On This Ground is Victory: An Alternate Austerlitz TL
Russian cavalry seizing a French standard
Russian cavalry seizing a French standard
8:15 am
"Mikhail get off this damn hill before I have you court martialed!" the Tzar roared.
"I shall leave this ground if you wish, but on this ground is victory!" Kutuzov boldly responded.
"Damn your insolence Mikhail!" Alexander yelled.
"I shall give up this ground to the French if you so command. Allow me to call upon my aide so that the order can be made," Kutuzov bite back.
"Mikhail, you may stay your ground. However if you shall fail then you will court martialed. I swear to God that that tribune you sentence you to death," Alexander responded.
"Of course Tzar," Mikhail told him.
And with that Mikhail Kutuzov had just deterred his Tzar from ordering his men to abandon such an advantageous position as the Pratzen Heights [1]. Less then hour later, 9:07 according to Mikhail's records, the mists of Austerlitz would be broken by the Moravian sun revealing an approaching French contingent [2]. This force was St. Hilare's division and unfortunately for them the mists had lifted less then half of the way through their silent attack. This misfortune was soon taken advantage of by Kutuzov who redirected artillery to batter the Frenchmen. St. Hilare dared to continue his attempt to move the Russians from the Heights. However this daring would mean nothing as his men came under a hail of fire as they clambered up the slopes of Pratzen. It would even less when St. Hilare was shot through by some random Russian soldier. And as delayed detachments of the attack upon the French right joined the fray the situation became even more dire for the French. With much of the division dead or dying one of St. Hilare's commanders ordered the retreat. As Napoleon watched on he grew more and more distraught and his earlier uncertainty returned.
To make matters worse the Russians had managed to organize themselves cohesively and to finally break the French right. The two actions meant that Napoleon's entire army was at stake. Napoleon understanding this ordered a general retreat to the defensive lines at Brunn (Brno). His left and center were able to do so quite efficiently, but his right was still entangled with the Russians. The Tzar was eager to make a large and vicious chase of Emperor Bonaparte. The state of the army, exhausted and ragged, and of his officer's minds, uneager, prevented such an action. Which could considered lucky, because Napoleon's rearguard was well organized and undoubtedly able to throw back such a chase. In meantime the remnants of the right were finally able to disengage from the main Russian assault, but just a mile later they would set upon by the Russian Imperial Guard. This attack by Grand Duke Constantine scattered the troops and broke what remaining military formations there had been. In the meantime the Russian and Austrian armies celebrated their victory over lunch.
[1] In OTL Kutuzov left the Pratzen Heights when Alexander ordered him to. Here he managed to get Alexander to rescind the order.
[2] In OTL the mist lifted up later in the march.