Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

When night falls, it is natural to hold a banquet. Eating is always a way to relieve fatigue and boost morale.

Only a few captured Swedish officers were invited at this time, and the atmosphere seemed rather weird.

"Don't be so reserved. We can talk freely here. We were enemies on the battlefield, but maybe we can be friends after the war is over."

Now, it was still Solovyov who released the bait to lure von Essen into the trap.

Even if he won't be fooled, he will always try to lure the people around him into falling into the trap, thus affecting his judgment.

This one is reasonable. Everyone’s goal is to interfere with the Swedes’ judgment, not to really fool their opponents.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Count, it's just us here"

"It doesn't matter. After dinner, I'll ask you to go back and deliver a letter to explain our intentions. This war was caused by the fact that your king did not listen to the good advice of our emperor, which eventually led to extremely serious consequences."

Indeed, except for the Swedish mainland, Alexander basically declared all the land he conquered as Russian territory, even the island of Gotland, which he had not yet warmed to.

The consequences were serious, and the main ones to be borne unilaterally were Sweden's loss of a large amount of land and the deterioration of bilateral relations.

However, considering Sweden's stubborn attitude before and during the war, the situation may not have deteriorated much. It has been going on since the last Russo-Swedish War until the marriage between Russia and Sweden.

There won’t be a big table in the tent, so the banquet for entertaining guests is set on a medium-sized dining table.

The two Swedish officers also noticed that the Russian soldiers having dinner here were mainly the infantry regiment commanders. They were all speaking German, and even without opening their mouths, one could tell from their facial expressions that they were quite similar to us.

Bagration's long face is a typical "Caucasian bandit", which means he never grows a beard, so that he doesn't look so outrageous.

There are some handsome people with this face shape, such as the Iron Uncle when he was young, who has been handsome from youth to middle age, and has a signature beard.

Other Russian officers also have relatively obvious characteristics, like Solovyov. If his family background is not mentioned, some people may think he is from southern Russia or the Mediterranean region.

Everyone at this table is of German descent, so they inevitably communicate in German. Although this count is a good fighter, it seems that he has some shortcomings.

As for Swedish, some of its vocabulary is closer to German, and there are German texts in early Swedish chronicles.

Solovyov seized on this mentality and really wanted these people to spread the news, and it depended on how many traps the opponent would fall into.

".Based on the current deployment, I think we should use two rows of troops. Your Excellency, you also know that our troops have always been tight. The Swedish battlefield is not like other places. Although the roads here are smooth, due to the special terrain, our troops will be deployed."

No matter what, the two men had to hear that the Russian infantry was currently short of manpower, and even the traditional three-row formation had to be changed into a two-row formation to ensure the width of the battlefield.

Moreover, Solovyov and others deliberately spoke faster so that they wouldn't hear too many details and it would seem like they had some plan.

When they return to the Swedish army, they will bring letters and convey all this information.

As for Solovyov, he also noticed the situation of the two people. Thinking that the Swedish idiot was really cooperating with his trick, they pretended not to care.

But that's how we eat there. After all, we Chinese can't just hold a bowl and eat noodles, and there's no natural cover when using a knife and fork.

Speaking of which, when it comes to playing table tennis, China and Sweden are better at obstruction, but they have been banned by the association.

Seeing these two funny guys, Solovyov looked over. They were trying to cover up the fact that they were eavesdropping, which was indeed an attempt to cover up their own mistakes.

Well, the joke still has to continue.

So, all the group leaders are now starting to talk about some of the difficulties. Although the script has been arranged in advance, based on the principle of making it more realistic, we always have to speak it out like a conversation.

In this way, it is finally in line with the Stanislavsky system. However, there is no such person at the moment. If we talk about the three major performance systems, only Dr. Mei's style seems to be more postmodern because of the previous opera performance art.

The other performance modes have not been summarized yet, but we still have to act well.

Solovyov also added a little bit of truth, which was that he did strengthen the flanks, similar to the deployment on the first day, so as to ensure the stability of the entire front.

The two Swedish officers listened and continued to pay attention, but of course it was impossible to let them take notes.

Under such circumstances, they also heard the general idea and understood that the Russian army was indeed facing difficulties, such as the disadvantage in manpower and had to use two rows to maintain the front line.

The elite troops' ammunition is consumed too quickly, and they need to be allocated from the forward warehouse in Nykoping.

The cavalry unit was too large in number and the consumption of fodder was astonishing.

There were even some complaints among the Russian troops. When they passed by the Guards' station, they heard someone complaining to their German commander.

As for the commander of the Semenovsky Regiment, it was very common to use Germans and Russians in the Guards, and sometimes even Poles. The two Swedes did not hear clearly and made rash judgments.

After all, one of Solovyov's nephews was a member of the Decembrists, and another nephew was the lieutenant general commander of the Guards Chasseurs (history), so the position of the Guards commander was not static.

When von Essen heard the news, his first instinct was, will the Russians hook us?

"The information you have obtained is still very valuable, but we cannot believe it all."

As for when he opened Solovyov's handwritten letter, it also said that the two sides should cease fire and negotiate, and even withdraw their troops.

To him, it was ridiculous to believe this. A major general division commander, even if he had the status of an aide-de-camp general, was unlikely to lead the negotiations. At most, he could accept an opinion temporarily, just like when Stockholm was undefended - after all, the higher-level generals were not there at the time.

Just because von Essen didn't fall for it doesn't mean his men won't.

"Sir, judging from the current situation, the Russians are likely to be short of troops, and we still have a chance to win here." "I know very well that the basis for our current victory lies in our superiority in troops. But this Solovyov, he seems to want to lure us into his area of ​​expertise, and then use his experience in this area to defeat us."

