Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 429 006 The French and Russian fishing competition begins (I)

Langgeron quickly convened a military meeting at this very urgent time.

The participants were mainly teachers and leaders, and there was also a familiar old face.

When Bagration arrived here, he had an outstanding rearguard general, who actually commanded the entire army under Langeron together with Wittgenstein.

Solovyov was also happy to see his senior brother coming.

Although it may be because they have a backbone (the big enemy) who can resolutely fight the rearguard battle, it is a bit unfair to say so.

But now, except for a part of the Guards, all the elite Russian troops who are able to fight are already here.

Even among the legions left behind by Buckholden, some regiments were elite, but they failed to catch up with Austerlitz.

They are still holding their breath.

As for Bagration, after he took office, he temporarily replaced Prince Golitsyn, but his official title was deputy commander-in-chief.

And Kamensky Jr. took over the 14th Division.

After some personnel adjustments, it seems that the atmosphere within the Russian army is more united.

"Now, we should consider the combat strategy for the next stage."

However, the Solovyov we see today has a walking posture that seems a bit unconcerned with his relatives since he became the official chief of staff of the corps.

Although he was in good health, he was not strong, but he walked with a murderous look.

Of course, such thick hair must be different from the man who shaved his head bald and whose uncle was a shoemaker.

"Misha, are you here to set up the place for everyone?"

"The latest news intercepted this morning. Yesterday, the commander-in-chief and I were still worried about whether Napoleon would come to catch us. Now it has been confirmed that the French army really wants to attack us."

"So that's why you went to steal Bonaparte's hens and pricked up your ears to listen?"

"That's true. Therefore, our deployment has been adjusted. The column commanded by Markov has been strengthened on the basis of a division. It will first advance in the direction of Bernadotte with great fanfare, creating the illusion that our army is advancing towards the mouth of the Vistula River in an attempt to outflank and annihilate Bernadotte's army."

When he reached this point, Baron Essen came over and interrupted him.

"So what should we do? Ney is still active nearby, maybe even closer."

"This barrel repairman," Soloviev said with a smile (Ney's father was a veteran who made a living repairing barrels after retirement), "is because he is too close to Königsberg. All our plans have to change. When we went to hunt foxes, we didn't expect our companions to report us. That's probably how Napoleon knew about our actions and instructed us to lure us into the trap so that he could cut off our retreat."

"It can be seen that at this time, we want to steal one of his armies, but his goal is to cut off our retreat like he did with the Prussians, and then do it again."

"We are not in the same situation as the Prussian army at that time, and General Lestock will lead the remaining Prussian troops to join us. Generally speaking, we do not want to engage in a battle with the French army, which is disadvantageous to us. At this time, we need to make a targeted deployment. There is an important bridge in Allenstein. The 14th Division must defend it as a flank stronghold to cover the main force of the corps. At the same time, we will continue to advance on the other side of the river with the 2nd, 3rd, 7th, and 8th divisions. The 4th Division will stay to cover the actions of the 14th Division, and parts of the 5th and 6th Divisions will feint on the right wing of the 14th Division."

"Is this deployment intended to prevent the enemy from determining our main intentions?"

"That's right, but the important thing is that the 14th Division's operation must be in such a place. If they are Poles, what should they be called?"

Then, Davydov added: "Yankovo, this place is not far from Olsztyn."

Although this flat-nosed hussar poet was quite gossipy, he had a good memory. Before he came, he must have looked at maps with Bagration many times.

"perhaps."

After looking at the picture, Solovyov had a rough idea.

"This is a distance of 14 versts. We have to fight and retreat at the same time. Most importantly, when we retreat along the way, we must not only take away supplies, but also the locals who are willing to go with us. In addition, we must destroy the roads and bridges along the way. Finally, we will meet in Frankovo."

After seeing the terrain, several generals who usually use their brains more realized that the place Solovyov chose would be very bad if the French chased them.

The area around Frankovo ​​was densely covered with swamps and woodlands, so it was a relatively good place to gather troops. The French army came in from several directions, almost trying to replicate the famous scene of Archduke John of Hornlinden.

If the French army wanted to come in from here, they would obviously be defeated one by one.

"If the French commander had any insight, he would not fall into your trap."

Baron Essen thought the idea was good, but considering that many generals in the French army came from the Rhine Army, they might not be unaware of the situation.

"I hope there won't be such a reckless man. If Napoleon comes in person, he will definitely not fight us in Frankovo ​​if he chooses a battlefield. He will choose another battlefield. Moreover, once we enter this area, there will be many disadvantages for both sides. I don't think he will jump in."

"Yeah, who's going to come in and get hit with a club?"

"As for us, if we gather here, we will fight the enemy if he comes in. If there is no enemy pursuing us, we will gather the whole army and move from here to East Prussia, near our border. As for whether we will go to Königsberg or retreat to the border, it depends on the situation at that time."

After Baron Essen looked at the entire idea, he felt that it was somewhat feasible, but at this time, there were also people who raised their opinions.

And this opinion came from Bagration.

"Misha, your idea is good. However, our troops in the rearguard battle will be under great pressure. If there is no problem, I can go to the rearguard. But at this time, I also want to explain one thing. The French are very mobile. We have seen it in Italy, Switzerland and Austria. How can we fight the French with the troops we have now? If they go around behind us at a faster speed and cut off several main roads, your static layout on the map will indeed have some problems."

