Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 384 026 Serbia will become Russia's most reliable Slavic brother
In Bucharest, in the palace of the Duke of Wallachia, General Miloladovic met with Rajic, a representative of the Serbian rebels who came to ask for support.

When Miloradovich saw him, he knew that he was a fierce general.

Logically speaking, such strong warriors should still be on the front line. Karageorge's men are still quite short of personnel, especially well-trained warriors.

"Mikhail Andreevich, you can see that my hand is injured, so my leader sent me here."

"I'm not surprised, except for one thing, your current situation."

"Ah, General, you are also a Serbian, you should also know that no matter how many Turks come, we will not be afraid and will fight them to the end. Since those bastards who like to slap killed hundreds of our nobles two years ago, we must fight the Turks to the end."

Miloradovich knew that the Ottoman Empire had never been able to completely conquer the Montenegrins in the mountains. Since they were able to join the battle, it would actually be very beneficial to the Serbian cause of independence.

At the same time, when the Russian army arrived at the Danube River, it did need a capable friendly force to cover its flanks.

Although the Serbian rebels' combat effectiveness was weak, due to problems with equipment and organization, they were repeatedly stalemates with the Ottoman army and did not achieve any decisive victory.

But they had performed very well. In 1805, they defeated an Ottoman reinforcement. By 1806, they had surrounded Belgrade and some other towns were also in their hands, such as Užice, which they had captured with cannons not long ago.

"So, what kind of help do you need now?"

"General, I know it's difficult to meet the Tsar, and the journey is long. We are going to St. Petersburg this time, hoping that the Tsar can help us. Not only do we need the Russian brother army to come, we also need some advisers, and..."

Miloradovich found that the Serbs were very straightforward. These fellow countrymen of his ancestors never beat around the bush. They didn't even ask the Russian army to send 100,000 troops to help like some of the previous envoys did. They were all tough guys and real men.

And from what Rajic said, the Serbian uprising leader Karageorge, as well as the nobles, officers and soldiers, all still regarded the Russians as their East Slavic brothers.

This is not surprising. Russia has always had some connections with various forces in the Balkans. However, in most cases, the nobles in charge of these matters always volunteered to lead volunteer troops to Greece in the south. In places like Yugoslavia, they generally only maintained diplomatic contacts.

This is not counting republics like Dubrovnik, which generally do not buy into it, and is even still being beaten by Russian troops stationed in Dalmatia.

As for Serbia's enthusiasm for bringing their own dry food, it should be the highest among Russia's Yugoslav brothers and Orthodox brothers. Bulgaria, which is in Cao's camp but has its heart with Han and still has civil ties with Russia even in NATO, can only rank behind.

Although Miloradovich's family had moved from Herzegovina to Russia several generations ago and now settled in Poltava, he was still somewhat moved by the Serbs' enthusiasm for bringing their own dry food, so he also said: "I understand your feelings, but we will also have to send people from St. Petersburg when the time comes. Because the journey is long, it is unlikely that we will get instructions immediately."

"I understand that, General."

Rajic didn't say much. In fact, both sides, including Wallachia, knew that those siege guns were very useful and helped the Serbian rebels capture Užice.

After capturing Užice, this handicraft center, together with some towns previously controlled by the Serbian insurgents, was able to provide a certain degree of logistical supplies, and even had the conditions to make hand-made muskets and stockpile gunpowder.

It was not because of anything else. The Turkish army was careless and was caught by Karageorge's guards led by Petar Jokic. They did not follow the ethics of war and first attacked the Užice Fortress and then entered the city, so the whole army was wiped out.

The weapons abandoned by the Turkish army in the Užice Fortress and some other places, even some cold weapons, are enough to arm the army.

Even now it is more advantageous for the Serbian insurgents.

Rajic then talked about the current situation in the areas controlled by the rebels.

After hearing about these situations, Miloladovic began to think about how to deal with it.

Although he always handed over the actual command to his staff on the battlefield, he himself was a fierce man. He fought his way in and out of the French army seven times in the Battle of Austerlitz, but this does not mean that his brain is all brawn. He can still analyze the situation and think deeply.

Moreover, when he was a military commander or administrative chief, he was able to take into account the situation of his subordinates and local people. He was thoughtful and was a good general and a good commander.

"Captain Rajich, if you can meet the emperor in St. Petersburg this time and everything goes well, the Moldavia Army and the Dalmatian garrison will provide you with material support. Helping you is also helping ourselves. The Turks have always been in contact with the French, and it is not ruled out that the French will go to Moldavia through the Balkan Peninsula. Across the Dniester River is Odessa, which is the gateway to the southwest of Russia."

"Of course, we can understand that. The French and Austrians never did what they promised us, and even sold us to the Turks. Of course, they also looked down on the barren land in our mountains, and they coveted the land of the Turks in Bosnia even more."

"Regardless of that, Austria and France have signed an armistice, and the French will go to Dalmatia first. We'll see what they do next."

"Yes, even a reckless man like me understands that. General, I can't stay here for too long. I have to go to Petersburg."

When Rajich set out, the first round of intelligence had just arrived in St. Petersburg.

Solovyov had nothing to do with this matter. He was not very familiar with the Balkan stage. Now was not the time for Walter to defend Sarajevo. Sarajevo was still under the control of the Turks. As for the bridge, there was none.

On the Yugoslav side, the more familiar elements, even the assassins in Sarajevo, are missing.

He wanted to attend because his current position was in the Operations Department and he was on the roster of the Guards, so he was indispensable when any plan was being studied.

Looking at Nikolai's schedule again, the boy has made some progress recently. Solovyov can also take two days off without worry, as military affairs are obviously more important.

