Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 164 021 Petersburg Unlimited Fighting Tournament (V)

Solovyov did not expect that Louisa would be so courageous that she dared to confront the Queen, now Queen Mother Maria, directly. Her body was light, but what she did was something that many men could not do.

Even Constantine admired his sister-in-law very much. Normally, she felt that breathing too much in front of the Queen Mother was a crime. However, today, with just a few simple words, she completely destroyed the Queen Mother's opportunity to learn from the advanced experience of the four queens.

When Alexander rode over, the soldiers also knew the general situation. That night, their beloved emperor was murdered by treacherous officials, and the crown prince and His Royal Highness Constantine urgently mobilized troops to suppress the rebellion. At this time, the queen did this, imitating the behavior of the two great queens in the past to call on the guards, which was a bit too funny.

As for being choked back by his daughter-in-law, it was somewhat funny, especially the frail Crown Princess. She looked really pretty. This was the unanimous opinion in St. Petersburg, and it was also the unanimous opinion that she was not in good health.

The young officers in the square, the married ones envied Count Tickenhausen, and all envied Major Soloviev, who could have Her Majesty the Empress leaning on their arms.

"Your Highness, the situation has calmed down. Do you have any instructions?"

"Wait for Alexander first, until he joins the soldiers."

When Alexander appeared among the soldiers riding a white horse and wearing gorgeous military uniform, some people began to cheer.

"Hurrah, Alexander, our little Tsar father! Hurah! Hurah!"

It has to be said that Alexander had a very good face. He had always been a rare talent among men and was destined to become the Tsar. He rode his horse into the crowd and saw the Queen Mother and Louisa who were surrounded among them.

In fact, Louisa had become the queen, but she was not aware of it yet. But after hearing the soldiers' cheers, she felt relieved and leaned on Solovyov's shoulder.

This was very tormenting for the Major. It was true that he liked Louisa, but he didn't want to commit suicide, especially when Alexander came riding straight towards him.

Of course, what Alexander was more concerned about at this time was that the soldiers cheered unanimously and supported him to become the new emperor of all Russia.

This is a natural actor, destined for big scenes. If there is a camera, he will probably have a good sense of the camera.

Solovyov had never noticed before that Alexander was also a "five-star general", but he was handsome and didn't smoke a corncob pipe.

As he dismounted, he whispered a few words to Louisa.

"Lisa, my queen, my muse, if you can still hold on, let's ride together and accept the cheers of the soldiers, okay?"

His sweet words have always been very lethal. Louisa did not resist and was helped onto the horse by Alexander. The couple accepted the cheers of the soldiers together on the horse.

Although Alexander was a compassionate person, he also knew that his mother's trouble today was finally resolved with a few words from his weak wife.

In this way, he had to make a statement and not let people have any other ideas. He also disregarded the "dignity" of the royal family. He hugged Louisa tightly and kissed her.

Although some soldiers whistled and cheered regardless of the occasion, there were more people shouting "Ura" afterwards.

However, Alexander knew that today was not the day for them to ride horses and gallop together on the Field of Mars. What he had to deal with now was the regicides who were still in the Mikhailovsky Palace.

He himself did not expect that Count von Paalen would be so bold as to kill the king, which he could not accept.

Although the Zubov brothers and General Bennigsen released the Queen Mother, he did not intend to end it so easily.

But what he should do depends on the situation, so he turned his attention to his entourage and generals.

This was a question of what to do, but Solovyov was quite good at giving a way out at this time.

In addition, he just helped Alexander put Louisa on the horse and held Louisa in his arms for a long time, which was really exciting.

Being close means getting benefits, and he was the first to kneel on one knee to show his loyalty. As an aide-de-camp and the actual commander of the current regiment, he did get a big bargain.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to be the first to pledge my allegiance to you."

"Of course, Solovyov, you have accomplished three great things today, but the problem now is that we need to put down the rebellion quickly."

