Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 158 015 Petersburg's Bitter Falling Tower (Part )
General Bennigsen, whose full name is Lewin August von Bennigsen, was the former commander of the Izyum Hussar Regiment. When you see the word "von", you can tell that he came from the German princes.

He came from Hanover, and when he served in Russia, he was already a lieutenant colonel. Hanover and Britain had the same boss.

Looking at the Zubov brothers, who have always had relations with the British, and some other officers, it looks like a pro-British conference in Russia.

In past Russian coups, members of the royal family would join in with some sense of mission, but this time Alexander and Constantine were actually left out, so their role was discounted in any way.

Bennigsen had not expected that there were not many people conspiring in General Tarezin's apartment at that time, but today, so many people could come to Count Zubov's house.

"General Bennigsen, our operation was originally to be divided into two teams. We must assign the teams here today and announce the plan."

When Count von Paalen gathered these people, he prepared a lot of champagne. They drank while listening to the plan.

Alcohol makes cowards brave. If they don't have a few drinks in their stomachs, no matter how much they eat, they will not have the courage to enter the emperor's bedroom and launch a coup.

"Our specific actions are to first withdraw the guards of the 1st Battalion of the Preobrazhensky Regiment from the Mikhailovsky Palace and replace them with the 4th Battalion and the 3rd Battalion of the Semenovsky Regiment, on the grounds that His Majesty will summon them to the review the next morning."

"This should be easy. The regiment commander and the herald adjutant are both our men, so it should be easy to transfer them."

After all, General Bennigsen had rich combat experience, so compared to these guards who had never been on the battlefield, he naturally had to raise questions.

"But we want to mobilize the Semyonovsky Regiment. Where is their commander?"

"General Bennigsen, the general on duty at the Winter Palace today is Prince Bagration. He insisted on dragging several officers to play cards, so they were all left at the Winter Palace."

"This Bagration has always been addicted to gambling. It would be best to hold him back and not mobilize the Guards Chasseurs."

"Next, we will explain the arrangements for entering the palace. Count von Paalen will lead one team, and General Bennigsen will lead another. After triggering the alarm in the palace, we need an adjutant to gather all the guards. The soldiers of these two battalions, as well as some officers, do not know the specific purpose of our operation."

Even Count von Paaren is still concealing the fact that his ultimate goal is regicide.

"Sounding the alarm will attract the attention of the guards. But there is still a problem. What should we do with the soldiers at the door of the palace? If they start to move, everyone in the palace will know."

"This is also simple. Among all the sleeping palaces at night, only the emperor and the empress's bedrooms have the same rotation. The same rotation is also carried out in the stables and the young prince's bedroom."

General Bennigsen instinctively noticed that there were too many problems in this plan. If the leader finally backed down, the coup plan would fail. It all depended on the determination of the commander.

"As for the alarm in the palace, Marin and Boltoratsky, as adjutants of this regiment, you must give appropriate explanations to the officers and soldiers on duty, and leave enough time for the two action teams to reach the palace. In addition, you must block the secret passage from the palace to Princess Gagarina, and don't let him escape."

At this time, Count Platon Zubov stood up and said something: "Ladies and gentlemen, when our great Queen was in power, she once told me in person that when her soul went to God, she would pass the throne to Alexander, now the Crown Prince. Not long ago, we already knew that His Royal Highness supported our action. At this time, no matter what, there should be a new monarch, that is, the current Crown Prince Alexander!"

"Count, what should we do with the one sitting on the throne?"

"I think he should be sent to the fortress on Lake Ladoga, which will be easier to manage."

Until now, Count Zubov did not want to take the responsibility for regicide, and Count von Paalen himself, as the mastermind behind the entire conspiracy, was obviously not in line with the ideas of others at this time.

"We want to have an omelet, so we need to break the eggs first."

Although it is not stated explicitly, Count von Paaren's statement implies that regicide is likely to be the final outcome.

These people were wearing ribbons representing their participation in the action and carrying weapons. Many of them had drunk a lot of champagne, and after getting drunk, they began to march towards the Mikhailovsky Palace.

Before the plot and the banquet on their side were over, Paul had just returned to the palace from dinner. He was going to spend an hour with Princess Gagarina in her room today, but the prince and his wife were there and they were just chatting there.

Paul also wrote a note here, but the outside world does not know the specific content.

"Okay, I should go back too. You guys should also get some rest early."

Then Paul went up the stairs and returned to his bedroom, ready to lie down and rest.

At this time, he saw his appearance in the mirror, and it was the same as what he saw when he passed by here before. Because of the angle of light and shadow, his appearance was distorted.

While chatting with General Kutuzov, he also mentioned possible death.

“Going to another world is not about sewing backpacks.”

He still had a premonition, but what was going to happen, whether there would be a coup or not, no one would know for sure until the actual action took place.

At the same time, Count von Paalen's arrangement was random and chaotic. Although they were divided into two groups, the personnel arrangement was very random. General Bennigsen believed that the organization of these thirty people was too chaotic and nothing could be accomplished.

In other words, he had to drink a few fewer glasses so that he could keep his mind clear throughout the entire incident and not be led astray by these guys.

The two adjutants didn't drink much either. They wanted to keep their minds clear so that they could lift the alarm.

Under the order of General Tarejin, the 1st Battalion received an order that His Majesty the Emperor would see them on the review ground the next morning, so they had to make preparations early and rotate with the Guards troops that came to relieve them.

In this way, the 1st Battalion was transferred away, but the sentries at several key posts responsible for internal security were not moved.

Agapeev was standing guard at Paul's door. This was a reward he had received for his previous dedication to duty, and he was on guard duty at the Tsar's door.

