What attracted me to Leo Tolstoy's novel War and peace was the author's vision of military operations. For the writer, the battle is presented as something chaotic, unmanageable. The frenzy of battle is so out of control that even its participants are no longer aware of what is happening and cannot influence the events around them. Fear, confusion, and disturbing instincts are what battle is all about. This extreme stress can easily change a person's consciousness. Even the bravest break down when death breathes down their necks.
Take, for example, the baptism of fire of Nikolai Rostov. At the moment when his unit is ordered to set fire to the bridge, the young hussar feels elated. He thinks he can prove his bravery to the Colonel. But soon after the start of the attack, he falls into a stupor, begins to remember his family in Moscow. In the General atmosphere of confusion, the hero does not know what to do. He is no longer able to assess the situation sanely, as if he has fallen out of the world. But about exploits and even about at least any benefit for the squadron, there can be no question of it.
We can also recall the battle of Austerlitz, in which Bolkonsky received his serious wound. In it, the author shows that real combat is not something that is taught in theory, it is something that is even difficult to imagine. In the middle of a battle, Andrew is terrified and confused. Instead of shooting at the Frenchman running at him, Bolkonsky simply throws the gun at him and simply runs away. This battle completely breaks the Prince's worldview, which was already cracked in the battle of Schöngraben.
These and other scenes of combat described in the novel made me reconsider my views on military operations. Tolstoy shows us not a Hollywood action movie, where the main characters destroy enemies alone in whole battalions. At the same time, the author does not turn the battle into something heroic, as it is described in contemporary works about the same world war II. He clearly makes it clear that the battle is hell on earth. No one here cares about your title or your dreams. At any moment, your life may end, and death will not make you or your family happy, even if you become a hero.
