Petya resolves to see the tsar himself and ask for a commission. He is among a huge mob of people waiting for Alexander to arrive at the gates of the Kremlin. When he returns home, having been nearly trampled, he threatens to run away if his parents do not let him join the army. Count Rostov gives in and seeks a place where his son shall not be in any danger.
Pierre is among a group of noblemen thronging the halls of the palace where Alexander is to give audience. Many men stand up to make fiery speeches about sacrifice and conscripting peasants and fighting with every ounce for the cause. Pierre feels moved to speak and, in bookish Russian, urges that the group offer counsel to the tsar, that they should consider what is needed before acting. He is shouted down and a near riot ensues. A secretary then informs the gathering that the emperor asks the nobility to furnish and equip ten of every thousand men. When Alexander himself appears and thanks them all, everyone, including Pierre, sheds tears of emotion, feeling nothing except an intense desire to sacrifice everything for the sovereign and the nation.