But this did not lower the level. Von Essen could feel that the Russian army fought in a very methodical way, and had even changed the old habit of just firing a row of guns. Not only did they fight very patiently, but the various regiments on the battlefield were also relatively closely connected. This formation was very difficult to break.

But this could not stop his men, who were so confused that they all asked to fight here.

"Sir, this is a rare opportunity. If the Russians really line up in two rows on the battlefield, our cavalry will be able to defeat them. Not to mention the Russian Guards and Grenadiers, there are also four ordinary infantry regiments."

"Yes, if we can repel the Russian infantry, victory will be at hand."

Unlike Langeron, who had Alexander's order in his hand and could rely on a few prudent middle-aged generals to suppress the situation, von Essen was clear-headed, but his Swedish officers were eager to counterattack.
Gustav is a very stupid person. He is stupid because he always likes to interfere with the command at the front, although he doesn't intervene directly.

When he wrote to von Essen and other regiment commanders, he made it clear that the goal of this expedition was to defeat the Russians and recapture Stockholm.

After all, they had the support of the British army, and it seemed that the Russian army had taken advantage of the two big victories at the beginning. Even after the armistice period ended, they were unable to do anything to Sanders in the north. Barclay only captured Umeå. In Stockholm, the Russian army had been stationary in Nyköping for a long time.

Some Swedes now think they are capable enough, so they come to ask for a fight.

Seeing this situation, everyone under his command wanted to fight, and von Essen was helpless and could only change the formation.

He originally wanted a more cautious approach, shrinking the front line and maintaining the thickness of the troops so that he could attack when advancing and defend when retreating.

Now, we have no choice but to take the initiative to attack and teach the Russians a lesson.

The next morning, Solovyov's formation began to take shape. He did place two horizontal rows in some places, but these were mainly guards and grenadiers. The infantry still had a relatively solid formation.

He was very clear about the situation on the battlefield. There were forests on both sides, and the ice lake was separated by the northwest forest. The two sides had no choice but to face off head-on.

However, when he saw the Swedish army's arrangement, he always felt that there would always be someone who could be fooled by the Swedes.

Von Essen was indeed not caught in the trap, but at the instigation of his men, he arranged his infantry in a "charge" formation in the front, which looked more like a column, or the six-row horizontal formation advocated by Suvorov in the past. In short, it was not intended to exert firepower.

It seems that the opponent also knows that if they engage in a shootout, it will always be disadvantageous to them when the wind direction is unfavorable, so an attack may be more effective, especially since the Swedes have an advantage in terms of total military strength and infantry.

In this case, it is indeed more appropriate to use "impact" to solve the problem.

But this also requires considering whether the combat effectiveness of one's own army is up to standard.

Seeing this situation, Solovyov did not act as if he was praying to the gods. He just felt the opportunity for battle coming.

If he could attract the Swedish army to attack forward and prevent them from maintaining a tight formation, he could concentrate his cavalry on the flanks and defeat the Swedish cavalry, and then attack the enemy's rear, which was what he had always envisioned.

His mentor, Marshal Suvorov, actually won a victory in the Battle of Trebia River, where Hannibal defeated the Romans. He also wanted to emulate Hannibal and fight an annihilation battle with inferior forces to make the situation more favorable for his side.

He had never had this feeling in the past, but now, for the first time, he felt that he also possessed that kind of power.

In fact, he didn't know that Bennigsen had a high opinion of him in his comments, and in the letter of recommendation to War Minister Arakcheev, he also said that several young generals had performed well and would be of great use in the future.

Although it doesn't sound like something the power-hungry Bennigsen would do, he did it.

When he is doing business and not doing other things, he is generally considered a useful veteran.

Now he was ready to give the order, but he wanted Clausewitz to take notes, too.
In short, he was prepared to use five of the eight infantry regiments in his hands to block the Swedes in the front, the Semenovsky regiment would be placed in the back as a reserve, and the two grenadier regiments would be deployed on the flanks to strengthen the original positions and serve as a connecting axis between the cavalry and infantry.

At the same time, strengthening the artillery on the grenadiers' side would provide adequate cover for both the cavalry and infantry.

In addition, there were three Tatar cavalry regiments that were recruited, but they were not added to the front-line battle, but were placed in the reserve together with the Semenovsky Regiment.

This is the formation, and the battle is about to begin.

"It's time for the dice to fall, Carl."

"Why are we the first to attack again?"

"Attack is sometimes the best defense! And the more we attack, the more the Swedes should notice that this is a strategy to seize the initiative, and they will know that we are eager to fight. Only at this time, we will open up the formation to let them know that we are going to fight in full force."

Fortunately, he was speaking German now, and he was ready to fight, which was a very nerdy behavior.

But this is really the only way to do it in this place.

The Russian artillery opened fire first, and Tushin's position was the most powerful among the several artillery groups that opened fire first.

However, many of these shells exploded on the Swedish army's rear formation, and the bombardment seemed sparse, which did provide an opportunity.

Under such circumstances, the Swedish army was naturally willing to take the offensive. Their infantry had begun to advance and their artillery had opened fire one after another.

Compared to the first day when the artillery had little accuracy, von Essen did adjust the artillery deployment to some extent.

The Russian army can feel the pressure today. At least some of the Swedish solid artillery shells have begun to pose a threat to the Russian line infantry.

"If this were a game, I would wait until the Swedish infantry moved forward, then I could send in the cavalry, defeat the cavalry first, and then sweep away the artillery."

You can even concentrate your artillery to defeat the Swedish army's front, but that's just a game. (End of this chapter)