well for the. science technology innovation all the least of elements from around russia we've got the future covered.

on september the seventh they seemed a quarter of a million men stood on this field waiting to decide the fate of the russian empire it was the bloodiest single day battle of the entire napoleonic wars and now two centuries on the soldiers are back to do it all again. in just under two hours the fighting here will be over but several days now more than three thousand men women and children have left the twenty first century behind to plunge headlong into the nineteenth they come to this small rural area just one hundred twenty kilometers from moscow to where the splendid uniforms find them muskets and long staring cavalry charges they traveled from across the world to be part of the largest napoleonic reenactment ever seen on russian soil the

bicentenary of the battle of the road you know. and to be an effective napoleonic soldier you have to live like a napoleonic soldier the whole experience is supposed to be as authentic as possible and that means all react is really trying to live the lives of their eighteen twelve counterparts eating the same food living in the same tents and wading through the same mud. accommodation is as basic as it comes no sleeping bags all muddy comforts here most people are making do with a bed of straw on a horse blanket. but conditions are no excuse for untidiness and the soldiers have

to be ready for inspection at any time especially when the commander of the russian army is in the vicinity. pavel is playing general could to solve and he and his fellow officers have plenty to think about a mature man roopa soon we will begin shaping the italians and squadrons we will determine the number of the participants and elect the commanders then there's going to be a meeting of the commanders where they will break down the cost make people familiar with the scenario to determine the tasks of every commander record so that everyone knows their roles on the battlefield when you're up also. at least nobody's actually going to kill each other this time and that means a friendly atmosphere throughout the camps where the russians and the french live side by side and there's plenty have traditional food on offer. there's still a great deal of preparation going on in the camp and that means hungry soldiers so i have made an executive decision to join the french troops for

a little polio nick breakfast. to a more. it's no frills fair but there's plenty of it and quantity was always much more important than quality of three or four with the green one could say that there was no cuisine at all of the time soldiers ate what they could get hold of or sometimes even steal soup it was quite common in bread were very popular for breakfast and if they could get hold of onions and sour cream they ate that too and soldiers were extremely low maintenance and they managed to conquer the whole of europe eating just soo bread and drinking coffee. and if it's good enough for the ground our main troy some of the best french food they see in twelve. tuna salad. and topped off with a ruler onion. i could see

how the breasts of the old soldiers might have been an effective weapon by itself. but there were also plenty of traditional omes it was time to bring out the big guns but. tillery played a vital role that brought in with the french guns in particular taking a heavy toll on the russian infantry but of course imitating an experience cannon crew with just a couple of days of training is another thing entirely. ok well. but that's where experts like patrick come in like that i got a veteran of several reenactments he's traveled all the way from from to lick the role recruits into shape. we can be a moment. only under torture only and most excellent well i'm hoping that you will give us a few moments of your time to show us the marvels of the french military if that's

what up yes accept to talk in english. with the biggest challenges that you can face well. it's what you need to know is it's very important to respect the drill as we used to do is create a fast because although here of course we don't shoot a real cannon ball it's just power to yeah but it's as dangerous so it's very important for safety to respect all the different steps because otherwise you might . be considerably less than the six hundred cannon that were on display at the rodino patricks determined that his crews will be a credit to their predecessors this is the interest of reenactments some think we are just young kids playing some ah it's true we have never grown up but the other interesting side of it is we try to make it as accurate as possible so we understand much better all the used to do it in the past because you could really look at it and say yeah maybe but when you do it for real you understand the

reasons why and how you feeling about. napoleon's arrival if you have it so i'm very excited. with patrick visiting from france and the most the general himself gesturing in from the u.s. this is an event with a truly international flavor and back among the russians i met a cavalry man with a very familiar accent. said rumors are true the lithuanians have attached a britain to their residence and. so for phil we need to hear a bit about your story and how you come to take boston border come from cambridge cambridge and the u.k. . why did you decide to take both in this. we're very fortunate in the u.k. i mean in a group the fifteenth and one of our guys is russian and he reenacts with

just the way me and they got us the invite to borrow dado and how could you refuse absolutely but it's not been an easy journey the regiment made. supply bill with a new mount but everything else has made the trip from england with him so what you have to bring with you everything every day i think this. twenty three kilos we bring all the horse equipment some of which is useful for sleeping as well . we have a lot of. it's so much that we had to wear it to get it under the baggage allowance but that's just a great advantage because the customs security it's no problem people are really happy to see us so did you get any of the questions like what is your purpose coming into russia well i'm going to i'm going to be fighting for you against the for exactly that's all we said and that's perfect. that's no problem no guns ok

