Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 385 027 Characteristics of the various forces on the Balkan stage

Since Alexander gave the order, Van Suchteren asked the Operations Department to develop a plan, so Volkonsky and Solovyov became busy.

There are just two sets of plans, and we really need to study the situation in the Balkans to figure out how to implement them.

They did a lot of preparatory work for this and even took the time to ask Mikhail Dolgorukov.

"But if you two want to ask me, I can only say that my father has been to the Peloponnese Peninsula and commanded a volunteer army there to fight alongside the Greeks. I can also tell you a little about the Greeks. After all, among the three of us brothers, I am the only one who has been there and has a deep impression of them."

As for the general situation in Greece, Prince Mikhail also briefly described the situation of others traveling in Greece.

Although it had nothing to do with what they were doing now, the two of them still considered instigating the Greeks as a backup plan.

In the Ottoman Empire, which spanned three continents, Europe, Asia, and Africa, there were always many border areas that were subjected to heavy oppression.

In addition, there are some local Pashas and Beys who are at odds with the Sultan in Constantinople and may also be planning something.

From this perspective, if the Ottoman Empire were to explode under appropriate circumstances, it would probably be shattered to the ground and it would be impossible to pick it up again.

Solovyov also recorded the situation in Greece.

However, what he was more concerned about was the situation in Serbia. After all, this time he had to provide support to the Serbian army.

On this issue, he also sorted out the intelligence related to Serbia in the past two years.

First of all, it is certain that this Serbian uprising was itself a rebellion caused by the local Ottoman Guards' excessive taxation. Moreover, before the uprising was launched, the Janissaries massacred the Serbian upper class in Belgrade, and only a few people escaped by chance.

Solovyov was very clear about this. No matter how the Greeks and Serbs rebelled, the Sultan and the Grand Vizier would take cruel revenge on them. In the future, there would be suppression of the Armenians, Bedouins and Arabs, and the means would be cruel.

But precisely because of this, not to mention the lack of faith in the Ottoman Empire's violence machine, just based on what they did, the Ottoman Empire can still remain relatively intact, which is something we should be thankful for.

Therefore, this time the Serbian uprising has included most of the Serbian communities in the Balkans, and also involved the Albanians and Bosniaks neighboring them.

The former later became famous for building forts and was an important source of troops for the old Ottoman army. Many of them became Beys and Pashas through various means. There were even local powerful figures like Muhammad Ali who split Egypt and almost overthrew the Ottoman Empire.

The latter are basically the Yugoslavs who changed their beliefs, and later became known as the Muslims.

This place seems to be troublesome no matter how you look at it. Moreover, the Albanians and Bosnians now support the Sultan's rule and are actively sending troops to suppress the Serbs.

But after a few decades, these people basically all rebelled. It was because the Ottoman Empire was on the decline and had done too many inhumane things.

It now seems that the Albanians' fighting power is still acceptable, while the Bosnians in Sarajevo are generally in the city. Since being attacked by the Austrians several times, Sarajevo has suffered heavy losses and has never recovered.

As for Sarajevo, Solovyov can be said to be very familiar with it. Although he has never been there, he has heard of it very well.

In addition, he was also curious about the history of the city of Sarajevo, so he looked up information about it.

At this time, he also discovered some cases of Ottoman interference in Serbia's surrounding areas.

After the Ottoman Empire took control of Sarajevo, it began to build on a large scale. Apart from the Greek area in the Balkan Peninsula, this is the largest city after Constantinople, and a large number of mosques and Muslim communities have been built in the city.

However, in keeping with the Ottoman Empire's characteristics, they also retained the Catholic and Orthodox communities and allowed them to settle in Sarajevo as a minority population to demonstrate religious tolerance.

In this regard, it is the same as Russia. Whenever the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate condemned Russia on this issue, the Tsar always brought out the Khanate of Qasim, a puppet regime of Tsarist Russia. This happened more than a hundred years ago. In the end, the subjects of the Khanate of Qasim were assimilated and became Russian nobles and civilians.

"Look at this, Petya. The Turkish taxation and administrative system in the Balkans will sooner or later set off a chain reaction that will affect the Sultan of Constantinople."

"Don't just think about how to detonate the Balkan Peninsula. Have you sorted out the intelligence on the Serbs?"

"Of course I already have!"

Solovyov took out a set of analytical materials provided by the Intelligence Department, which included almost all the intelligence related to the Serbian insurgents.

"Okay, but what is your evaluation of the current Serbian army?"

"It's better to say that this is a typical peasant army, not regularized. If Serbian soldiers fight in their own hometowns or participate in battles in nearby places, they can burst out with strong combat effectiveness. But now, whether it is besieging Belgrade or fighting a little far away from home, the performance of the Serbian uprising army is not satisfactory."

"What about the battle between Užice and Shabak?"

Seeing Volkonsky asking, Solovyov got straight to the point and said, "The Jokic sent to Užice led Karageorge's guards. These people have completed a little bit of regularization and can leave their hometown to fight in a farther place. As for Sabak, the soldiers who participated in the battle there were all veterans at the beginning of the uprising, which is not the same as the troops that besieged Belgrade. If Karageorge had not defeated the Ottoman reinforcements last year, it would be impossible to carry out the war so smoothly now."

After hearing this, Volkonsky also knew what was going on.

"It's a pity that you don't go to the Danube front, but you don't want to go, and the Queen Mother doesn't want you to leave. Your Highness Nicholas's studies are still very important." "It's not just that. You see, we still have to continue fighting the French. As for Serbia."

