Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 338 040 Pockets tailor-made for the French

Napoleon formed a new Eighth Army and let Marshal Mortier command it. Not only did he send his instructions along with it, which could be considered micro-management to a certain extent.

Mortier himself marched with Gazan's division, while Dupont's and Dumonceau's divisions were left behind.

Napoleon's own instructions were to pay attention to the safety of the flanks and not to place the divisions too far apart.

However, judging from the situation on the battlefield, the Ghazan Division in the front of the Eighth Army had also opened up some distance.

And the flank.
"The Austrians were defeated so quickly this time. I think Kutuzov is just trying to tie down our pursuit troops. He won't take the initiative to engage us."

Having said that, Gazan was not reassured by what Motier said.

"Although you said so, the Russians also had a superior force when they came into contact with the Fifth Army before."

As the division commander, Jiazan has always been at the front and is familiar with the situation on the front line.

"What if the Russians launch a counterattack somewhere while we are pursuing them along the river? We still need to be careful, Edward."

"Okay, I know. We also need to send out scouts now to understand the current movements of the Russians."

Although they were on guard, Napoleon also copied a note and gave it to Mortier, which read, "The retreating enemy should not be pursued rashly, and adequate preparations must be made before action."

This kind of instruction did make the front-line generals understand to some extent that their opponents might fall into the trap.

Solovyov was unaware that he had had a counterproductive effect. He was still considering Schmidt's battle plan and how to deploy it.

When they arrived at Dürenstein, Schmidt and a group of Austrian staff officers were pointing at the mountain.

"This is where the captured Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned."

Although this incident is somewhat unethical, it is also considered a relatively famous place in history.

"More than 60 years ago, the residents here used wood to disguise as cannons to scare off the enemy."

"But all is fair in war, sir. If we want to fight a war, this kind of deception will be useful at all times."

Schmidt smiled without saying anything. He rode to the river bank, looked at the terrain, and began to think.

"If we hide a regiment of chasseurs in the woods behind the hillside, and place two more regiments in the bushes, and a battalion behind the stone wall, we can also deploy these here."

"This is just an ambush force. If the enemy has cavalry coming to scout, it will be a big threat to us."

An Austrian staff officer said this, and everyone thought it was right.

The French cavalry was very proactive, always attacking or taking on reconnaissance missions, but they were always at the mercy of the enemy when they encountered him.

"Shall we send out our Hussars and Cossacks to draw the French away?"

"Sir, I think this is fine."

Schmidt also nodded. He had been making plans before. The terrain like Dyrenstein was a place where he could use his skills. Therefore, he did not intend to adopt a too conservative combat method, but to fight here.

According to intelligence obtained from the Allied cavalry reconnaissance, only one French Eighth Army was relatively active on the north bank of the Danube. The rest of the troops were either pursuing the defeated Austrian troops or redeploying. Another part of the troops was heading to Vienna, preparing to capture the city before the Austrians destroyed the roads and bridges along the way.

After all, the Austrians themselves did not defend their capital and just retreated eastward, so there was no need for the Russian army to deal with the French in Vienna.

However, after reconnaissance and analysis of intelligence, Schmidt discovered that the Eighth Army's formation was too spread out. Although cavalry were sent out as scouts, no attention was paid to protecting the flanks.

Next, they returned to the monastery in Melk, which was also Kutuzov's temporary headquarters.

"Have you figured out which unit this French division in front of you is?"

"From the flag, it looks like a newly formed army. Logically speaking, the flags we have seen are all drawn from various French armies. They originally belonged to four different armies."

"Well, there's no need to say more. It looks like we're going to win a small victory right here. Commander-in-Chief, what do you think?"

Schmidt was helpless when he saw Kutuzov pretending to be asleep. These old men were very smart, and Schmidt was the older one after all.

"Ah, that's good. We can place our troops in this bend, hide our hunters, and wait for the cunning French fox to fall into the trap."

The column commander and the general on duty are also here. Most of the Russian army's regimental commanders have also come here for a meeting today to discuss the next combat plan.

They still had to listen to Kutuzov's statement. After all, the main force in this battle was still the Russian army. Among the Austrian army, except for some cavalry units that were dispersed by the French, they had no combat effectiveness now, which was indeed quite troublesome.

"We need to prevent the French from noticing our deployment on this side of the mountain where the Danube bends. At the same time, we need to deploy artillery on the mountain to suppress the French firepower."

Schmidt's idea was simple: to divide the troops led by Bagration, Dokhturov and Miloradovich into three groups to encircle the enemy. Miloradovich was responsible for luring the enemy, Bagration was responsible for intercepting, and Dokhturov was responsible for outflanking.

The total strength of the French Army was no more than 10,000 men, of which the Gazzan Division in the front had the largest number of men, more than 6,000, and the other two divisions had 4,000 men each, with some dragoons and hussars acting with them.

But Gazan's division was in the front at this time. Although Mortier listened to Gazan's advice and added cavalry, these cavalry squadrons, as the eyes of the large army, had to face possible harassment from the Austrian cavalry all the time.

Schmidt's plan also tended to use the Austrian cavalry to attract the French cavalry away from the direction of the preset battlefield, making the French temporarily blind, and then setting an ambush.

After he spoke for a while, Dokhturov, who had received the outflanking mission, raised his question.

"Sir, your overall idea is good. We can also use the terrain to make a detour and cut off the French retreat. But there is another problem. The French division-level troops can march very fast within a day. Although this will increase the distance, if the subsequent enemies catch up, someone will need to block the reinforcements." "Your idea makes some sense. We should indeed send people to block the reinforcements that may come along the Danube."

