Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 458 035 Eugene Boarne and Solovyov's step-cousin civil war (Part )
The roads in Poland were so muddy that throughout March, both sides in the area east of the Vistula River basically spent the entire month in a process of squatting, replenishing troops and obtaining adequate supplies.

But this climate now poses greater troubles to the Russian army.

Because of the poor transportation conditions in the area and the embarrassing supply efficiency, most of their troops were actually still hiding in the rear, and only a few troops were able to move to the front.

It was under such circumstances that the Prussian army stationed near Friedland, while the Russian army was scattered in several camps. The French army found a winter camp and most of them remained on the east bank of the Vistula River and around Warsaw.

In this case, the floating bridge near Putusk is indeed a relatively critical road.

In order to defend this place, Napoleon sent Bavarian grenadiers led by his stepson Eugene de Beauharnais to the area.

The French army had suffered a sudden loss in Pultusk before, with heavy losses. The Fifth Army has not yet fully recovered from its losses, and the Seventh Army was hit hard in Eylau. As for the sudden loss suffered by the First Army, it was considered a minor loss.

At this time, Napoleon had to transfer some combat-capable Bavarian friendly troops. Eugene was in charge of this army because he was the son-in-law of the Bavarian king.

As for his performance in the army, people like Solovyov, whose relationship with the army had to be confirmed by his stepmother, who had many tricks in fighting and liked to set up an iron bucket formation, were excluded.

Apart from the late Leclerc, there is probably no one better than him.

At least he still has relatively solid command ability. Unlike Murat, the "old uncle", he is too arrogant. His command transmission is at least at a normal level.

It's a pity that he is too young now, and he has to be in charge of the affairs there as the Viceroy of Italy. If he wants to get the command power at the legion level, the war will be almost over.

These grenadiers are now in the area of ​​Pultusk, protecting the pontoon bridge.

In his opinion, this job was not very good, and he had to leave his wife and daughter behind and come to Poland, where he felt uncomfortable.

His stepfather was very good to him. If it were not for their blood relationship, he would have been raised as his own son. He even arranged for him to marry a Bavarian princess. If it were the real Rome, Napoleon might have considered passing the title to his stepson instead of his biological son, just like Octavian did not choose to give both the first citizenship and political power to Tiberius in the end.

However, this is in France, and as the only one of the next generation of the Bonaparte family who can currently fight, he is excluded from the law of succession because he has no blood relationship.

However, if the stepfather has no son, the throne can be inherited by the son born to his sister.

There is a high probability that Eugene will serve as the guardian of his nephew and step-cousin. Even if Napoleon encounters an accident, he may have a chance to become regent, just like the Duke of Orleans who sold the French navy.

As for now, he must defend this floating bridge.

Of course, when Solovyov was conducting reconnaissance before the war, he did not know the specific strength of the French army in the towns along the way because the intelligence provided by the Hussars was inadequate. He only knew where there were garrisons.

In addition, the French uniforms were almost like those of the German princes' coalition. Therefore, in many cases, it was difficult to figure out the specific situation of the French army without catching a spy.

When the Russian army sends out troops to seize or destroy the pontoon bridge, it is inevitable that some confirmation will be needed before the battle begins.

Solovyov did not go to Pultusk. As chief of staff, he often had to assist Langgeron in dealing with internal issues of the corps, and recently he was coordinating the various cavalry and infantry regiments dispatched to the front line.

Young Kamensky's visit to Danzig did not bring any changes to the local war situation, but instead trapped him in the area under his control.

The only change was probably that after he took the initiative to attack, Marshal Lefebvre vacated some areas in order to avoid being constantly harassed by him.

However, it was difficult for Kamensky to provide some supplies to Danzig. As soon as his supply team set out, it would be attacked by French artillery fire from two directions.

Although it might not necessarily kill anyone, if the supply team wanted to enter Danzig, they would need to deal with the firepower attacks from these places while worrying about the French counterattack.

This is the situation in Danzig, so it is necessary to launch an attack from several major rivers in eastern Poland.

In this series of battles, the first battle between the two sides was on the pontoon bridge in Pultusk.

The original bridge had been destroyed during the Russian army's retreat, and French engineers have not yet completely repaired it. Only some infantry and light cavalry passed through it.

Most of the supplies still have to pass through the pontoon bridge.

Eugene received a report from the chasseurs on the morning of the Russian army's arrival.

Now that he knew the movements of the Russian army, what he needed to focus on now was the size of the enemy.

"Your Highness, I wonder if I can say something?"

"What do you want to say?"

"If we were in Bavaria, no one would know how to fight better than us Bavarian Grenadiers. But in Poland, although the people here are friendly, the supplies they provide us are limited. The brothers only eat two meals a day, which is not conducive to maintaining combat effectiveness."

"I know, Colonel. In a few days, a convoy will depart from Saxony to transport supplies to us. It will be escorted by the grenadiers and cavalry from Württemberg. They are reliable."

"I don't think so. The daughter-in-law of the King of Wurtemberg is a Russian princess."

"His sister is the Empress Dowager of Russia, who lives in Bavaria."

Eugene was indeed quite popular in Bavaria, and as a son-in-law, he did not treat his father-in-law as an outsider, so the rest of the words were not said.

After all, his wife's stepmother was Caroline of Baden, the second of six sisters who formed a confederation of Poland, Bavaria, Russia, Sweden, Brunswick (temporarily destroyed), and Hesse-Darmstadt.

Therefore, he only said half of this sentence, and his subordinates had to guess the rest.

Of course, none of these Bavarian subordinates would be so bold as to directly slander their own queen. They all maintained a tacit understanding.

While Eugene was talking to the officers beside the pontoon bridge, Russian troops were already active on the opposite bank.

"It looks like a Cossack. The Russians always use this kind of cavalry as the vanguard."

