Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 419 061 The Sleepy Marshal Kamensky

Ostermann-Tolstoy did have a fierce fight with Davout during the night battle. After both sides lost nearly a thousand people, the Russian side voluntarily withdrew from the battlefield.

Although the earl's ability to command troops may have an upper limit, he did a very good job at the level of a division commander.

After the main force escaped danger, he also paid attention to the weather conditions during the march.

What’s more annoying is that it was raining and snowing yesterday, but today the sky is clear and we can even send out a set of signals.

Of course, Osterman-Tolstoy was lucky enough to see Stroganov passing by.

The most handsome nobleman in St. Petersburg was leading two squadrons of the Mariupol Hussar Regiment on the move. They had attacked the French transport convoy the night before and obtained a lot of supplies, which was a trick on Davout from behind.

In the absence of supplies, even this "Iron Marshal" would slow down his pursuit.

After all, in order to capture the Russian 2nd Division, the Third Army had already marched quickly and fought a fierce night battle, so it had to take a temporary rest in Charnovo, which it had just captured.

However, the three division commanders, Morand, Friant and Gudin, were still full of energy. They were all waiting for the supplies to catch up. Even if some of them were taken away by the Russian attack, they still needed to be replenished.

And Count Stroganov was such a hated person.

Although he looks handsome, he is also very ruthless and ruthless. After seizing some supplies, he used Molotov cocktails to burn and destroy those that he could not take away.

As expected of someone who used to be in the Jacobin Club, he is so decisive and resolute when doing things.

However, this only destroyed part of the supplies that Friant's division was supposed to receive. The troops under Davout were still relatively united and would not make a joke by snatching supplies from each other.

Because Friant had often helped his brothers before, Morand gave him some supplies this time, so that they could finally maintain the minimum supply.

But the people they wanted to curse and take revenge on were now on their way back to the army.

Count Stroganov read Ostermann-Tolstoy's message clearly, so after the communications officer responded, he personally led his troops to approach Wittgenstein's army headquarters.

On the way, he also met up with a squadron of the Polish Uhlan Uhlan Regiment. Stroganov still had some impression of this old neighbor.

They traveled together to find a suitable place to send a signal.

You know, the most annoying thing about the terrain in northern Poland is that there are too many woods and swamps. Even if they are frozen in winter, they are not very solid now.

So the choice of route was also very difficult, and he decided to choose one of the young officers around him to go to a high place to send a signal.

According to the markings on the map, the location of the Russian military headquarters can be quickly found from the top of a nearby mountain.

He didn't know that Kamensky, Langeron and Wittgenstein had all gone to Pultusk, but he asked this group of communications officers to send the message based on the approximate location.

At the same time, in order to ensure the accurate delivery of intelligence, young officers who volunteer to go are also needed.

At this time, he did not expect that the person who stood up was "Sokolov", the woman Durova disguised as a man.

"Lieutenant, this is a dangerous job."

Although Stroganov only slept with his wife, he had been in the social scene for a long time. Even if he did not notice it at first, because the Mariupol Regiment and the Polish Regiment were next-door neighbors, he was able to see this "young man" frequently and could always sense something was wrong.

As a nobleman with the best reputation among married men in St. Petersburg and who was respectful to everyone around him, he also kindly raised a "small difficulty".

But Durova herself didn't care: "Colonel, what you need is a courier to deliver information to the commander-in-chief. It happens that I have run this route twice and am very familiar with it."

"No, you are too young. I still need an experienced officer, not just courage."

Speaking like this, let alone Durova, a competitive and eccentric woman disguised as a man, any real young military officer or soldier would have their competitive spirit aroused.

Perhaps this is a Russian characteristic.

"I think you need a suitable courier, I repeat, and you also said you needed a volunteer."

Seeing that the tomboy insisted again and again, Stroganov had no choice but to agree.

"Well, young man, be careful on the road. Even if you know the road well, you might run into some Frenchmen."

For the young man's safety and to complete the mission, Stroganov handed over both revolvers on his belt to Durova.

"You can use this new cavalry pistol, right?"

"I saw the colonel use this gun on the range before we had a duel."

Seeing her confidence, Count Stroganov felt relieved and expected her to complete the task.

Even a truly good man may not have the courage she has.

"Okay, you need to pay attention to the movements of our troops along the way. Once you find out where the headquarters is, hurry over there and tell the commander-in-chief that the 2nd Division has escaped danger. The colonel is the chief of operations there. If you can't find him, go to him."

This was very convenient, and Durova then set off with her two lancer companions.

On the way, they happened to encounter a group of French hussars.

Although Hussars are always brothers to each other on their own side, Hussars are always very dangerous to the enemy.

After a brief exchange of fire, Durova finally got rid of the French and successfully found the Russian military headquarters in the Pultusk area along the road.

Now, Kamensky proposed to fight, and Langeron and Wittgenstein both agreed. As for how to fight, the combat plan had to be formulated by Solovyov, who was the chief of the operations department.

According to his idea, the west and south of Pultusk could be areas where the French army could advance. If there were only the two divisions at hand, it would definitely not be enough. The 14th Division was on its way, and part of the two divisions of Baron Sacken and Golitsyn had not arrived yet. They should be on their way now. The exchange of fire with the French mentioned by Barclay happened in that area. Infantry regiments belonging to several divisions encountered French scouts on the road, and then some French troops came to prepare for a fight with Barclay at the intersection. In short, this side was not safe either.

There was no movement in the south, and the French troops engaged in the battle with Barclay were coming from the south, so there was no need to worry about being outflanked.

