Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

After the skirmish, Sir Moore also felt that something was wrong, so he adopted a more conservative strategy.

As for the Swedes' desire to take an aggressive stance, he could actually choke them back with just one sentence.

Solovyov's iron fist did scare the Swedes. After three battles of relatively small scale, a group of defeated Swedish soldiers who were repeatedly captured and released were enough to spread panic.

There were only a few large-scale battles in the war between Russia and Sweden, and what initially gave them confidence was some victories won by Sanders and the Finnish militia on the flanks during the Finnish Campaign.

It even seems that the winning rate is quite high, but the battle line has been pushed to Sweden.

The battle lines and results are indeed not deceiving. The astonishing exchange ratio and loss between the Russian and Swedish armies also came about in this way. Although it seems that Sweden won a lot in the fragmented battles, the absolute value of the losses is really too large.

The battles commanded by Solovyov alone on Swedish soil amounted to more than half of the total losses of the Swedish army, not to mention the great victory in the naval battle in which he insisted on replacing the generals at the last minute and letting Kron serve as the fleet commander. This score has already been maxed out.

What is even more terrible is the gap in combat effectiveness between the two sides' forces, which is difficult to make up no matter how many troops are deployed.

At this time, it seemed more acceptable for the Anglo-Swedish coalition to adopt an actual defensive stance.

Sir Moore also arranged it in this way. As for Solovyov, he found a place on the hillside to squat. It can be said that the two sides had the same idea.

"The British are so conspicuous. Wearing red clothes in this weather makes them a target."

What we saw through the telescope were the three neatly arranged horizontal rows of the British Army, as well as the light infantry and cavalry on their flanks, and the artillery was also arranged in an orderly manner.

Solovyov also knew that if it were the British commander, even if he was a mediocre general, he would probably not take the initiative to attack at this strategic disadvantage due to the limitations of his own troops.

It is very stable. It is difficult for both sides to win a decisive victory unless reinforcements from one side can arrive here.

Apparently, according to battlefield intelligence from both sides, no reinforcements were coming.

It was probably a battle that tested each other's patience. Solovyov thought that he was still relatively impatient in the current battle. After all, the longer the confrontation with the British lasted, the more unsuitable it would be to go south with the weather conditions and muddy roads.

The most troublesome thing to consider is that in March when the ice and snow melt, the road becomes muddy, and maneuvering on the road becomes a big problem for both sides.

In other words, you can get to the place, but the time cannot be guaranteed.

Even though the Russian army had experience in Poland and could adopt many methods on muddy roads and on the edges of swamps, this could only improve the situation in some areas. Overall, the road the Russian army had to go was too long, and they could not pave the road while reaching their destination.

Therefore, the original plan might be disrupted, and the only option was to gradually expel the British troops from Kalmar.

With this idea in mind, Solovyov also knew that if he changed his formation first, he would only get himself into trouble.

So he simply ordered the artillery to fire first, and then the infantry to advance from the front, fighting a very traditional battle.

Seeing this situation, Moore naturally began to deploy troops.

When the British army was advancing, they were playing a song on flutes. If you got close, you could hear it very clearly. This was the "Unfavorable Song of the Qing Dynasty". The situation on the Russian side was more strange. Each regiment was advancing while playing its own song.

In fact, it is also used for identification and unified command between infantry regiments. As for the Pavlovsk Grenadiers, the music they play is a bit more special.
It is not the march of this group, but Solovyov's previous score.

This sense of déjà vu would seem rather outrageous if you got closer.

Those who don't know might think it's a French song.
Moreover, although the grenadiers did not have iron bars around their waists that needed to be pulled out, they all carried grenades.

Even in the Russian army, it was not just the grenadiers who used wooden-handled grenades. Line infantry, light infantry, and some cavalry units also began to use them on a large scale.

As for during battle, when facing enemy resistance, throwing some grenades to entertain them is also a common practice.

It’s a pity that the power of black gunpowder is still not strong enough. Even if there are dozens of fragments after the explosion, the casualties caused are not as expected.

Now the two armies are slowly approaching each other. In this environment, the Russian army's coats can keep out the cold, and the mud will splash onto the trouser legs and coats, which makes them look better.

As for the British troops, their white pants will definitely be troubled by the mud.

As for this strategy of lining up and getting close, the British generally have the courage to let their opponents shoot first and then shoot themselves.

However, facing the approach of the Russian army, they knew before the war that the Russian army had a few elite infantry regiments capable of shooting at long distances, so some infantry regiments chose to shoot in advance when approaching.

The Russian army, on the other hand, was able to be patient and just approached and fired as usual.

It seems that the situation between the British and French armies in the past wars in Western Europe has been reversed.

Solovyov also wanted to recall Barry Lyndon. When the British army encountered the French army, they did not open fire first, but had to get very close before taking action.

If it were a Mel Gibson movie, although it would become a large-scale group exercise and anti-British drama, the British army was accustomed to launching late, and except for the final decisive battle, the losses caused to the US army were not small.

Now the British army actually chose to open fire first because of the condition of their own weapons, but this is nothing to both sides.

The British army's shooting skills were decent, and sometimes they were able to cause casualties at a long distance and knock down individual Russian soldiers.

However, in the speech that Solovyov gave to officers before the war, he made it very clear that even if there were seriously wounded, only one or two soldiers were allowed to accompany them in the retreat. If the lightly wounded could not continue fighting, they could only retreat on their own. Those who violated the order would be subject to severe military sanctions.

Although Solovyov had a good character, severe military law measures were possible, ranging from shooting, hanging to beating with sticks.

Even Solovyov himself once said, half-jokingly, that "deserters on the battlefield are cowards who need to be instilled with the spirit of the brave with a stick."

