A very accurate portrayal of the trials of the French - and allied - armies in Spain and Portugal., which is echoed in all the German accounts that I have read.
On page 31, mention is made of Soult`s foraging parties; when he first invaded Portugal, he was ordered by Napoleon: `do not take food; do not stop for food . . . 20,000 men can live in a desert.`
When the supreme commander of an army has such an attitude towards logistics, it is scarcely surprising that the campaigns in the Peninsula degenerated so quickly and so badly.
Compare the situation of the French soldier in Spain with that of the British under Wellington.