In Dürenstein's position, it is indeed feasible to surround the point and attack the reinforcements. However, when surrounding the enemy, it is not certain that the news can be blocked. If the French reinforcements come from behind, this will also be a problem.

On this day in the monastery, the discussions among all parties showed no sign of stopping.

"If we want to destroy this French division, we also have to consider the possible reinforcements that may follow behind us, and whether the duration of the battle will attract the enemy's large forces when we engage in battle?"

"It shouldn't be. We are monitoring the French movements every day. The troops on the north bank of the Danube are chasing our troops. Obviously, the distance between them is quite large. If we don't take this into consideration..."

When Solovyov spoke, his tone was a little impatient. Schmidt knew that he had a good appetite. Others could also hear that he wanted to eat one or two French divisions.

"Misha, what do you want to say?"

Volkonsky asked him, and Solovyov just coughed twice and then expressed his opinion.

"If we were not retreating, with the current strength, it would not be impossible for us to turn around and bite the enemy and completely devour these three French divisions within three to five days!"

This boosted everyone's morale. In today's meeting, everyone was discussing how to deal with the biggest group, the Jiazan Division in front. No one expected that a young colonel who was usually very cautious sitting here would have such an appetite.

"You are so arrogant, Misha. Even when we are on the offensive..."

Volkonsky was not like the Russian generals and middle-level officers present. He was mainly with Alexander. Although he had some understanding of Suvorov's methods, he had never received any instruction from the Grand Marshal.

He would never have thought that Suvorov's disciples were all proactive and willing to confront the enemy.

Speaking of which, Solovyov himself has summarized this, and it is a fact known to everyone.

Bagration was better at defensive battles, while Miloradovich was good at both offense and defense. They each learned a part of Suvorov, but none of the disciples taught by the old man could learn the essence of his strategic maneuvers.

Solovyov was too young. Although he spent a lot of time with Suvorov, the skills he learned were very limited. To be honest, what he learned was probably more similar to Bagration's - after all, he had no master to guide him most of the time, and he probably did not learn the same skills as his senior.

"But it is still feasible. When I lure the enemy here, I want to lure them to a terrain that is advantageous to us and trap the vanguard division. As for the enemies behind us, the French will not give us that much time. I'm afraid that what we can do is not to stop the subsequent enemies, but that's all."

"Indeed, time is the most precious thing for us now. That's it for now. You can go back to your respective teams after dinner."

When Kutuzov mentioned eating, everyone looked at Solovyov. The food he prepared really didn't taste very good.

"It's not 'Ryazan canned food', that stuff is either salty or sweet, here today, we have wine."

"Yes, Commander-in-Chief, the local wine tastes pretty good. Not only for us officers, but we can also get some for the brothers."

The older Schmidt also knew that these Russians all loved drinking, but of course he did not take into account that there was also Solovyov who could hardly drink.

"That's it, everyone can go back and rest, eat something good, and get a good night's sleep. We will have to fight the French later."

Kutuzov's side also dispersed for a while, and Schmidt also took the Russian officers to the wine cellar. The troops nearby were to receive some supplies, which could also boost morale. After all, such good wine was difficult for the soldiers to obtain.

Everyone had a good impression of the old man Schmidt, and he also established his prestige.

When fighting in Austria, he was also the host and the guests had to listen to him, so he cleaned out all the local wine cellars.

After all, if a war breaks out, I'm afraid this place will become a battlefield and nothing will be left.

But before the operation to lure the enemy began, Solovyov was also considering whether to use some methods to paralyze the French.

For example, when entering Dürenstein, people were sent to welcome the French army into the town.

However, to do so would ruin the Russian army's reputation for excellent military discipline, and would require causing some minor damage to the local area in a more realistic manner.

In addition, on the night of November 11, a team of Cossacks discovered important movements of the French army.

After arriving in Bavaria, the French army bought 50 ships, which enabled them to communicate back and forth between the two banks of the Danube and transport small amounts of supplies when operating along the Danube.

In addition, the Cossacks captured a dozen French prisoners, from whom they also learned the current movements of the French army.

"According to these forces, the French are still very dispersed. It seems feasible to lure the enemy to Dürenstein."

Schmidt had not expected that there would be such a good opportunity. If possible, with the three divisions of the French Eighth Army advancing one day's journey apart, he could use this gap to deal a fatal blow to the enemy with the current 20,000-plus troops.

"Sir, the question is whether we can send out troops to block the reinforcements. After the French fall into the trap, we have to cut off their retreat and attack the enemy who may reinforce them. Besides that."

"I understand what you mean. At a time like this, we can't be careless."

What is most lacking now is time. The coalition forces need to attack the French army, and this is the only chance they have.

You must know that at this time the French army was still pursuing the French army in several directions, while Murat and Lannes were heading for Vienna.

If we really talk about the problem, Murat, who needed to share his brain with others, did not have any responsibility. Only Mortier did not listen to Napoleon's orders, the flank protection was very poor, and at the same time, there was a large distance between the three divisions. It was obvious that he did not regard the coalition forces as a single dish.

It was indeed wrong to underestimate the enemy, but the Austrians were defeated so quickly, and the French had achieved considerable results in pursuing the Austrians in several directions. Apart from a few Austrian troops heading south to look for Archduke Karl, only Kutuzov's troops were active on the north bank of the Danube. It seemed that the coalition forces could be defeated with just a slight push.

In the following battles, the French also had a hard time.

(End of this chapter)