Chapter 18
Prince Bagration is charging into the action and we're beginning to see the wounded and dying coming the other way. Some are unwounded but retreating anyway.
Bagration - trailed by Prince Andrew - gets an update from the Commander of the regiment. He's lost half his men, though they have successfully repulsed the French cavalry. The narration tells us he's not actually certain that the attack has been repulsed, but the French haven't actually reached him yet, so that's a good sign. Prince Andrew is stuck by Bagration's expression, which is suddenly electrified. The Commander is trying to persuade them to retreat, but Bagration is ready for action. Bullets are whistling around them now. The mist rises, and they can see the French. The chapter ends with Bagration ordering this regiment to charge.
Chapter 19
Tushin has successfully set fire to the village. I am still unclear on why he wanted to do that, except for maybe he just hates the French.
Like, I get that there's a war on, but firing over the soldier's heads into a village seems unnecessary. Tushin was the centre, delaying the French advance, the right flank is retreating, and the left flank is being trounced. Zherkov has been sent with orders that the left retreats immediately. He sets off, but panics as soon as he's out of sight of Bagration. He decides that the general and officers are probably somewhere well away from the fighting, and so looks for them where they could not possibly be and never delivers the order.
The left actually has two commanders, the one commanding Dolokhov and Rostov. The two commanders have been fighting each other this whole time, and no one expected a battle so no one was ready. The German hussars decide to retreat. I am unclear if they are one of the two left sides or like a seperate bit within the left. A Russian generals asks the German colonel to call his men back, but he won't. He invites the Russian to come and look at how bad the position is, because he refuses to destroy his men for fun. I think these two might be the commanders who are fighting. They ride to the front while continuing their argument. They stay there because neither is willing to be the coward who leaves first.
The Hussars don't have the option of retreating anymore because they've been cut off by the French. The German hussar commander is Rostov, but it took until this part of the chapter to actually say his name. Both commanders have decided to attack now. They're having fun. Right up until Rostov and his horse are wounded, and Rostov is nearly captured by the French. For the first time, Rostov seems to realise that he might actually die.
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