Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 463 040 To be a general, you must be the leader of a regiment, and Solovyov is a father-in-law

What is more surprising is that Solovyov did not receive a medal this time, and it was even less likely that he would be promoted to a higher rank. After all, given his age, qualifications, and background, it was unlikely that an exception would be made for him.

However, according to the letters written by little Katya, it seemed that St. Petersburg was very satisfied with his victory, and even the nobles in the court were filled with optimism.

The letter written by the little girl to her fiancé was rather easy to be ignored, but this girl who had the attributes of both sister and fiancée was still in the palace and was very good at getting information.

She will definitely be a virtuous wife in the future, and she is so lovely.

As for her, it is very convenient for her to inquire about information. Now she is the Queen's maid of Louisa. After they get married in the future, if Solovyov himself is motivated enough, with the status of Katya Rurik's noble family and the granddaughter of a famous general in the Queen's era, she may become a court lady of the "State Lady" level at the age of 20. The future of both of them is still limitless.

".The most important point is Arakcheev. He has actually taken control of the Ministry of War. I learned this from Catherine. She is more concerned about the war at the front because cousin Misha is leading the cavalry with your brother Mishka."

"Let's stop here, Michelle. You are so lucky. But the girl hasn't grown up yet. It's a good thing that she is tall and slim."

"Count, you French people can't stop talking about women?"

After his retort, Langgeron immediately changed the subject to women.

"Well, it seems that you are quite protective of your food and have a philanthropic side. You should cherish this child. Besides, Arakcheev's coming to power may not be a good thing for us."

"An embarrassing character who had to retreat before he could show his fighting skills in Austerlitz? As you can imagine, I am worried that the Minister of War is above the General Staff Headquarters. It is still a question whether General Sukhteren and Bejia can withstand this pressure."

"I remember that Volkonsky, the nephew and heir of your former superior and benefactor?"

"Yes, so we have always had a good relationship when we were in the attendant's room. Volkonsky and Dolgorukov are both famous families of Rurik, and marrying a girl who is a descendant of a prestigious branch of these two families is still helpful if you want to get ahead. It is also generally beneficial to make friends with the men of these two families. You should be familiar with them, Count."

Langgelon was listening to him and thinking about what to do next.

"Any other news?"

"It's about me, but it's strange. Her Majesty the Queen told little Katya. I may be appointed as the commander-in-chief of an infantry regiment within this month."

"Then congratulations. When you become a general, you usually have to become a regiment leader. Otherwise, you can only return to the Guards as a regiment commander."

"With my current status, I probably won't join the Guards. As for the end of this letter, it mentions the Little Winter Palace, where some generals have been active recently."

"A lovely girl, really outstanding and impeccable. But did she notice who they were?"

"I actually noticed it. You can take a look."

Langgeron read the last part of the letter, which did not involve the privacy issues of Solovyov and Katya. The people who could be seen on the paper were those who actively advocated war, not a more patient general like Kutuzov.

"This princess probably can't understand these people's positions, she just copied it down for you."

"There is a corner window in the maid's room. When the girls are resting, they can see the door of the emperor's office. Although she doesn't know what the situation is with these people, she has clearly revealed that we need to take the initiative to take action. If we don't act, we might be transferred... Guess who it is?"

"I can't think of it. Could it be Bennigsen?"

"It could be Apraksin or Tormasov, either of those cavalry generals."

After hearing about these candidates, Langgeron knew that he still needed to work honestly. There would always be people slandering his and Solovyov's performance, even though the latter had recently performed a classic ambush on both the French and the Allied forces.

"Ah, one is worse than the other, even worse than the regicide."

Solovyov didn't poke Langeron in the face by saying that those in France who voted to execute the king and queen were full of trouble.

"As for making me the regiment commander-in-chief, it is a reward, but it may also be a warning to us."

"But Bonaparte will not be lured east of the border by you. His supply lines are not that long."

"It's good that he's here."

Langgeron didn't know Solovyov's true thoughts, but his courage was indeed growing.

Solovyov was probably highly confident in the strategy of clearing the countryside. As long as you dare to come to Arbat Street in Moscow, you will suffer.

At the same time, if he is asked to be the leader of a regiment and fails to fight well, he will probably be stationed in some unimportant place with the regiment.

This still made him look forward to it very much. After all, being a chief of staff might help with promotion in the Russian military system, but it was not always useful. After all, the Russian army did not attach as much importance to staff work as Prussia and Austria did, and the chief of staff always had a greater say.

The reason why he can assist Langgeron now is also because of the French. He has to choose a local chief of staff, and he is the one who is familiar and has demonstrated his professional ability before.

There should not be many local generals willing to serve as staff officers among these generals of the Russian army. Therefore, even if the local generals promoted from the staff officers are familiar with Russian history, they can only find two marshals, Peter Volkonsky and Milyutin.
The Minister of War doesn't do his job properly, but instead likes to interfere with the command at the front. I'm afraid that this guy Arakcheev will first have a feud with Langgeron, and then with Solovyov.

Although the Dolgorukov brothers had helped him select new rifles through the general's connections, considering that the general had always been reactionary and often interfered with the front, this was not a good idea.

There was no other way. The ministers of the Russian Ministry of War or the Ministry of the Army still had the ability to interfere with the army. In addition, personnel appointments and dismissals always came from them, which was indeed quite tricky. If it was someone like Arakcheev, it would be difficult to deal with him. In the next few days, Solovyov's main task was to complete the combat plan and mobilize the troops to attack when the weather was right.

Although we are now tied up and can only fight on Prussia's current territory, there is still some room for maneuver on the battlefield.

