पृष्ठ 493 / 3800

If Kutuzov decided to retreat along the road from Krems to

Olmutz, to unite with the troops arriving from Russia, he risked

being forestalled on that road by the French who had crossed the

Vienna bridge, and encumbered by his baggage and transport,

having to accept battle on the march against an enemy three times

as strong, who would hem him in from two sides.

Kutuzov chose this latter course.

The French, the spy reported, having crossed the Vienna bridge,

were advancing by forced marches toward Znaim, which lay

sixty-six miles off on the line of Kutuzov's retreat. If he

reached Znaim before the French, there would be great hope of

saving the army; to let the French forestall him at Znaim meant

the exposure of his whole army to a disgrace such as that of Ulm,

or to utter destruction. But to forestall the French with his

whole army was impossible. The road for the French from Vienna to

Znaim was shorter and better than the road for the Russians from

Krems to Znaim.