Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 516 028 Military Supervisor Solovyov and Deputy Commander Robert Crown
Old Chichakov was already very old, but despite his age and weakness, his mind was still clear.

After listening to the conversation between Alexander and Solovyov, and looking at his son, the Minister of the Navy, he asked little Chichakov this question.

"Pasha, Hanikov is indeed a coward. Even though he is good at commanding a squadron, he can only be a deputy in the fleet. If he is the leader, something bad will happen."

"Father, the Emperor has no intention of changing anyone, but is willing to appoint a military supervisor and find a deputy commander. If it is feasible, I should leave the Admiralty and command the Baltic Fleet. It is better than that old man Khanikov."

Speaking of which, little Chichakov's abilities were not bad. He had fought side by side with Hanikov in a naval battle and had some understanding of this man.

People may become more timid as they grow older. Although Rear Admiral Hanikov was a bit timid back then, he would not talk about running away every day.

After all, the Navy Minister is only 41 years old this year, which is the golden age for commanding a naval fleet, and it is the best time in all aspects.

"But you are the Minister of the Navy, and the Emperor will not allow you to go to Kotlin Island."

"Yes, or else Fyodor Fyodorovich could go, but he hasn't said anything today."

"Didn't the young count consult with Ushakov?"

"But the Emperor will not let him go. After all, he served as fleet commander earlier than Hanikov, and his merits are..."

"Son, just wait and see. The Emperor will always make his decision. It's a pity that those young and energetic ones have sailed away with their fleets, otherwise we would have found some solution."

This was Alexander's own trouble. Corfu was ceded to France, and the Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet were scattered everywhere due to overseas combat cruises. In the meantime, the experienced and motivated Seniavin and Craig Jr. of the Baltic Fleet were left abroad. They may even be detained by the British in Lisbon now.

After that, only old guards like Khanikov can be used. Alexander now wants to find a proactive commander, and he may need to find someone from the Black Sea Fleet, such as the French Marquis Travers. But with his status, he can only be arranged as the commander of the Baltic Fleet or the Minister of the Navy, which is definitely not the first choice.

After the father and son talked for a few words, Alexander and Solovyov finished their conversation at the desk.

". In this case, we can't send an admiral directly to the ship. This is not appropriate. It would be better to replace him directly, Solovyov. If you insist on doing this, you can only find a suitable candidate among the vice admirals. Marquis Travers, your stepmother's fellow countryman, will definitely not work. If Yazkov is too old, he is 70 years old."

"If possible, we should let Colonel Crown come. Although he is a Scotsman, he has served in our navy for twenty years."

Old Chichakov's words shocked his son.

But think about this Scotsman, if he wasn't an Englishman, he would be a very suitable candidate. After all, not everyone can be like him, who is over 50 years old and can be as agile as a monkey on the boat.

"But Vasily Yakovlevich, although he is an excellent commander, he is an Englishman after all."

Alexander did have some doubts, but Ushakov, who had been silent, spoke up.

"Your Majesty, what you need is a suitable naval fleet commander, regardless of his nationality. Moreover, Robert is now your Majesty's subject."

At this time, Solovyov actually spoke in line with the two veterans' opinions.

"Your Majesty, since we can have a Swede fighting the Swedes in the army, it is not strange for us to have a British man fighting the British in the navy fleet."

Moreover, the reason why old Chichakov and Ushakov reached a consensus was that Lieutenant General Kron came from a poor family and had no sense of belonging to Britain. As old superiors, they knew this all too well.

After all, his first wife, who he married when he was still a cadet officer, died of tuberculosis. His second wife divorced him and returned to England with their children, leaving only Kron in St. Petersburg.
Although he is a "naked official", I think he must be very dissatisfied with his wife. Given his excellent service over the years, there is no need for him to stay in the manor.

Moreover, most British people have a characteristic that they are very responsible when they go to work in foreign countries. Typical examples include those who served as Pashas and Beys in the Ottoman Empire, Lang Weili who served as instructors in the Beiyang Navy, and the Sirs in Hong Kong.
Seeing this situation, Alexander agreed to let Vice Admiral Robert Crown, often known as Roman Vasilyevich Crown in Russia, serve as Khanikov's deputy.

Solovyov had never heard of such a person, and he didn't find it strange that the British were fighting the British. After all, there were too many foreigners coming to Russia to work as masters, such as the typical Scotsman Earl Bruce and the atypical Scotsman Barclay de Tolly.

Ekaterina, the last female in Count Bruce's family, is actually the daughter-in-law of Katya's aunt Praskovya. The issue of property division was scared by this aunt, after all, her greed was quite ugly, which led to the last heir of the Bruce family simply moving to Switzerland to separate from her husband.

When the Scots came to Russia, they actually performed quite well and there was nothing to complain about.

Of course, Solovyov, who didn't know much about Kron, still wanted to find out.

Even now, he would take the initiative to support the 83-year-old old Chichakov. In terms of respecting the elderly, he is still qualified.

The old admiral was very pleased with the young man's flattery, and even started making a joke before Solovyov even opened his mouth.

"Count, you are a general after all. You don't have to support me like a servant. I am old and will soon go to a land with abundant grass and water. You don't have to curry favor with me. But my son Pasha hates being flattered the most."

"It is like this, Vasily Yakovlevich, I want to know something about Lieutenant General Kron."

"That Rome? Just let the attendant handle this matter. You can talk to my son. He is the Minister of the Navy and knows this Englishman better. He didn't listen to Emperor Paul's advice and married an English girl."

