Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 434 011 A battle of flesh and blood (I) Solovyov VS Napoleon?
Napoleon did not make up his mind to attack Eylau because his troops were insufficient and scattered.

Bernadotte is still on the road, Soult and Augereau are separated on two different roads, but the French cuirassiers successfully launched a roundabout attack at Hof, forcing the Russian army to retreat.

However, when Doppel came to report the victory to Napoleon after defeating the Russian army at Hof, he actually said that he was willing to die for the emperor.

Winning a battle is a good thing, and gaining the loyalty of your subordinates is also a good thing, but the problem is that it does not bring double the happiness, and it makes you no longer happy.

After all, the Russian army in front of them was now gathering its forces and preparing to launch a coordinated attack in this place, while they were strengthening their fortifications.

There was no way. For the French army, the supply problem was too difficult after entering East Prussia.

It was easy for them to get food in both Italy and Germany. It was also okay in Poland, although the resources there were not abundant. However, the Poles regarded the French as liberators, which was much better than the Italians.

During the Italian campaign, when the French had the upper hand, they sided with France, and when the Allied forces had the upper hand, they sided with the Allied forces.
"The Russians' deployment was quite clever. They used strategic maneuvers to separate us, while they occupied the main traffic routes. If the terrain here was not relatively flat, I would have wanted to withdraw. This is definitely not something Langgeron could have done. He is just familiar with us."

"Who could it be, Your Majesty? Bagration or Kamensky's son?"

"No, these two are both brave generals. If Russia had Bayar, they could compete with him, especially Bagration. He is good at rearguard battles, but unfortunately he lacks wisdom and strategy. This is not something he could have done."

Seeing that all these people were rejected, Diroque remembered that Berthier had angrily denounced the Russian army two days ago for being "unmilitary", causing sabotage along the way, and because of optical communication means, messengers and scouts were often not caught, resulting in extremely limited intelligence that could be obtained.

It seems that His Majesty the Emperor has relatives in Russia, all on the Queen's side.

However, what was more troublesome for Queen Josephine was that Napoleon had to prove that he could find a young girl to give birth to a child.

This system seems to be the case.
So Diroque said: "Your Majesty, the intelligence said that after Marshal Kamensky left the front, the commander-in-chief was replaced by Chief of Staff Langeron, and the new chief of staff Solovyov claimed to be a relative of Your Majesty."

"Yes, this matter has never been confirmed. I only recently wrote a letter to Josephine, asking her if she has such a cousin in Normandy and the West Indies. As for the stepson, this matter is too complicated. How can it be confirmed without a face-to-face confrontation?"

Because the plot is quite complicated, it does make people feel half-believing and half-doubting, and Napoleon could not confirm it.

Then, it seemed that few Russians on the other side knew about this matter, and there was no large-scale publicity.

Napoleon had never taken this seriously. Now that Duroc, as the Grand Marshal of the Court, or the Chief Steward of the Court, suddenly asked such a question, he could only selectively skip the main issue.

"But this man has been to Paris and is somewhat famous. If Your Majesty is the Minister of Police, he may be able to provide some information."

"You mean Fouché? Ah, Russian surnames are easy to identify as minor nobles. There won't be a bunch of Dolgorukovs. Among the Russian generals on the opposite side, there are at least three in this legion, one in the cavalry and two in the infantry."

Apparently, His Majesty the Emperor was a little off topic, which was quite unlike him. He was even focusing on the Russian position, not even taking his eyes off the monocular.

Then Napoleon, still looking at the Russian position, remembered the ridiculous thing that happened to his sister Polina.

"What the hell!"

Although the family is close, except for the eldest brother who is more reliable in some matters, the others are really...
The only time in Jerome's life that he was reliable was when Napoleon did not believe the intelligence he obtained.

But Paulina was different. Among his sisters, Napoleon preferred this ridiculous second sister and was even somewhat indulgent towards her. After all, apart from her love of flirting with men and having some romantic affairs, she was not like her younger brothers who always caused trouble or were not hardworking enough.

Although this kind of air-leaking cotton jacket is considerate, it is also very troublesome.

When Dirok heard this, he didn't understand the situation at first.

But Napoleon himself then began to mention the problem: "If it is this Solovyov, he used to be a military attaché in Paris and often went in and out of Madame Recamier's salon. It seems that in addition to his literary skills, he is also keen on inventions and is also a poor amateur mathematician. Apart from this, he has something in military theory. Although it is not enough, it is always much better than Langeron."

It's true that speaking this way is a bit abstract, and it's hard for ordinary people to understand his thought process.

"Your Majesty, there is no connection."

"It must be this guy. Although his math level is very poor, which is only at the level of mastering calculus, as for some inventions, I saw an article on land surveying in a Berlin journal some time ago. In terms of communication methods, it must be related to this. As for the current carefully arranged defense line, it is obvious that they want to fight a battle with us."

"Your Majesty, our troops have not yet assembled." Berthier interrupted at this time.

"Berthier, the more they build fortifications and don't want to leave Eylau, the better it is for us! But if we want to launch an attack, we need to take down the high ground in front, open up the intersection, and then attack from several directions. Obviously this young man has learned something from Moreau, but we are not Austrians. He will only bring trouble to himself, and we will win in the end."

Speaking of which, Napoleon was a little overconfident.

But Napoleon naturally hoped to gather the troops in this way and have both sides join forces nearby to launch a decisive battle. The longer they stayed in this place, the more disadvantageous it would be for the French.

Since the Russian army has abandoned its strategy of avoiding battle and is instead planning to launch a decisive battle, the problem can be solved.

