Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 339 Are the Russians trying to catch our fish?
In the monastery Kutuzov was still lying in his couch.

"Ah, finally I can get some good sleep. The French will definitely fall into the trap tomorrow."

He was just about to close his one eye and was about to doze off when the adjutant on duty came in to report.

"Commander-in-Chief, General Schmidt requests a meeting."

"Ha, this old man is older than me, why doesn't he take a rest?"

"I'm just a retired old man, Commander-in-Chief. Does this count as a re-employment? This is not what I said, but Michael said it."

"Ha, Misha. He likes to make fun of us old guys, but he also respects us."

"Well, sir, we should adjust our deployment."

"But the decision has been made, Schmidt, and you should know that we are going to strike the enemy here."

"Some adjustments are still necessary, but our determination remains unchanged."

Schmidt didn't take out the map, but just sat aside.

"Sir, among our six marching columns, Dokhturov's column needs to close the French army's retreat route. What will happen if the French take the initiative like they did in Hohenlinden and the follow-up troops march here quickly?"

Kutuzov still did not come out of the recliner. He thought for a moment and felt that this made some sense.

"In this case, we need an artillery company there, but this will weaken the artillery strength on the top of the mountain and on Bagration's side. The cannons we are using now are only 68 guns."

"But we must fight them for a while, sir."

Schmidt thought about it very carefully. He discussed the issue with several Austrian officers while having a midnight snack. He thought that artillery would always be needed when closing the canyon area.

Moreover, during the War of the Austrian Succession in 1741, local residents used wood and metal pipes to disguise as cannons and used drum beats to pretend that there was a large army there. In this way, the French and Bavarian armies did not dare to pass through here to attack the empty Vienna at that time.

After Schmidt mentioned this battle example, Solovyov wrote it down and planned to write it as a case in the case analysis of the Thirty-Six Strategies after returning to St. Petersburg.

However, no matter how you look at it, it seems a bit of a trick, or it's an empty city plan, and it's not something that those pedantic Prussian sauerkraut brains could come up with.

"Well, let's strengthen our artillery. We need to use not only 6-pound guns, but also Unicorn guns, which are roughly equivalent to 10-pound guns. As for 12-pound guns, they are not convenient here. Moreover, for the several flanking columns we need, the artillery must maintain a high degree of mobility."

Kutuzov gave Dokhturov's column an ​​artillery company, and considering the reinforcement of the columns in the front, this time the artillery was distributed to each column. At the same time, some cannons were hidden on the mountain. Moreover, these places where the artillery were hidden were all in the woods, which could be said to be quite concealed.

Solovyov received a task assigned by Schmidt at night, which was to go here and check the deployment of artillery.

Here, too, he made his judgements by the feeble lights of the fires in the towns and vineyards below.

"If you fire your artillery here, can you get the grenades to the bend of the river?"

"No problem, Colonel. We just need four guns to fire at that place together. We can use solid bullets or grenades."

"Ah, you are very confident in your shooting skills, Captain."

Solovyov did not notice that the short captain was Tushin. He could not see him clearly under the torch, and he did not ask who he was.

After all, the translated versions he saw all said captain.

You should know that the military rank system during the Tsarist Russia period was different from that of later times. The rank of captain at that time was still the original rank of captain.

As for the captain in the Russian military rank, the correct term should be senior lieutenant. Most people will not notice this pitfall.

In the past, there was a rank of commander-in-chief, which corresponded exactly to the position of general. This can also be said to be a feature of the Russian military rank system.

"We can still hit you from this position, Colonel. You seem to be an infantryman."

"Yes, but I am also interested in mathematics. Although I have mastered calculus, my grades are not very good."

"It doesn't matter. You just need to master some key points. Then you can be an artilleryman here and shoot accurately."

"Ah, thank you. I still hope you can teach me well."

The atmosphere among the artillerymen seen here was quite good, and sometimes they even joked with the officers.

However, there are no masters here now, so it is not surprising to come here.

After seeing the firepower configuration on the top of the mountain, he did not think that a few cannons could completely block the enemy's path, but the artillery that could be deployed on these artillery positions was mainly intended to attack the marching French infantry columns.

The most worrying thing is the weather factor. In November, it is easy to experience severe convective weather around Vienna.

Just as he left Tushin's artillery position, it began to rain.

The artillerymen are now busy ensuring that the ammunition is dry, trying their best to ensure that their gunpowder can explode and the fuse can be ignited.

The situation was not good, but there were still some farmhouses nearby, as well as houses and monasteries near Krems that could be used. The castle on the west side was now empty, with only some Russian soldiers there, and there were also people here when the officers rested at night.

Solovyov came here late at night to take shelter from the rain, and after sunrise he would go to the Russian column below.

Schmidt originally arranged for him to go to Dokhturov and Miloradovich, but because the artillery had been strengthened, Schmidt was now more relieved and wanted him to return to his column. The main goal was to intercept the French troops that might enter the river valley.

This place is indeed a strategic throat and also a dead end. As long as the intersection is controlled, it will be difficult for the troops that come in to get out.

"Sir, it's raining outside. We have to give this place to the French. We will only stay here for one more night."

"Yes," Schmidt had just finished the final plan and instructions, and sat down to drink tea, "We have to give up this place now. What I am more worried about is that the French have deployed some cavalry here, and we have to lure them away, and then how to lure the enemy into the valley."

"Is there any solution?" "We have a guide, don't forget that."

Solovyov remembered that an old captain Schmidt had summoned earlier was very familiar with the area and had explained the terrain in detail to the commanders of each column.

"That is, after the battle, we have to abandon Dürenstein and the castle. This requires a small number of troops to engage in a firefight with the French army, so that they will mistakenly believe that we only have a small number of troops here, and then we have to advance quickly."

