The narrator does not believe that Napoleon’s invasion of Russia has planning or strategy. The French attack Russia at the wrong time of the year, and the bad weather demonstrates Napoleon’s lack of forethought. The French soldiers have no idea that they are marching to their doom. Though eventually the Russians will save their country by allowing the French to overstretch themselves, at first they want to defend every town and village. The two armies fight a decisive battle at Smolensk. The local people, furious that the French might try to plunder supplies, burn their crops and supplies rather than allow the invading army to support themselves. This act of defiance foreshadows the burning of Moscow.

The narrator uses these events to illustrate that the forces of history are blind and unpredictable. The overall success of either army depends on tiny, unnoticed moments, such as a self-interested general or Nikolai Rostov being unable to resist “a gallop across a level field” (732). The Russian army’s successful tactics, for example, come about entirely by accident, as the result of seemingly insignificant actions and events. The lingering effects of every decision are all part of the unstoppable flow of history.