"Your Majesty, I see that many of the rebels have been coerced, and it seems that many of them have been deceived. In this case, please allow me to command the Guards Artillery Battalion, and I will speak to the people in the palace."

"Okay, Major Solovyov, you are now the commander of the Guards Artillery Battalion, and also my aide-de-camp."

Although he had military power, his rank had not changed at all. After all, he had been with Alexander for only a month under Paul's orders, and the three great achievements were just lip service. What would happen in the future was another matter.

Working for this actor is not as good as chatting with Louisa and making her happy, and it has many benefits compared to being Paul's bodyguard.

But with the Guards Artillery Battalion in control, it is clear what to do at this time.

"General Bennigsen, since you are all here, please go back and tell the brothers in the palace. If they surrender to the new emperor now, there is still a chance of leniency. Otherwise, they are rebels, and I will use the Unicorn Cannon of the Guards Artillery Battalion to blow them up one by one!"

His words made Bennigsen tremble a little. After all, it was the first time he saw a ruthless guy who dared to directly threaten to fire artillery shells into the palace.

However, in order to bring this matter to an end and to allow the unlucky guy who was deceived to be forgiven, Bennigsen turned around and found Count Zubov.

Gathered in the palace were soldiers from four battalions of the Guards. After it had been clearly declared outside that Alexander would become the new emperor, the positions of Count von Paalen and the Zubov brothers became very delicate.

However, Count Zubov has a better mentality. Although his elder brother is reckless and even fought with the late emperor, he is the son-in-law of the Grand Marshal. Alexander is usually very kind to the Grand Marshal's family and will not necessarily involve him.

As for the other two brothers, one was not involved in this matter at all, and the other was disabled in the war and did not participate in tonight's action. If they were investigated, they would not be punished. The trouble was on him, but he didn't have any worries. After all, he had been serving the queen for the past few years. As long as he didn't involve his family too much, it would be fine.

As for the sister who was Lord Whitworth's mistress, as long as she ran to London, nothing would happen. He also heard some rumors that the support funds that the British were suspected to have given them were hidden by his sister. These days, there are people who dare to take any dirty money.

At this time, he was inclined to surrender, and it was no big deal for him anyway.

When he courted the 14-year-old girl Louisa in the palace, he praised her for her beauty, saying she was like an angel. It was also a farce in the palace. The queen did not pursue the matter afterwards, and after all, nothing happened.

His idea was not wrong. After all, even if Alexander and his wife knew about his rebellion, they would probably not do anything to him. They would just send him to a distant place and not cause trouble in front of others.

This time he took the dominant position again, but several officers who took direct action refused to agree. After all, they had directly murdered the Tsar. For the crime of regicide, they would probably be hanged on the Field of War.

They ran to Count von Paalen, where Lieutenant General Tarezen, Aide-de-camp Major General Kutuzov and others were also present.

"This Zubov, he must have used his sweet words to win favor with the new emperor! He will offer us up and sell us, and then forgive his sins!"

"Governor, we all came here because of your call. Now our hands are stained with blood. You can't just sit there and do nothing!"

"I know, but where can we run to? The queen has been sent out, and we don't even have a hostage. What should we do?"

"I think, at this time, there is no other way but to surrender."

After saying this, Major General Kutuzov also left. He was not at the scene of the regicide. Instead, he felt that he was fooled by Count von Paalen and left the room on his own.

"As for me."

"General Tarejin, don't even think about getting the new emperor to forgive you. Without you, we wouldn't have been able to incite so many officers in the Guards to defect; without you, we wouldn't have been able to figure out the defense configuration of the Mikhailovsky Palace; without you, we wouldn't have been able to easily replace the 1st Battalion on duty; without you, the dead Paul wouldn't have let down his guard and given us this opportunity. Now is the time for us to escape and seek asylum at the British Embassy!"

No one else could have imagined this scenario, that he actually wanted to escape and to join the British.

