Before the Grand Army lay the Thuringer forest, a dense mass of ancient trees sprawling across rolling hills, through which many roads and tracks had been cut. It would take the Grand Army two days to pass through the woods and emerge deep inside Prussian territory. Since there had been little firm intelligence on the location of the Prussian armies Napoleon had arranged his columns in such a way that should any one of them run into enemy forces, it would pin them in place while the rest of the army converged on the location, a manoeuvre that would take little more than a day. Even with the earliest of reports to go on Napoleon estimated that his army would encounter the Prussians shortly after passing through the Thuringer forest.The most logical position for the Prussian army would be across the route towards Berlin.

And that was where Napoleon intended the Grand Army to find and defeat them.

He turned to Berthier.‘Very well, then. Give the orders for the army to advance. At dawn tomorrow the Prussians will have their reply.’

‘Yes, sire.’ Berthier bowed his head to the Emperor. ‘At once.’

As the chief of staff strode off to implement his master’s will, Josephine leaned forward and spoke quietly into Napoleon’s ear. ‘It seems that you have contrived yet another war for yourself.’

Napoleon twisted round in his chair and looked up at her with an angry expression. ‘I did not ask for this.’

‘You have done all but that.’ Josephine smiled faintly. ‘You manipulated the Prussians into this war.’

‘They made their choice,’ Napoleon replied bluntly. ‘They could have chosen peace, but they chose to wage war on France, to wage war on me. And they will learn the price of such folly soon enough.’

‘And once they are humbled, what next? One day you will run out of enemies, my love, and then what will there be left for you to do?’

Napoleon stared at her for a moment and then shrugged. ‘Enjoy the peace.’

She was silent for a moment and then shook her head sadly.‘War and peace. I don’t think you even know the difference between the two any more.’

‘Difference?’ Napoleon thought for a moment. ‘I wonder if there is a difference in the end. One cannot have one without the other.War is an extension of diplomacy by other means, and peace is merely the continuation of war by other means. There will always be war and peace, Josephine, just as surely as the rising of the sun. All that one can do is try to keep winning, however one can. Else there is only surrender or defeat. To me, war is not an aberration, but the essence of human nature.’

Josephine straightened up and regarded him with a look of despair. ‘God save us,’ she muttered in a low tone that only the two of them could hear. ‘You are a monster.’