Now we have to rely on Putusk. It is adjacent to the river on one side, and the roads on the north and east are easy to navigate. We can attack or defend. If we don't fight, we won't be able to test the current strength of the French.

However, unlike Bennigsen's method of thickening the formation, Solovyov's fighting style would be amazing if Napoleon saw it.

His idea was to deploy his troops in the front and set up an axis behind the right wing of his own troops, leaving an ambush behind.

If the enemy comes from the west, use the ambush troops behind this unit to launch an attack and repel the enemy.

He considered that the French army would sometimes adopt roundabout methods in actual combat, and Caesar had used this tactic in the Battle of Pharsalus, so he planned to use it as a demonstration.

It was not just a reference, but Kamensky was greatly impressed after listening to it.

Solovyov even wondered whether this old guy was confused or not.

At his worst, his performance was much better than Sleepy Joe's. At least he still had self-awareness, but he no longer had a grasp of how many troops he had.

Therefore, when Solovyov encountered problems, he still had to consult with Langeron and Wittgenstein, as these two superiors were the ones who could make decisions now.

"Misha, you have to wait a while, at least until the 2nd Division retreats safely, before you can think of fighting the enemy. Our previous arrangement underestimated the speed of the French advance, so we have the trouble now."

Wittgenstein spoke very sincerely. Although he had many flaws and his abilities were limited, he was always able to listen to opinions and was willing to discuss things with others when he interacted with the people around him.

As for his chief of staff, Major General Berger, he had several teeth knocked out by bullets in Amstetten, and his lisp has improved a little now. The fact that Wittgenstein, a cavalry general, could still have some patience is a testament to his personal character.

Of course, Berg is not young anymore. He is 41 years old and still a major general. He is often injured in battles.

Wittgenstein gave this powerful general the position of chief of staff because he was afraid that he would be injured again.

What's more, there is an energetic young man as the Chief of Operations who can shoulder his responsibilities as the Army Chief of Staff, and he only needs the experienced Berg to help check things.

"We can underestimate them in any way, but we must not underestimate the fighting power of the French. I just don't think it's appropriate to set up a three-layer reserve formation. At this time, we still need to have a proactive offensive spirit. According to past estimates, if Napoleon mobilized more than 6 troops on the battlefield, there would always be some problems with coordination. Of course, he is a military genius with keen intuition. If he came in person, I would naturally set up a two-layer formation."

But no one understood Napoleon during this period better than Solovyov. His uncle came to Warsaw, and he was probably very proud of having an illegitimate son, Leon, and having a great time with Countess Marie Walewska of Poland.

This may be a situation that all men understand. When French gentlemen meet a simple Polish girl, they will definitely fall for her like their own emperor.

It’s just that the countess in Solovyov’s mind was probably like a Romanian actress, which was quite different from the real person.

But none of these marshals is easy to deal with.

Solovyov thought about the abilities of his generals. When facing the French commanders, Langeron might be at a disadvantage against Davout, but would probably be on equal terms with Soult. As for those who were famous for their courage, Lannes, who was good at fooling people, would be difficult to deal with.

The rest, including Ney when his brain short-circuited, are all world-class tough guys from the neck down.

This needs to be considered separately. It is hard to say for sure about Bernadotte, but as for Jerome... Fortunately, the Ninth Army he led was in Silesia, otherwise Solovyov would probably have to score points with this friend he met in the United States.

As for Solovyov's evaluation of his current ability, it is probably like Marshal Dawn when he was squatting in the pit. If he can't get rid of the squatting tactics, he still needs to practice hard.

As for Wittgenstein, he was a cavalry lieutenant general, and he was probably about evenly matched with these world-class tough guys below the neck.

However, he does have one advantage, which is that he is very receptive to advice. If he is assigned a suitable chief of staff, he may be able to play a good role.

At this time, Solovyov had been paying attention to the Prussian talent market, wondering if he could find a few capable chiefs of staff from the fleeing Prussian troops.

Clausewitz was about the same age as him, and most likely had been captured in the Prussian defeat.

The only ones left are the two pirate ships. Lao Sha is the chief of staff of the Duke of Brunswick. This interpersonal relationship will definitely be useful, but I don’t know if we can find him in person.

You know, the poor old Duke eventually died of his injuries and entrusted all family affairs to his youngest son, the "Black Duke", and he recommended Old Sha to King Prussia for military affairs.

If only Marshal Kamensky had always been as lucid as this old man.
Unfortunately, when he was awake, his eyesight was not very good.

At this time, he still agreed to fight such a battle, which was the greatest support within his ability.

If he were to actually command an army, he would probably be no better than those old men in their seventies in Austria.

Fortunately, he knew his own limitations and now just let Langgelon and Wittgenstein do their work. At the same time, he could use his seniority to put pressure on Bookholden and let him quickly move closer to the main force.

But another problem is, what if he runs away to the rear without leaving a clear plan when he is in a bad mental state?

Solovyov was also afraid that Kamensky might suddenly become an Irish old man, which would be very funny.

Therefore, he still made two sets of plans. One was about what actions should be taken if he stayed and fought according to the order.

The other set is the Russian army’s route of action if they escape from Pultusk.

There is one good thing now, that is, most of the people in the headquarters are in favor of fighting, and Langeron and Wittgenstein also think that if the French army does not come in full force, they can still do something.

The bad thing is that Kamensky Jr. mentioned that his father seemed to be in an unstable state in recent days due to mental stress.

If he really turned into an Irish old man, he would be in big trouble.

By the way, the descendants of Marshal Kamensky often play the role of British queen!
(End of this chapter)