Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 444 A Battle with a Strong Start but a Low End

On this night, in the Russian military headquarters, all the generals who had arrived here were silent.

Baron Sacken led the 3rd Division and took advantage of the night to bluff. They set up a fake campfire and left some Cossacks to pretend to patrol the camp. In fact, they were able to break off contact quickly and directly on the morning of the third day, and even Soult, who was in front of them, had no time to pursue.

After all, the Fourth Army was different from the Fifth and Sixth Army. The configuration of the cavalry was always a mystery. After Murat's cuirassiers were transferred away, he was like the ancient dramatist who joked about it.
"Poor guy, only the infantry are left."

"The young man is still strong and healthy, even if he looks like this."

When Baron Sacken heard Solovyov's evaluation of the day's battle, he praised his performance, even though he had not witnessed it with his own eyes.

"This consumption is actually not good for us."

"Bernadot won't be here soon. Can we still fight at this time?" After hearing what Langgeron said, Bagration still suggested continuing the fight.

He did not advocate fighting before the war because the battlefield was not suitable. Now the tenacious Russian army has prevented the French army from achieving the expected results.

Naturally, he still hoped to reorganize his troops and fight again. After all, some troops had not yet been put into battle. This forced the French army to deploy the Guards to fight a consumption battle with the Russian grenadiers.

“But the situation.”

Among those who advocated fighting before the war, except for Kamensky the Younger who wanted to continue fighting, everyone else now advocated retreat.

There is another problem here, because Lestock and Scharnhorst are present today, and neither the German nor the Russian officers, nor the Frenchman Langeron, the Georgian Bagration and the Scotsman Barclay, will say that the Russian army should not shed so much blood for Prussia.

It can even be said that the Russian army's tenacious resistance did cause Napoleon to waver to a certain extent, but it was only a political issue.

Most allies do not fight like the Russian army does, risking their lives on the ally's territory.

If it were the armies of other allied countries, they would have withdrawn from the battlefield long ago due to these losses.

But the Prussians also knew the situation well. Looking at the generals sitting against the wall, almost all of them were injured: Barclay's arm was hit by a bullet and his arm was in a sling; Bagwut was injured by a grenade and had a thick bandage wrapped around his head. He was now diagnosed with a concussion; Kamensky the Younger's calf was grazed by a bullet, and although it didn't have much impact, it had been bandaged.

As for Solovyov, he was sitting close to Scharnhorst and was the least injured among them.

"You are Solovyov, the one the commander-in-chief mentioned?"

"Yes, you are?"

"Scharnhorst, General Lestock's current chief of staff."

"Hello, I'm sorry for what happened to the old duke. I can only say that he was unlucky."

"Yes, but he arranged his family affairs so that Frederick William would inherit the title."

"The 'Bearded Duke' is still a brave general, but it's a pity that now... Has the new Duke decided where to go? I know Napoleon, he will definitely reconstruct the German states according to his own ideas."

"I don't know. I have been in the legion all this time."

Solovyov had a pretty good relationship with the "Black Duke" and was more worried about his family.

After all, only the youngest son of the old duke is a normal person.
Moreover, Mary, the wife of the "Black Duke", is Louisa's fifth sister, so naturally she also needs care. They are relatives in both directions.

"It should be arranged. But if Napoleon leaves Westphalia to his brother Jerome, I won't be surprised. But this guy is still a rather absurd person. Maybe he will make those under his rule pay to work."

After listening to this, Scharnhorst indeed found it quite funny that even now, this young Russian general was still telling jokes, or making sarcastic remarks about the French.

"For example?"

"Civil servants have to perform their duties, university professors have to teach, and even the church will collect a lot of thalers, but it will also lead to..."

"It's possible. I've heard about the French methods."

"But if the results of this battle can be preserved, there may be a good peace outcome. For example, with the Elbe River as the boundary, although Prussia lost its western territory, its vitality would not be seriously damaged, and it could even guarantee control over Saxony and Mecklenburg. It's just a pity that the investment on the Rhine River cannot be recovered."

“You also study economics?”

"Some generals probably know nothing about the economics of war!"

Scharnhorst thought Solovyov had a great sense of humor. This kind of joke would probably be very popular even in Prussia.

"But peace at this time may also be an opportunity. There will always be a way in the future."

"Because the British will repeatedly instigate alliances against France, but they have to rely on the power of Russia. Then there are Prussia and Austria. As long as the French do not lose their composure, the situation may be different."

Scharnhorst agreed with this, but he didn't realize that Solovyov was a man with a very fast mind and might even be on the fifth level.

"So."

"The next war will have only two outcomes, this is obvious, but the decision lies with our monarch and government. If something bad happens, Prussia will also be severely restricted in diplomacy. In this case..."

Solovyov now became a riddle man, but he also knew that even if he told this to Scharnhorst, he might not be able to guess it.

In the future, Prussia will be heavily in debt due to reparations, and restrictions on the army will lead to a large number of soldiers being directly retired, and many of them will definitely go to serve in other countries.

Considering that in the next few years, if the Russian-Prussian coalition is defeated again, I am afraid that a new treaty will be needed.
As for the massive unemployment of Prussian military officers, Solovyov thought about taking advantage of them.

The British Army's German Corps and Hanover Corps have connections. If the Russian Army wants to deal with the German Corps, they can take the opportunity to get a group of officers for free.

If it can be kept, it can even be used in the future.

If that is not possible, at least we can provide the Russian army with a group of such officers, who will be useful in the Russo-Turkish War and in the future in 1812.