He was also aware of the transfers outside, but even if someone really wanted him to change his position here, he would not leave.

He remembered that the major had told him that when on duty, he should stay by the emperor's side and not leave for a single moment that night!

There was also a Guards Hussar behind the door, but the new battalion commander of the 1st Battalion did not like to use secret sentries, so he removed the secret sentry post at the door. That position was hidden diagonally opposite to Agapeev's position.

Count von Paalen, Count Nikolai and Count Platon Zubov, and General Bennigsen led these officers to the castle of Mikhailovsky Palace. Their only worry now was that there was a general on duty beside Paul, and that lieutenant general was absolutely loyal to Paul. But there was also Major General Kutuzov beside him, who was responsible for operating in the office of the general on duty, and had a heavy responsibility.

Anyway, no one could have imagined that the Tsar’s own aide-general would directly participate in the conspiracy group. This position was very critical.

The team led by Count von Paalen was to carry out the arrests, especially those who were loyal to Paul. He was the governor of Petersburg and had the right to do so. Afterwards, they had to try to get in touch with the two grand dukes - but Alexander and Constantine had returned to the palace. Alexander would normally accompany Louisa at this time every day. Although he was a playboy, he still took good care of his wife when she was pregnant.

As for Grand Duke Constantine, after returning to the palace tonight, he just prepared to go to bed. He was often depressed after quarreling with his wife.

This configuration was a headache for Count von Paalen, after all, except for a few officers of the Izmailov Regiment, they had hardly been able to infiltrate. At the same time, the Pavlovsk Regiment was stationed in the northwest corner of the Ares Square, and if it took any action, it would inevitably alert the grenadiers.

As for Alexander, since he was in the Winter Palace, it was not convenient for him to deliver the news immediately.

And he didn't know that Alexander's acting skills deceived everyone. He didn't make any statement, but he had to make a decision in the end.

Led by Captain Algamakov, General Bennigsen and the Zubov brothers entered through the side door on the Nevsky Avenue, while Count von Paalen went through the main entrance.

The Guards had just finished changing shifts, and some of them were drunk, so they started singing as they walked towards the palace gate, which naturally caused chaos.

When the alarm sounded, the messenger adjutants of the two regiments who had been arranged earlier had already arrived at the alarm location. Seeing the Guards soldiers gathering because of the "fire", they also knew that this moment would buy time for both action teams.

Moreover, most of the officers in the two battalions stationed tonight still support the coup.

Agapeev heard the fire alarm, opened the door and looked inside at the hussar Kirillov.

"What's going on, man?"

"I don't know, brother. We two are on guard for the emperor. We should stay at our posts. If there is an assassin or a fire, we two brothers will have to protect the emperor!"

After they finished talking, they each guarded the door, one inside and one outside.

Nikolay Zubov was different from his brother. He walked in front carelessly, but Count Platon retreated a little because he heard the alarm after all.

"Let's go, we're doomed!"

"We have come this far, Count. Aren't you ashamed? You have come up with such a conspiracy and brought us all into the palace. Can you take back the bullets you fired? If we go back now, we will definitely die. If the operation fails, we will also go to the gallows! Now we can only move forward!"

By the way, General Bennigsen must have been cursing in his heart, wondering what had blinded him to participate in a coup with such a coward, pretty boy, and bootlicker?

Their action team came to the floor where Paul's bedroom was located. There was also patrol officer Arsenyev on the side of the corridor. They did not intend to alarm this guy.

After the patrol officers arrived at the regiment's sentry post, they were intimidated by Count von Paalen. After all, the count held several important positions beside Paul, and were asked to wait in a certain room.

The Zubov brothers and Bennigsen continued to lead their men to the door of Paul's bedroom. Agapev saw someone in the corridor. He was about to raise the bayonet of his rifle, but he didn't expect that the tall Count Nikolai Zubov would hit him on the head from behind, knocking him unconscious temporarily and causing blood to flow all over the floor.

Kirillov inside heard the noise, and he didn't know what was going on.

"Brother, what's going on outside?"

But he was even more helpless than Agapeev. The man standing guard at the door suffered from the disadvantage of having a spear in his hand and was attacked from behind by Count Nicholas, otherwise he would have opened fire long ago.

Kirillov pulled a pistol from his waist and loaded it, but when he opened the door, he conceded a death, and Count Nicholas scored a double kill.

However, although his attacks looked ruthless, they were not fatal. They just broke their heads and caused a lot of bleeding. The scene was quite scary.

At this moment, the sentries at the two gates were knocked down. The last line of defense was the door to the inner chamber of the Tsar's bedroom, which was guarded by two servants.

As an adjutant who could move freely in the palace, Algamakov's advantage was obvious at this time.

When the servants inside asked him questions, he could make up lies with his eyes open.

"Who is it? Making such a noise at this time of night?"

"It's me, Argamakov, the major-adjutant of the parade ground."

His position is very important and he has the right to report to Paul at any time.

"Isn't it too early for you to come in at this time?"

"It's almost six o'clock!"

"You're talking nonsense! It's just past midnight!" The servant was still a little alert. He looked at the clock and then at his pocket watch to confirm that the time was correct.

"Damn it, your watch is broken! If I am punished by the emperor because of your stupidity, can you bear it? Damn it, will you open the door or not?"

The servants knew that they were of low status and could not afford to offend these officials, so they finally opened the door.

Then, these dozen people entered Paul's bedroom, but after they came in, they found the bed was empty.

Count Platon panicked again: "The bird has flown away"

It was Bennigsen again. He touched the bed and it was still warm.

"The nest is warm and the bird hasn't flown far yet."

(End of this chapter)