frog&fog (2)
There was a "lazy general" among the Russo-Austrian forces at the Battle of Austerlitz. His name was Kutuzov.
Armies fighting abroad inevitably faced enormous logistical pressure; this was true in both East and West. Send too few troops, and they would be surrounded and annihilated by the enemy. Send too many, and supplies would be consumed too quickly. When the Russian and Austrian armies met at Olmütz, the Russians' baggage train was nearly depleted. The Austrians had only just suffered defeat at Ulm; not only was morale low, but their main supplies were still in the Ulm fortress. They needed a victory to raise their spirits.
When Britain's Royal Navy dominated the seas, Napoleon once demanded that his naval commanders eradicate the notion from the minds of French Navy sailors that the British Navy was stronger than they were.
The same applied to armies. Once a man believed he could not defeat his opponent, the battle could not go on. The "lazy general" was not truly lazy, nor was he constrained by fear of Napoleon's reputation like other famous commanders. As an old veteran who had grown up amid war, he had his own views on the situation. But the Tsar was personally leading the campaign. Although Kutuzov was nominally commander of the allied forces, ultimate command of the Russian troops still belonged to Tsar Alexander I.
In the middle of the French line stood the Pratzen Heights, which overlooked the entire battlefield. In theory, it was strategically vital ground that military forces had to fight over.
But the French forces on the southern front at Austerlitz were far fewer than the Austro-Russian coalition. If they could first encircle and destroy the southern front, then join with the central army to besiege the French, the victor of Austerlitz