His chief of staff remained silent and Napoleon could not resist a small smile. ‘It happens, Berthier. So, our enemy is to the west of us. Well, once he receives word that Lannes is at Saalfeld, he will know that we have got between Berlin and the Prussian army. They will try to march round us to get back on to their lines of communication. So we must march faster than them and cut them off.’ Napoleon made a sweeping gesture across the map. ‘The Grand Army will turn west. Davout and Bernadotte can outflank the enemy to the right, at Auerstadt.The rest of the Grand Army will concentrate here.’ He thrust his finger on the map. ‘At Jena.That’s where we will humble Frederick William.That’s where we will crush Prussia and end the campaign.’

Chapter 22 - Jena, 13 October 1806

Chapter 22

Jena, 13 October 1806

‘I would say that there are perhaps forty, maybe fifty thousand Prussians to the west of us,’ said Marshal Lannes as he slowly scanned the enemy positions through his telescope.

Beside him Napoleon considered the estimate for a moment and nodded. ‘In which case, that should be the main body of the enemy. There will be other formations nearby, guarding their flanks, but that must be the main body.Very well then, we must concentrate the Grand Army at once. I want every available man here within twenty-four hours. Meanwhile, you and the Imperial Guard must hold this position.’ Napoleon gestured to the surrounding heights that rose up between the town of Jena to the east and the plateau to the west where the Prussian army was making camp for the night.‘What do the locals call this place, Berthier?’

‘The Landgrafenberg, sire.’

Napoleon shook his head. ‘These Germans come up with some incomprehensible place names.When the campaign is over, I will make it a priority to cut them down to size.’

His staff officers laughed, and Napoleon was grateful for their good humour.There were risks involved in choosing this ground for what he hoped would be the decisive action of the campaign. Given a full day he could summon nearly a hundred and fifty thousand men to the area around Jena. Until then, Lannes and the veterans of the Guard must hold the heights. If the Prussians decided to attack in the remaining hours of daylight, or even early the next morning, the French troops who had crossed the river Saale to occupy the Landgrafenberg would be hopelessly outnumbered. If they were forced down the heights into Jena there would be a bottleneck at the bridge and the Prussians would inflict heavy losses. Everything depended on holding the hill, Napoleon decided, looking up to the highest point half a mile away.

He turned to Berthier and indicated to the ridge.‘We have to fortify that position. I want as many guns up there as possible.Twelve-pounders would be best, so that we can command the approaches to the slopes.’