If this succeeds, Solovyov will have to thank him, as he has found the mastermind behind the scenes, which will make it easier for the Diplomatic Academy to negotiate with the British.

But no one knew that he was going to escape, and the road to the east to Prince Potemkin's Tavrid Palace had never been blocked. When Prince Bagration deployed his troops, he mainly guarded the Winter Palace and the Marble Palace, and used the Cavalry Guards to block the Nevsky Avenue and the embankments of the two canals. He did not consider other directions much, and only then did he put down the rebellion.

"Or, after we escape, we can call back the troops and fight to the death!"

Some brainless people, such as Yashvili, the guy who strangled Paul with his own hands, advocate this line, and the worst that can happen is that both sides will be destroyed.

Then, some of the most violent guys at the time, as well as some of Count von Paalen's confidants, also advocated doing so!
"Here we are waiting to die. If we fight, we might have a chance! Besides, all these nobles have been hurt by Paul. Even the crown prince talks about abolishing serfdom, reforming the government, and formulating a constitution every day. I also heard that he wants to 'give the people a constitution, and then he will take his wife to live in seclusion on the banks of the Rhine'. There are many people in Russia who oppose people who say such things. Why don't we just run away, find like-minded people, and fight Alexander!"

"What happens after that?"

"I didn't think about what happened after that!"

However, there is one thing they should not have noticed, that is, there is no time now. Downstairs, the Zubov brothers and General Bennigsen are summoning the two battalions of the Semenovsky Regiment that joined later, and they are lining up to surrender.

For those upstairs, there is no such benefit.

Lieutenant General Tarejin is still the commander of the Guards Regiment, although there is actually only one and a half battalions. Just now, he saw the Crown Princess come in and take away the Queen, and many people followed her. He is already at the end of his rope, and the remaining people are more or less shaken. As long as an officer comes in and shouts at them, they may immediately defect.

"I think we should run now!"

In the end, this makeshift team made a hasty decision, but they wanted to run away, but where could they run to?
In the British Embassy, ​​Lord Whitworth was not quite sure what was happening outside, he just knew it was a mess.

With the Guards Cavalry taking to the streets, the troop movements within the city of St. Petersburg, and even two Unicorn Cannons passing by the entrance of the embassy, ​​he knew that what he expected should happen tonight.

But the progress was unknown. Since the coup plotters kept the matter secret and the city was under martial law, Lord Whitworth was unable to learn anything.

It was a coup d'etat without even a single shot being fired, which was quite strange.

As for the entire battalion of the Guards Artillery, and even the artillery of the 1st Artillery Regiment began to be mobilized, this made the lord even more curious, but the Guards Cavalry had blockaded all the embassies of various countries, so his efforts were in vain.

At this time, Count von Paalen escaped to the east, which indeed fooled everyone, just like he had concealed his plan before and only showed the dagger to murder Tsar Paul at the last moment.

Solovyov was not a professional artilleryman, but he knew one thing clearly: the closer the cannon was, the more accurate the hit would be; and the more powerful the cannon was equipped with a bayonet, the harder it could hit!

As for this kind of pressure, there are the Guards Chasseur Regiment providing cover on both sides, so even if the Guards inside want to resist, it will be useless.

If Napoleon knew about this, he would have praised him for this good arrangement, especially the artillery array on the Champ de Mars. First, it was a threat, and if the enemy's attitude softened, then everyone would be happy.

If the rebels put up a desperate resistance, and all the cannons that can be transported to St. Petersburg are brought in, then don't blame the shells for having no eyes.

And now Solovyov is asking the artillery to shout into the palace to undermine the morale of the rebels.

"Brothers, stop firing, we surrender!"

This was exactly the effect they wanted. General Bennigsen and the Zubov brothers brought all the soldiers inside out to lay down their arms and surrender, but they did not see Count von Paaren and others.

(End of this chapter)