Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 432 009 The French and Russian fishing competition begins (Part )
Napoleon did not expect the Russian army to be so bold, so he did not go too far. Moreover, because this road would easily disperse the main force, he did not plan to take any action in Frankovo.

Since Davout and Ney took the detour to the east, they might as well take this route.

However, Murat and Augereau were moving in this direction.

This made the emperor very angry. Although he allowed the armies to split up when supplies were difficult, Davout had already stated that this place was not suitable for action.

But the action had already taken place, and if the Russian army made any move, the part of the troops that Murat and Augereau had marched here would be a good bait.

It seems to be a good option if we can defeat the Russian army in a battle far away from Königsberg.

Then Napoleon issued an urgent order for Davout and Ney to seize Biestynek.

His action clearly showed that he wanted to compete with the Russian army through maneuvers.

At the same time, in the Russian military headquarters, the division commanders were arguing endlessly about the location of the battle with the French army.

Because on the battlefield, General Dolokhov's Izyum Hussar Regiment captured a messenger sent by Davout, and the French army had doubts about the terrain around Frankovo, so the Third and Sixth Armies both went from the east.

But the latest intelligence shows that near the "Jewish" town of Yegiorane, there are actually French vanguards crossing lakes and forests and heading towards Frankovo.

The first person to raise the question was Baron Essen. After all, in this ambush, his troops would take on the main attack.

There is a very important problem, that is, the environment in the wild is too harsh. If you want to light a fire behind the mountain to keep warm, you will easily be discovered by the French and the not-so-"friendly" Poles.

"If the French get behind us, the road to the east will be cut off. At this time, we can only advance to Königsberg from the west."

Obviously, no one wants to mention "retreat". At this time, the French and Russian armies are still showing off their skills to each other on the battlefield, but the Russian army is now going to fight back in Frankovo.

"That's true, but the French actually have some soldiers coming in here, so we have no choice but to fight them before we leave."

"If you want to fight, you should leave after the fight. You must not stay here."

After Essen finished speaking, it was Baron Sacken's turn again. Solovyov had no choice but to deal with these Germans. What they said made sense, and they had a good personal relationship in the past. There was no need to make the relationship awkward.

"We are not Bonaparte who likes to spend the night on the battlefield. We will naturally leave after the battle. This is what happened in Pultusk before. We can't waste too much time this time."

It was only when Langgelon spoke out as the commander-in-chief that the problem was solved.

The teachers and commanders did not mind his royalist identity, after all, his considerations were always more detailed.

"According to the previous practice, Barclay will advance to the village of Hof to secure our retreat route to Eylau. As for Bartoszyce, this place cannot be easily given to the French army."

"Since we are going to fight, I think we should also launch a night attack on the French to disrupt their deployment, and then retreat immediately."

Solovyov thought about it and realized that Osterman-Tolstoy had been attacked by Davout at night in Charnovo before, so he could only do the same. After figuring out the approximate strength of the French army, he would use the rear guard to attack them. He did not pursue the original plan of attacking the enemy in the pocket, but instead took advantage of the exchange of fire here to make a feint to the east and attack in the west to attract the attention of the French.

Then, we can move the main force to Bartoszyce.

Napoleon still wanted to have a good fight with the Russian army while his main forces were gathered, so as to attract the French army to move in this direction.

Both sides are changing their tactics, trying to make the other side take the bait first.

Solovyov's idea was to conduct a sting operation in Frankovo, and since some French soldiers had fallen into the trap, he would teach them a lesson.

However, Davout's detour from the east forced him to consider the issues of transportation lines and retreat routes.

Therefore, the only option is to resort to night attacks.

At this time, Murat had not yet realized the situation and was heading towards Frankovo. The village in front had not been burned down, so he did have a place to stay.

The reason why Murat did not become suspicious was that not all the towns and villages along the way were burned down.

Frankovo ​​was obviously a more suitable place for him to be stationed.

Moreover, nothing was discovered during the day, and part of the troops from the subsequent Seventh Army also arrived here.

The reason for not conducting reconnaissance was the bad weather. It was sunny in the previous few days, but now it has started snowing and the temperature has dropped sharply, making it inconvenient for the French army to move forward.

The Russian army was operating nearby, leaving behind three divisions, Ostermann-Tolstoy, Sacken and Essen, ready to strike at the French.

Murat could not have imagined that there was such a trap in this small place, and that he would even be attacked at night.

The vast majority of French soldiers still did not have tents and could only gather around the campfire to keep warm.

The head is facing outwards, and the feet are facing inwards, so it is convenient to warm up by the fire, and if you form a circle, you can also hug each other for warmth.
As for the Russian army's night attack, it was a bit unethical.

Langgeron saw Davout making a detour from the east. As the commander-in-chief, he would not stay here for too long and would try to scare Murat.

Most of the troops that entered the vicinity of Frankovo ​​were French cavalry, and the purpose of this operation was to create as much chaos as possible.

Then, Murat discovered that Russian troops had attacked his guard post from the mainland north of Frankovo.

And judging from the size of this team, there were quite a few of them, and they attacked while shouting "Ura".

"There's nothing I can do. I can only bluff like this to attract all the attention."

Even when Langeron finally took action, only two regiments under Essen were left, and the cavalry under Sacken and Ostermann-Tolstoy.

It looked like there were indeed three divisions of Russian troops lurking nearby.

At the same time, he ordered Dokhturov to capture Bartoszyce and control the road to the east to ensure that the main force could retreat from here.

As for Barclay on Hof's side, his mission changed from covering the retreat of the main force of the corps to covering the retreat of Bagration's column.

"Leave the king in the castle, Count, you are playing chess." "There is no other way. If you wait here, Bonaparte's soldiers will become queens, and then they will be dead."