However, when they arrived at the Small Winter Palace, he was actually there first.

"There's really no other way. You have to come here early when you're summoned."

"Your Highness, you have arrived earlier than usual."

"People who don't have wives at home tend to come faster. But how is Madame Recamier?"

"You discovered this."

Grand Duke Constantine only knew the story of Solovyov and Madame Recamier from some special channels. "If you want to get married, you may have to stay away from that French woman for a while, even though she is one of us."

"I know, but it's hard to refuse an invitation to a literary salon. Besides, as you know, if we were lovers, we should have had a child by now, but my wife has never gotten pregnant."

"Yes."

Although Constantine has been in the army, it is more important to strengthen his muscles and put women aside. However, he also has mistresses and they have illegitimate children.

“But you are really proud of yourself.”

The relationship between Grand Duke Constantine and Solovyov as a superior and a subordinate was not that tense. After all, he had no intention of becoming an emperor, and treating his subordinate officers well was different from beating his wife at home.

Soon, the generals summoned by Alexander also came to the office in the Little Winter Palace.

As for Alexander, he was a little late in the morning as he had arrived at the Tauride Palace to accompany Louisa.

"Your Majesty, can we start now?"

Arakcheev, as the artillery inspector, presided over the meeting today, temporarily replacing the elderly Sergei Kuzmich.

But anyone with a discerning eye could see that Sergei Kuzmich would not stay in the position of Minister of War for long, and that his work might even be taken over by Arakcheev before he retired.

This is no wonder. Alexander also hopes that Arakcheev will serve as the inspector of the infantry while serving as the inspector of the artillery, which actually means he has great power.

Solovyov simply wanted to imitate his master, Marshal Suvorov, who had passed away almost six years ago, and comment on Arakcheev.

For example, "Arakcheev understands the duties of the Minister of War, but the duties do not understand him."

It couldn't be said out loud. After all, Suvorov, who was then the army commander, mocked Kamensky so much that it led to the breakdown of the friendship between the two comrades. They were enemies for a long time until Suvorov promoted his youngest son and they reconciled.

It is easy to make enemies but difficult to resolve them. When speaking in St. Petersburg, I did not have the prestige of the field marshal. Although I could learn from his abstract remarks, I could not offend anyone.

Therefore, he said nothing and just waited for Arakcheev to announce: "According to your Majesty's request, the Moldavia Corps will be increased to 5 troops. In addition, support will be provided to the Serbian resistance instead of the verbal warnings to the Turks in the past."

"Yes, Your Majesty, it is time for us to provide assistance."

The first speaker was General Apraksin, who had come to St. Petersburg from Smolensk. As the son of the late Marshal Apraksin, he had the highest status among the military governors and commanders present.

Of course, he would not be sent to the southern battlefield. At this time, he could also say some polite words to express his support for Alexander.

Konstantin wanted to speak, but Solovyov pulled his sleeve, indicating that he should listen to what others had to say.

If he, as the "co-ruling Tsar", spoke to the Crown Prince too early, those fence-sitters would lean to one side too early.

It was appropriate for Apraksin to fire the first shot, and several generals later expressed their opinions.

At this time, Alexander also realized that his impatient second brother had not spoken today, so he turned around and faced Constantine.

"Constantine, as the commander-in-chief of the Guards, you should also express your opinions. In the past, when we held meetings here, you always expressed your opinions first."

"I think we can send a delegation to the Serbs first to reach a diplomatic agreement based on their request. As for military support, our Danube Corps has limited manpower and its main purpose is to protect Wallachia. The Serbian resistance will have to rely on themselves on the battlefield. Therefore, I think we should provide material support and ask the Danube and Moldavian Corps to train their troops."

Alexander was not surprised. Since the Battle of Austerlitz, Constantine had become much more stable, and the opinions he put forward were like those he had suffered at the hands of the Grand Marshal. He was often able to come up with some reasonable and good suggestions on the spur of the moment.

"So, what should we do?"

"Brother, the General Staff is collecting intelligence and will soon formulate an aid plan or a combat plan."

The ball was kicked to Alexander. His plan was very clear now. The Danube front was still a secondary battlefield, and the main force had to stay to deal with the French.

But the battles with the Ottoman Empire and the Qajar Empire of Persia would also involve a lot of troops, and maintaining more than 80,000 troops on the two battlefields of the Caucasus and the Danube would be very difficult.

Although Alexander wanted to recruit more than 10,000 Cossacks to join the Danube battlefield, the current realistic threats did not allow him to deploy too many troops in the direction of the Danube.

It seems feasible to support Serbia, which brings its own dry food.

He did not make up his mind at this time, but waited for further reports from Michelson and Miloradović, as well as the delegation sent by Serbia, to present their views to him.

So he turned to his confidant, Peter Volkonsky.

"Volkonsky, you are now in charge of the Operations Department. You need to formulate plans in two directions. One is that we send a large number of troops to Serbia and increase our support. The other is that we only send a small number of troops, or no reinforcements, and only provide material support to the Serbian resistance and transform their army."

After Alexander told Volkonsky this, Solovyov remembered something: armed uprisings of peasants, herdsmen or tribesmen were all similar in that they would suffer from the same problem, and most of their forces could only be deployed during the slack farming season.

The reason why Serbia was established so late was that its own combat capability was not bad, but it often failed to concentrate its strength. Without external support, it was easily defeated by the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, it was not until the Second Serbian Uprising that it became a semi-independent vassal state.

In the end, we still need to strengthen training and find ways to strengthen the Serbian army.

(End of this chapter)