Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 442 019 A meat grinder battle (IX) Cavalry, attack, a bit scary
Before the battle of the next day began, Napoleon had noticed that the Russian army still had not given up its position on the southwest side.

Originally, he hoped that the Russian army would retreat at night so that he could connect the front lines of several armies and then launch an attack, which would be an end.

Although he was mentally prepared for such a tough battle, he did not expect the situation on the battlefield to be so unfavorable. Moreover, the Russian army's resistance was extremely tenacious, and it even seemed that their forces were gathering more and more.

"This won't work, Berthier. The cavalry and the guards must be ready for battle."

Napoleon had given orders in advance to use the cavalry, which was a common occurrence in several battles.

But this was the first time that the Guards had been deployed since the thousand-odd men of the Consular Guard of Marengo had thrown themselves into battle and put up a fierce resistance.

"Your Majesty, are you sure you want to mobilize the Guards?"

"At this moment, the only way to shake the Russians' will is to send all our reserve troops to the battlefield. There is a tiny gap in the Russian defense in the ice lake area. I learned about this after reading the report from Augereau's staff."

Napoleon was apparently very confident and pointed out the location of the icy lake on the map.

"We will launch the attack from this direction and tear open the Russian defenses. But there is still a question: Can the Seventh Army still fight?"

"The situation is very bad, Your Majesty. Only half of our troops can be deployed to fight. For this reason, we have to..."

"Berthier, that's enough. The Russian army is probably using the two-row formation to bluff so that their troops appear to be more numerous. If we don't charge at their weak point, we won't know."

The weakness that Napoleon noticed was also the one that Solovyov overlooked.

Normally he would not use this "Russian cleverness", but now he had to do so, paying attention to the horseshoes of the heavy cavalry and even damaging part of the road surface, leaving the French heavy cavalry with no suitable place to launch an attack.

However, there is a small area south of the Ice Lake and Eylau, where the troop deployment is relatively weak, and it is also one of the few gaps in the Russian army's iron barrel formation.

After the arrival of the Prussian army, the high-intensity work made Solovyov a little tired.

As for the Marshal Saxe that Langgelon jokingly mentioned, he was an evil ghost who had a party with eight actresses one night, and it was not surprising that he died suddenly in the end.

However, Marshal Sachs was an old man when he died. Although Solovyov was the father of a son and four daughters, he was not married yet. He himself found that the physical drain of such a high-intensity war was actually greater than sleeping with a pretty girl.

For someone like Louisa, Her Majesty the Queen is still too gentle, and may even be more exhausting to her.

If she's a bit wilder, like Polina, the men might not be able to handle it.

Without good physical strength, it would be difficult to persist in anything.

As for this negligence, it is indeed one of the few weaknesses that can be discovered after the iron bucket formation is set up.

Moreover, if they used infantry to attack, they would be exposed quickly. Napoleon had to use cavalry to attack, and even sent out cuirassiers and dragoons. This would be extremely disadvantageous for the Russian army.

If someone in Langgeron's headquarters had thought of this problem at this time and moved Lestock's Prussian troops to this position, the entire battlefield might have improved.

But the Russian army, facing the pressure from Soult and Davout, had to replace the 4th Division with the Prussian Army to protect the flanks. Barclay led two brigades to block Davout, and Somov led one brigade to support Sacken.

This gap was still exposed.

But if Sacken had been withdrawn from his position on the southwest road the night before, it would not have been a big deal for the Russian army.

The divided French army could then launch a direct attack and teach the Russian army a lesson.

If the battle lines are connected, the Russian army will be in a very passive position.

Therefore, the Russian army would not take the initiative to withdraw from there even if it left Saken as a nail in the front of Surt.

As for the weakness on the ice lake, everyone actually neglected it due to the high-intensity command and staff work.

Murat's cavalry was going to launch the attack from here.

