Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Solovyov was reluctant to march into Greece in the summer. The difficulty in supply and the lack of support in the rear were indeed the main problems, but he was more concerned about the hot climate. The climate in the Mediterranean was not too bad for the Russian navy as they had been on ships all the time.

With less than 40,000 people, entering Greece is not like when we were in northern Italy, after all, it is close to the Alps.

The hot climate would also cause combat casualties, so Solovyov was not in a hurry to attack.

However, Alexander's reply to Sultan Mahmud made the Turks ready to take action.

If the Turks want to make a move, they will easily assemble a large number of garbage soldiers, which will inevitably cause a lot of noise.

The Russian army, which was spending the summer in Sofia, had to start preparing for war again and stopped resting in Sofia.

Speaking of which, the cool climate here is very suitable for military rest and stationing.

But the army has to take action, so it is inevitable that there will be complaints among the soldiers.

"Now the Turks are here to die again. These bastards won't let us rest properly."

"What else can we do? Let's see what we masters are going to do."

As they said this, the veterans looked at their own flag-bearing officer, after all, he was the commander-in-chief's nephew.

But they were also curious, why didn't he go to meet his uncle?

"What are you looking at me for?"

"Master, our commander-in-chief is your uncle, why don't you go find him?"

"I wanted to stay in the army longer, but my father didn't want to. As you all know, my family is a merchant family, and we were even smugglers earlier."

"We all know this. Why, your master wants you to go back to do business?"

"Not only my father, but my great uncle also means the same thing."

The old soldiers also found it interesting that the commander-in-chief was also controlled by his father at home. No wonder this nephew had some connections.

Their guess was probably correct. Solovyov wanted a relative to help him, but these nephews were too young. His two uncles were a soldier and a diplomat, and the one in front of him was an officer and had to retire in order to get married.

This nephew is obviously conflicted inside, but he also knows himself well. Perhaps all the martial virtues of his family so far are in his uncle.

His two younger brothers also wanted to join the army, and his uncle would not make things difficult for him if he did not go.

But if you want to fight, you must take action.

Christian knew he was here. After all, he was his uncle. He would come to visit sometimes, and his aunt Yulia would also come.

If the uncle did not remarry and had several children, Solovyov would be the uncle, Yulia would be the aunt, and Christian would be the uncle.
Their family is quite large, so this one doesn't matter.

Now he was thinking that after the war, it would be almost time for him to apply for retirement as an officer. However, he did not expect that his uncle would be so troublesome and give the Turks a total annihilation.

He himself was nominated for the Order of St. George, Fourth Class, for his military exploits, and even somewhat adapted to the battlefield environment.

Unfortunately, however, Solovyov was a well-known man who could attract hatred, and this time the Turks came after them.

The Russian army's mobilization started from Sofia, and all four divisions, except for a few remaining troops, joined the marching column.

It's just that the unfortunate count who had stayed in Vidin due to illness is now too ill to continue with the army. Solovyov is really short of capable divisional generals now, and he is quite familiar with the three he has.

Before leaving, Kamensky Jr. also sent someone to him, but this made Solovyov a little unhappy.

Although he always likes making friends, and his friends are all good fighters, they do have good relationships with each other on a daily basis.

But there was always some black humor in Kamensky the Younger’s sending of Vasily Trubetskoy.

Little Kamensky had a very bad relationship with this royal relative from a side branch. He used to be the adjutant and general on duty of Marshal Prince Prozorovsky. He was also a brave general. When he led a small number of troops out, he was surrounded by enemy cavalry that far exceeded his own strength, but he was able to escape unscathed.

But as for his temper, he did speak bluntly, and this straightforward character offended young Kamensky.

If Solovyov had not been short of capable generals, Major General Trubetskoy would probably have been dismissed and sent back to St. Petersburg.

In addition, he was also one of the victims of Metternich's sleeping with his wife. Arkady's original fiancée was once his wife, and the two divorced after one year of marriage.

Because of this, Solovyov was somewhat reluctant to accept Prince Trubetskoy. Leading a team always requires harmony. Even though little Kamensky was his best friend in the army besides his two senior brothers, he couldn't help but have some complaints.

It was because Arkady was a very generous person that he didn't cause any trouble.

What's more, they were both victims of the Duchess's promiscuous behavior, but Arkady was luckier because he happened to catch the Duchess getting pregnant before marriage, so he was able to escape the trap successfully.

Prince Trubetskoy was not so lucky. He obviously did not do a background check. That is to say, although the other party lived a dissolute life, she was just a wealthy heiress and would not cause trouble like Helen did to Pierre. It was a relatively peaceful breakup.

There is one commander and four infantry division commanders in this legion, three of whom have a grudge against Metternich. Fortunately, the other victims of Metternich have not arrived, otherwise this Macedonian Legion could use Colonel Kadiz's flag as its military flag.

As for Solovyov, none of his women were slept with by Metternich, but it was somewhat embarrassing because of the affairs between his senior brother's wife, his friend and Metternich.

However, it was indeed very unpleasant that his friend was being controlled by Metternich, and Count Nesselrodi still admired Metternich very much.

"Well, let us say that the Turkish advance, if it is directed against us, will proceed from here to Philippopolis."

When Solovyov pointed at the map, he also knew that the place was actually Plovdiv in Bulgaria. This was probably the name in the Greek era. During the rule of the Ottoman Empire, many place names still retained Greek characteristics.

By the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, some place names would probably become familiar.

"Mick, are you trying to take the initiative?"

