Kutuzov vs Napoleon: on 8 September, Russia commemorates the Battle of Borodino
On 8 September, Russia celebrates the Day of Military Glory, the day when the Battle of Borodino occurred in 1812. On that date, the Russian army under the command of Mikhail Kutuzov decisively fought back against Napoleon's troops.
More than 250,000 soldiers met to fight on a field near the village of Borodino, just 124 kilometers from Moscow. There were about 120,000 soldiers in the Russian Army, and more than 130,000 in the French. The Russian troops, outnumbered, built a deep defense. Napoleon, who hoped to crush Russia with one blow, faced unexpected resistance: the Russian soldiers fought persistently for every meter of their native land.
The battle lasted 12 hours, and neither side wanted to surrender. Among the fiercest areas of the battle were the Bagration flèches — the earthen fortifications on the left flank of the Russian front. General Pyotr Bagration was seriously wounded here. In a letter to Emperor Alexander I, he wrote:
"Although, most gracious Sir, being in the battle on the 26th, I was wounded in my left leg with a bullet, and it is not a slight wound, and a bone is fragmented, but I do not regret it in the least, being always ready to sacrifice the last drop of my blood for the defense of the Fatherland and the August throne."
These words have become a symbol of sacrifice and persistence of the Russian soldiers.
Although the Battle of Borodino formally did not become an immediate turning point in the Patriotic War of 1812, it was there that Napoleon first realized that the war with Russia would not be an "easy ride." "The Russians have acquired the right to be invincible," he later admitted. Kutuzov called this day "an eternal monument of courage."
Thus Borodino changed the course of history and became an immortal legend telling about the power of Russian weapons and the indomitability of the defenders of the Fatherland.
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