If we compare military law, rewards and desertion, Russian soldiers still hope to get rewards more, so they perform very bravely in battle.

In addition, Russian officers and soldiers have always been very tenacious on the battlefield. Even though they were constantly shot by the British army and many soldiers were shot, they continued to fight.

In general, the Russian army, from officers to soldiers, even those who are foreigners, always maintains extremely high resilience.

Therefore, even after the Russians approached to 10 steps, the British found that the resilience of these Russian line infantry would only be stronger. As for approaching such a close distance, it was time for the pre-loaded Russians to open fire.

Since the British soldiers began free firing after the first round of volleys, this time the Russian soldiers concentrated their guns. The third row was in preparation, and the main focus was on the volleys from the first two rows.

Many British soldiers were knocked down. If it were the Swedish army, the Russian army would probably only need two or three rounds of volleys to force the opponent to retreat.

However, the British were also tenacious. Although the British native army was probably at its weakest stage in combat effectiveness at this stage, it was not comparable to some armies other than the French and Russian armies.

Both sides are now engaging in free shooting, which is causing headaches for their respective commanders.

What Solovyov was worried about was that the battle could not be resolved quickly and the British army would cause considerable losses to his own men.

On Sir Moore's side, after the actual exchange of fire, he also discovered that this Russian army was not the same as he had imagined.

As for the reserve troops, they are in the back and have not yet been put into battle. There are at least two infantry regiments and a considerable cavalry there. This time, the opponent should be much more difficult to deal with than the French army that was almost trapped in Egypt, and also more difficult than the French and Dutch armies that defeated the Russian grenadiers in the Netherlands.

Of course, there were Russian grenadiers there, too; Moore always knew that.

Therefore, he ordered the British army to take the initiative to engage the Russian army and to make the best use of the coordination between infantry and artillery to inflict casualties on the enemy.

As for Solovyov, he now wants to join the reserve team.

"Karl, it seems that the British are still very resilient. It may be too early for us to deploy the cavalry reserve."

"But in this situation, I think Moore wants to drag us here. His goal is to not fail, which is a kind of victory. If he is given more troops, we may be in more trouble."

"More trouble?"

"Yes, fortunately the British Army's standing army has always been limited in strength, and their troops are insufficient."

"Then can we attack those Swedes to break their flank?"

As Solovyov chatted, he discovered the problems of the British army.

If we were to fight only these lobster soldiers, the trouble might be even greater. After all, in terms of toughness, they are similar to the French army, and only slightly weaker than the Russian army.

But the Swedes, after several battles, even from what they saw in Barclay's battle reports, knew that the Swedish army under Sanders, without any dilution of troops, was indeed not strong enough to be considered strong.

If von Essen had led a Swedish army that had not been joined by a large number of new recruits, the British army might not have appeared here so early.

As for attacking the Swedish army on the flank, it is indeed a good way to break the deadlock.

Among the infantry regiments deployed on the front line of the Russian army, only five were engaged in a firefight with the British army, while the rest made detours and mainly fought against the Swedes.

At this time, it was obvious that Constantine's decision to send the Putin Regiment, the most elite Russian Guards, was a very wise move.

If it was the Semenovsky Regiment, Solovyov might not believe that they could turn the situation around, although according to the training syllabus, shooting was the regiment's best item.

However, in terms of the strongest combat effectiveness, it is naturally the Pu Tuan.

He decided to join the battlefield in person with his old brothers, but when he rode over on horseback, he was noticed by the veterans of the First Battalion.

"Little Battalion Commander, you are finally back. We old guys really missed you."

An old soldier who looked like he had served for a long time said this. Solovyov thought about it and realized that this guy always asked him for wine before.

"Sergei, you old drunkard, don't say you miss me or not. The brothers in the first battalion miss me too."

In short, you always have to say a few words to your brothers before the battle.

"Now the brothers in front are fighting with those British who like to drink tea without jam. These British, MD, they are against us. They even murdered our emperor in the past, and now they are causing trouble for our emperor Alexander Pavlovich. But to defeat them, we still have to deal with the Swedes next door, drive them out of that forest, and teach them a lesson with bayonets and fists. Hurray!"

There is no need to waste time. Solovyov still has prestige in the Putin Regiment. After all, he was the one who made the training outline of the Guards. At that time, Paul always took the Guards to accept inspections, and he had never been punished by Paul.

Even Paul’s own son, the crown prince at the time and now the emperor, did not receive such treatment - of course, it was also related to Alexander’s style of doing things.

Because of this, Solovyov did have some prestige within the Putin Regiment, and these veterans were willing to follow his command on the battlefield.

What's more, he had performed very well when he was in the Guards Jager Regiment, and later when he fought against the French in Poland and East Prussia. Now he is also a general and has defeated the Swedes in succession.

Inspired by him, the soldiers of the Putin regiment shouted "Ura" and then joined the battle.

However, some young officers with quick minds suddenly thought of something very interesting.

The general who went out from our regiment was the former chief battalion commander. His uncle was the emperor's former enemy and he liked to hold the guards in his hands like this.

After touring the battlefield for a while, the Putian finally joined the battle.

But the Swedes soon couldn't hold on as they fought like this, and they were retreating before they even had to use bayonet charges.

Seeing this situation, Moore could only look at the sky and slowly withdraw the British troops to avoid exposing his flank.

As for how weak the Swedes are, he doesn't want to think about this issue. The most important thing now is to ensure that there are still combat troops.

Solovyov was unwilling to pursue the enemy. He only needed to drive the British troops out of the village of the outpost and ensure the openness of the road before considering continuing to fight with the enemy.

The first battle between the British and Russian armies on the Swedish battlefield ended in a whimper. (End of this chapter)