Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 192 004 Cossack Cavalry Can Act Boldly

From Stockholm to the south, Solovyov traveled alone, which was not surprising, as the Russians always acted and fought alone.

This is not surprising, as can be seen from Vladimir Monomakh's nickname, which comes from the Grand Duke's grandfather, the Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine IX. The Grand Duke's crown is still a prop that is often used in coronations, especially in the Grand Coronation of Moscow.

So he knew what he had to do, he took off his military uniform, put it on like a young gentleman, and set off under an assumed name.

His own title was Baron, and he did not forget to make a joke by using a name that is not very famous in Russia today.

"Baron Max Otto von Stirlitz? You're really good at playing tricks, but considering that you speak German very well and your accent is like someone between Bavaria and Austria, it doesn't matter if you go there."

"General, I never thought that the King of Sweden would agree to my secret trip to these places."

"Go ahead, Stirlitz. I think it will be hard for anyone to find out who you are."

Especially with his appearance, his green eyes make him look less like a German.

The next step is for him to buy a horse.

The local specialty horse is a North Swedish horse developed from the Frisian horse, which can be used for riding or pulling carts.

"Sir, you come to see such a black horse, which can meet your needs."

"Have the horseshoes been laced?"

"It's a non-slip horseshoe. Look at this. Compared with the Russian horseshoes, our horseshoes are made of better iron."

"Thank you, sir. I hope to go for a walk. Not all horses are good-tempered."

"Of course you can. The horses here are very docile."

Solovyov tried riding the horse and found that these Swedish horse dealers were honest people. The price of this horse was even cheaper than if he bought an ordinary horse in Russia.

"What a good horse, what a good horse, this is the one."

Solovyov got such a good horse without spending much money, and then he put everything he needed on the horse.

The quickest route to Gotland would have required walking 150 versts on the ice, and this route could only be taken by cavalry detachments, rather than sending large infantry troops across the ice.

The hardness of the ice and the duration of the freezing period need to be taken into consideration, and the action is obviously bold and risky.

If you really want to fight, you have to consider many factors.

It was better not to fight, so he rode out of Stockholm on horseback, and the first larger city he wanted to go to was Norrköping.

The Russian army once reached here during the Great Northern War. Under the cover of the Baltic Fleet, the Russian army completely destroyed the city.

This is also the reason why Solovyov felt that this city was newer than other cities after he arrived at it on horseback. The destruction caused by the Russian army was very thorough. Norrkoping once had thousands of residents and textile factories, all of which were destroyed by the Russian army.

After Charles XII was shot in the head in Norway, Sweden went from bad to worse. The Top Hat Party wanted to go to war with Russia, but was defeated by Queen Elizabeth. The Queen's uncle was designated as the heir to the Swedish throne, and Peter III was determined to be the heir to Russia at that time. Sweden's in-laws and bloodline were all here.

In fact, over the past few decades, Russia has always been annoyed by the Swedes' fickleness, and the Swedes have been very dissatisfied with the loss of large tracts of territory. No matter what the top hat and cap parties did, except for the last war, the Swedish army has never even won a draw.

The textile industry here is still slowly recovering. The main industries are snuff and sugar making, and the profitability is pretty good. It seems that some of its former prosperity has been restored.

"Mr. Baron, you have to know that here, His Majesty the King held his coronation ceremony here two years ago. Our queen is really beautiful. You know, His Majesty now has two children, and the queen is still so young and beautiful. She is only 21 years old."

By the way, the Queen of Sweden is about one month older than Solovyov. The King of Sweden has a neither good nor bad impression among the common people, and everyone has a good impression of the Queen, who is just a vase.

"Old man, your place was attacked by the Russians in the past. It's been 80 years, right?"

"Yes, that was what happened during my grandfather's time. But compared to those barbarians, our masters here may be more troublesome."

The Swedish nobles have been acting recklessly for a long time, and they are not loyal enough to the king.

But compared with Russia, these people are just arrogant. If you use bayonets and grapeshot, they will soon become obedient.

This is indeed true when compared with the powerful forces of the Russian landowners.

There are also some small shipyards in the fjord terrain created by the melting of glaciers, but now these places east of Norrköping, not far from Stockholm, are also covered with ice and snow.

Moreover, the ships built are often not very large. In the past, the Swedish Navy had a certain strength, but it has been declining again and again in recent years. However, the Danish Navy and the Russian Baltic Fleet, as potential opponents, are not in good condition either, and they are in a state of mutual fighting in the Baltic Sea.

The ice here allows for quick movement in winter, but attention must be paid to the movement routes during the ice period, so that one can quickly enter Gotland and Öland, and then go ashore in southern Sweden.

The economic prosperity of these Swedish cities seems to be no different in essence from the situation in Russia. All the profits have been taken away by the great nobles. What is even more outrageous is that when these Swedish nobles try to reform, they face even greater resistance than in Russia.

After all, some of Russia's top nobles were able to realize the problem and have always united around the Tsar. The radical young people will evolve into even more radical groups in the future. After visiting here, Solovyov was also thinking about the problem. He prefers such a small town with a small population. Moreover, if there is no war in the future, it is not impossible to invest in Sweden. After all, the performance of these industries is also relatively outstanding.

When staying overnight, he did not stay in Norrköping, which is the city of Norrköping, but rode to Soderkoping. The town was not much bigger than a village, but the environment was very good and there was room available in the inn.

During his stay, Solovyov spoke German the whole time and looked no different from an Austrian or Bavarian, except that he didn't drink.

