Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 334 036 The Austrians sent a new quartermaster general
After Soult and Lannes engaged in battle with the Austrian army in the early stages, Napoleon divided his army into two directions under this situation.

Bernadotte, Lannes and Davout's three armies, as well as the Bavarian army, moved eastward as the left wing to block any possible coalition reinforcements; at the same time, Soult, Lannes and Ney, as well as Murat's cavalry, continued their offensive towards Ulm to further reduce the Austrian army's space for action. The Guards followed closely behind, but did not participate in the battle.

Speaking of which, the terrain in the Black Forest area is indeed very suitable for launching operations and dividing and encircling the enemy.

Especially for an opponent who has put himself in a desperate situation, it is quite easy to wrap him up.

But the Austrians can still hold out for a while, and it is not as if all 50,000 pigs were caught in three days.

At the same time, the Russian army was rushing through Austria, and they were not aware of the situation on the front line.

As for Kutuzov's headquarters, there was also a new member, Peter Volkonsky, who rushed over from the Tsar's side to serve as the general on duty.

"Well, you come here too, Bejia, this is the treatment given to Emperor Mikhail Illarionovich."

"Misha, why do you say that?"

"Look, when the secret committee was meeting to discuss military issues, the two of us..."

"Well, that makes sense."

"Also, how is your wife Sonya?"

"According to the time, the baby should be born these days."

"You are making rapid progress with the third one. If it is a son, I think Dmitri Petrovich will be very happy."

"Although my uncle is more traditional, he is not like what you said, and you used to be his adjutant."

"But the two of us are still here as duty officers."

"That Andre, isn't his wife going to give birth soon?"

"As for Lisa, it will be later than Sonya."

"You should go to the Royal Hospital in Petersburg to be in charge of obstetrics and gynecology and pediatrics. You are always concerned about other people's wives and children."

Actually, Peter Volkonsky knew that Solovyov had an Italian lover outside, but he really didn't know some things that had to be kept secret.

"Let's not talk about that for now. What I'm worried about is that the Austrians are going to cause so much trouble in Bavaria."

"Why do you say that?"

"I'll show you this deployment, and you'll understand."

Solovyov took out the map, which was Mark's map of the deployment around Ulm.

"What would you do if you were French?"

"This deployment is too far forward. If we launch an attack from Ingstadt, we can cut off the Austrian army's retreat. Considering the terrain here, this is bound to fail. Moreover, I don't believe what you said, 'If we put it in a desperate situation and fight hard, we still have a chance'. At least the Austrians can't do that."

Solovyov also nodded. There were not many armies in Europe that could fight to the death in desperate situations. The Russian army was relatively resilient in adversity, but it was hard to say what would happen in desperate situations.

"This road is about to be cut off."

"Also, Misha, your novel is well translated. I like it very much."

When Solovyov had gone in just now, Kutuzov was still sleeping, really sleeping, but now he came out of the bedroom again wearing his coat.

"And the troops should not be stationed in Ulm, but on the main roads. The chancellor is right."

If the Eight Banners masters of the Qing Dynasty knew that the old, middle-aged and young generations of the Luosha Kingdom were all using the loss of Jieting in the Three Kingdoms period to illustrate the current war situation, their expressions would probably be quite interesting.

"So what to do now?"

"We still have to get as close as possible until we hear from Mark."

Just as they were discussing how to deal with the crisis situation of Mark being surrounded in Ulm, the Austrian army outside the encirclement had sent a messenger to the Russian headquarters.

Kutuzov could hear people speaking German outside even from inside.

"Looks like they are here, Misha, come and receive our guests."

It was not yet the "unfortunate Mark". Von Kimmel, who was in retreat, had taken in more than 10,000 Austrian troops and was retreating towards Munich, and was further heading towards the Inn River basin.

The messenger he sent could only explain the status of the retreating troops.

As for the situation on Mark's side, he was also completely in the dark.

"We really need news from Mark right now. Thank you, Lieutenant. You can go and rest now."

It was already a luxury for the Austrian army to break out. After all, Ulm's position was indeed not good, and the French army arrived faster than expected, and it was a complete flank attack.

But the Russian army now also has its own problems, that is, the lack of a complete staff system.

This is what Peter Volkonsky thought of when he was looking at Soloviev's homework. To be honest, he didn't think Soloviev smelled good, and he didn't think Soloviev smelled good.
After all, he later had an ambiguous relationship with Wittgenstein's son, the Decembrist Lev, which was even written about in the memoirs by a gossipy court maid.

It seems that he has not yet opened a strange path.

As for the business on the map, Solovyov had quickly marked the direction of the Austrian army's movement, and he was holding a distance measuring tool in his hand. "What the hell, if the Austrian messenger is right, the main force of the French army has already gathered in Ulm. They will not go to Italy, but will place the main battlefield in southern Germany."

While Solovyov was speaking, Kutuzov sat down again. Being old and fat, he must have felt a little tired.

"So, our allies have created another huge trouble. But what can we do? The troops led by Buchholden are still in the Olmutz area, and the emperor and the guards are even further away. We can only send out troops, gather the existing forces, and prepare to go to the Inn River."

"But, sir, I can only say that the French came too fast, just like what Alexander Vasilyevich did in Italy. I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to deploy on the Inn River. We can gather the Austrian army. Then, we should try our best to join forces with nearby friendly forces. Damn the Prussians, they are still thinking about which side can give them more benefits."