Napoleon was still very confident in his army. Except for the Second Army, the Eighth Army and the Ninth Army with average combat effectiveness, all French troops were on nearby battlefields and maintained a relatively positive posture.

It is better to solve the problem in a battle than for the Russian army to avoid fighting and fail to solve the problem.

The British behind the scenes and the defeated Austria will not remain so peaceful forever.

Napoleon automatically ignored the issue of relatives.

France appoints generals from abroad, of whom the lecherous Marshal de Saxe is a more famous one, but they are generally generals from France itself.

As for the fact that during the Revolution, generals from Spanish colonies were even hired, it was purely because the First Republic lacked talent reserves. Many generals were either guillotined, exiled or dismissed. Dopple of the Cuirassiers Division was a very senior noble. The citizen representatives and special commissioners wanted to dismiss him, but because of his good mass base and the protection of his cavalry, he continued his military career.

As for the Toulon period, of the three commanders above Napoleon, only the last one was a veteran general, who was killed in battle with the Spaniards. The painter's father was a soldier after all, and he had seen pigs run, and the medical students seemed unable to save the French.

As for Solovyov, even if someone really wanted to recruit him to Paris, it would be unlikely.

After all, for him, most of his fiancées and lovers are here, and Polina is just a customer seeking medical advice and a close relationship with him. As for the mother of the child, many people would not think of this.

Now seeing all these fortifications, Napoleon still believed that he would win. It was indeed true that he was too conceited.

As for the pre-war deployment, except for Soult's Fourth Army in the southwest, the rest of the troops were deployed in the east, cutting off the Russian army's direct route back into Russian territory.

If Langeron wanted to jump out of the circle after fighting in Eylau, he would definitely have to go a long way.

Under this situation, if the Russian army wants to attack, the French army would really be happy.

The Russian army is still making intensive preparations.

Two German generals, Baron Sacken and Baron Essen, each led their troops forward as division commanders, while five of the remaining seven divisions were deployed around Eylau, while Kamensky the Younger and Dokhturov monitored Davout's actions in the east.

The Prussian army was in the west, and Lestock's troops were said to have another day's journey to reach here. If they were deployed, they could only join Bagration's column and ensure the safety of the entire corps' right wing.

Solovyov did not dare to be idle now. Langgeron took several staff members to inspect the Maly-Kamensky position. As the chief of staff, he also had to deal with various aspects of the work, including the deployment of troops in various positions and communication with the division and brigade commanders.

As for the current formation, what he was more worried about was the southeast road in front, where Baron Essen was located.

From reconnaissance, it was known that Napoleon was in this direction.

As for this opponent, his cheap uncle, it is really difficult to deal with him.

It takes courage to fight him, and Solovyov thought he had no problem with courage. He had been in the army for eleven years, from following Suvorov in the expedition to Italy to the rear guard at Austerlitz and the fierce battle at Pultusk. He had never been afraid of the French.

After all, he had some luck, for bullets and sabers were always heading for his hat.

Now, it was his turn to demonstrate his abilities on the battlefield of Eylau. He was confident and had been fully prepared. His achievements in military service over the years had even been revealed in strategic maneuvers.

As for what the outcome will be on the battlefield and whether you can win, nothing can be seen until the dice are rolled.

After Langgeron returned, it was his turn to inspect the southern positions.

Before going to war, deployment must always be completed.

The weather was not very good, and it was snowing. When Langgeron came back from little Kamensky's, his hat was covered with snow.

"What is this, a 'snowman'?"

"I'm in the Russian army, so I'm afraid I've adapted to the local customs. How's everything going, Michel? Is everything alright?"

"No situation. This is the worst, but Napoleon is already in the southeast. He has gathered his troops and blocked the road to the east, which is still disadvantageous to us."

"Then we have no choice but to fight him. Maybe we can launch an attack."

"Want to attack?"

"Why? Your attack on Murat at Frankovo ​​two days ago threw the cavalry into confusion, and we should have killed him there if two of the enemy's armies had not taken the main road to the east, forcing us to divert our forces to the rear."

Having said that, Solovyov looked at Langgeron and didn't say much.

"Why are you looking at me? In comparison, it looks more like the two of us are fighting against Bonaparte. And you don't need to be modest. Many of our actions were planned by you. Bagration and I were more responsible for endorsing you and communicating with those generals to implement the entire battle plan."

“Yes, we fight together.”

"It's you. I'm optimistic about you. Although our way back from the east has been cut off, we still maintain the initiative on the battlefield, which is a good thing. In the past, we were always passively chased, but we can still calmly build a position here in a one-on-one environment like this. We seem to have achieved what we couldn't do in Austerlitz with two against one, which is not easy."

"Yes, it's mainly about the overall improvement of the army, not something that can be solved by one or two people."

"So, carry out your idea, Michel. I will help you mobilize these generals. Their qualifications are much higher than yours, and it is not so easy to mobilize them."

It seems that there have been some subtle changes in the positions of Langgeron and Solovyov. It is more like the chief of staff is commanding the army, and the commander-in-chief is just the one who makes the decision.

Although Langgeron is not yet old enough to command the army in his seventies or eighties, his willingness to give up the core role on the stage shows his support for Solovyov.

"Well, we should make them restless first. Since they won't attack today, we can send cavalry to cover the mortars and cavalry guns at night and give them a surprise. As for the artillery group, ask Yermolov to come over. I have something to ask him."

Solovyov, still, had to make the first move when facing Napoleon.

(End of this chapter)