In general, it is a typical fishing tactic.

Solovyov always felt that this was something that a group of Satsuma falcons who lived a good life often did.

Schmidt was still very confident, and the next morning they quickly evacuated the castle.

This place used to be the residence of the Austrian Archduke Richard the Lionheart. Speaking of it, people in the Middle Ages did not necessarily have the same martial ethics as those in the Napoleonic Wars.

After all, the release of Mark and others was due to the Austrian army releasing a group of captured French officers, and only then were they allowed to go back. The Duke of Liechtenstein even led the cavalry in the Austrian army. Both sides acquiesced in this matter, and there was no dispute over this issue.

The French were in pursuit, and Mortier's own command, together with Gazan's division, were pursuing as the vanguard of the entire Eighth Army.

He was still relatively confident. After all, current intelligence showed that the Russian army was retreating, with only sporadic troops offering weak resistance along the way. At this time, he obviously also hoped to meet up with the French army that had set out from St. Polten in Vienna, as if the French army now wanted to share the honor of entering Vienna.

This simply ignored a series of instructions from Napoleon. The emperor himself hoped that the French army would destroy the Allied forces around Vienna as much as possible, and drive those that could not be destroyed away from the battlefield. Kutuzov had decided to fight in Vienna anyway, rather than tossing around in Vienna, and the French army's main goal should be to pursue and divide the Allied forces.

You have to know that the Russian and Austrian troops that arrived later had a total strength of more than 100,000. If they were allowed to gather somewhere in Austria, Napoleon would not be able to deal with such a large group of enemies even if he had a good appetite.

Outside the field, there is also a neutral Prussia that wants to gain benefits. If they come in, although they have only a few hundred thousand miscellaneous soldiers who can fight, they have a lot of heads of miscellaneous soldiers!
For France, it was still necessary to resolve the coalition forces more quickly at this time, or at least defeat Austria. Therefore, Napoleon still advocated annihilating the enemy instead of worrying about Vienna.

This means that Murat was unlucky. He and Lannes were now advancing towards Vienna. In fact, this was because many of the bridges on the Danube had been destroyed by the retreating Allied forces, while the bridges within Vienna were convenient for movement, and there should still be some enemies in the Austrian capital.

His desire to stand out in Vienna was a secondary factor.

As for Motier, they arrived in Marbach and were scheduled to reach Dürenstein on November 11.

The French army's current pursuit speed is very fast and they are out of touch with each other, which has exposed large gaps.

However, Kutuzov and Schmidt still estimated according to the previous situation and did not know that the gap between Gazan's Division and Dupont's Division had further widened.

They still followed the original plan, which was to separate the columns, deploy on the north bank of the Danube, and destroy the nearby bridges.

At this moment, Mortier did not know that his cavalry unit was in the northwest chasing a group of Cossacks who were harassing them, and had been separated from the main force.

He was still very optimistic. After the 54th Line Infantry Regiment, the vanguard of the Gazan Division, exchanged fire with a small group of coalition forces, it also sent a liaison officer back to report.

"Your Excellency Marshal, we had a brief exchange of fire with the Russians, and they escaped. We are in pursuit."

"In which direction?"

"Pursue along the Danube to Dürenstein!"

"Very good, you can go back now!"

At this time, because the commander was here and the command structure was here, Gazan's command was rather awkward.

"Edward, will the Russian army go fishing? There are huge rocks in the valley ahead, and the mountains can also block some of the sight. Such a place is very suitable for hiding troops."

"The Russians only have a few troops here to intercept us. How could they have a large force? If they really do exist, I think they will also adopt a strategy of avoiding fighting. It is not appropriate to engage in a firefight with us in this area."

"That's something we should be prepared for! Kutuzov is a cunning old fellow!"

Gazan said this because he naturally had concerns after looking at the topographic map and receiving instructions from the emperor.

What's more, when His Majesty the Emperor was the commander of the Italian Legion, he was good at hiding his troops and was a master at taking advantage of the terrain, and the generals below were able to learn some of it.

Of course, many people can only learn part of it, while some people are in a state of learning.

At least in this battle, Mortier was in a learning state. Napoleon's instructions were usually brief commands, but this time there were also italic instructions written by Napoleon's personal secretary, indicating that the Russian army might set a trap and even show weakness to lure the vanguard of the Eighth Army into a trap.

"Your Majesty, you are worrying too much. If he came here and saw this situation, he would definitely launch a pursuit."

Fortunately, Solovyov didn't see it, otherwise he would have thought that Mortier was infected by Mark.

Mark occupied a strategic position, but ended up getting surrounded. This was Ma Su's behavior.

Motier did not listen to Gazan's advice and Napoleon's instructions. This kind of stubbornness was also a kind of Ma Su behavior.

Moreover, each of them had a subordinate who said that the way the commander fought was problematic and that this was not Ma Su's behavior but Wang Ping's.

Solovyov found himself strange. He had heard from Madame Recamier that his French translation of The Three Kingdoms was a bestseller in Paris and Berlin, and that this content should be made known to everyone to some extent.

It may be that the marshals and generals of France and Austria were not as thirsty for knowledge as writers and thinkers such as Voltaire, and they sparked an oriental craze, which led to some interest among the monarchs.

Perhaps. The complete version is divided into several volumes, and they haven't read any of them yet.

Of course, Napoleon himself only saw Mark's pamphlet and did not read the novel.

Now, Gazan became more suspicious. The Russian army might be fishing near Dürenstein. Although the large force did not appear here, the march along the way was too easy, unlike the previous pursuit, when the Austrian army was still fleeing, and the Russian army often fought desperately.

When people relax, it is easy for them to have some doubts.

Under such circumstances, the vanguard of the French army had entered the Russian army's pocket and was about to enter an ambush position.

(End of this chapter)