Prince Andrey keeps a general waiting while he has an interview with Boris Drubetskoy, who seeks a better position in the army. Boris learns a lesson from this which helps him pursue his opportunism: Besides the existing protocol within the hierarchy there operates another and more actual system of subordination which allows a captain and lieutenant to talk while a general respectfully waits.
Prince Andrey attends the council of war prior to the Austerlitz campaign because he has a plan to present to Kutuzov. In a private aside to his aide, Kutuzov predicts they will lose the battle. While the droning voice of the Austrian general Weierother outlines the details of the campaign plan, the old general begins to snore and wakes up when the discussion is over. Prince Andrey never gets the chance to set forth his own scheme. He is unable to sleep that night and paces the floor. Andrey imagines how, at the point of defeat, he will lead his regiment to victory according to his own plan and become a national hero. He realizes he would be glad to sacrifice the love of those he holds dear in order to gain glory and the love of men he does not know."The only thing I love and prize," he muses,"is ... that mysterious power and glory which seems hovering over me in this mist."
That same night, Rostov rides the sleepy round of picket duty. When shouts resound from the enemy encampment he is sent to the French lines to find the cause for the noise. The enemy troops were shouting in response to Napoleon's proclamation encouraging his men to fight bravely. Exhilarated from his gallop and from having been shot at, Nikolay is eager for the battle.
At sunrise, the Russians advance to their positions. They descend into a fog-filled valley where many officers and men get separated during the blind march. Dispirited, the troops sense confusion and mismanagement; indeed they reflect the disagreements between the Austrian and Russian generals about certain dispositions. From the heights where he has a sunlit view of the enemy, Napoleon signals the battle to begin.