Eugene knew that the Cossacks were probably the enemy troops that his imperial stepfather admired most.

The Cossacks appeared, but it was not clear how large the army was that was operating there.

Maybe it's a squadron, maybe it's a division.

The most terrifying result is probably something like “all the heroes of Liangzan are here”.

Solovyov was indeed from Ryazan, and he was also translating Heroes of Liangshan, but he had not yet compiled and published the manuscript. But when he went to sleep with Madame Recamier, this lady let Paris know about it through her correspondence with Madame Staël through the Swiss channel.

Soloviev's literary ability was basically as unreserved as when he saw Madame Recamier lying on the bed.

Even Eugene knew about it. After all, as a Frenchman, he was quite familiar with this beauty that his step-uncle Lucien couldn't get. As for his step-father who was always with his Polish mistress, he also felt that he had to avoid suspicion, so he spent most of his time in the army or in Italy.
Well, besides being young, which is a huge advantage, that lady's mother was much prettier than her when she was the same age.

In Solovyov's words, it's probably because there's more collagen.

Eugene also recently received a letter from his mother. She still wanted to ask this sensible and obedient son about some things.

For example, what about my cousin and her family who fled to Russia?
Although it sounds a bit weird, there have been many such rumors in the past year.

When the emperor left Berlin, he wrote this letter to the queen.

Obviously, Josephine could not keep it completely secret. After all, she could not stop Napoleon and Miss Denoire from having children, and there were people watching her.

As for Fouché, who loves gossip, if his nose was crooked, he would probably start chattering about it to people around him, and he would become a monster.

Of course, Fouché still spread the rumor that the emperor and empress had relatives in faraway Russia, and this fact had already spread in Paris.

It was impossible for Eugene not to know about this. His sister also wrote to him about this matter, and there were many clues from beginning to end, but there was no sufficient evidence.

He still has to deal with the evidence.

As the only reliable and capable but inexperienced relative of Napoleon, he often receives a lot of strange commissions.

There was even Polina, who had been against his mother and had always called his sister-in-law "Old Josephine", who recently asked him to find out about the situation in Russia.

It is said that this ridiculous Polina had a lover who was a Russian diplomat or military officer, but Eugene was not in Paris at the time, so there is no clue.

The problem is that the things the women in the family want to know are all related to the same person.

Solovyov did not go to Pultusk, but he was not too far from the battlefield where Lana was defeated before. He and Bao Hong were in a Don Cossack Regiment, which was to facilitate communication and keep in touch with some troops on the front line.

Of course, the requirements for staff officers are also relatively high. Not only must they have good mental skills, but they must also have good physical strength.

Solovyov has been full of energy recently, and it is obvious that his career line is much more important than his love line recently.

Fighting another war with the French in Poland and East Prussia is obviously the most important thing in the near future. The most important personal matter is probably getting married.

Also, I have to hide from Maria now. If I keep hanging around the Jelgava Palace, something might happen one day.

After the messages sent by the front-line troops were handed over to him, they were quickly responded to.

Langgeron divided the general staff into two, with the Quartermaster General in charge of the main force, while the regiments that joined the battle at the front were now under the charge of Solovyov.

The latest intelligence he received was that Bavarian grenadiers had appeared in Pultusk.

"Is the reconnaissance true?"

"The clothes of the Bavarian army are different from those of the French who are wearing Prussian clothes in the warehouse. Moreover, they are all elite grenadiers and hussars. The brothers fought with their cavalry first."

"Did the brothers suffer any loss?"

"They only fired a few shots. They didn't dare to chase us into the woods. They just chased us away. Two brothers were injured, but it's not serious."

"That's good, but... Bavaria? Bao Hong, should we go closer to Pultusk to coordinate the actions of the frontline troops?"

"You are the commander, and we all have to obey you."

Bao Hong said this, but Solovyov still stopped to analyze the current situation.

He did not feel surprised that there were defenders on the pontoon bridge. In order to guard against frequent harassment from the Russian army, Napoleon strengthened the defenses in the rear and on the second line.

It is precisely because of this that it is not as easy to obtain intelligence now as in winter.

Although the French messenger can still be captured, it is not certain that much useful intelligence can be obtained. The luck of capturing both the person and the intelligence last time will not happen again.

As for the French troops who fell behind, it was difficult to catch the few who were left alone because the French soldiers were always hiding in the pits.

The French army strengthened its vigilance and also deployed many troops from vassal states to the front line.

This has led to the current situation, where even if the Russian army wants to destroy or seize key facilities in some places, fighting will occur.

"Let's take action. We have no choice now. We just need to pay attention to the Bavarians' artillery deployment."

Solovyov now knows that he must take action in Pultusk to attract the attention of the French and to capture these bridges in future battles.

It is better to let the army advance quickly to the front and engage the French in the Vistula River area than to be blocked at the gate and passively beaten.

He talked about this issue again and again, so he always had a certain degree of authority. At least now, for front-line operations, he could freely dispatch some troops to launch attacks on key areas.

However, he also had to pay attention to several other regiments that were dispatched, and did not go to the front line in Pultusk immediately.

When Eugene saw that a Russian division-level force was heading towards the pontoon bridge, he ordered the Bavarian grenadiers to prepare for a battle at the bridgehead position in front of the pontoon bridge.

Although the Bavarians were outnumbered, they occupied advantageous terrain and their artillery fire was able to block the open area ahead.

If the Russian commander had used his brains, he should have thought of a way to conduct a flanking operation. A frontal attack would have surely resulted in a barrage of shells.

When the report came from the front, Solovyov realized that he could no longer continue to operate in the woods with the Cossack regiment, and had to go directly to the front to command the battle.

This time, cousins ​​who are not related by blood are going to fight on the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)