Accepting the tsar's invitation, Bolkonsky attends the war council and finds the discussions reminiscent of those preceding the Austerlitz campaign four years before. A science of war does not exist, he thinks to himself, for no one can predict the moral strength of the soldiers at the moment of battle. As the generals talk with awe about Napoleon's"genius," Andrey recalls with amusement the smugness of the little man who inspected the dead and wounded men at Austerlitz. An effective leader, decides Bolkonsky, must lack genius; with a narrow outlook a man can work through many conflicting impressions which would confuse a more thoughtful man. A military leader endowed with pedestrian intelligence would be more likely to have the patience required to carry out his plans. At the end of the council, Alexander asks Andrey where he desires to serve. Bolkonsky wishes to be sent to the front.
When Nikolay Rostov learns of Natasha's broken engagement, he is glad of the excuse to be detained with his army because of the coming campaign. Writing to Sonya, he promises to marry her when he comes home again. Rostov's squadron is ordered to the attack long before dawn. Nikolay rides with Ilyin, a young officer who hero-worships him as he himself once admired Denisov. As the galloping hussars drive against the French dragoons, Rostov feels the same freedom and excitement that he felt when coursing the wolf. Overtaking a Frenchman, Nikolay raises his sword and then confronts the frightened gaze of his foe. Rostov trembles before his prisoner's fear of being killed; he cannot imagine committing such a crime. Suddenly he is overwhelmed by doubts as to the meaning of war, the meaning of men's lives, the meaning of bravery.
Because he has taken a prisoner, Nikolay later receives the cross of St. George for being an officer of dauntless courage.
