Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 542 054 Solovyov's traditional arts need reinforcement

Solovyov actually couldn't have imagined that the fight would turn out like this.

Even the scattered Swedish infantry forced some cavalry units that had not yet been put into battle to retreat southward.

This was the first time Solovyov had seen such a scene in his more than ten years of service and fighting here.

"When I translated the novel, I said 'the defeat was like a landslide', and it is really like this now."

He even didn't want to pursue at this time. After all, the Russian army was not a group of people wearing dog-skin hats outside the Great Wall. It's not that they can't fight a chaotic battle. Solovyov was worried that his own people would be in chaos.

So he ordered the Russian infantry to advance almost in parallel and drive the Swedish army out of the battlefield.

Of course, every regiment had soldiers left behind to tend to the Swedish wounded, especially those who seemed not worth rescuing.

Solovyov couldn't control all of this. The French had done this to the Russian army many times before. Now it was just that the seriously injured Swedish soldiers were unlucky.

What's more, in this kind of weather, the battle would be over in the morning. If the battle continued for a while, the wounded soldiers on the Swedish side, even those with minor injuries, would not need to be killed, as they would all die from excessive blood loss and hypothermia in the low temperature environment.

"Except for the King's Guards who are still engaging us, we have killed, wounded, and captured more than 3,000 enemies on the battlefield. Some of the results have not yet been reported."

"What are our losses?"

"The Pavlovsk Regiment suffered three killed and 3 wounded. This is the unit with the least losses today."

"What about the other regiments?"

"They are all here. Our casualties are less than 600."

Clausewitz handed the list to Solovyov, who read it and quickly handed it back.

"Not every battle can bring such a glorious victory. If the Swedes had not fought in such a narrow place, we would have won, but it would not have been so easy. Our artillery firepower advantage, infantry training advantage, and grenadiers' weapon advantage were all brought into play."

"But I am a little worried, Mick. What if the Swedes are waiting for us in Uppsala?"

"Are you also waiting for the enemy to tire out?"

"You have demonstrated it to them once. I think even the dumbest enemies should be able to understand this principle. Besides, there are such cases in the history of war."

"You are right. I am indeed worried now. Fortunately, there will be no movement in the north for the time being. A batch of supplies should arrive soon along the supply line on the ice. The Finnish Dragoon Regiment and the Yakut Regiment will also come to take over the defense of Gävle."

"The Finnish regiment is easy to deal with. It was formed by drawing people from several dragoon regiments. As for the Yakut regiment, you are the commander of the Selenge regiment, and many new recruits from your regiment were drawn there. Such a new unit has not yet formed combat effectiveness. How can it work?"

"I can only say that the Russian and Prussian armies are somewhat different. Under our system, the quality of soldiers has declined due to military reforms in recent years. In the past, they were all long-serving veterans, but our new recruits simply lack combat experience. Of course, sometimes plague is more terrible than the enemy's guns and artillery. Fortunately, this is winter, and there will not be a large-scale plague due to the decay of corpses."

In addition, Solovyov also felt that it would be more beneficial to defeat the enemy than to annihilate them here.

Gustav will send more troops later, and he will have to deal with them accordingly.

Because of the dense forests on the Swedish side, the Russian army could not deploy large troops in many places. Of the three dragoon regiments of the Finnish division, only the Pskov Regiment followed the large troops, and the other two regiments stayed in Gävle waiting for follow-up reinforcements.

Solovyov's advance speed was not fast. What really made people feel nervous was the march on the ice. It was white and clean. Now that the Russian army had landed, it felt a lot easier.

After the victory of the first battle, many Russian soldiers were also jubilant. According to their traditional skills, they searched for valuable items from the bodies of the dead Swedish soldiers. Those with words were handed over to the officers, and the rest became their trophies.

Seeing this, Solovyov was glad that he did not recruit any Cossack regiments, otherwise.
The Cossacks' pedigree books always contain strange origins of family members, such as a wife who was captured from the Caucasus.

As for Swedish women, although most of them are not good-looking, they are all strong, which is understood by everyone, especially the soldiers, who all like to have a woman at home who is quick and efficient.

While he was daydreaming, Neverovsky came over from the Pavlovsk Regiment.

"General, our regiment's battle reports are all here. Facts will prove that your invention is much more useful than ordinary rifles."

"I know, but we have to consider the future. Your regiment may not be able to resupply ammunition that quickly, and Kunev's detachment has to keep moving on the ice. If we can take over the Åland Islands and march to the gates of Stockholm, then this problem will be solved."

"I hope so, but we caught a lieutenant of the Guards who was on duty at the Swedish Royal Palace. Here is his confession."

After hearing this, Solovyov realized that it might be important information.

"We need to treat this lieutenant well and have the chief of staff come to interrogate him tonight. The Swedes are not so vigilant when facing the Germans, so they may not cooperate if we ask them."

Neverovsky's report clearly stated that before Amfeldt's troops set out, Gustav IV was already worried about the Aland Islands, so he planned to withdraw all personnel from there and at the same time draw troops from southern Sweden to strengthen Stockholm's defense.

"Misha, is it really that evil?"

"During the interrogation, I interrogated General Scherer in this way when I was in Italy. A lot of the information he told me now is still useful. At least, the French are talkative and they talk about everything. You just need proper guidance." When Clausewitz interrogated the officer in the evening, Solovyov was looking at the ice to the east at the lighthouse of the Gävle fishing port.

As for the results of the interrogation, Clausewitz didn't even take any measures. The other party confessed very clearly, which was similar to what Neverovsky had provided before, and even included the possible movements of the British army.

Since Sir Moore failed to go to Spain and came to Sweden, he naturally had to entertain these British people well.

Speaking of which, Solovyov's fighting style is indeed more crouching.