just a big sword. it's in the hole right. alongside the foreign visitors to board you know there are plenty of homegrown participants getting into the swing of things and this is very much an equal opportunities reenactment. the russians tried to keep women away from their troops but the french went so restrictive and the polian always had a bevy of wives followers. rather more official count work is like nasty here. on the campus as a french continue yeah nasty would have sold refreshments to the troops and looked after the wounded and the women in this camp also take on a number of different roles. there are many different kinds of roles there are cooking doing laundry any kind of help that might be needed like sewing a button or cleaning something but i really don't think anyone would give his weapon to

a woman however some ammunition items could be entrusted to us. cooking was the main thing hungry soldier is a lousy it made. more. colors and pageantry are part of what makes this event so appealing and it's important to have the right look impressive facial hair can be found the around the camp but you've also got to be a snappy dresser. as you can imagine napoleonic uniforms aren't exactly ten a penny which means that today's reconstructs is have to be as handy with a needle as they are with a musket closer to civil or surrogates get you know have a uniform could you fix it for me please i'm innocent. so gay has been tailoring period costumes for over a decade and we're going to need the reason why i do this is that it's an interesting job and more importantly i might say i prefer to study history by

making things with my own hands instead of reading books from history in this way i get a better insight and live events that took place a long time ago and i also run a club aiming to reconstruct tools. that were used to never lay life as well as universal. so gay has made uniforms for almost his entire regiment and they're all intricately detailed from camp clothes to full battle regalia but he loved the company to which any soldier belonged could be identified by the red the sword not this singled out as a grand idea of soldiers were uniforms made of dog green cloth they also wore pants with a leg to have a sack a ten flaws a bag for cartridges and two cross belts. thanks. look some splendid uniforms coming to

a battlefield near us i just hope they manage to keep themselves clean. much as it would have been back in may seem twelve as the sun goes down the day's work draws to an end dozens of come fun is a lit and the smell of evening meals quickly fills leah. it won't be long before this have a chance to put the training into action and it promises to be a very special occasion. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything you thought you knew you don't know. welcome to the big picture.

me please please please. please please. please please. call are all a. little m. the law. don't tell me how much on my. current law our.

odds.

frenchman. was making a transatlantic trip to come and play the most famous role of. rule would you please spare us couple of moments to take us around you all still it would be my pleasure. for historical music that has played the role of napoleon in reenactments across europe and his acquaintance with the master general. the french that gave me a small toy soldier of napoleon fifty four millimeter and i still have it and many say that that's when it began at two years old the fascination with the polling. with. the uniforms the strategy and tactics of the different locations the the great things that napoleon did and he takes his portrayal extremely seriously there's also

a responsibility that comes with the responsibility of paying to these soldiers who have who have died with. maybe from friends from russia from all over europe for the grand army was composed of many european nations so as a result of that i have to really take my time to prepare myself to get it right to pay honor not only to napoleon but again as i've mentioned to these soldiers who have fought and died but with an audience of up to two hundred thousand people expected i wondered if he was feeling nervous before the big day i think rather than nerves it will be that of excitement adrenaline looking forward to participating in such a grand spectacle such a great event that's going to do something to see a special i look forward to the front row seat even if it's on a horse. thank you. with time getting short everyone was already hard at work across the camp and my friend bill was shaping up for an

important inspection. we have to prove he can ride prove that we've historically accurate equipment and if we don't pass the right. but at least he won't be facing the officers alone. we have here sergeant williams . and what do you think what role are you hoping to have historically we should be on the staff. but that wouldn't be any fun at all because the staff sit at the back and watch. colleagues from the list. and we're going to tag along with them and they should be right in middle of fighting so we should get to cross swords with some frenchmen.

