Firstly can I say that I am sorry for inevitably posting this in the wrong post, sorry for the low quality and just generally sorry as I am sure I will make a whole host of errors, but feel free to correct me. I am no expert. Sorry.
POD: In 1812, during Napoleon's Russian campaign, Barclay is not stripped of his command and replaced by Kutuzov and fights the Battle of Borodino on his own terms. Please note that at first, there are not so many immediate consequences but I have plans. Sorry for the quality, I will doubtless make formatting errors.
Chapter One
Barclay took up a strong defensive position at Borodino, constructing a series of disconnected earthworks running in an arc from the Moskva River on the right, along its tributary, the Kolocha (whose steep banks added to the defence), and towards the village of Utitsa on the left. The left flank of the Russian army was covered by thick woods and on the right a massive earthen redoubt was constructed mounting nineteen twelve-pounder cannons with a clear line of sight towards the banks of the Kolocha stream.
Napoleon deployed his forces inefficiently and failed to exploit the weaknesses in the Russian line. Despite Marshal Davout's suggestion of a manoeuvre to outflank the weak Russian left, the Emperor instead ordered Davout's First Corps to move directly forward into the teeth of the defence, while the flanking manoeuvre was left to the weak Fifth Corps of Prince Poniatowski.
Davout, in the confused fighting between French and Russian armies personally led the 57th line regiment forwards to take control of the Russian earthworks but was wounded when his horse was shot from underneath him. General Rapp arrived to replace him failed to take control of the three Fleches.
During the confused fighting, French and Russian units moved forward into impenetrable smoke and were smashed by artillery and musketry fire that was horrendous even by Napoleonic standards. Infantry and cavalrymen had difficulty manoeuvring over the heaps of corpses and masses of wounded. The Russian artillery pounded the centre relentlessly, killing friend and foe alike. The massed Russian cavalry, led by the enterprising Matvei Platov harried the northern flank of the French and inflicted severe casualties upon the French infantry.
As the day wore on French victory became progressively less likely as the French suffered huge losses, having been weakened prior to the battle by starvation, desertion and disease. By six o’ clock, the French were in retreat having suffered horrendous casualties and it was all Napoleon could do to avoid encirclement.
The catastrophic defeat at Borodino at the hands of Barclay meant not only a serious loss of prestige for Napoleon but the practical end of the French invasion of Russia as he was forced to begin his long retreat after the battle. Cut off by Barclay, Napoleon was forced to use the Smolensk road he had previously plundered and stripped of food. Kutuzov again deployed partisan tactics to constantly strike at the French train where it was weakest. Light Russian cavalry, including mounted Cossacks, assaulted and broke up isolated French units.
Supplying the army became near impossible – almost all horses were killed by soldiers for food, and with no horses the French cavalry ceased to exist. Constant harassment and attack by Russian horse meant that all convoys and wagons had to be abandoned. Already high, the rate of desertion amongst the French soared as foreign soldiers reluctantly forced into service fled the field forming roving gangs that terrorised the countryside. Badly weakened, the French military command broke down and the army began to fall apart.
Davout and most senior officers within the army urged Napoleon to desert the army and flee for Paris where it was rumoured General Malet had staged a coup and held the city, decrying the Russian campaign as hopeless. Napoleon though, refused to leave the troops and was himself rumoured to be badly ill.
The greatest humiliation and final battle of the war came when the fleeing French troops went to cross the River Berezina. Two Russian armies descended on the French as they struggled to escape across the bridges, destroying what little was left of the army utterly. Napoleon saw the imminent destruction of his army and attempted to escape the battlefield but was too late to successfully flee, being captured by the Russian cavalry later on in the day after having his horse shot from underneath him.
The situation in France in 1813 in the months after Napoleon’s capture was one of chaos; after the failure of Napoleon against Russia, nationalism swept the First Empire; Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain and other lands dominated by the French erupted in rebellion, whilst Austria and Prussia turned against France and declared war. Without Napoleon’s leadership, France descended into civil war between supporters of the Malet and the Second Republic and Napoleon.
In March, Napoleon committed suicide whilst imprisoned in Russia. On the fifteenth, Malet began peace negotiations with the Coalition on behalf of France at the Congress of Vienna as the de-facto representative of the French people.
The Congress opened on the 25th of March, attended by France, Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia. Austria and Russia argued for the complete restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in France whilst the more liberal British preferred to institute a constitutional monarchy rather than an absolute. British opinion eventually prevailed in part due to the relative strength of the Second Republic and Austrian weakness at the time. The Concert of Europe, the overall result of the Congress, was a radical redrawing of the European map and the death knell for the First Empire.
Belgium was taken from Napoleonic France and combined with the United Netherlands. Austria was given authority in Germany again – except for Prussia and areas taken from France and given to Prussia, the junior partner in the new coalition at the Congress. Genoa, Sardinia, Piedmont and Savoy were to be ruled by the House of Savoy, as was the city of Nice. Lombardy and Venetia were given to Austria. To compensate Austria for its loss of Polish territory, it was given Slavic territory along the Dalmatian Coast.
The four powers that met at the Congress of Vienna gave the defeated power, France, a generous settlement of the war. Malet retained power within the framework of a constitutional monarchy with Louis XVIII as reigning monarch.
OK... Did anyone at all like this? I don't mind criticism. Sorry.