Now that he has won the first battle, he is considering what to do next.

Because Uppsala is so important, after defeating the Swedes with ease, there should be a second and third army coming later.

After crossing the sea, the Finnish division did not stay in Gavle, which is the capital of Gavleborg Province. From the materials obtained locally, it can be clearly seen that Sweden’s supply of materials to the north is not entirely dependent on the transportation line starting from Stockholm.

For both sides, fighting in a place like Torneo in winter would never be smooth, and they often faced long nights.

Given the circumstances, Solovyov had a clear idea. After defeating the first enemy army, unlike waiting for the enemy to come in Yevle, this time he had to give the defeated enemy some time, and then when they had recovered from the shock, he would launch another big attack, pursue them, and destroy the enemy in the process.

From this perspective, the Russian army may have considered mobile warfare more often because of its vast territory, especially since there are a large number of Cossack cavalry in the Russian army.

It’s not big news that the regular army was affected.

As for reinforcements at this time, Solovyov wanted to recruit the Kalmyk cavalry, that is, the part of the Torghut tribe that was unable to return to the country with Wabaczy.

Speaking of which, this may be the only group of people who have a connection with their hometown, but their beliefs have not changed. What about other aspects?
What Solovyov was thinking about was that, in fact, before the Finnish Division was formed at the General Staff Headquarters, he had considered gathering all the Cossacks and various tribes in Russia. Some of the herdsmen could be recruited to give them places in the regular army, instead of the past practice of withdrawing a large number of herdsmen at once, which caused the tribal people to be unstable and think about escaping or rebelling all day long.

With this official position, perhaps these tribal leaders and some baters will be able to calm down and stop pursuing the oppressive policies of the Ye Er period. Instead, they can consider some conciliatory approaches, and there will be a chance for this matter.

So, when he set out, he did not forget to send a messenger across the ice to find Bagration.

However, the messenger who delivered the letter met Platov's detachment on the way, and learned that Bagration's troops had forced the Swedish army in the Aland Islands to surrender at the cost of only 20 casualties.

Therefore, he also transferred to the Åland Islands halfway.

Bagration was nominally still the commander-in-chief of the two detachments and had the right to control Solovyov's actions. However, he was more confident in his junior's ability, and he had defeated Amfeldt's column in the first battle. Therefore, he did not give too many instructions, but only reminded him to advance quickly to Uppsala and not give the Swedes any chance.

What remains is that the two armies will meet at the gates of Stockholm, which is the purpose of the Southern Army's operation.

As for the reinforcements, Bagration did hear that a cavalry regiment of Crimean Tatars and a cavalry regiment of Kalmyks were recruited and actually arrived in Novgorod.

In the past, there might have been a bit of black humor in it. After all, the Jochi Ulus, generally known as the Golden Horde, was the overlord of the Russian countries for a long time. Russia was often influenced by nomadic peoples. This time they came to the vicinity of the Russian capital to prepare for subsequent battles.

The Alexander period was relatively relaxed for all ethnic groups, and the majority of military service was provided by serfs and free men. In fact, the conciliatory policy towards nomadic tribes made Russia's rear relatively stable.

And considering the great lack of virtue in the Ottoman Empire, the Crimean Tatars were still loyal enough at this time to recruit cavalry.

When the two nomadic cavalry regiments, carrying their own dry food, marched to the vicinity of St. Petersburg, they were also shocked by the appearance of the city.

At night, the core area along the Neva River is brightly lit. It is indeed a beautiful city whether during the day or at night.

Some Tatars even remembered Sarai, the former capital of the Golden Horde, and their hometown of Bakhchisarai. In comparison, Sarai was just a prosperous city in legend. Because of the unrest within the Golden Horde and Timur's attack on Tokhtamysh, it was directly reduced to rubble. The Great Horde was soon destroyed as well. Now the people living there are the Kalmyks and the herding Astrakhan Tatars.

These Tatars, as well as the tailors and merchants who followed the army, made it convenient for them to obtain supplies.

In a big city like St. Petersburg, naturally many people will stop outside the city to admire the beautiful buildings.

"Hey, Ulyanin, you, a skilled tailor, are you also fascinated by this place?"

"Nothing, great Noyan, it's just that this city is really beautiful, like a jewel. The jewels I inlaid on the dress of the rich lady in Astrakhan are just a small thing. Perhaps only the jewels of the Shah of Persia or the emperor can compare with them."

"Oh, you are a person who, if you have children and grandchildren, you will probably be able to speak well. My robe is torn, what material do you think I should use?"

The tailor, Nikolay Ulyanin, touched his bald head, thought for a moment, and then looked at the stitches.

"This is because the tailor's skills in the past were not very good. The stitches need to be made finer and tighter so that the threads will not come apart. Even these places need to be mended. You know, the prices I give are always fair and reasonable. They are equally cheap for masters and common people."

"Yes, if you don't consider the cost of the material, it's really cheap. But I heard that the cavalry regiment recruited for this expedition has to cross twenty mountains, twenty rivers, and frozen lakes and seas before they can reach the battlefield to fight the Swedes. In the past, I served the Russian emperor and traveled a long way, but it's not like this time. The warriors on the grassland have been on the road all the time, not fighting. You tailors who follow the army have the opportunity to make money. Ulyanin, why can't you be a little more ruthless? Otherwise, with your skills, you could have made a fortune by attaching yourself to some master."

"But that's not good, great Noyan. You have to know that in Astrakhan, besides Russian lords and peasants, even Noyans and herdsmen like you will have bad reputations if they cheat and cheat. Even if you make a fortune, I'm afraid that God will punish your descendants and make them useless."

Well, this point is much more conscious than some unscrupulous businessmen, and it is very much like another stereotype of "unscrupulous businessmen".

(End of this chapter)