General Frost is the name that the Russian winter received after it became an important factor to ensure the failure of the invasion of the country and develop winter warfare in Russia.
During the invasion of the Swedish Empire in the 18
th century, the Russians adopted a scorched-earth policy. This strategy consists on burning the crops and the villages to ensure that the enemy can’t restore their supplies or find shelter. The winter of 1709 was so brutal that even Venice’s seaport froze. The army of Charles XII of Sweden was so crippled that by spring only 19,000 out of 35,000 men had survived. The high casualties ensured the later fall of the Swedish Empire.
In 1812, Napoleon’s
headed towards Moscow. Russia followed the same plan as against Sweden and proceeded to burn everything. Although the French army had already been reduced to a sixth part of the original numbers (100,000 men out of 610,000 had survived), their attempt to retreat was full of further disasters, caused by the incoming winter, and the casualties increased even more. Many sources agreed that winter was a contributing factor to Napoleon’s defeat. The Russian soldier and poet Denis Davydov wrote an analysis titled
“Was it Frost that devastated the French army in 1812?”. This was the first time that the name of General Frost was mentioned.
During World War II, Hitler’s
was severely punished by the winter as well. The combination of the Führer’s confidence on a quick victory and the delays in the German army’s movement made them unprepared for winter warfare, losing more than 700,000 men.
General Frost isn’t actually a human, but a Nature Spirit, a kind of Elemental born from a natural phenomenon. She acts as part of Gaia’s sense of touch, the Counter Force, and is given a flesh body from the World itself, from which she is able to receive mana.
Originally Posted by JetKinen