The French army's cuirassiers and dragoons assembled more than 6,000 people, which was a very large scale. There had never been such a large number of cavalry units in previous battles.

So when Langgeron wanted to mobilize the troops under the command of Manteuffel to resist, the rolling human waves rushed up from the icy lake and the only gap set by the Russian army, just like the waves hitting the rocks in Galicia in the Iberian Peninsula.

"What the hell! It looks like Bonaparte is about to launch a general offensive. What should we do?"

Langgeron complained, of course, when he looked at Solovyov, the boy had no idea either.

After all, the "That Man's Preparation" trick could at most kill a few French generals and heavy cavalry commanders, but it could not stop the subsequent mixed attack of French cavalry and infantry.

The only solution Solovyov could think of was to set up an arc-shaped defense and let all the nearby Russian troops form a square formation to resist the charge of the French cavalry.

This move is not the same type of fighting method as that used by the original owner of the Jade Throne Golden Buddha.

But only at this time, while the weather was still barely clear, signal flags and optical signal machines were used to mobilize troops.

Even with this deployment, it was already too late. The French cavalry had already driven a wedge around the ice lake and even disrupted the formations of several Russian infantry regiments. Several battalion formations were broken.

"Soka, this Bonaparte!"

Even Langgeron could hear this. Solovyov, who was always very calm, changed his usual way of addressing Napoleon and called him by his surname instead of his first name. It was obvious that he was a little anxious.

Now, as the commander-in-chief, Langgelon is relatively calm. He also has some dragoons and cuirassiers. Although their use may be a bit patchwork, it is enough to hold out for a while at this gap.

As for issuing this order, it also requires some determination.

The Russian cavalry had always been used sparingly, because the Cossacks and Hussars were always out and needed to be adjusted when they came back. Now, this large-scale charge by the French army did shake part of the Russian front, but it only broke through.

This shaky defense line can still be held at this time. It's because of the Russian soldiers. They are very resilient. It seems that they are performing above their normal level.

Among the French heavy cavalry's attacks, the cuirassiers' attacks were the most fierce. The cuirassiers' division led by Dopple broke through the Russian army's first-line positions along the way, but also encountered trouble on the second line.

When the Russian army formed phalanxes, many of them were not arranged in a square. This was indeed beneficial for the use of firepower. In addition, with the presence of reserve troops inside, the French cavalry often faced huge troubles when trying to break through the Russian formation.

It was this wider front that caused the French cavalry to suffer increasing casualties as they were fired upon round after round. Cuirassiers had breastplates on both the front and back, but dragoons were obviously not like that. For a while, many cavalrymen simply passed through the Russian phalanx instead of launching a direct attack.

As for those cavalrymen who dared to directly attack the phalanx, the impact force was also very great. Some battalions and companies of the Russian army that had not completed the phalanx were also dispersed, resulting in a large number of defeated soldiers scattered on the battlefield.

Now these people have nowhere to run, and some soldiers can only form a formation with their backs against each other, which may help them withstand the charge of the cavalry.

The battle was so fierce that after the French cavalry began to attack, the main commanders of both sides focused their attention here.

Napoleon was now on the verge of success, but he was not without worries. The Russian army was so tenacious. If it were fighting against the Prussian or Austrian army, they would have already killed the infantry on both lines of defense.

But now the French cuirassiers launched a fierce attack, and only a few cavalry squadrons rushed forward, and after breaking through the Russian defense line, they posed a threat to the Russian rear.

This also forced Langgeron to deploy the Moscow Grenadiers and Smolensk Regiments that had retreated to rest and desperately resist the attack of the French cavalry.

But there were only a few cavalrymen. Seeing this situation, Napoleon gave orders to Marshal Bessières.

"Let the 'Gods' act! Bessiere, I expect you to defeat the Russians!"

When he said this, Langgeron was indeed mobilizing two infantry regiments to block the gap, and was also pulling out several Russian dragoon regiments and guards cuirassiers regiments, preparing to block the gap with all his strength and counterattack to kill the French troops.

