If intelligence imagined that an enemy detachment had gathered in such and such a place, which in number did not exceed the partisan forces too much, Davydov ordered: Quietly and imperceptibly, the partisans approached the enemy's camp.
We checked whether the intelligence information was correct, whether something had changed, because the troops were constantly moving. Davydov usually divided his "party" into several groups. I always left one or two in reserve, under the cover of the forest. Both cavalry and infantrymen fought with him, but the main role was still assigned to the cavalrymen - a rapid attack decided a lot. But sometimes the infantry took over. Davidov sent fifty or a hundred men to frighten the enemy. The infantrymen shouted "hurrah!" and stormed into the village where the French had settled. Considering that they were being attacked by a regular army—and a considerable one at that, otherwise they wouldn't have behaved so audaciously! — they were in a hurry to escape. And that's where the cavalrymen swooped down on them. Sometimes the infantrymen lured the enemy to a convenient place to attack.
Davydov developed his own tactics for the attack. He despised all kinds of bookish, "Austrian" methods, saying that the business of the partisans was to act quickly — "kill and leave", which is why his detachments were called "flying". He did not use any special formations or "deployments" of columns. But always, in addition to the reserve, he formed the vanguard and detachments on the flanks. Sometimes he led the vanguard of his squad directly at the enemy. If he couldn't stand it and retreated, fine. But if he resisted, Davydov did not let his men die in vain. And then it was time for his favorite trick, leaving in all directions. Here the dashing cavalry is rushing in a steady wave, the French are loading cannons and guns, lo and behold! — and there's no one else. They scattered and left. Davydov, having thrown the enemy into confusion, then attacked him from the flanks.
Developing his techniques, he said: "The head of the partisans is not a commander." He wanted everyone in his squad to be able to act alone, on their own. After a scattered retreat, the partisans gathered at a pre-arranged location, sometimes ten to twenty kilometers from the battlefield. Hand-to-hand combat played an important role in the campaigns. Davydov hardly used artillery: in his opinion, it limited the speed of movement. It took a long time to reload the guns. Therefore, he considered the saber and pike to be his main weapons. Davydov taught his partisans: when an enemy shoots, you have to ride straight at him and cut him down with a saber.
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