Albert Einstein was reported to have said, “It’s important to make things a simple as possible, but never simpler”.

I suppose it may have been important to share this advice with Napoleon during the planning for his retreat from Leipzig on October 19, 1813.

While Napoleonian was battling with Russia his army ran into some issues while trying to advance beyond the town of Leipzig. Well, I guess more accurately stated -the battle in Leipzig had been going on for 4 days and Napoleon and his allies were having trouble moving forward. They were in fact taking serious losses, and it appeared to be an untenable situation. 

So, a brilliant plan to pull back out of Leipzig and preserve his army was devised.

The plan was discussed, detailed assignments were given, and everyone went to do their part. Unfortunately, not everyone knew what their part was - exactly - and it went downhill from there.

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