Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 465:042 Since we are going to kill by crossing the tower, we must plan carefully
"Look, another wonderful idea."

However, Solovyov didn't care who made such jokes, he just stated his own opinion.

But considering that these generals are not very good at chess, it is really hard to imagine how Russia could have become a chess power given their level. Perhaps it was because they were latecomers.

You should know that in the 18th century, Russia was still at the starting point in terms of modern education, and it was not until the 19th century that it experienced a spurt of development.

As for this blowout, Solovyov believes he can still see it, at least culturally.

But given the level of these generals, it's already very hard work for them to be able to know French, so they want to play chess?
Speaking of which, Solovyov's chess skills were quite high. At least when he was playing with the young girls in the palace, he was able to beat other kids.

As for the more complex game of Go, although I heard that Go has actually been spread to a very small extent in Europe, it has never become popular. Moreover, this thing is so abstract that if you want to promote it, it may be easier to find some people who have a good life - after all, the Dutch trading house is still useful there.

But Rezanov, the head of the Russian-American Company, messed up the negotiations with the shogunate, but he had great success in fooling a 15-year-old girl in the Spanish colony.

As for things in East Asia
Solovyov had been thinking about his little theater in his mind for a while, and now he was ready to come up with his own plan.

"Judging from the situation on these roads, if our army strikes the French left wing, the French can move freely on the west side, but we must see that there will inevitably be a certain amount of congestion on these roads, just like the carriages on Tverskoi Street."

"You usually live in Petersburg, why did you give the example of Moscow?"

"This is more vivid! If it were in St. Petersburg, there would be a traffic jam on the Neva River, or the appearance of those docks."

But if it is abstract, you can see the reality by converting it.

Indeed, these generals would understand if they thought about their daily travel and transportation conditions.

"Why not say yes? You can say you were waiting for the ball to start at the gate of the Winter Palace."

But Peter Palen, who interrupted, was given the cold shoulder by the cavalry generals, and he stopped talking.

"That's right! So, we have to take advantage of this point. We are attacking the enemy group that is the farthest away. The actions of each unit must be carried out in order, and they must be fast."

Those who know it actually understand that although Solovyov was the last disciple taught by Suvorov himself and was famous for his iron bucket formation in the battle, he was indeed able to achieve strategic maneuvers and learned the essence of Suvorov.

As for what came next, when he came up with the plan, Bagration would be the vanguard, followed by Grand Duke Constantine's Guards, and the rest of the divisions would be the rear guard.

But this deployment did have some problems. Solovyov's plan was careful, but this mobilization would easily expose the flanks, and the marching distance would be longer, making it easy for the French army to detect it.

So he emphasized the need to act quickly, and the people present probably understood that.

And as a teacher, one of the more important things is to understand the intention.

What Solovyov meant, even if it was not agreed to by the commander-in-chief, was certainly known to Langeron, Bagration and Grand Duke Konstantin.

Considering that he had always been in the Guards before becoming the leader of the group, and Grand Duke Constantine had always trusted him, although Langgeron was not without ideas, his situation was also very clear.

That is to always hold meetings. As French people, we always seek other people's opinions and finally adopt a suitable one.

The reason he could become the commander-in-chief was that he was not a member of the two largest groups in the Russian army, which made him more balanced, and his personal abilities were also outstanding.

Therefore, he finally replaced Wittgenstein and drove away the old Burkhott, becoming the commander-in-chief with a stable position.

But by the end of May 1807, the opinion in St. Petersburg had always been in favor of an attack. If they continued to stay here, the result would be replacement.

If you take the initiative and lose the battle, you will also be replaced.

As for winning the battle, Langgeron did not have much confidence in this, as he knew the situation of the French army too well.

In this situation, since Solovyov pointed out that Ney might be a bait, and therefore wanted to attack Bernadotte, which was relatively remote but not very convenient for both armies in terms of offensive and defensive operations, he still had some speculative mentality.

