Daru in particular , is not mincing his words . '' war's a game you're good at '' he tells Napoleon bluntly . '' But here we aren't fighting men , we're fighting nature '' .
Around July , around Witebsk , just before smolensk , Russia 3rd most important city
from the book 1812 March on Moscow by Paul Britten Austin
P.S - by then the Grande Armee had already lost about a third in men and Cavalry and without fighting most of the way . And his major supply depot was 200 miles away in Vilna .