"Serbia is still somewhat useful. If we can help them resist the uprising of the Ottoman Empire, we will have the power to contain the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans. However, some things that can be resolved at the negotiation table must also be achieved on the battlefield."

Apparently, Volkonsky is just now realizing the usefulness of Serbia and Greece.

"What we need to do is to make such a plan. As for how to help Serbia, it also depends on their own demands."

You know, after the Russian army entered Wallachia, no matter what the Ottoman army did, the front line had to be maintained on the Danube side, and the area around Vidin was very important.

From a strategic point of view, Vidin is very important. It happens to be a major transportation route between the Serbian rebels and the Russian army, but it has always been controlled by the Ottoman Empire.

As for the north, the Austrians certainly did not support Serbia's actions. Not only Serbia, but even if the Greeks came, it would not cause any harm to the Austrians. They often arrested those who were engaged in independence movements in various parts of the Balkans.

Karageorge was once an officer of the Serbian Free Corps organized by the Austrians. However, the Austrians' "support" for Serbia was to take advantage of more than 5,000 Serbian soldiers for four years, and they were unable to enter Belgrade. They also forced more than 10,000 Serbs who took refuge in Austria to convert to Catholicism, and many of them ran back. Therefore, Karageorge would not use his connections to run to Austria unless he had no choice, as this would be very troublesome.

This also led to the Serbs later trusting their Russian brothers who shared the same beliefs and the same national system more, and staying away from the Germans.

Of course, if it were Austria itself, when they were about to occupy Sarajevo, they would have acted faster than anyone else, and they were unable to suppress the local independence elements, so in the end a bigger force came.

The Austrians control Transylvania. Controlling a place like this where vampires are rampant basically means that transportation will be cut off. After signing a peace agreement with France, they will not take any action.

Speaking of which, Russia chose Austria as its ally, but has always been betrayed. Anyone who has been teammates with Austria seems to have had this experience.

Let’s not worry about this for now. Solovyov also developed a more effective plan, relying on Corfu Island to support the Montenegrin and Serbian insurgents. On the other hand, the Russian army needs to open up the Vidin line, which requires the cooperation of the Serbs.

Then Volkonsky and Solovyov came up with a battle plan.

The plan to send a large number of troops to support Serbia was made by Volkonsky, but Solovyov, having studied the situation in the Balkans, also advocated sending only a small number of troops, mainly aid supplies.

Although it sounds rather stingy, Solovyov had to, on the one hand, take inventory of the Ottoman Empire's arsenals that could be controlled by the Russian army and deliver these weapons and equipment to the Serbian rebels. On the other hand, he had to hand over the replaced old Russian equipment and the "Brown Bess" rifles that the British had previously shipped to the Serbian army.

Anyway, these flintlock rifles are easier to maintain now.

General Van Suchteren looked at his plan, which obviously contained more content than Volkonsky's plan to solve the local situation purely through military means.

"How does our army's presence compare to this kind of assistance?"

"Sending a troop into Serbia will not only consume a lot of resources, but it will also be difficult for us to obtain supplies in this area. If we just let the Serbs fight the Ottoman army, the consumption will be lower, because they are all locals. The problem is that such an army is not well regularized, and it is easy for people to desert when they leave their hometown, and their combat effectiveness will also be reduced. What needs to be done is to regularize the Serbian armed forces, but not in terms of combat methods, but mainly in terms of the organization of the army. They have high morale. As long as the organization of the troops can be regularized, it can not only solve their own problems, but also protect our flank on the Danube."

Solovyov actually had a bolder idea. After capturing Vidin, he would use Serbia as a huge flank to attack Skopje and Thessaloniki.

But that is for the future. The primary issue now is to ensure the existence of the Serbian insurgents and strengthen their combat effectiveness.

What he did not know was that although Sultan Selim III had received Serbia's peace envoys, he did not agree with Serbia's high degree of autonomy and wanted to return to the stage of stationing Pashas in the past.

Therefore, the most important goal of the Serbian rebels now is to defeat the possible Ottoman Empire's punitive army. Only after winning will they be eligible to sit at the table.

But Solovyov's plan already included this aspect.

You know, when the Scottish Highlands supported the Jacobite rebellion and attempted to overthrow the Hanoverian royal family, the poor mobility of the British army was completely defeated by the marching columns organized by the French Scottish officers in the Scottish army.

There are also some Serbs in the Russian army, and they can form an advisory group.

However, Van Suchteren had no clear idea of ​​who to follow in command. He just wanted to leave this issue to Arakcheev or Alexander himself.

But the most suitable candidate for consultant is Miloradovich. However, considering that he is a typical commander rather than a staff officer, it is unlikely that he can achieve anything in this regard.

Moreover, he was also responsible for commanding the troops on the front line of the Danube Army and might have to return to Kiev, so it was unlikely that he would go to Belgrade.

As for his relatives, after arriving in Russia, not many of them became generals, but many of them were nobles and worked in the court and civil service system.

After seeing this situation, Alexander decided to send Paolucci, a former officer of the Kingdom of Sardinia who came to serve in the Russian army, to meet with Karageorge and find out the local situation.

And Rajic was also on his way to St. Petersburg at this time.

The plan made by Solovyov was approved in principle, but it had nothing to do with him for the time being. It was just a plan, and he had to return to his daily teaching work for Grand Dukes Nicholas and Mikhail.

(End of this chapter)