Now, his situation is very similar to Bennigsen. He is a gambler with a strong speculative mentality.

In the current situation, we should indeed seize the initiative, but our military strength has been in a relatively tight state.

Therefore, Langgeron has always been very cautious about this plan, especially since the marching distance is almost at the limit of the Russian army's battle plan, which is a risky move no matter how you look at it.

Solovyov's presentation was rather lengthy. In addition to demonstrating the pros and cons of the two plans, he also had to fulfill his duties as chief of staff and present the battle sequence, material dispatch, troop allocation, and a host of other things he needed to talk about.

In this way, everyone can understand his thinking.

If it cannot be explained clearly in the words of this era, it means to kill by jumping over the tower and directly attack Bernadotte who is far away from the battlefield.

"Gentlemen, now that I have finished my presentation, I wonder if you have any comments."

"It's a bit risky, but we can sense from Ney's position that Bonaparte wants to go fishing."

Sacken was also trying to flatter the man when he said this, after all, he also had a share of the credit for the 3rd Division's attack. Plus, Solovyov had always had a good relationship with the German officers, and although there were some rumors behind him, he was very fair in his dealings. After all, he was not like some Russian officers who showed disdain and the label of "unpatriotic German" on their faces.

In this environment, he was able to better convince these people. At least Sacken and Essen had no objections. The cavalry commander Wittgenstein, who had rarely had a chance to speak, actually agreed!
This plan to deal with Ney obviously had many problems. Solovyov even got a hold of the official traffic map issued by Prussia. The main roads in these areas had been surveyed in winter, and he had a general grasp of the situation.

According to his estimation, even if the French army used the regulations of the Bourbon Army, they would be able to quickly gather several armies of the large army.

If this is the case, even if the center is destroyed and Ney is eliminated in his base, it will be of no avail, and the main force of the Russian army will most likely be blocked between the two rivers.

One theory is that it could be even worse than a replica of the Battle of Friedland, with the French army in danger of wiping out the enemy by taking advantage of the terrain.

Solovyov has always exaggerated this statement. He did not know that Napoleon actually thought so, and after the previous battle in which the Polish recruits were annihilated, Poniatowski was left to lead the rest of the Polish army to defend the rear and the Fifth Army was transferred from the rear.

Even the deployment of the armies was slightly adjusted compared to the winter camp period. It is clear that Napoleon was also good at learning from others. Take Solovyov for example. His Legion of Honor and the pensions of his soldiers were copied from Paul's Order of Malta and pension system. After all, he was by Paul's side all day watching him do these things.

Now, it is the turn of the cheap uncle who has never recognized his nephew to copy his cheap nephew's tactics, and Napoleon's appetite is indeed not small.

Although he was quite bold in the past, he was always relatively cautious and would leave some ways out for himself.

But now his strategic planning is obviously different from before. It can even be said that he has come up with a set of copied strategies and is just fighting a large-scale annihilation war. This is not the characteristic of this era.

In the past, only Hannibal could kill 60,000 enemies in one day, and most of them were killed by their own men.

Being in this position, Napoleon did have the courage to fight such a battle.

When Solovyov saw this arrangement, he also judged others by his own experience. After all, he had been accustomed to using this routine since he took over as Chief of Staff of the East Prussian Corps. This way he avoided getting himself involved when attacking Ney.

As a result of the meeting, Solovyov received the support of the commander-in-chief and Grand Duke Constantine, and the German officers had no objections.

Napoleon's show of weakness at Austerlitz, which tricked Alexander into falling into his trap, left a deep impression on some officers who had participated in that battle, especially in the days before the war.

It is not impossible to reveal an obvious tactical flaw.

In addition, Solovyov, a fellow, used his translation and literary creation to introduce the Three Kingdoms to the Russians.
Indeed, some people in the Russian army also compared the generals. Solovyov himself pretended to be Zhuge Liang all day long.
His senior brother Miloradovich was never injured in the battle. He even fought his way in and out of the French army during the Battle of Austerlitz. Therefore, he was portrayed as the Russian Zhao Zilong.

