who advance steadily into Utitsa
Concerned by the enemy attacks on the town, Kutuzov dispatches his heavy cavalry and a the russian imperial guard to the left
The french cuirassiers also move towards the foe
The cavalry faces off next to the fléches while the terrible firefight continues in the woods
The russians launch the hussars and cossacks forwards in order to win some time, their charge would actually stop the french advance in their tracks for several turns
Hurrah! The light cavalry engages the cuirassiers and drives them back
A foolish french division is caught in the middle of the Kolcha river and slaughtered
Napoleon himself is even wounded while leading from the front the decimated infantry
While the cavalry keeps the enemy occupied, the guns blaze away and the reinforcements arrive to the menaced left flank
The hussars keep onwards and menace the polish lancers
Uvarov's cossaks show up on the french left
While the poles are having a rough time in Utitsa, the swiss infantry joins their massed volleys to the murderous fire that pours into the besieged village
The polish lancers charge, but it was all a ruse to get them into canister range: the hussars turn back and retreat behind the fléches
On the other side of the battlefield another imperial unit is destroyed by concentrated canister fire
The cuirassiers arrive to plug the gap in the french center, only to be charged by the hussars
Before Borodino the cossacks make an ineffective charge into the steadfast imperial infantry
The town's garrison decides to play it safe, hiding behind the buildings after weathering several turns of deadly artillery fire
In Utitsa the russians have had enough and rout despite Braclay's efforts
The cuirassiers win the fight against the hussars, but are too mauled to do much more during the battle
Sadly Eugéne, the Viceroy of Italy, is killed during this fight, a black day for his mom Josephine
With the enemy cleared the swiss move into Utitsa
meanwhile the french advance their cavalry on the right
And deploy some guns to cover the lancer's advance over the river
The poles are caught in column by the flèches' cannons and suffer tremendous losses
The cossacks meanwhile have managed to sneak behind the french frontline
Come noon the russians have suffered some casualties, but the french have also lost units and are no closer to taking the redoubts
Utitsa may have fallen, but a formidable defensive line of guards and cuirassiers awaits any french reckless enough to come into the open
The poles keep moving in column and are punished for that
Other imperial units move against the flèches covered by the artillery
The french right forms up in column and marches over the Kolocha
Behind enemy lines Uvarov leds his cossacks on a glorious charge that wipes out a battery of guns
The final attack of the battle is launched by some dragoons who fall to canister fire and hussar sabres
Ad with that Borodino becomes a win for the russians.
Actually this is the third time they've won this battle in the blog, a tough scenario for the french player.