Napoleon's deployment was very timely. He deployed the Grenadiers of the Guards and ordered these most elite heavy cavalry to launch an attack to support the French heavy cavalry on the front line. On the one hand, they completed the support, and on the other hand, they reopened the defense of a battalion of the Smolensk Regiment.

The victory achieved by the French army on this front only created a dent in the Russian army's iron formation.

On this battlefield, both sides found that their combat effectiveness was at an unexpected level.

Langgeron discovered that the Russian army was able to withstand the French attack. As for the French side, they did not expect that their cuirassiers could actually break through two Russian front lines, and even the third line of infantry and cavalry combined to plug the gaps were almost broken through.

In the end, it was the Russian artillery that fired shotgun shells at the attacking French army and barely stopped the enemy.

"What a strong cavalry! I hope this won't happen again!"

Solovyov said this because he had witnessed the power of the French cavalry charge.

If the best hussars were the original Hungarians, the best lancers were the Poles, and the best versatile light cavalry were undoubtedly the Cossacks who were skilled in both lance and saber, then the French cuirassiers and the German dragoons were...
These are all heavy cavalry with too strong impact force. It is really difficult to stop them.

Now on the battlefield, it is already noon.

When Solovyov appeared in front of the ice lake as the representative of the headquarters, he saw corpses everywhere and the place was in a mess.

"The smell of blood and rotting flesh will soon attract crows."

The bodies of the cavalry and infantry killed on both sides were scattered on the ground, facing all directions, obviously they had experienced a fierce melee.

The Selenge Regiment had better luck. When the French army attacked the last line of defense, they mainly struck the front of the Moscow Grenadiers. It can be said that the Grenadiers took on more damage for several neighboring regiments.

But no matter how you look at it, Solovyov doesn't feel excited, because tougher battles are still ahead.

Although Augereau's Seventh Army had suffered heavy losses after a night attack and two days of fighting, the Old Guards in bearskin hats had already appeared behind them.

At this time, it seems that Napoleon might use his last trump card during the French cavalry charge, the Russian counterattack, and the Russian counterattack after the French offensive stagnates.

At this time, it was obvious that all the Russian generals, even the most capable fighters, Bagration and Kamensky the Younger, were considering fighting in the rearguard.

On the afternoon of the second day of the battle, Little Kamensky's forward position was finally occupied by the French army. Ney now controlled the first outer line of defense.

Now the young count finally received Langeron's order to retreat to the northeast of Eylau, forming a line of defense with Essen here to cover Tuchkov and Dokhturov who had been passively attacked.

Afterwards, the two brigades led by Barclay went to Dokhturov to support him.

It was just unfortunate that Barclay was hit by a bullet and wounded right at the beginning. He himself was slightly injured on the front line but refused to leave the battlefield. After a simple bandage, he insisted on commanding the battle.

Next, he was hit by a bullet in the arm again. The accompanying staff were worried that the general would be further seriously injured, so they sent him to the rear.

Now, reinforcements arrived, but the organization during the battle was not very good. Without two generals, Somov and Barclay, who could act as division commanders, the 4th Division was now leaderless.

The former division commander, Prince Golitsyn, is now leading the cavalry to fill the huge hole caused by Murat's attack and cannot be here.

Therefore, the reinforcements could only go directly to face Davout under the command of Major General Alexeev, commander of the 2nd Brigade.

But Davout's attack was too fierce, causing several Russian infantry regiments to be compressed into a very small area and to be passively attacked.

Seeing this situation, even if they had made all the preparations, they could not change the situation. The generals on the Russian side were brave enough, but lacked command ability and strategy. They were only slightly better than the French army because of their quick wits in the face of battle.

And overall, it really doesn't work.

What's more, when Napoleon saw considerable progress at the front, he finally decided to end the battle before dark.

(End of this chapter)