The person concerned disagreed with this evaluation. It is true that Solovyov has always been a cautious person, but he has always been more like a thief. As for his style of doing things, he is a Russian general who loves culture. His style is unique. He is healthy and does not need to sit in a four-wheeled vehicle. Apart from being a teacher to Nicholas, I am afraid there is nothing that can be compared with Wu Hou.

Moreover, he had a bad habit of writing letters to people to give them advice, and he always expressed the attitude of "the country is safe and the people are happy, isn't it wonderful?"

It might be more reliable to say that he looks like Wang Situ!
"Okay, now we have made a strategic decision. However, during the action, I hope everyone will remember one thing, that is, speed is of the essence. The reason why the French were able to defeat the coalition forces repeatedly, and Alexander Vasilyevich was able to defeat the French in Italy and escape from Massena's pursuit, was because they acted resolutely and quickly, which is also the magic weapon for victory."

It is obvious that he has some similarities with his teacher in terms of the "science of winning". Both of them are the kind of people who are resolute in action strategically.

Looking at his junior fellow apprentice, Bagration could indeed feel that the Grand Marshal had a good vision, but his shortcomings had not yet been corrected.

Yes, Solovyov's biggest problem was probably that he thought too much. Although he had made up his mind, he was not resolute enough. Suvorov had noticed this problem when he first met him and had a brief conversation with him. Now he had overcome a lot of it. It can be said that he had discovered a rough diamond and was improving himself.

Only when he becomes a commander in the future will his true level be tested. Now he has the commander-in-chief, deputy commander-in-chief and Grand Duke Constantine above him.

The Russian army then began to mobilize secretly, and at this time Bagration came up with a brilliant idea.

"Misha, I'm going to let a few French officers go back. What do you think?"

"Will it reveal our goal of attacking Ney?"

"That's it. Although they may think that this is a strategic deception on our part, we can still tell them."

"It is even possible, Peter Ivanovitch, that you can have them dine with you, and I can come along."

"I heard that you have been making friends in France."

Bagration said so, and Solovyov did not hide it. Seeing that Bagration did not bring Davydov today, he knew that the gossip would not spread.

"I might be related to the French Emperor!"

"what?"

Even though Bagration knew that Solovyov's stepmother might have relatives of high status in France, he never expected that such explosive news would come out of his mouth.

"But you're not shocked enough. This surprises me."

"I have a big mouth named Davydov by my side. What can't he find out? Besides, he is your friend."

However, Davydov only knew Solovyov's more open secrets. If he revealed that Louisa's lover was him, he might not believe it.

After all, when in St. Petersburg, even his fiancée's family knew about Solovyov's affair with Madame Recamier.

But as for men, even though Solovyov and Madame Recamier had a close relationship, their significance in a literary salon was much more important than cuddling together at night. Besides, Madame Recamier had never announced the news of her pregnancy, so the matter was left as it was.

Moreover, based on Solovyov's usual attitude, if he had a good relationship with a noble lady or an unmarried girl, or even developed a lover relationship with her, he would be very sentimental, but... more philanthropic.

In comparison, the fact that he is related to the French emperor may not be a big deal.

"Well, that guy, I hope his yard isn't knocked down by the French."

"How is that possible? His estate is in Borodino. I can't imagine that the French would go so deep into the heart of Russia."

Borodino, that's the main battlefield.

Solovyov sighed, thinking that he was also talkative, even a bit of a pessimist, and even the kind of person who spoke in a stream-of-consciousness manner.

"Why are you still sighing, Misha?"

"Nothing, we can improve the plan, send a few French officers back, and reveal the tip of the iceberg of a plan."

As to whether the French will be fooled, it is hard to say.

(End of this chapter)