Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

The Crimean Viceroyalty was primarily aimed at the Ottoman Empire. As for the Qajar dynasty of Persia, it was merely to support the Caucasian Viceroy and provide logistical support. Fighting there did not seem to be his responsibility.

Moreover, his old friend Yermolov was sent to the Caucasus, first as ambassador to the court of the Shah of the Persian Empire, and later as governor of the Caucasus.

In fact, the two of them worked together quite well in Kutuzov's headquarters, and since they had known each other for a long time, they had a good relationship.

Yermolov was negotiating with the Persian side in Tehran last year, and has now returned to the Caucasus, but not there to prepare for war.

He invited Solovyov to his post across the southern Russian steppes, also because he had important matters to discuss.

Solovyov had always been very curious about the Caucasus, where the military forces were not large and the Russian army corps there had never been at full strength.

This is the place where we always face overwhelming enemies.

In fact, Solovyov had spent a long time in Russia, so he inevitably became somewhat tyrannical, and his attempts to persuade people with reason turned into the use of physical means.
But before that, diplomatic negotiations must be conducted.

Solovyov's only criterion for resorting to violence was that people like you simply wouldn't listen to reason.

Now Yermolov has invited him to the Caucasus because he has important matters to discuss.

He simply changed his appearance and went to the Don River to find Bao Hong.

How do you think of my outfit?

"You do look a bit like someone from Chechnya, but you're missing that big beard."

"I can't help it, I never grow a beard. This big beard is too Chechen-like, it's not good."

At this time, the Cossacks' clothing was also beginning to be influenced by the fierce mountain people of the Caucasus, especially the Terek Cossacks who lived right on the outskirts of the Caucasus.

Solovyov disguised himself as a Cossack and went to Yermolov's place to conceal his whereabouts.

The Ottoman Empire was already on high alert because of his presence on the edge of the Circassian and Tatar pastures.

Who knows if this guy will lead his army to sweep through that area within the Ottoman Empire again.

Now the Ottoman Empire no longer has France to restrain Russia, and His Majesty the Sultan knows what the British are doing; they will always provide all support except for assistance.

Unless Russia actually marches on Constantinople, the British will not intervene.

The Sultan knew this, but the Shah of Persia did not.

Solovyov, who was going through a lot of Cossack territory, invited his old friend Baohong to go with him. He was taking his Don Cossacks with him, and they were originally going to provide support to Yermolov.

Yermolov's report to St. Petersburg also made it very clear that the Persian Shah had gone back on his word regarding territorial issues.

If Solovyov were to go openly, given his glorious record of being the "chosen one" among those devout Orthodox Christians in the Middle East, annihilating an Ottoman army of 200,000 in a single battle, even the Persian Shah would probably worry about whether the "Scourge of God" would strike.

Moreover, the Shah himself knew exactly who wasn't Halal.

Although Alexander's stance was very high, after the signing of the peace treaty between the two sides in 1813, the Tsar's demands on Persia were not so harsh. He even proposed that after the part of the land north of Lake Van was handed over to Russia, Russia would cede some land previously occupied by Russia in the south.

It was clear that Alexander did not want to provoke both the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Empire, two powerful empires, in the Caucasus Mountains at the same time. They had far too many people, and fighting them would be too troublesome.

However, the Persian Shah signed a treaty with the British, in which Britain would support the Persian Empire's territorial claims in some areas of the Caucasus.

"Alyosha, is this all?"

After Solovyov arrived at Yermolov's place, he also saw copies of the Treaty of Tehran signed between Britain and Persia, as well as the Treaty of Gulistan between Russia and Poland.

"We obtained this through the Armenian eunuchs in the court of the Persian Shah in Tabriz."

“These eunuchs don’t seem very loyal either.”

"Misha, whatever you think is fine."

Yermolov had witnessed Solovyov's astonishing knowledge, which ranged from astronomy to geography.

