- All the generals get together for a council of war.
- Kutuzov knows no one is going to listen to him, so he just full-out goes to sleep at the meeting, like with snoring and everything.
- General Weyrother is going to be leading the attack.
- He reads out the long battle plan, which is complicated and boring and based on the idea that they know how Napoleon’s army is positioned.
- All the other men are jockeying for position without really questioning the Weyrother plan.
- Weyrother has a smart-aleck answer to every objection.
- Andrei tries to get a word in but can’t.
- Finally, Weyrother is all, "OK guys, the plan is all set and can’t be changed, so let’s go home and get ready."
- Andrei leaves the council feeling like this style of war planning is messed up. How come these officers only care about their own political standing and not soldiers’ lives?
- Then, suddenly, Andrei realizes that he could die the next day.
- He freaks out and thinks about his family and friends and how he loves them.
- But then he immediately starts fantasizing about having a winning strategy for the battle, then winning the battle single-handedly and being promoted to general.
- He admits to himself that he really, really, pretty-please-with-a-cherry-on-top, wants military glory. For some reason this is a big secret that he won’t tell anyone.