Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 431 008 The French and Russian fishing competition begins (Part )
Since the road was destroyed, Napoleon could indeed sense that the current situation of the Russian army was different.

He could even judge that Langgeron was simply more familiar with the various tactics of the French army. He had served on both sides from the Bourbon Army period to the Republican period, so he was very familiar with it.

But the Russian army was able to maneuver so quickly and deploy a defense line in this village called Jankovo ​​by the Poles and Jankendorf by the Prussians. This staff work and mobility were more like the Russian army's expedition to Italy in 1799.

Of course, compared to Suvorov's rapid mobility, there is still some gap. In addition, in today's cold and freezing environment, and the fact that the Russian army always carries a lot of baggage, it is indeed impossible to achieve the effect in Italy.

However, the French army even began to lack material supplies during the operation, and the current food supply was only at the minimum. Under such circumstances, the efficiency of the French army's operations actually dropped significantly.

Now that he had finally encountered a Russian army, Napoleon naturally wanted to fight them.

What he didn't expect was that the middle of the two undamaged bridges over the Aare River exploded with a deafening explosion just as the war began.

"Your Majesty, the Russians have blown up another bridge."

"They are really capable. If this Russian army does not cross the Aare River, where will they retreat to?"

Before Napoleon heard the messenger's report, he had a rough idea of ​​the direction of the explosion just by looking at it.

"Your Majesty, if the Russian army does not advance through the Aare River, they can only move along the road to the northwest."

"Berthier, now it all depends on whether Soult and Murat can accomplish their goal."

The first thing Kamensky the Younger did was to blow up a bridge, which also forced the French army to advance northward and go a longer way to capture a bridge. In Poland in February, although the river was frozen, it was still okay for only a few people to walk on it. If too many people walked on it, it might not be a way to survive.

Therefore, when Saint-Hilal and La Salle launched the frontal attack, the flanking troops did not cross the river on the ice, but went back to the forest in the north and attempted to cross the river from there.

As for the Russian army, at this stage of the exchange of fire, all the artillery fire was directed at the infantry, so they could just fire as much as they wanted.

Considering the current battle situation, Kamensky the Younger was not afraid of the loss of cannons and the consumption of ammunition. According to the latest regulations of the Russian army, there was no need to bear too much inappropriate responsibility for the cannons lost in battle. During the rearguard battle and retreat, these artillery could be used to bombard the French army.

Anyway, as long as the artillery can escape, cover the main force to complete the retreat, and interfere with the next move of the French army, the mission will be completed.

For Soult, this attack was indeed very bad. His experience of being captured in Italy made him unwilling to be on the front line. However, under this roundabout tactic, he believed that he could seize the bridge here and destroy the Russian army.

But what Reval and Legrand saw when they made a detour was the Russian army ready for battle at the bridgehead. Although their numbers were not large, their firepower was very strong.

Several Prussian artillery companies also joined Kamensky the Younger's division. They had some relatively bulky old 12-pounder guns, which played a very appropriate role in this place.

After all, the shotgun shells fired from a 12-pound cannon have a very impressive killing range and power.

Under a gust of grapeshot like a breeze, the French army was forced to abandon the assault, dragging artillery from behind and passing obediently through the position of the Ryazan Regiment.

The French army had no choice but to fight according to the "rules" of war, after all, the road was so narrow.

As for their desire to seize the bridge, Lieutenant Colonel Benzer would not give them the chance. When the count saw that the French marching column behind them was not short, he knew that it would be difficult to defend this enemy force with just one regiment.

So, he followed the method he had heard from the veterans who had participated in the Italian expedition, learned from the French's previous experience, deployed artillery in echelons, and attacked the French army in depth.

At the same time, engineers were also asked to light the fuse and destroy the bridge.

As for the French army, after their first round of attack was thwarted, they continued to attack the bridgehead.

It looked good. Under the bayonet charge of the French line infantry in the front row, the Russian army finally gave up the east bank of the Aare River. Even the Russian troops on the west bank of the Aare River began to "waver."

However, this is just an appearance.

The Russian engineers set the fuse very long in order to lure the French into a trap.

At this moment, considering the overall situation of the battlefield, even if there was a trap on the bridge, the French army would rush over.

Then, there was a loud bang that was almost as big as the previous explosion.

Some French soldiers successfully flew into the sky without any hot air balloons.

This was a man-killing mission by the Russian Empire, and Napoleon was furious when he learned that another bridge had been destroyed.

On the one hand, he ordered the artillery to set up artillery on the other side of the Aare River and fire at the Russian positions, and on the other hand, he also ordered Soult to attack from the front.

But during the attacks from the afternoon to dusk, the French army was always frustrated and was stuck in the Russian second line.

Such delay actually gave Kamensky some opportunities. He had to obey Bagration's orders at night, leave Yankovo, retreat to the northwest, look for an opportunity to meet up with Markov, and then find Bagration.

They had to complete a detour on the battlefield and wait until the main force of the Russian army appeared, which would be their chance to escape.

Napoleon was indeed angry about these little tricks.

"We have only captured half of the bridge over the Aare River, and the rest has been blown up by the Russians. If this is the case, we can only maneuver from Allenstein to both sides. Soult must continue to pursue this Russian army, whether it is the main force or the rear guard. Keep pursuing it."

"Your Majesty, where should we go to find the main force of the Russian army?"

"The Russians must have split their forces into two groups. We want Soult to pursue them from the northwest. The Fourth Army has always had more troops, so that the Russians will think we have taken the bait. Then our main force will move northeast, but we must not take the lakes, but go around behind them."

Napoleon was obviously getting excited here as the Russian army was "playing tricks".

