Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 528 Unfortunate News for Ekaterina
Shortly after the three grand duchesses visited the military camp in Vyborg, the Tafred Grenadiers arrived at the designated area.

The personnel are complete, but according to the strategy approved by Alexander, the Russian army does not need to be too anxious now. The main thing is to flatten several major strongholds in Finland before they can invest in the next stage of the strategy.

Although the Royal Navy still had the "advantage" on the sea, it only blockaded the port of Hanko for a period of time. After the Russian fleet did not intend to go to war, the task force returned to the Swedish naval base and, by the way, returned to the British army's base outside the Baltic Sea.

The meaning is very clear. The Royal Navy will not leave its warships in the Swedish naval ports during the winter freezing season.

However, they also have to provide support to the Swedish army through the western coast of Sweden. After all, due to the salinity of the sea water and the warm current of the North Atlantic, the freezing situation outside the strait is definitely not that serious.

To be honest, the money provided by the British is still the mainstream, as is the support for the army and navy. If Gustav had not been so angry this time, he would have agreed to Sir Moore's opinion and let the British army help the Swedish army defend the southern region and block possible attacks by the French and Danish armies. At the same time, some of the more combat-effective troops in western Sweden could have been transferred to northern Sweden to block the Russian offensive.

After all, there has always been a problem for the British army, that is, they have no experience in winter combat in the Nordic environment, so it is just right for them to keep an eye on the Danes.

Therefore, when Solovyov was training his troops, he did not consider the British factor too much, even though the King of England's German Army had already appeared in Gothenburg.

This time the troops were mainly sent to deal with the Swedes. The Swedish cavalry could be said to have performed the worst in the Napoleonic Wars, although the country's horses were in good condition.

The Swedish army's stronger parts are probably its infantry and those who hold their ground in fortresses.

This has been very obvious since the outbreak of the war in February 1808. The Swedish army has rarely won any frontal field battles. Although it seems that the Swedish army has won more victories in the total number of battles, at present, whether on the front line or in the actual control area, due to the successive surrender of the Finnish guerrillas, the Swedish army can only hold on to a few fortresses and hope that the troops mobilized from the western border can maintain a decent peace.

Even this decent peace was a bit of a luxury. Sweden's territory at this time mainly consisted of its mainland, Finland and Pomerania. Part of Pomerania had been occupied by the French one after another and was taken advantage of by Prussia when there was no supervision. Sweden's mainland had not been threatened at this time, except for the previous attacks on the Aland Islands and Gotland Island, which were not serious at the moment. Finally, there was the situation in Finland. There was no place that was still under the effective control of the Swedish army. After the loss of Sveborg, the Swedish army's more than 10,000 troops basically retreated to some fortresses in the country to block the Russian army's actions.

Solovyov knew that this final strategy had to be finalized and Sweden had to be completely defeated in the end. As for the outcome, it would depend on where the final battle line would end. In the end, the Swedes would not be able to hold on.

In fact, Sweden still had different opinions on this war. In addition to the dispute between the top hat party and the casual hat party left over from the era of Gustav III, those who supported the king and those who supported his uncle, the Duke of Nanmanland, each had some influence.

It seems that Sweden is full of internal conflicts and this winter will be very difficult.

However, just as the Russian army was training hard, messengers passing through Vyborg kept bringing bad news.

In southern Finland, the situation is better. The Swedish counterattack since June has not been successful. However, in the central and northern parts of Finland, the situation is still a stalemate.
Moreover, Bagration received a letter from Abo, later known as Turku, and gave it to Solovyov.

Solovyov knew that Catherine had been flirting with men in the palace, although sometimes it was a prank, sometimes she was acting cute and coquettish in front of her brother, or like this with her cousin-in-law Bagration, purely for fun and to admire a Russian war hero.

Her feelings towards Solovyov's best friend, Prince Mikhail Dolgorukov, really went from admiration for her older brother to love. The two of them had already secretly decided to spend their lives together, and even the Queen Mother acquiesced, and was just waiting for the young prince to return with honor.

"Mick, what's going on?"

"I think I need to go to Petersburg. Something happened with Tuchkov. Our army besieged a Swedish fortress and was defeated."

"Failure is inevitable. The Swedes are not good at field battles, so they can only cause trouble for us through defensive battles in fortresses. Perhaps the greater threat of this kind of trouble is still disease, but the medical system you planned is more or less useful. If we fail this time, there will still be opportunities later."

Clausewitz could not see any change on Solovyov's face, especially since he was facing sideways towards him, but then he noticed that his master's expression gradually became solemn.

"That's the problem. Tuchkov was injured, and Mikhail Dolgorukov was hit by a shotgun and killed on the spot. Luckily, you're the only one in my office today. Don't let anyone know. The military news from the front line should not affect the morale of the troops in the rear. The most fatal thing is that he is the emperor's confidant and the fiancé of Her Highness Catherine."

"I can see that, but the engagement doesn't seem to be public?"

"Misha, your highness promised him in the spring that he could have come back. But he just thought that if he won a victory on the battlefield, he would come back as a glorious hero to marry your highness, that's it."

The one who was even more distressed was Prince Peter, who had lost two promising sons in three years. However, he was far away in Tula, so he knew about his sons' situations relatively late. In addition, he had now retired from the position of the Tula Arsenal and lived in seclusion in his own manor. The last time he lost his second son, he was hit hard. It was because his eldest son, Prince Vladimir, had stayed with him because of his injury. Otherwise, the shock to this former confidant of Paul would have turned him into a soulless body.

What’s more important is Catherine’s side.

