[286] Compare the dispatches of March 30, where it is demonstrated that Soult has nothing to fear for Badajoz, because Wellington cannot detach more than 15,000 men against it, and that of December 12, where it is demonstrated that Soult having 80,000 men should be ashamed of himself for allowing the ‘affront’ of Arroyo dos Molinos to be put upon him by Hill and 6,000 British. [287] ‘Il ne faut pas se diviser: il faut réunir ses forces, présenter des masses imposantes: toutes les troupes qu’on laisse en arrière courent le risque d’être battues en détail, ou forcées d’abandonner les postes,’ &c. Napoleon to Soult, _Correspondance_, December 6, 1811. It was useless, therefore, for the Emperor to reiterate his orders that his marshals were to join their armies and ‘livrer enfin une belle bataille’ against Wellington[288]. It takes two sides to fight a battle, and Wellington was determined never to accept a general action, when the numbers were hopelessly against him. He would give back into Portugal, and the enemy could not follow him for more than a march or two. [288] Napoleon to Berthier; orders for Bessières and Marmont of May 26, 1811. Meanwhile, though he could not undertake to descend himself into Portugal, Napoleon did not cease to pour troops across the Pyrenees. It is often said that after Masséna’s expedition of 1810 he began to neglect the Peninsula, and to turn all his thoughts towards the growing tension with Russia. This is not correct; it ignores the fact that the French armies in Spain rose to their highest numbers during the year 1811. While not ceasing to send their regular drafts to all the corps there engaged, the Emperor dispatched three new divisions of his best troops to the front during the summer. These were no collections of newly-raised fourth battalions or _régiments de marche_, but old units of high reputation, drawn partly from the Army of Italy, partly from the garrisons of the coasts of France. One division, under General Souham, ultimately went to join the Army of Portugal, the second, under General Caffarelli, was absorbed in the Army of the North, the third, under General Reille, was sent to reinforce the garrison of Navarre and Aragon, where Suchet wanted fresh troops to occupy the land behind him, when he was pushing forward towards Catalonia and Valencia. In addition, two fresh regiments of Italian troops were requisitioned from the Viceroy Eugène Beauharnais for service in eastern Spain[289]. The total reinforcement to the armies beyond the Pyrenees amounted to some 25,000 men, in addition to the regular annual draft of conscripts. The deficit in the strength of the French forces caused by Masséna’s losses in Portugal was more than made up, and the gross total in October 1811 amounted to no less than 368,000 men. Nothing was withdrawn from the Peninsula till the following winter.