Entering Vienna on the twelfth, Murat hastened to the Tabor bridge, which, as had been his hope and expectation, he found all laid with combustibles ready to be set on fire by a garrison troop of Austrians who had retreated to the opposite shore, but had not destroyed the bridge. The danger was real and the crisis imminent. Taking advantage of the fact that on the third the Emperor Francis had vainly endeavored to open negotiations with Napoleon, Murat declared to the Austrian commander what he knew to be an untruth--that an armistice had been concluded, and that there was still some prospect of peace. Bertrand fortified the statement by his word of honor; the Austrians withheld their torches, and the French crossed the bridge, while the victimized garrison drew back in the direction of Brünn. The union of the two Russian divisions with the remnants of the Austrian army was thus rendered doubtful, and their chances of defeating the reunited French were doubly uncertain. Napoleon's reputation as a strategist was saved in extremity. By another series of almost superhuman marches his main army reached Vienna on the next day, ready to follow on Murat's heels. On the fourteenth Napoleon's headquarters were established in the palace of Schönbrunn. CHAPTER XXXII TRAFALGAR AND AUSTERLITZ[33] [Footnote 33: In addition to the references given, see the works of Burke, also the volumes of Alembert and Colin, of Schönhals, and of Rüstow on the war of 1805; the Diaries of Sir G. Jackson; Bernhardi: "Denkwürdigkeiten" of Count Toll; Friant: Vie militaire du Lieutenant-Général Comte Friant; Chénier: Histoire de la vie militaire, politique et administrative du Maréchal Davout; Bernard: Art de la Guerre; Yorck von Wartenburg: Napoleon als Feldherr; Dodge: Napoleon.] The English Navy -- Villeneuve's Plight -- Preliminary Manoeuvers -- The Attack off Trafalgar -- Victory of the English -- Suicide of Villeneuve -- The Effects of the Battle -- Prussia and the Continental Campaign -- Napoleon's March to Vienna -- The Combat near Hollabrunn -- Napoleon's Situation -- The Czar Decides for Battle -- The Struggle for Position -- Plans of the Antagonists -- The Eve of Conflict -- The Battle-field of Austerlitz -- The Struggle for Pratzen -- The Allies Overwhelmed -- Napoleon and Francis -- Conduct of the Czar -- The Fighting at Austerlitz -- The New Tactics.