After all, Bagration was the cousin-in-law of several princes, so when he got the news, he first asked Tuchkov to keep it confidential when writing to his family. Everyone knew that there were five Tuchkov brothers, four of whom were in active service, and one of them was not tight-lipped, so he was afraid that this matter would get out.

Moreover, Bagration mentioned in the letter that Tuchkov and Prince Mikhail were deadlocked in the siege tactics and were about to duel with white gloves. It was only after being persuaded by their subordinates that they each led a team to attack the fortress.

Then, Tuchkov was wounded by Swedish skirmishers during the battle, while Mikhail was hit in the abdomen by a shotgun shell.

Although when Tuchkov later found his body, he told Bagration that he "looked like he was asleep".
In fact, when Tuchkov said this, he was only referring to the part above the prince's abdomen.

When it comes to speaking, you really need the right person.

Bagration is a big liar on the battlefield, but when it comes to women, he probably uses a more direct approach to make women listen to his advice.

For example, now the Princess has her own literary salon in Vienna and often goes there with Metternich. However, although this Austrian diplomat has a passionate relationship with the Princess and has done everything that should be done, he received such an evaluation in bed.

"My husband is a reckless man, not as good at pleasing women as you are, but in that aspect..."

This was probably the case. Bagration could only find someone who had a good relationship with Ekaterina to talk about this matter. Solovyov also found that among the people around Ekaterina, he was the most suitable person to do this.

Just telling her that her fiancé is dead would be somewhat cruel to this girl.

After all, she had been thinking about it for some time, and finally made up her mind to marry in China. From the perspective of these famous families, the Volkonsky family and the Dolgorukov family were the most suitable. Secondly, some people recommended some young people from the Golitsyn family and the Naryshkin family to her.

In the end, Mikhail was chosen, even though she was older and they were familiar with each other.

"Damn it! I have to go for this kind of thing. Fortunately, Vyborg is not far from St. Petersburg. Karl, the training work will be handed over to you during my absence. If you have any questions, you can talk to the Governor-General or write to St. Petersburg."

"It's not that far. Don't make it sound like you're going to Moscow."

"I can't help it. After all, it's more appropriate for me to handle this kind of interpersonal relationship issue. And I have to think about what kind of excuse I'm going to use."

As for Catherine at this time, she actually had some awareness of something. After all, Prince Mikhail often wrote to her. Even when Poland was fighting against the French army, he often sent couriers to mail things to her home.

"Masha, dear sister, my Mishka hasn't written to me for many days. Could something have happened?"

Speaking of which, the Romanovs have always been superstitious and believe in omens.

They even believed in a rumor that their father's soul was still wandering in the Mikhailovsky Fortress, which is now the base of General Sukhteren. The girls still missed their father very much, but because of the special situation there, they only listened to the rumors and did not conduct on-site inspections.

As for Paul's ghost wandering around St. Petersburg, this story is the longest-lasting one among the supernatural legends in St. Petersburg.

"Didn't Solovyov tell us that the front line doesn't always have time? Maybe Mikhail is fighting on the front line these days, or he has other things to do, or..."

"I hope it's not too bad. I always choose the one that suits my heart, unlike you guys."

"But no one should be happier than Elena. She has such a good husband. Even if she chose him herself, he might not be better than our brother-in-law."

"That's true, but Masha, I just hope Mishka will be fine. I still want to marry him and give him some lovely children. After all, I like him and he likes me too. Even if I'm not as kind to Sister Lena as my brother-in-law..."

Maria saw that she started to have wild thoughts, but she couldn't say anything. After all, her mother favored her the most. If she wasn't her elder sister, it would be difficult for her to get so much care.

Maria and Catherine were probably the children raised by Paul and his wife who felt the most love from their father and mother. Since Russian grand duchesses were always "raised" in pairs with girls of similar age, and they were both favored by their parents, they received the most love.

I hope nothing happens; that is also their wish.

To be honest, Maria didn't dare to go to Solovyov alone, so she always asked her sisters to go with her for courage.

This is to avoid gossip. After all, the impact of such rumors is uncertain.

Moreover, Katya was introduced by her sister-in-law after all, and she didn't know about the close relationship between her sister-in-law and Solovyov in the past, so this matter was indeed quite concealed.

As for Maria, she left Catherine's room, put her children to bed, and then walked around the corridors of the Winter Palace in her coat.

Now the battle reports from the front line are not transmitted from Finland very quickly. Even though the Finnish guerrillas have been almost eliminated, the Russian army's rear often has poor communications due to road problems.

At this time, Maria was also thinking about how to calm her sister's restless emotions.

Besides, it is still raining outside. In this kind of weather, apart from the fresh air, it is difficult for people to feel refreshed.

As for the chest tightness she felt, it was very similar to what Queen Louise had been feeling recently. After all, she also gave birth to a daughter some time ago and the child still needed breastfeeding.

She even always wears loose clothes to avoid embarrassment, always afraid of external stimulation.
Thinking of this, she even blushed a little.

When she reached the window and opened it, she saw a familiar figure riding towards her on horseback.

During the years when Solovyov was near Petersburg, he always rode the Orlov trotter horse given to him by Paul, and he always took it with him when he went to war.

Now he came here on horseback from Vyborg, there must be something going on, and he came back in such a rainy time.

However, there are very few people who are close to Maria in Finland, namely her husband who recently went to Helsingfors, and her cousin's husband.

But they would all be fine. She didn't dare to imagine what might have happened if Solovyov hadn't hurried back to St. Petersburg to go to Alexander's office in the Winter Palace.

(End of this chapter)