Moreover, this is not a strange operation. Russia has been like this since the establishment of the Romanov dynasty. It is common to recruit German officers, and even many of the soldiers are of German descent. As for winter warfare, both sides have consumed so much. Obviously, in the subsequent battles, the main force will not fight in the muddy spring, and it will be quiet for a while.

At this time, Scharnhorst turned his attention to strategic issues.

"If we are to continue the fight, where should we go?"

"The fortresses besieged by the French army, especially Danzig, are the most critical. The Swedish fortresses are easier to deal with. The Swedes themselves have not suffered as heavy losses as Prussia, and they can still fight against Denmark. Danzig and Kolberg, as well as several fortresses that have not surrendered, the battle here will continue for a while."

Scharnhorst could see that Solovyov was thinking about these issues very seriously, and his considerations on Danzig were consistent with his previous ideas.

"After that, we will have a decisive battle. So you think we should retreat now, don't you?"

"Well, that's about it. The troops are already very tired. If they continue to consume their energy like this, there will be no good results. I think what Prussia and Russia are doing now is actually providing convenience for Britain."

In his heart, Solovyov has always been preparing for the "new competition" in 1815, not just the current match against France.

For European countries, the most troublesome ones are the British.

However, as for the Prince of Wales himself and his lovely daughter Princess Charlotte, Solovyov established a friendship with the father and daughter because he accompanied Count Vorontsov on his trip to London, and those unmarried princesses also had a good impression of him.

Solovyov is a strange person sometimes. Maybe it's because his face is so attractive that even people with normal sexual orientation will have some good impression of him.

Not to mention, weird England.

From a personal perspective, the British royal family in this era is still as dramatic as the Windsor royal family. Although George III was crazy and always spoke long and difficult sentences, his sons just went to find commoner women.

“But Britain is an ally.”

"But if you were to ask me, I have written a pamphlet in my spare time, written from memory. If you ever get the chance to come to my house in Petersburg, I would find my manuscript there."

Because there was always a little Prince Saltykov "Humphreysky" in St. Petersburg, so he had not forgotten most of his knowledge in this area, which was quite surprising, so he still had some means to deal with Daiying.

In addition, France, Prussia and Russia have all been victims of Britain's tricks. If Austria and Spain can form an anti-British alliance, Britain will also suffer in the future.

However, the British have ways to counter each move, and not all countries will follow France's lead in imposing a continental blockade on Britain, or become Russia's allies.

In fact, if Solovyov went to work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, his diplomat friend Count Nesherrode might welcome him very much, after all, this guy understood the British way too well.

From several perspectives, it is not appropriate for the Russian army to continue staying here, especially since the British are always the ones who benefit.

It always takes one night to make a decision.

And God also helped. It was snowing on the battlefield when the Russian army was retreating.

For the French and Russian armies, which had already been severely depleted, this was a rare opportunity to catch their breath.

The difference is that the French organized their troops in the areas they currently controlled and prepared to fight again, while the Russian army eventually chose to retreat.

Napoleon did not gain anything from this battle, and the Russian army retreated on its own initiative instead of being defeated on the battlefield.

His declaration of victory was therefore somewhat misplaced.

It's just that the battle line is still deceptive for the time being. The main force of the Russian army is still there, and the Guards can support the front line at any time. There are even a large number of troops in Russia that can be mobilized.

The size of this country is indeed outrageously large compared to other European countries, and it is even fighting the Turks and Persians on the other side.

However, due to the British newspapers' previous reports on the Battle of Austerlitz, the credibility of some newspapers that reprinted their reports has now dropped significantly.

Among the victims in this regard were newspapers in St. Petersburg, Riga and Königsberg. The news coming from the sea, and even because of the news blockade on the Austrian battlefield, caused the reports they reprinted to be more or less biased, preferring reports from friendly forces.

Then, when the news of the Battle of Austerlitz came, the credibility of these media would be hit for a short period of time.

Even now, the fact that the Russian side claimed to have inflicted heavy damage on the French army in the Battle of Eylau is true can only be regarded by some people as FAKE NEWS.

The King of Prussia had already fled to Jelgava with his entire family because the French army was too close to them.

At this time, he announced that he would stand together with the Russian emperor and would never unilaterally decide on peace, which was somewhat thoughtless.

Although Queen Louise's will to resist was stronger than her husband's, she had no way to interfere.

Therefore, Prussia had no way out, and it did not take into account that unilateral peace talks with Russia would be a disaster for Prussia.

Even Prussia couldn't refuse, which was indeed ridiculous.

Battle reports came from the front that the Russian army retreated from Eylau, but the French army did not pursue them, but stayed near the battlefield to declare their victory.

Then, the actual result does not seem to be friendly to France.

The Russian Cossacks and Hussars were still very visible near the battlefield, as both sides had actually stopped fighting and had no intention of engaging in another battle in the near future. Therefore, while they were conducting reconnaissance, they also captured many French prisoners.

When the Russian army retreated to Memel, Langeron received a notification from Petersburg that he was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, as well as reports from Count Stroganov and several Cossack leaders.

For the Battle of Eylau, Langeron received the highest decoration in Russia.

On the other hand, the Russian army captured fewer prisoners in the three days of the Battle of Eylau than the French prisoners captured by these Hussars and Cossacks after the battle.
But in this battle, the casualties of the Russian and French armies reported in the battle reports were unprecedented.

Some people even proposed a method that sounded strange.

That is, use the rich experience to pull the French army down to the same level as the coalition forces, and then defeat Napoleon with the rich experience of blind fighting.
Even though it sounds confusing, it actually makes sense.

(End of this chapter)