Solovyov did not care that he and the Duke of Brunswick were close friends regardless of age difference, and he directly began to insult the old marshal's relatives - after all, he was the nephew of King Frederick the Great.

"Yes, we need to stay with our friendly forces. However, we don't have that many 'staff' right now. All the officers on duty and the adjutants need to come here. I want to assign tasks to them."

There was a cunning gleam in Kutuzov's one eye. Apparently he had an idea as well, and he might have made up his mind even before Solovyov mentioned it.

As he spoke, Solovyov went outside to find Andrei, who was in charge of those restless young adjutants and could quickly gather them together.

"Children, I am going to give you an order now. You are asked to pass it on to each regiment and ask them to speed up their march. We must speed up our march and meet our Austrian allies at the front."

By speeding up the march, it is indeed possible to meet up with the Austrian army, even if it is just a little hope.

At this time, Mark was unfortunately injured again in the battle, and the orders he issued caused widespread dissatisfaction among Archduke Ferdinand and the generals.

But there was also good news. General von Kleinau repelled General Dupont's reckless attack, and at least the Austrian army would not collapse here immediately.

But there were more and more French people outside, so although Ulm was not completely surrounded, it seemed to be surrounded.

You know, it is impossible to drive the Austrian army out from the mountains in the south. Suvorov suffered huge losses when he jumped out of the Alps.

For the Austrian generals in the encirclement, there was a heated debate among them as to whether they should break out or lay down their arms and surrender.

If they surrendered, there would only be one situation. The French would ask them not to participate in hostile actions against the French army for a period of time. This was also the common practice on the European battlefield at that time.

If they break out, a fight is bound to happen, but it is hard to say how many people will be able to escape.

Moreover, given the level of the Austrian army, it would be difficult for them to escape.

Mark had no choice but to continue delaying. It would take a few days for both parties to argue over this matter anyway.

Meanwhile, Kutuzov, having given his orders, continued his advance towards the border of Austria and Bavaria, in his carriage, accompanied by Andrei, while Volkonsky and Solovyov followed on horseback.

Solovyov did not open the map either. He was studying a report such as the "Bulletin of the Grand Army".

"What are you doing?"

"I think we should study our opponents, the army commanders arranged by Napoleon, and their characteristics. When I was in Italy before, I captured General Scherer, and he actually knew the situation of some of them. For example, Soult of the Fourth Army. And Bernadotte of the First Army is a good friend of General Moreau. I have met him in person in Paris before."

"Why are you still studying interpersonal relationships at this time?"

"We also have to consider what they have done. Soult, under Massena's command, defeated the coalition forces in Zurich and made us suffer in the mountains. This man still has a certain command ability. As for Bernadotte, he is just mediocre, and Murat, that funny guy, is an outstanding cavalry general if you only consider his bravery."

Solovyov's plan was very simple. The intelligence about the French commander was obtained before the outbreak of the war. Although there might be some deviations in it, he was more familiar with the situation of these people than any Russian officer.

In addition to the content on the map, he even thought about whether he could eat up a small group of French troops to boost morale when he had the advantage in military strength?

At this time, he finally discovered that the knowledge he brought with him was not completely useless.

He was also considering that these valleys and rivers on the map could actually be used to deal with the enemy. It was not impossible to gain an advantage in geographical location. After all, this was within Austria. There would be a few people in the Austrian army or among the civilians who were familiar with these places and could act as guides.

As for what he took into consideration, some places could be used to block the enemy, other places could be used to ambush or contain the enemy, or even to launch attacks on enemies of a certain scale.

While he was thinking about this, the usually unreliable Emperor Franz of Austria sent an Austrian quartermaster general to Kutuzov, who was short of staff officers, when the news of defeat at the front reached Vienna.

General Johann Heinrich von Schmidt, who had been retired for many years and only returned to active service when the war broke out, had been chief of staff to Archduke Karl and General Kreis.

Such an experienced general coming here may be of some use.

It's just that he has always had bad luck and is always unlucky because of various things. Although this will not weaken his business ability, it is also a factor that needs to be taken into consideration.

If he were not here, the only staff officer that Emperor Franz could send nearby would be Werosser, whom Solovyov had known for a long time.
After Schmidt arrived at Kutuzov's headquarters, he started to work with a staff team composed of Austrians.

Volkonsky can serve as the general on duty here with Kutuzov, and Solovyov cannot be idle. He actually hopes that he can return to the Guards. After all, he is still the commander of the Guards Chasseur Regiment, and he should be able to play a better role there.

However, since he had certain staff capabilities, he was also retained here.

General Schmidt also believed that there would always need to be a Russian corps proficient in German here to facilitate him to convey orders quickly.

Solovyov also had to stay to assist Schmidt in his work. After all, he was very familiar with the commanders and various units in the Russian army.

"Colonel, I think the commander-in-chief's idea is correct, but here at the Inn River, if the Danube Corps suffers too much loss, it will lead to a manpower gap. At that time, we may have to retreat eastward, shorten our supply lines, and ask the French to stretch the front line. At this time, there will be an opportunity."

"What do you think of these places? If possible, we can launch an operation against a brigade or a division of the French and destroy them."

Schmidt saw the pencil marks Solovyov had made on the map, nodded, and continued, "We can indeed take action with the help of these places, but we will only have this opportunity if the French really take the bait. At the same time, I have to say that you have a good appetite."

(End of this chapter)