The star of Napoleon Bonaparte could not have risen so high if Aleksandar Suvorov hadn’t lived a little longer.
During his long life (1730-1800) he participated in seven great wars, won 60 battles and did not lose any of them! Suvorov was very different from the generals of his time - he preferred to act slowly, defensively and attack only if the opponent had a numerical advantage. "You have to fight with skills, not numbers," was his response. "Instead of exposing your troops to enemy fire, you must wipe out the attack with a bold and quick bayonet, even if you are inferior in numbers.
"The bullet is a fool, and the bayonet is a hero," he said.
The two greatest generals of this era - Napoleon Bonaparte and Suvorov - must have heard of each other. "He is a hero, he is a great fighter, he is a magician," the Generalissimo wrote to the French military leader in a letter to his nephew. Bonaparte, on the other hand, is much more modest in his praise, claiming that Suvorov has the heart, but also the mind of a great general. It is not clear which of the two is better at waging war, as they have never met on the battlefield.