Solovyov knew that Bagration had fought too many rearguard battles and had encountered too many situations where the enemy cut off the road, attacked from the flank, and pressed heavily on the border, so this concern was indeed necessary.

"No one in the French army wants to negotiate now. After all, it's not like they were in Vienna, with the Austrians as allies. They're fine as friendly forces, but they're too easy to be deceived."

Bagration is a big liar who fooled Murat. "You can say that as a joke, but we must also consider which road to take and the traffic capacity of this road."

"Yes, it would be fine if there were only a few roads, but the road conditions here in Poland are not very good. However, the area near East Prussia can provide us with support. After all, it is not like in the Danube Valley, so we still have many options."

Solovyov then marked the map with a pencil, indicating several important nodes and possible retreat routes.

"The specific contents are mentioned in the plan you have already received."

Although Solovyov's plan contained a lot of content, it was mainly a bunch of contingency plans, without any innovation. It was very clear about the general course of action in which direction, the contact with friendly forces, and the action situation of the large forces.

Bagration looked at the plan and found it was indeed very comprehensive, even considering the worst case scenario, that a battle would take place in the area envisioned by Napoleon, or that the French army would choose to spend the night in a town when camping in the wild due to a lack of tents, and launch a forced attack.

Having only captured General Scheerer in Italy, we have only learned the characteristics of the more famous French generals.

What is mentioned in these plans is probably that the weaknesses of the French army have been broken down and incorporated into everyone's mind.

Bagration was also pleased with the growth of his junior fellow apprentice. Before the death of the Grand Marshal, what he cared about most were his two children, and after that, his beloved disciples.

As for Bagration and Miloradovich, he was more worried about their personal lives.

Among the apprentices who had followed him closely, Solovyov's growth was what he looked forward to the most, but he was also most worried that he would take a detour because of his cleverness.

Yes, although the Grand Marshal was old, he was not confused when he was terminally ill.

Solovyov's biggest shortcoming is probably his self-righteous cleverness.

But this kid has grown so much in the past few years that even if Suvorov were still alive, he would probably be surprised.

The issues were considered very carefully, and several major plans were made, all of which revolved around strongholds in Poland and East Prussia, as well as major transportation lines.

Indeed, this has always been a theme in fighting in Eastern Europe.

"If there are still some problems, we can consider checking for deficiencies and filling them, but the issues we discussed on the map are not what we need to test on the battlefield."

Bagration raised the issue in a relatively serious manner, and he had given it a lot of thought.

Everyone knows this problem, but in terms of the overall strategy, there is no problem.

The main policy at this stage was to avoid direct battles with the French army. If a part of the French army was isolated or dispersed, and the Russian army was concentrated, the Russian army would take an offensive posture. If the French army was about to engage in a battle at a stronghold, the Russian army would try to avoid conflict with it and preserve its strength, and lead the French army to an area where it was more difficult to obtain supplies.

Seeing this, Barclay also touched his bald head.

Good boy, Misha, I'm just working on the overall strategic plan, but yours is almost taking shape.

However, Barclay also noticed that Solovyov's plan always retained the idea of ​​a backhand strike, which was not his method of consuming energy.

Although Barclays also considered counterattacks, he usually took such actions only when he could exhaust the enemy.

Solovyov, on the other hand, just doesn't like complete consumption, he always wants to counterattack actively.

On the battlefield, you still have to make certain trade-offs.

After thinking about this problem, Barclays also felt that he should find time to perfect the entire idea.

After the meeting, the divisions of the East Prussian Corps began to move that day.

Except for Markov who was still bluffing behind Bernadotte, creating the impression that the Russian army was still looking for an opportunity to catch up with the First Army and take a bite or even eat it, the rest of the Russian troops had already begun to maneuver eastward in East Prussia and Poland.

As for Markov, who set out first, he received an order that in early February, no matter what the situation was, he had to jump out of this circle and look for an opportunity to join the main force in East Prussia. If he could not join, he would go to Königsberg.

The plan was that as the Russian army advanced eastward, the scouts also quickly sent a signal.

The reason for not using a messenger was simple. It was a sunny day when the intelligence was obtained. Fortunately, the communication distance of the optical signal had reached 30 to 40 kilometers at this time. As long as it was not a place with dense woods, the message sent by the signalman could always be discovered at a high altitude.

The main force of the French army did begin to move, and was heading towards East Prussia.

Napoleon could actually foresee that the Russian army's communication means could deploy relay signal points for fast communication over long distances, just like the signal towers in France. However, he did not expect that the communication range of the batch of optical signal machines that were hastily made would be too abnormal compared to his folding signal machine.

The French army's actions were soon broadcast live by Russian scouts, but when Langgeron received the news, he could not laugh.

"It seems that Bonaparte really wants to capture us and fight with us. According to Michel's idea, we really can't let him do what he wants, but at this time, we have to get on the road and find a way to beat him down!"

As for whose head this fist would land on, Langgelon had no good idea.

After all, in such a vast battlefield, there is obviously no certainty as to which part of the French army will be captured in the end, or which part of one's own army will be captured.

As for an important place that both sides are aware of, it is Yankovo, which is called Allenstein in the German context.

In Dürenstein, Mortier's Eighth Army had been dealt a heavy blow by Kutuzov and Schmidt.

This time in such a place, Kamensky Jr. had a very heavy responsibility. Not only did he have to cover the flank of the entire corps, but he also had to destroy the bridge after completing the mission.

The French and Russian armies began such a strategic maneuver contest in the winter in East Prussia.

(End of this chapter)