拿破仑战争系列 拿破仑战争：1807年埃劳战役纪录片

In our previous video on the Napoleonic Wars, we described the beginning of the War of the Fourth Coalition and the twin battles of Jena and Ørsted that concluded the first phase of the conflict. But the war was just starting, and soon Napoleon was tested by the new Russian army and a harsh winter. Welcome to our documentary on the Battle of Eylau. The War of the Fourth Coalition erupted in October of 1806, and in less than a month French Emperor Napoleon had utterly defeated the Prussian army at the battles of Jena and Ørsted and occupied Berlin. The Prussians could not oppose the Grand Army, but despite that, King Frederick William III refused to negotiate and fled to Königsberg in Eastern Prussia, as he was assured that Russian armies would soon support him. Indeed, 68,000 Russians under Bennigsen were in Grodno, and a 40,000 strong force commanded by Bux Hoveden was on its way. Napoleon knew that he had to decisively defeat the Russians to win the war, but his supply lines were still not secure enough, as some of the Prussian strongholds continued their resistance. So, in early November, he sent the Corps of Marshal Davout across the Oder River to prevent the Russians from setting their defensive line there. Fortunately for the French, the main Prussian bastion of Magdeburg fell on November 8th, and on the next day, Davout entered Poznan, which triggered a patriotic Polish uprising. The Poles started fighting against the remainder of the Prussian forces in the area. At the same time, the fall of Magdeburg allowed Napoleon to move more corps across the Oder, and that forced Bennigsen to stop and wait for his reinforcements. A lack of supplies was preventing Napoleon from marching at his usual fast pace, so he ended Warsaw only on the 19th of December. Still, he attempted a pincer move by moving some of his forces to the north. The Russian troops were spread 60 kilometers to the north of Warsaw, between Poltusk and Guleymin. On the 26th of December, the French attacked from the northwest and south, but failed to encircle the Russian troops. Bennigsen managed an orderly retreat to Bialystok, where he decided to winter. Although Napoleon hoped to chase the enemy, the winter was too harsh, and he also had to send his corps back to their winter cantonments. Both armies had a hard time procuring rations. By the middle of January, the situation became critical, and Bennigsen started moving towards Danzig. It was still controlled by the Prussians and had ample supplies. Coincidentally, Marshal Ney attempted a raid towards Heilsburg on the 17th of January. Napoleon was furious and ordered Ney to return. The latter complied. At the same time, the Russians reached the position of Bernadotte and threatened to cut him off from the majority of French troops. The French marshal was too quick for them and retreated to the south. The Russians caught up at Murungen, but Bernadotte scored a minor victory and successfully withdrew. All that gave Napoleon a brilliant idea. He ordered Bernadotte and Ney to continue their withdrawal, while Ajereau, Soule and Devoux were commanded to march north. The goal was to cut the Russian retreat and impose a general battle. Unfortunately for Napoleon, constant rains made the road impassable, and on the 31st of January, his messenger to Bernadotte was caught by Russian Cossacks, which allowed Bennigsen to learn of the Emperor's plans and retreat. French troops almost caught up to the Russians on two occasions in early February, but Bennigsen was able to escape. However, further retreat was impossible, as that would have let the French capture crucial Königsberg. Bennigsen stopped at the small town of Prusitz-Jelau, modern-day Bagrationovsk, in Russia. He asked for assistance from the 12,000-strong Prussian corps under Lestock that was nearby. Napoleon knew of the Prussian forces in the area and ordered Ney to prevent them from joining Bennigsen, but the Prussians managed to avoid the French marshal. The Battle of Elau took place on the 7th and 8th of February, 1807. At the beginning of the battle the Russians had about 66,000 troops against 45,000 with Napoleon, but the Emperor knew that Ney and Devoux, each with 15,000 soldiers, were within marching distance. The Russians had a decided advantage in artillery, with 450 guns against Napoleon's 200. Bennigsen needed time to set up his troops to the northeast of Elau, so he left his rearguard under the command of Bagration to cover the deployment. The Russian general was able to repulse the French initially, but by midday Augereau and the Imperial Guards joined the battle and Bagration had to retreat under overwhelming French pressure. Bagration retreated towards the main army, while General Barclay screened his withdrawal in the town of Elau. The layout of the town wasn't conductive to an attack, and Barclay managed to defend his positions well into the evening. By 2200 hours he was ordered to move back and join Bennigsen. The Russian commander knew that not all of the French troops were present, and ordered part of his right flank to strengthen the reserves, which weakened his wing. The morning started with an artillery duel. As the French were expecting the arrival of Devoux's corps from the southwest, Soule was ordered to attack the Russian right and create a diversion. However, the Russians stopped Soule, and when the vanguard of Devoux's forces arrived, they were intercepted by the cavalry reserve. Napoleon needed to win time to let the remainder of Devoux's soldiers join the battle, so he ordered his centre and right to attack. A blizzard started and blinded the centre of the French army led by Augereau. Visibility was so limited that the French artillery mistakenly bombarded Augereau, who walked right into the Russian artillery battery. More than 5,000 French died in the centre without reaching the Russian lines, while the French right didn't do much damage to the Russian left. Bennigsen counterattacked against the French right, led by Saint-Hilaire, with his cavalry, and forced it to stop its advance, while his infantry moved against the French centre, which was defended by what was left of Augereau's corps. However, Napoleon still had his guard to send in. While the infantry units joined the centre and stopped the enemy advance, the cavalry portion of the guard attacked the Russians from the rear, and the majority of this column was destroyed. The French also had Maurras cavalry in reserve, and it was ordered to counterattack. The right wing of these units attacked the Russian cavalry fighting Saint-Hilaire's right flank and scattered them. Maurras and Saint-Hilaire continued their movement, and although the infantry was stopped, their cavalry charge dispersed every Russian unit in front of it and reached the reserves. At this point in the battle, Devoux's remaining troops arrived and attacked the Russian left, and while Soult, Augereau, Maurras and the guard held their positions, Devoux, supported by Saint-Hilaire, pushed the Russians back, and by 1530 the Russian left and left centre were almost at a 90-degree angle to the rest of the forces. Luckily for Benigzen, 9,000 Prussians commanded by Lestock entered the battle and joined the beleaguered Russian left. The Prussians attacked Devoux from the right and slowly pushed him away. By 1900 hours Devoux had to retreat and set a line between the villages of Kutschitten and Angklappen. Around that time Ney's corps, which was supposed to stop Lestock, entered the fray. His forces moved against the extreme right of the Russian troops, but Benigzen used the remainder of his cavalry to intercept them. The battle continued until 2200 hours, at which the sides disengaged. Both armies lost at least 15,000 troops and it is possible that Napoleon's army suffered more casualties. Despite that, at 2300 Benigzen ordered a retreat. The French were in no shape to chase the enemy, and although the battlefield belonged to Napoleon, it was clear that for the first time in his career he had failed to win a decisive battle. Eylau indicated that the War of the Fourth Coalition was far from over. Thanks for watching our documentary on the Battle of Eylau. In two weeks Napoleon will be back to command his troops at the Battle of Friedland. We would like to express our gratitude to our Patreon supporters, who make the creation of these videos possible. Patreon is the best way to suggest a new video, learn about our schedule and so much more. 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