"Yes, after the soldier is transformed, it can also be transformed into a castle."

"Now is not the time to have any new ideas. We need to move northward to a safer area as soon as possible."

Langgeron felt a little regretful when he saw that Solovyov's series of plans were exposed, but because the French army was dispersed, some opportunities could still be created.

Murat was overwhelmed by the Russian artillery fire and infantry attacks, and was also rushed into the village of Frankovo ​​by the Russian grenadiers, forcing him to mount his horse and move to Klein's Dragoon Division, where he was finally able to escape safely.

As for his miserable appearance, one can only say that he first underestimated the enemy and then camped in an unsuitable pocket.

If the Russian army had not been worried about Davout's outflanking move from the east, they would have killed him right here.

The infantry regiment sent by Augereau and placed in the front by Murat was dispersed by the attack of two Russian regiments. However, because the infantry battalions were fighting and retreating, they were only separated. Later, they defended Frankovo ​​with the support of Nansouty's Cuirassiers Division and Klein's Dragoon Division.

However, despite the intense fighting, the Russian army did not commit further troops to attack, but instead withdrew from the French army's chaos.

This battle was even more anticlimactic than the one fought in Yankovo.

By the time the cavalry sent by Murat reported the battle situation to Napoleon who was on the way, the Russian army had already moved to Bartoszyce, blocking Davout's advance.

Due to their dispersed actions, the forces of Davout and Ney alone were not enough to defeat the Russian army, especially in the absence of supplies.

They did not plan to continue advancing. Although they could launch an offensive at this time, the Russian army controlled the road and had destroyed the bridge, so they had to continue to leave.

But this time, the Russian engineers did not cause complete destruction. The French engineers found materials and quickly put wooden boards on the bridge to reinforce the destroyed bridge.

In this way, the French army could continue the pursuit, but the time had been delayed.

At the same time, Soult's pursuit of Kamensky the Younger yielded no results, and he instead headed for Hof's Barclay.

The French and Russian armies on both sides seemed to have a tacit understanding and were advancing towards the important city of Königsberg.

The Russian army chose to retreat in order to lure the enemy deeper into their territory, while the French army hoped to destroy the Russian army as much as possible here, and Napoleon also pursued them all the way.

When he arrived in Bartoszyce, he was really angry about the damaged roads and bridges there.

At this time, his idea was to continue the pursuit. The main force of the Russian army had been invisible for three days and now finally emerged. He hoped to take the initiative to launch an attack before the Russian army continued to retreat to Eylau, and the distance between the two sides was so close.

However, when he ordered Davout to continue his advance, it began to snow again.

Previously in Putusk, sudden heavy snowfall had covered the attack of the Russian cavalry, but the French army had also taken advantage of it. Before the battle of Morungen, the Russian army had delayed its marching schedule due to snowfall. Even if Langgeron chose to attack Bernadotte directly without stopping, he was delayed on the way by the snowfall. Both Ney and Bernadotte noticed this.

Now, it is snowing again, and this time the weather helps the Russian army.

Langgeron finally managed to lead the main force of the East Prussian Corps out of the situation of being pursued by the French army.

As for the Bagration Column, they escaped the pursuit of Soult and Bernadotte along the way and finally reunited with Markov, and also brought news of Lestock along the way.

This Prussian general was not like Hohenlohe who had lost his troops before. There were only more than 9,000 Prussian troops left out of more than 10,000. They finally got rid of the French pursuit and were moving towards Eylau.

However, this place is not a suitable area for combat.

Moreover, Langgeron and Solovyov, as the commander-in-chief and chief of staff, are obviously better at high-intensity operations, but they have to come to such a place.

It was just that due to a series of chaotic and high-intensity operations, when the Russian army gathered in Eylau from two directions, they were able to control the high ground inside the city and to the north of the city, thus gaining the advantage of the terrain.

Moreover, at this moment, neither side has the determination to engage in a battle.

On the Russian side, the headquarters believed that a rear guard should be left behind to cover the troops' retreat back to the eastern territory and to reunite with the Guards in order to launch a counterattack after the muddy season.

As for the French side, Napoleon's forces were now relatively scattered. After a series of strategic maneuvers and large and small battles, Soult was active in the Hof area, Davout was in the east, and Ney was pulled back.

He did not intend to launch an attack until his troops were gathered, but to replenish his troops during the confrontation.

Moreover, for the French army, they controlled Bartoszyce and were very close to Eylau, so they were not in a hurry to attack.

At the same time, there is indeed a problem for the Russian army.

Although Alexander did not come out to micro-manage this time, going north meant heading to Königsberg, and going east back to the country meant giving up the city, which was politically unacceptable.

Therefore, there was also a call among the Russian army to fight the French army near Königsberg.

This has led to a very delicate stage.

Langgeron also knew that it was difficult to get direct instructions from St. Petersburg at this time. As the commander-in-chief on the front line, he really needed to consider how to fight the French.

If the forces of both armies were gathered here, it would be very disadvantageous for the Russian army.

It is difficult to decide on several directions, and it is indeed necessary to hold another military meeting.

Fortunately, they still have the initiative temporarily. The French army happens to be in two different directions. The French army in the west is just part of Soult and Murat's cavalry, while in the east is the main force led by Napoleon and Davout's Third Army, which has begun to continue maneuvering to cut off the Russian army's retreat to the east.

What about Bernadotte? He was far away from the battlefield because of Markov and Lestock's repeated maneuvers.

In this context, it seems more appropriate to fight a war.

Moreover, the Russian army left troops in the southeast to serve as guard, and also saw that the previously scattered French troops were gradually gathering together.

What if the Russian army doesn't leave?

(End of this chapter)