In fact, there are quite a few people in the Russian Navy who have connections with the British. People in Russia often joke that Nelson stole Ushakov's tactics. It is not uncommon for the Secretary of the Navy to marry a British wife, or simply find a group of British people to serve.

Seeing that his father had thrown the question to him, Chichakov, the Minister of the Navy, actually talked directly to Solovyov.

After all, this guy is also an attendant general, and the status difference is not that big. It is quite responsible for him to be a naval inspector this time. It would be better if he was from the navy. "Well, my father's name is Kronroma. It was because he did an excellent job in the Baltic Fleet. As the commander of the frigate Mercury, he made rare contributions and received a special pension from Her Majesty the Queen."

Speaking of special pensions, you don’t have to wait until you retire to receive them. Instead, you can apply to receive a lump sum directly after winning the award.

To receive such a reward, it is obvious that he must have done something extraordinary back then.

Seeing Solovyov's interest, Chichakov continued: "The Mercury was a 1788-gun frigate purchased directly from Britain in 22. Kron was bought together with the ship, but he joined the military operations in the Baltic Sea at that time, performing reconnaissance and interception missions in Admiral von Desing's fleet."

"What happens after that?"

"During a sea patrol in 1789, the Mercury encountered the Swedish frigate Venus. The Mercury itself was a level VI ship, but its opponent was a level ship. You have some basic knowledge, Misha, and I think you can understand what this means."

"It's always difficult for a small ship to win against a large ship, unless the ship conceals its level and installs more artillery, or the command level is improved. Oh, gosh!"

"I know you speak good English, and you will definitely get along well with Kron, even though his Russian is just so-so. Now, let me tell you the key point. The 44-gun 'Venus' was eventually defeated by the 'Mercury' and captured."

"That's really great, but what's next?"

After all, Solovyov's main focus was on the army and he did not have much in-depth understanding of the navy.

Chichakov then said: "He was on the 'Venus' and commanded this frigate to capture the Swedish Navy's 'Retvizan' battleship. Speaking of which, I also used this Swedish ship as a 'flagship'."

"As a captain, he's been very good."

"It's only because he's British that he was recently put in reserve. But what you said is very right. The Swedes are fighting Sweden. It's nothing to let a British man with a strong sense of belonging be the deputy commander of the fleet."

As for Kron's subsequent performance, as a former subordinate of Hanikov, he also captured a large number of French warships and transport ships during the Dutch expedition, and his performance can be said to be quite outstanding.

It would be a waste of talent to let such a naval commander stay at home idle.

As for the biggest complaint here, "Retvizan" is derived from the Swedish word for "justice", and it was actually used in the Russian Navy until the Battle of Tsushima, and in the end it was defeated by a group of guys who were living a good life. Don't worry about it.

When Kron heard that he had been reappointed, he rushed to St. Petersburg from his estate in Smolensk without stopping. He did not even wait for the Baltic Fleet's transport ship to pick him up. Instead, he led a small team of sailors and arrived at Kotlin Island in a galley, a rowing boat.

He was quite positive, and when Solovyov saw his face, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

This guy is simply the Monkey King of Scotland. Considering that Wales will produce a figure like Bale in the future, it is not surprising to have a "Big Monkey" in Scotland.

"Robert, welcome back to the Baltic Fleet."

"It's really strange, why is there someone from the army here?"

When he said that, others wanted to introduce him.

"Robert, this is Major General Count Mikhail Soloviev, the inspector of the Baltic Fleet sent by the Emperor. Count, this is Vice Admiral Robert Crown, a hero who has won many naval battles."

"Ah, I heard from the Secretary of the Navy that there is an army general who wants me, an Englishman, to fight against the British. To be honest, this is not a good idea. However, as a Russian vice admiral, I must naturally fulfill my duties at my post and let those London masters see how powerful we are!"

Kron is 54 years old this year, but he is very agile. His hands and feet seemed a little clumsy at the dock, but once he got on the boat, he immediately became a different person.

As for why he had to serve as deputy commander on a ship with his old boss, he didn't understand it clearly. However, with his agile skills, he quickly figured out the situation of the "Grace".

"If you want to go to sea to fight, such a large ship must be useful, but why can't that ship not raise the flag?"

He was pointing at the "Varyag", and it was obvious that he still wanted to express his opinion.

"The Varyag is an improved version of the Grace and has just arrived at Kotlin Island. The crew is still getting familiar with the situation on this new ship."

"What a pity! If two of these large warships appeared at sea together, I could block the exit of the Great Channel with a battleship squadron, and not let a single British warship in."

He sounded arrogant when he said this, but his skill also lies here.

However, when Hanikov saw Kron return to the fleet, he frowned a little.

This guy is indeed a good fighter, but there is a problem, that is, he often commands his ship or squadron to complete a large number of tasks unexpectedly, and even overshadows the fleet commander.

Hanikov was somewhat dissatisfied with being sent here at this time, but he could not say anything. After all, Kron's appointment was stamped by Alexander himself, approved by the Minister of the Navy, and endorsed by two senior admirals as advisers.

What's more, this guy from the army is not completely ignorant. He has even sailed to the New World with Senyavin's fleet. He doesn't even know how much authority he has as a military supervisor.

Solovyov had his reasons for not showing Alexander's secret decree. After all, as a military supervisor, his power was unlimited. He could even support Kron to succeed Khanikov with the endorsement of the Tsar and the Minister of the Navy.

(End of this chapter)