Watch the World Burn [Moscow]

France had always held a general sense of uneasiness concerning his commanding officer’s lofty ideas of invading Russia—reaching his covetous fingers even further to the east and much further to the north. Despite being advised against it twice, the man went ahead with his plans. As the nation that Bonaparte claimed loyalty and love to above all else; however, Francis had little choice in the matter and had yet to leave the single-minded man’s side. Little did he know that what he was about to walk into would be the principle cause of Bonaparte’s collapse and of his subsequent dethronement. It would be the salvation of the Russian Empire and the emancipation of Europe.

The entire affair started the same as the others. There was brief resistance, but the Russians were defeated in a decent number of battles—enough to encourage French advancement. Ivan for the most part, avoided outright confrontation when he could and had yet to truly challenge Francis. And with that, the large nation continued to retreat further north, only leaving behind a trail of charred death and barrenness. It was becoming increasingly difficult for the Frenchmen to carry on, but it was doubly so for their nation. Francis felt the nagging, itching need to be back in his homeland for the people that needed him there. He silently ached with the vulnerable state that Bonaparte was presently choosing to leave France in. In light of this; though, Francis continued to press forward without uttering a single word of criticism.

Finally, the silver-haired nation had come to meet the challenge, offering up a tempting battle outside of Moscow. It wasn’t easy, but it was the French who had won. With the tang of filth and blood in their mouths, the unshed anguish for their fallen, and the ache of their weary bodies, the victory was bittersweet. There was only about a ten thousand casualty difference between the two nations and it was the bloodiest day of battle in history up to that point in time. They were both carrying nasty wounds that day—gashes that would soon turn into scars to serve as a haunting tribute to the massive bloodshed. Francis tasted very little triumph in this victory.

Bonaparte was pleased all the same with the result—he smiled widely in the field of blood, calling it the most terrible of all his battles. Francis’s lips thinned when his leader stated that they would enter Moscow, probably assuming its fall would end the war. However, there was no one… No one to prepare for occupation and it was soon to be discovered that this was not a traditional victory. Normally aides would be sent into the city to seek out the officials, but there were none, only a small number of citizens still remained, those unwilling to abandon their home. Groups of French aides entered Moscow first, unhappy with the lack of a usual victory, and began looting whatever they could find, whatever remained in the desolate city.

The bulk of the French army finally moved ahead into the city, preparing to set its position in the manner of a military camp but it was those initial fires started by Russian sabotage that struck their morale. France hadn’t been ahead himself, but he saw the men as they retreated, forced to take refuge from the flames. The enraged Bonaparte had already set up the execution of the “Russian arsonists” after much of the city was already ablaze. Moscow’s fire brigade had apparently been destroyed by her governor who had already left. Bonaparte was forced to retreat to a nearby castle outside the city. By the time the fire had finally diminished, a long while later, the Frenchmen were able to return to Moscow, to scour through the ashes for any hope of respite and sustenance. There was very little... France himself was in a rather sorry state, but even so, he couldn’t escape the hollow horror of walking through the fragments of what remained of the once magnificent capital...

STATUS # Ongoing
TAG # Tilt/Moscow
WORD COUNT # 668
NOTES # This took quite a bit of research, but finally got this up. ;D
CREDIT # IRONICALLIZE_IT @ CAUTION 2.0