Prince Andrew hops back on his horse and looks over to see that, yep, a battle has started on his left. He gallops away from the cannons and towards Prince Bagration, because his role is to help him. The French have just received Bonaparte's letter, and Murat, the leader of the French forces, is trying to crush the Russians before Emperor Napoleon turns up. This all seems very inefficient. The Russians have been interrupted from their breakfast of porridge and vodka. I suspect this novel is where all of the stereotypes originated.
"'Here it is, dreadful but enjoyable!' was what the face of each soldier and each officer seemed to say."
Presumably, we're now back to Carrying On Up the Danube.
Even Prince Bagration appears to have caught battle-fever, as Prince Andrew judges from his face. He has an Oriental accent - I don't know what that is, or why he has it. The troup - including an accountant who has tagged along for fun - head over to Tushin's battery. I'm not joking about the accountant, that's literally why he's here. He has a stomachache.
They're back where Prince Andrew was at the start of the chapter. They see someone die along the way - knocked off his horse by a 'Franch pancake' - which the accountant finds rather fascinating. Tushin is meant to be firing at the enemy, but he's decided to set fire to a nearby village instead - again, not joking, he's literally decided that - and is firing over their heads. As Prince Andrew follows Bagration around, he notices that Bagration doesn't actually give orders, he just gives the impression that everything his men have decided to do, or that has happened accidentally, is exactly what he intended.
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