If we weren't old friends, it would probably be like the Russian folklore: Count Solovyov was the angel Michael descended to earth, made a pact with Emperor Paul to protect Russia, and brought a blizzard on Napoleon's retreat route. If you could believe that, it would be somewhat superstitious.

However, when Solovyov first entered the St. Petersburg circle, he did translate "Romance of the Three Kingdoms." As for the character of Zhuge Liang, although Solovyov was a fierce warrior and often personally appeared in the most dangerous areas, and had experienced many close-quarters battles, it was difficult to associate him with fierce generals.

There's no way around it; his most prominent characteristic when fighting is that he uses his brain.

The bloody battle at Convex Fortress was merely a embellishment.
But when Yermolov met Solovyov, he was still looking at the translated text of the document when he sat there.

He was clearly not that "superhuman" either; Solovyov often described his Latin and Greek as barely passable.

Not to mention that these Persian texts all need to be translated before reading.

"If that's the case, the British will probably support the Persians, but only to embolden them. If something happens on our side, they will definitely take action, and they'll find an excuse to do so."

"Will that really happen?"

"Alyosha, you can't deal with Persians using conventional thinking. You should know this better than I do."

When Yermolov visited Tabriz and Tehran, he discovered that the Persians were quite strange, and their thought processes were probably different from those of the Russians.

"That's true to some extent, but what's your opinion?"

"What else can we do? If there's the slightest sign of trouble on our side, they'll take immediate action. We can't accept any form of negotiation until we've completely defeated them, and when they surrender, we'll use the harshest measures."

It wasn't just the Persians; Russia's neighbors always seemed to take some action whenever there was a change of regime within Russia.

If Sweden and the Ottoman Empire did it, the Persian Empire will surely do it too.

Especially the upper echelons of the Qajar dynasty in Persia, their way of thinking was indeed quite strange, a typical case of left and right brain fighting each other, and there were also quite a few pro-Russian forces within their ranks.

What's even more outrageous is that every time the Persians threatened Britain with support, they would claim they would bring in pro-Russian officials.

Then, Britain might actually have to give in.

Solovyov listened patiently to Yermolov's account of his past experiences in Tehran, which he found very valuable. Solovyov himself was more knowledgeable about Britain; after all, aside from a few pro-British figures, probably no one in Russia understood Britain better than him.

"If that's the case, Alyosha, I think we're in for a good show."

Solovyov knew that the British wouldn't send ground troops; they would probably only send their navy to make a show of force.

Further assistance would likely involve the supply of large quantities of weapons and ammunition from the East India Company, which would land at ports in the southern part of the Persian Empire to arm the army of the Persian Shah.

The army's combat effectiveness was so poor that it was easily defeated.

The Russian army often faces off against tens of thousands of troops with only a few thousand men, or even tens of thousands against tens of thousands, and then defeats the loosely organized enemy forces.

After the Persians were defeated, the British would provide all kinds of support, including assistance; this was their long-standing practice.

Without a strong ally, the British wouldn't have gotten involved themselves.

To deal with the Russians, Russia just happens to be too strong.

Even if you gave this incomplete Persian Empire a time traveler, it would be very difficult for them to turn things around, given the numerous domestic problems they faced.

The only reason this country has been able to survive is because of its unique location and the fact that no major power has the intention of annexing its territory or establishing colonies there.

The local people are still known for their fierce and unruly nature, which can sometimes leave people confused.

But their fighting strength was really not strong. Not to mention compared to the previous dynasties of the Persian Empire, they were probably not even comparable to Darius III. They could only be compared to Cambyses I.

If you ask who Cambyses I is?
He was Cyrus the Great's father and Media's son-in-law. At that time, Persia was still a small country dependent on Media. In the blink of an eye, it swallowed up Cyrus, which was also caused by Media's own messy actions.

Darius III was at least a strategist, though he lacked courage.

