The Grande Armée of the French Empire are deep in Russian territory. They are victorious, having seized the strategic gateway of Smolensk, but the triumph is hollow. Instead of continuing to test the odds and go further into Russia, Emperor Napoleon decides to consolidate at the ruined city. Occupying Moscow with supply lines far behind the front would be a logistics crisis waiting to happen, after all. Kutuzov, replaces Barclay as commander in chief. With the time bought by a French consolidation, Russians raise militia while falling back west of Moscow. While this occurs, to appease the demand for an offensive, Chichagov's and Tormasov's armies push towards Minsk, trying to decisively threaten France's supply lines. Polish garrisons and Victor's reserve corps hold Minsk, while the Schwarzenberg and Reynier's corps use a defense-in-depth strategy to slow the southern pincer. Napoleon doesn't wait around for the advance in the south to snowball. He and his forces march towards Moscow, forcing Kutuzov to stand and fight at Borodino. With supply behind him, Napoleon feels he has the margin to risk it with Davout's flanking plan. Poniatowski and Davout's corps flank the Russian left, while Ney and Eugene pin down the centre flank, causing the Bagration Fleches and the Great Redoubt to fall, before Napoleon's guard and cavalry reserve drives through the broken centre. Unable to make an orderly withdrawal, the Russian forces rout in disorder as they are cut off against the river while under the pursuit of cavalry, which ultimately ends with the destruction of Kutuzov's forces as an organized force. It is costly for Napoleon, but is a decisive defeat for the Russians. With this decisive victory, the Russian south arrives too late, and is too late to capture Minsk, and as a result, is repelled. The French march into Moscow, and burn it down. Alexander I isn't moved by the fall of Moscow. However, with the army gone, the peace party in Russia is strengthened, and to top it all off, Napoleon emancipates slaves in Belarus, which sends nobles into a panic. As a result, in the winter of 1812-1813, the Peace of Vitebsk is signed. Russia is in the continental system, Poland is restored, and a French garrison is placed in Smolensk, alongside indemnity. This treaty humiliates the Romanovs, and despite the damage control, the cracks continue to open; Finland, the Baltics, Ukraine, the Caucasus, they all begin to peel away from Russia. Ultimately, Alexander is deposed, and Konstantin is sworn in, but he renounces the throne. This creates a succession crisis akin to the Decembrist Revolution, which ultimately tears Russia apart. Without the Russian safety net Austria relied on and with a polish french client state on their doorstep, only further worsened by its destroyed economy with a Napoleon that seems stronger than ever, Austria is left unable to contest. They try to open a channel with Britain to try to create a new coalition with Prussia, but it is uncovered by Fouché and Talleyrand's sources in Vienna, which ultimately makes Napoleon decide that Austria isn't to be trusted, and he moves first, taking Vienna for the second time, practically unopposed. To place the final jewel on the crown that is his eastern ambitions, Napoleon would back Balkan rebels in the Ottoman empire, draining Turkish manpower while he marches his army straight into Constantinople, decisively crushing the unprepared forces. With this decisive defeat, the Sultanate has lost what little political and religious legitimacy it had left, causing it to erupt further into civil war. As the east lay burning, Napoleon has the forces to cure his "Spanish Ulcer". With his practically limitless manpower, he overwhelms Wellington's forces, causing a chaotic evacuation at Portugal, which eliminates any British aide, causes the Spanish rebels to slowly bleed out, and results in the Spanish global empire's collapse into juntas. With Napoleon triumphant over continental Europe, Britain is forced to focus on the War of 1812. The United States is destroyed after the arrival of veteran infantry and supplies allow Tecumseh's confederacy to decisively defeat the Americans in the Midwest following the destruction of the Canadian invasions. This British victory is short lived, however. With the Continental system finally being able to be put into effect, Britain's economy stalls. With French backing of the Irish insurrection, Britain slowly begins to crack. While Britain was busy with the United States and then with the economic crises, A French armada is slowly organized. With mutiny spreading across the Royal Navy and economic collapse becoming inevitable, the French seize their opportunity. Britain is invaded, and it is no contest. With the capture of London, France has become the global hegemony. Napoleon is now dead, and his world has crashed down just as fast as it was built. You must pick up the Embers of the Eagle, and rebuild the world.