Solovyov's greatest hope was undoubtedly that Danzig could hold out longer, and even if the Russian army was defeated by the French army on the front line, they would continue to hold out.

The Battle of Kolberg organized by Gneisenau probably had this kind of effect. From what we have learned so far, we know that the French army besieged there with part of the Italian Kingdom’s army and the Polish Legion, and it has been successfully defended.

If the war in Danzig continued, that would naturally be a good thing. For this reason, Solovyov also knew that there was no point for Kamensky the Younger's troops there, so he also thought of using ships and several fishing ports to transport them back to East Prussia.

The French army has now given up the idea of ​​destroying the Russian reinforcements and is instead focused on besieging the city. The 14 men of the 6000th Division there are only one-third of the strength of the Prussian garrison in Danzig, but the Russian and Prussian armies have to face a French army of more than 4, and their artillery is constantly being increased.

This makes the situation even worse.

As for the end, the news that Solovyov didn't want and the news that he became the regimental commander-in-chief arrived at the Russian military base on the same day.

"Should I laugh or cry? Count, according to this order, I have become the commander-in-chief of the Selenge Regiment. The regiment is currently in the army, and its base after returning home will probably be around Moscow or Smolensk. But the worse news is that Danzig may not be able to be saved, so it is just right for us to withdraw the Kamensky Division now."

"Is that so? But is there any solution? Ostermann-Tolstoy came to me yesterday and mentioned the combat readiness of the 2nd Division. If we want to attack, we should probably see which French army is more isolated."

Judging from the reconnaissance, it is still Ney. However, attacking him would also involve certain risks. If you move too far forward, you will easily be surrounded by the French army.

Therefore, it is necessary to plan the marching route, consider attacking, and naturally also have plans to run back.

As the chief of staff, Solovyov has already started going over the map in his mind. Important bridges, roads, rivers and other elements have begun to emerge. It is indeed very convenient to look at the map with the contents in his memory.

"If we want to fight, we must also consider running back. Moreover, Napoleon will definitely want to cut off our transportation lines. This will see which side is more powerful. I'm afraid a battle will definitely break out."

"Misha, aren't you afraid that someone will say you're avoiding a fight?"

Bagration is back. Some time ago, he went back to St. Petersburg to deal with some personal matters. For example, his wife spent too much money outside, so he had to sell an estate under his wife's name.

The crazy bill shocked even Bagration's mother-in-law, but she had spoiled her daughter since she was a child and raised her by the Empress' side. Later, she ran to Vienna on her own.
"You are back just in time, Prince. I think Michel has some concerns about this battle. He is always thinking about protecting his transportation lines."

"The important thing is not to be destroyed by the enemy! By the way, Peter Ivanovich, have you heard any rumors since you returned to Petersburg? My fiancée wrote to me saying that those generals who advocate war are active in the Little Winter Palace."

"That's true. You wiped out more than 10,000 Poles in one fell swoop, which actually gave them unrealistic illusions. That battle was indeed fought brilliantly, with a similar number of troops annihilating the enemy, but it also gave some people in Petersburg who advocated taking the initiative to challenge Bonaparte to a decisive battle a basis for their efforts. Misha, I'm afraid you're going to have a hard time."

"Am I all right?" Langgelon's words were meant to mock those people in the Petersburg court who did not need to go to the battlefield but advocated war.

"If I get the order to attack this time, if the battle situation is unfavorable, I may not be in trouble. But you, Count, I am afraid you will have to go back to Odessa, where there are many French people and it will be safer for you. As for Misha, after all, he and I are from the same school, and I can take care of him."

Speaking of which, the Grand Marshal's disciple is more or less a life-saving talisman.

As for further new orders, Arakcheev has already issued the Minister of War's instructions, which are on the way.

This kind of micro-manipulation caused a lot of headaches for the people in the front-line headquarters.

As for asking them to go to war, in fact, all the generals on the front line knew that the winter fighting had already shown that the French army was very powerful. Even though they were able to gain the upper hand in several battles of varying sizes, they were still at a disadvantage overall.

Therefore, the Russian front-line generals who had previously advocated a fight at Eylau were relatively unanimous in their opinions when they held another military meeting this time.

According to the strategy, the first move was to attack the relatively isolated Ney, which would weaken the French army's strength. However, if Napoleon quickly mobilized his main force, this would seem to make the situation worse.

So the choice is still a bit problematic, not to mention that Napoleon has actually figured out Solovyov's current cunning tactics and is preparing to hook the Russian army.

He used Ney as a bait to lure the Russian army into the trap.

Full of doubts, Langgeron and Solovyov decided to convene a military meeting with the generals while waiting for the opinions of the Ministry of War and the General Staff.

"Let's have a meeting. What do you all think?"

After listening to what Langgeron said, Bagration nodded in agreement. After all, there were too many issues involved this time, so he had to be cautious.

Solovyov was thinking about several issues at this time. As for the French winter camp and the locations of various troops, he was also worried.

If they fought like this, they would be chased to places like Eylau or Friedland and would have to abandon Königsberg, and the outcome would not be optimistic. Königsberg and the Russian army's transportation lines meant that they could only fight around one of them.

In the final analysis, it was because the Prussian army had made too many sacrifices before. If Danzig had surrendered, it could even support part of the French army's material supply if Königsberg fell into their hands again.

Now Solovyov even had the urge to blow up all the seven bridges in Königsberg. After all, the negative role played by the Prussian monarch was too outrageous, because the Prussian king did not want to give up the last relatively large city.

If he hadn't wanted to find a wife for his student and hadn't set his eyes on Princess Charlotte, from a personal point of view, he would have had no interest in helping Prussia.

(End of this chapter)