The current Shah of Persia requires Russia to recognize the status of his crown prince, Abbas Mirza, as stipulated in the treaty.

Persia was also modernizing, but at a very slow pace, and there was a great deal of internal opposition, including many who opposed foreigners.

Azerbaijan is also on the front lines of the Persian Empire, and they are currently in a standoff with Russia and the Ottoman Empire.

Solovyov was also aware that border relations between the two sides were tense.

However, he had no interest in plotting any divisive tactics, and it was even difficult to say whether the war between the two countries was instigated by Russia, Britain, or by themselves.

Russia has always coveted the northern part of Lake Van, and Solovyov was well aware of this strategy; the goal had been set since the time of the Empress.

However, he personally prefers Persian cats and wants to give each of his beloved daughters one of these adorable kittens.

His daughters have a special fondness for both big and small cats, including the Caspian tigers in the large zoo, as well as the Javan tigers, Bali tigers, and cheetahs they brought back for breeding. The place is big enough that they can definitely run around.

However, Yermolov was unaware of his thoughts; Solovyov, simply because of his habitual glance at maps, assumed that he had some scheme in mind.

"Misha, what are you thinking about?"

Why did the Emperor choose to back down here?

"I think he also doesn't want war to break out in the south at this time."

The stereotype is that Russia's greed for land is outrageous.

However, on the Persian border, the Russians were committed to exchanging land, and they knew that the Caucasus Mountains were indeed a difficult place to deal with.

Even though Russia offered concessions, the Persians simply refused to listen.

Thus, the Russian and Persian armies faced off in the border region, and the Persian army was also reinforcing its troops.

"If necessary, we should let the Turks and Persians fight. We can observe from the sidelines and then we will know their fighting strength."

Most of Azerbaijan was under the control of the Persian Empire, and later the northern part of Azerbaijan was occupied by Russia.

Solovyov was even considering building a forward base for the Caucasus Governor in the newly established city of Elizabethville.

The place is named after Luisa in Russia, which shows that Russia also attaches great importance to the territory in the Caucasus.

Furthermore, Russia doesn't seem to care much about the Caucasus right now; it's always been a relatively minor area.

Several southward expansions, beginning with the reign of Peter the Great, ultimately failed, with Afshar even managing to eliminate their strongholds on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea.

That Afshar then convened a Kurultai in this area, which seemed more like something a Mongol would do than something a Persian or Turkmen would do.

The repeated southern expeditions, coupled with the pressure from other directions each time a war was fought here, meant that for Russia, going south into the Caucasus would indeed be a losing proposition unless there was a specific reason and resources to plunder.

The biggest benefit was probably to the two Khanates of Nashchevan and Yerevan, where there were more Armenians, many of whom maintained their original Armenian Orthodox faith, and many of whom sought asylum in Russia.

However, many of these people are also business people, and they are considered to be in the same industry as the squid next door.

These areas were also good sources of tax revenue, so the Persians were not very willing to give them up.

If the two sides really go to war in the future, Armenians can also fight for it.

These people have lived in Mesopotamia since the beginning of civilization. There were once relatively powerful states there, but they were quickly reduced to the filling in a sandwich, the filling in a crepe, or the egg in an egg pancake by the Roman Empire and Parthia.

At this time, not only was most of Georgia's territory under Russian control, but many Georgian nobles had also been accepted as Russian nobles and were even in the Russian army.

If Prince Bagration were still alive, given his influence, he would have been a more suitable candidate to serve as governor of the Caucasus.

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs".

When Solovyov and Yermolov were planning their strategy, they also had to consider that the borders of the Caucasus still needed to be stable.

Alexander had no interest in participating in any war at this time, not even the war on the Greek side. Many nobles from various European countries had brought their own provisions to the war, but the Tsar himself remained indifferent.

The reign of this mysterious Tsar, in its later stages, entered a strange state; the monarch seemed offline, yet also seemed omnipresent. (End of Chapter)