Davout had already crossed the river, and the Guards, Ney's Sixth Army, and Augereau's Seventh Army were also going to the east bank of the Aare River from here, with the Cavalry Army as the first to arrive. Obviously, Napoleon wanted to use some light cavalry to scout ahead and find out the movements of the Russian army.

Such small-scale cavalry battles are unlikely to be interrupted and may even interfere with the judgment of the Russian military command.

Langgeron and Solovyov soon became troubled by the measures taken by Napoleon.

"It is now unclear from which side Bonaparte's main force is advancing."

Langgeron said this because some Russian scouts still had the habit of exaggerating the enemy's situation.

Soult's army was large in size, and was accompanied by Lasalle's hussars and Grouchy's dragoons. Therefore, it was impossible to accurately judge the size of the French troops that were attracted away by Kamensky the Younger.

When luring out monsters, you have to look at your opponent's movements to some extent, but due to limited conditions, Solovyov's trick also allowed Napoleon to divide his forces.

A battle was to be fought in Poland, where the troops had to be dispersed to collect supplies and then gathered before the battle began.

If you are not careful, it may turn into a battle of adding fuel to the fire.

The most profound impression Solovyov had on the Fourth Anti-French Coalition Campaign was undoubtedly the bloody Battle of Eylau. He did not think that fighting a battle at this time would be beneficial to the Russian army. Instead, he thought that further consumption of resources should be carried out to lure the French army closer to the Russian border.

He expected that Napoleon might not be able to fully fall into his series of feints and attacks, and even had countermeasures, so he was very cautious.

In the temporary Russian headquarters in Frankovo, the weather was fine these days, and the Russian optical communications were unusually frequent during the day. They could figure out the movements of the French army in some areas, and it was also more convenient for the troops to gather.

"It looks like the 14th Division has broken contact with the French, Michel. But what I'm worried about is that if Bonaparte really comes to our side, and he is good at strategic maneuvers, what should we do if he marches quickly to our flank?"

"We are resting here for the next move. Barclay has already arrived in Hof and established a position there."

"You have to consider one thing. If we keep marching during the movement instead of fighting, our officers and soldiers will complain."

"I understand this, but in order to win in the end, we have to fight. If we encounter a small group of enemies and the terrain is favorable to us, we can fight. If the terrain is not favorable to us, we need to give up this place."

Solovyov had seen the terrain in Frankovo ​​many times. Although it was not a large village, for the French army, it would be a very comfortable environment if they could have a house to live in during the march.

These French troops often marched around a campfire without any tents.

Solovyov saw this point clearly and moved all the residents of Frankovo ​​to vacate the houses here.

He did not expect the enemy to be fooled, as the lakes and forests in the south blocked the roads in the area.

There shouldn't be someone so stupid as to chase after the Russian army after he set fire to the town of Jeziorany and saw their movements from this direction.

"You still don't believe that the French will fall for this?"

"I hope they won't be fooled. We can take this opportunity to continue to maneuver and reunite with Bagration's column as soon as possible to occupy a favorable terrain ahead of the French."

"I don't believe they will fall for it, but if they do come in, we'll really have to give them a good fight."

Langgeron and Solovyov's idea was to fight if they could, and run away if they couldn't. This made it very difficult for the French army to pursue them.

The high-intensity operations of the two armies now even made Napoleon, who was familiar with Plutarch's works, think of a series of operations by Caesar and Pompey before Pharsalus in the Roman Civil War.

As for him, after sending scouts to monitor the Russian army's movements in a series of places in the northeast, he was also worried about Frankovo, because the villagers and supplies in many villages along the way had been taken away by the Russian army.

After all, this is still East Prussia, the territory of Russia's ally. It is sparsely populated, and the Russian army's actions have indeed made the French army suffer.

So when the Third Army led by Davout took the main road to pursue the enemy, this army, which had always had strict military discipline in the past, could not help but have some complaints.

As for Davout's marching direction, after receiving the order, he asked a regiment of hussars to operate near Jeziorany. After seeing that the houses here were burned down, he gave up the idea of ​​advancing from the front which seemed more dangerous.

His choice was not wrong, and it also reminded Murat, Ney and Augereau who followed up. He led the Third Army to detour from the east side of the lake and then march northward.

This route was a good choice, and if the follow-up troops followed his path, the Russian army would have to abandon the plan of ambush in Frankovo ​​and retreat north to Bartoszyce, which was considered the main route for retreating to East Prussia.

However, after Davout passed by here, Ney, who followed behind, listened to his advice and followed behind.

But when it came to the cavalry commander Murat, they could not convince him, and Napoleon himself had to intervene.

After looking at the terrain, Murat disagreed and thought that he could march northward from this area, which would shorten the time and allow him to meet up with Davout's troops earlier.

So Murat decided to lead the cavalry army to this side, and Augereau's Seventh Army also went with him.
Napoleon and the Guards walked at the back, but he was always keeping an eye on the situation on the battlefield.

After Soult pursued Kamensky the Younger, he also discovered something wrong. The Russian army actually had only two divisions in this direction, and had been luring him to the northwest, deviating from the corps' marching route.

For this purpose, Soult contacted Bernadotte and asked him to cooperate in pursuing Bagration's column when it moved towards his direction, so as to slow down the speed of this Russian army's convergence with the main force.

His own approach was to choose to advance towards Gorov after breaking away from pursuit on the first day.

It was a bit reckless for Langgeron and Solovyov to be hiding in Frankovo ​​at this time, but the advantage for the Russian army was that the two groups of troops were obviously far apart and it was unlikely that they could form a siege.

Even if the French army really cut off the Russian army's retreat, the Bagration column and the Prussian army commanded by Lestock were also in the west, but Soult's Fourth Army was isolated, making it easier for the main force of the Russian army to break out from here.

(End of this chapter)