Of course, whether he drinks or not, people would not suspect that he is a Russian. After all, his alcohol tolerance is too poor, which does not look like a Russian. Moreover, the things he carries on his body do not reveal his identity.

Even when he opened his pocket watch, there was a portrait of Louisa inside.

His notes were even written in French and German, and that was fine.

Louisa, however, had such a poem in her hands, which she copied out herself and put back in the drawer.

"I did tell her to wait for me to come back, but what will happen?"

Solovyov was still very worried about Louisa. After all, he knew that Naryshkina was pregnant. The Queen Mother was partial. The reason why Alexander was not killed was that, besides being the Tsar, he was very caring towards his wife and mistress. He was good at acting and sweet talk. Moreover, as an artilleryman, he was very responsible when someone died from firing a cannon.

While he was writing his notes, he also placed Louisa's portrait on the top of the small table, so that it would not be easy to suspect that a young noble had a girl he loved, not to mention that the Swedish country people would not be able to tell from Louisa's facial features.

Solovyov's idea was that a cavalry detachment consisting of Cossacks and hussars would make a bold move, march 150 versts on the ice, reach Gotland, and then advance from there to Öland and the Swedish mainland.

With the current military discipline of the Russian army, it is unlikely that the towns and villages here will learn the advanced experience of the French. The reforms during the Paul period alone can rectify military discipline. In the eyes of the chivalrous emperor, robbery is not in line with military discipline and aristocratic moral standards.

His thoughts were indeed a breath of fresh air in this era. After all, the supplies of the armies of various countries all relied on local supplies. To put it bluntly, they just liked to rob.

If the Russian army took any action along the way, the towns and villages here were generally wealthy and they would not be left without anything. The cavalry itself could carry some supplies. If they moved fast enough, they could pass Öland Island and land. The defenses of the Swedish army in this area would be relatively weak.

As for how to plan the route of action, he had to go further south and ride on horseback from here all the way to Kalmar Province. Only after seeing the actual situation there could he make a final appropriate judgment.

The weather now is indeed suitable for this kind of staff trip, but it seems that not many Swedes are talkative, so when we talk, they are mostly rather cold.

There was no other way, so he continued to head south from Southkoping. On this road, he could see many Swedish sleds passing by, just like the Swedish sleds he saw when the Baden family's carriage overturned.

Sweden is not a big country, but it has many provinces. A small area may be a province, but the area under the jurisdiction of this senior official is also limited.

Even if the villages in these provinces mobilized militias like Russia did, they might not have strong fighting power if they were not under the command of each other.

On the contrary, according to the intelligence obtained in recent years, the Governor of Vyborg has collected information about Swedish militia organizations in the Finnish direction, which is much better than that in Sweden itself.

Maybe the Swedes' idea is to use the Finns to consume the Russian army, but such measures may be less effective in Sweden.

It seems that this is a problem that all countries may face. The masters in the capital may not be able to be conscripted, and the country still mainly relies on the people in the border areas and villages to arm themselves to defend the country.

The situation he saw along the way was not so bad when he passed through Södermanland where Norrköping was located, but when he continued to move south, he found that these villages were basically unguarded.

Of course, there are no robbers, which proves that the local public security is still good. People in the future always have to learn from it.

But the more he walked on this road, the more mature Solovyov's plan became. If he wanted to go through a long ice expedition, he would have to send out at least a cavalry detachment of several thousand people to advance through this road in an extremely bold manner.

If the main Russian forces on the front wanted to attack Finland, they should quickly advance to Turku, maintain a line of transportation, and launch an attack on Stockholm through the Åland Islands when the ice is thickest during the freezing period.

Only such a bold and swift offensive can achieve complete victory in the entire war. Once there is a country with strong naval power in the middle and enters the Baltic Sea through the Denmark Strait during the thaw period, it will hinder the actions of the Russian army in the entire war. Even capturing Gotland Island and Aland Islands will be meaningless.

At this time, it is necessary to take a long detour from the north, which is not suitable and consumes a lot of resources. Moreover, it can be said to be a disaster to march through the icy and snowy northern Sweden.

Thinking of this, although he felt a little sorry for Frederica, the plan was already in his mind, and he had a simple route plan.

All that remained was for him to do after returning home, when he would report to the Minister of War and even the Tsar himself, and finally complete the plan.

But Solovyov, who was heading towards Kalmar, was unaware of the new mission sent to the embassy.

In addition to going to Vyborg to pick up the Queen's carriage, the group had to cross the whole of Finland and take a boat through the Åland Islands to Stockholm, which was an already agreed task.

Solovyov will go to Berlin after Louisa returns home from Sweden, and will meet Her Highness Elena on the way. This trip will be a visit to relatives on behalf of the Tsar himself, and then he will go to Karlsruhe, the capital of Baden, and then to France.

The embassy in Paris still needs people, especially military attachés stationed abroad. Although Solovyov's rank is relatively low, he is a major in the Guards and his new appointment in the Guards Regiment is also the major of chief staff. This rank is quite special and sometimes has more power than a lieutenant colonel in the corps. It is very appropriate for him to be stationed in Paris.

This would make it convenient for him to handle a private matter. After all, his stepmother had lost contact with her family for such a long time. Who knew if he could help her find relatives in France.

If that didn't work, he could go to Nantes and inquire at the monastery school there.

Of course, going to Paris is indeed a good job. After all, all the nobles in Russia hope to have the opportunity to travel to France. What's more, you are traveling abroad by imperial decree. If the emperor thinks that you have completed the task well, he can even reimburse the bills.

(End of this chapter)