while bill in the so we're putting the finishing touches to the uniforms i headed out to the main feel. the procession. pass inspection you need to change it for another one. point the pivotal moment because the cavalry and all the finery of being presented not only to the general staff but also to the real safety inspectors who make sure that everything is in its place is being treated properly and the safety aspects are all ok. shoulder arms. and it looks like to cavalrymen might be in a spot of both. such blades are very dangerous we try to take care of our uniforms we don't hit hard. he's a very old soldier. some of

our foreign friends to blunt their blades because of fears that they might injure someone. very much like a song it could have cut somebody is you know for. fortunately for bill and williams it's nothing that a good filing won't sort out. and as they trotted away to literally take the edge off i caught up with some passing french infantry. how are you preparing for the big day. because there's a lot of people from different from would normally get up for the first time for christmas for this month so we have to do. something that will be working together and making movements together. and then looking to hook. up. so. thomas is a member of the belgian napoleonic society and it's not long before he's giving the

benefit of his experience to some of the younger soldiers. looks like you got a promotion there are two sergeant or a trainer i'm lucky the sergeant gave me the complete confidence to train the new guys and so it's always difficult because they're quite nervous with weapons and things like that but for security reasons and of course for the battle we have to to make didn't. all the guys really important so how have you found the drilling has helped so it's helping because we've read a lot of miles of calls walking it's been resting for your guys is coming quite back quite squashed for the new guys it's learning the schools. the artillery cavalry and infantry and finally on past inspection but with less than twenty four hours to the reenactment it was time to respect some old traditions. every new regiment eventually faces the moment when it has to go into

battle and they mark that with a formal ceremony honoring their flag. for old bear no ceremony. bronze you know is going to be the first fight for the moscow great ideas and everyone how ms a single nail into the new standards. the regiment is christened into. his own little tributes to the owner of the granite is here and drinking a toast to success in battle. three sure. all the granite here is good. and

as the new company continued to celebrate i slipped off to see if i could find a bite to eat while i had the chance to try a french breakfast and after a whole day's drilling the russian troops are busy cooking their service i'm going to see if they'll let me join them. i give you a hand. with your thank you i managed to talk my way into a fish soup dinner. actually ok guys food's up. and once the ports are similar everyone grabs a spoon some bread and helps themselves to give this really is every man for himself here. this is really really hard to soup. haunch actually loving the camp may only last

a few days but it's clear that being here is having a real effect on these men. that leaves an impact on all of us here we are oblivious to the course of time rather the sun is our guide we know that we need to get up at dawn and go to bed at sunset we've got no internet connection we don't know what's going on outside this place besides life in the open and the need to share food from the same part helps bring people together. the battle is coming tomorrow but today we enjoy a meal without worrying about whether we'll live or die by the same token the soldiers that live two hundred years ago had little thought about whether they would live or die if some of them were killed we were all in god's hands others would say. well being. all reenacted should have little need for divine intervention but it wasn't long before everyone was ready to hit the hay tomorrow

would be a big day for gone. while the soldiers of the actual battle have brought in memory of how to enjoy some hot sun but we've got some pretty different weather conditions today but a few drops of rain and black clouds certainly aren't putting the store itself. thousands of visitors were already making their way towards brought in those fields and a memorial service. this morning is dedicated to the french soldiers that died and brought into one of the last fifty years for all napoleon here is to pay tribute to them for the.

once the formalities had finished it was time for the two armies to take their places two hundred years ago napoleon and his all conquering grand army stood here against the troops of general could to solve with russia at stake it was impossible not to be nervous. everyone might manage in the camp in desperate to put on a good show and i was just hoping that all the training combined with some impressive pyrotechnics to see them through so off to five days in camp hundreds of hours of planning and the cost of thousands it comes down to this two hours to do justice to one of the most pivotal battles in the polio make history and i'm pretty excited. with a few words from general into the first song school song that. the fields were received in smoke as the cameron's. speech his.

first major actions of the battle for their own prince by brussels flesh works and they would be captured and recaptured by both sides of the battle. once the bunch of cops in the villages brought in the russians pull the royals down and that was where the most vicious and push will probably take place. the figures have long been disputed but it's estimated there were around seventy thousand casualties of the original. goal of any dead bodies almost feel stupid to

rejoin the fray. by the terrible pounding from the french the russians were able to hold the ridgeway behind the several hours of bats that will eventually gave the chance to retreat with their army still intact. even under the right the crowd was lapping everything up with the vast majority

staying to see napoleon complete. proved to be a very hairy victory. for the french may have won the field but that doesn't seem to anyone spirits here it's been a fantastic show and it's a real tribute to the skill i'm afeard of the river not the two hundred years on from. brought in a tens of thousands of people have come out to watch them bring history to life. in the.

world for the future science technology innovation all the list of the immense from around russia we've got those huge earth covered.