"Even when playing chess, you have to consider seizing the initiative after the start of the game." "I know you like to use the Sicilian Defense when playing chess. Why is that?" The Sicilian Defense was not officially called the Sicilian Defense until the end of the 18th century by the French in French chess works. Since its invention, it has been a complex semi-open opening. The most complex way to play it takes about 25 turns to end the opening.

Solovyov would never tell Clausewitz that he was only good at the Sicilian Defense, and that he might prefer playing Go.

But if you want to play chess, you have to go to the Qing Dynasty and Japan, which probably isn’t available here.

His explanation is quite consistent with chess strategy: "We need to proactively change our formation, bring out the third pawn, and force the opponent to change their deployment."

Then he pointed at the map with his whip and put on his monocle, as if someone who would not attack had appeared.

"Look here. We forced our opponents to confront us in the Philippopolis area by maneuvering our troops, and then defeated them. Obviously, the method doesn't need to be too complicated."

"Interesting, the Turks don't have the ability to play such a complicated situation, right?"

Trubetskoy was more straightforward. Although he and Uvarov were both simple-minded, he pointed out Solovyov's ideas.

"That's it. We don't want to complicate the situation. We want to seize the initiative. This time there is no Danube River blocking our flanks. I don't plan to abandon our troops and build a pontoon bridge. We just want to force the enemy to find us here. Only after we repel the enemy can we go to Greece."

“Why not Constantinople?”

"If we only fight for that city, it won't weaken the Turks. Constantinople is just the locked door for us to enter and exit the Black Sea. If we go to war, it won't be appropriate to give up the cabbages in the field for a door."

Uvarov's question is indeed a problem that everyone faces. The Russians are too concerned about Constantinople, but if they want to attack here, they will not be able to do so without sufficient troops.

If Solovyov led the main army, he probably wouldn't be able to break through the front because there were a lot of bunkers.

If you go from the flank, you will also face this problem.

He was unwilling to fight an offensive battle, not to mention that he did not have enough troops. If the Russian army had 80,000 men on each side, he and Kamensky the Younger could probably cooperate to wipe out the Turkish army, which was said to have 300,000 men in southern Thrace.

But now he has to face the Turkish army head-on. The Turkish troops for the counterattack will not be too many this time, but even this number will exceed his.

Solovyov's decision was actually to seize the initiative, and then take advantage of the opportunity when the Turkish troops were dispersed, adopt a mobile warfare method, and use the method of turning the tables to defeat the Turkish troops one by one.

This time, he didn't have time to play with the Turks, so naturally he used a special defensive method when the white chess pieces were pushing forward.

If the enemy general was capable, he would probably be able to accompany Solovyov for a while.

However, Ahmed Pasha, the only Turkish commander with this ability, still had to confront the main force of the Russian army.

Muhammad Ali was busy controlling Egypt, so he naturally wouldn't come over. It's not like he could send his sons to seize territory in the future.

Therefore, this can easily lower the value of such a victory on the battlefield.

Solovyov used an elite grenadier division and a group of rookie infantrymen mixed with a few veteran regiments. Although they did not look strong, they were no match for him.

They are rubbish soldiers and a group of Baiyi masters as commanders. They don’t look very good either.

If European officers come, if you are not religious, you are unlikely to be reused, and it will be difficult for you to become a Baiji master.

Therefore, if there are some more standardized armies, the new army does not look so authentic. As for the first combat-capable new army in the Ottoman Empire, it is still in the hands of the warlord Muhammad Ali, and it has not yet been fully trained.

It can be imagined that fighting in these places would not necessarily lead to any substantial progress even if 200,000 enemy troops were annihilated.

Moreover, people will accuse you of cheating.

As for the Russian army's actions, Solovyov also had plans. He planned to rush from Sofia to Philippopolis in a week by taking advantage of his faster marching speed and blocking the Turks on the road to prevent them from advancing.

Then, we need to take the initiative to attack based on the enemy's movements.

In fact, Solovyov was imitating Napoleon's Italian campaign.

The Turks had a large number of troops, and their numbers were not as concentrated as they were at the Battle of Lom; they must have been dispatched from several bases.

In this way, Solovyov will have more time to play and can gain local advantages through maneuvers.

The march was indeed very fast. The original plan was to march for seven days, but with the forced march, the Russian army only took five days to reach the designated location. The nearest large Turkish army was very far away.

Even here, the Turkish army only had a small number of troops defending, so this time they took the initiative and seized the initiative.

Even if Ahmed Pasha knew the news, he could do nothing about it.

Because of the pressure exerted by Kamensky Jr. on the front, he had no choice but to confront here.

The main players of both teams were unable to perform well, and the only chance for both sides to perform well was on the flanks.

But there is indeed no capable general in the Turkish army. Muhammad Ali may have more conspiracies, and his eldest son is now a hostage of the Sultan, so naturally he will not go to war.

The person sent this time was Musa Pasha, who was originally going to be sent to Egypt. He had received benefits from Muhammad Ali, but this time he got himself into big trouble.

Although the Russian general is a "young general", he is also a tough devil. In the Turkish army, rumors have begun to spread about the appearance of the second generation of the "Bulgarian Butcher".

However, he did not follow Basil II's example and treat people's eye diseases. Instead, he directly asked people to take a bath in the large bathhouse on the Danube.

But the effect is just as good. He is already on the list in Constantinople, but these Turkish generals probably still cannot defeat him if they go there. But they have more people and can deal with the opponents for a while.

If they cannot win, they will probably mobilize troops to confront each other between the swamps and mountains. This way, the Russian army will have no way to continue the war. When their supplies are almost consumed, they will probably have a chance.

And the Turks have always hoped that the British would send troops, just as they did at Aboukir.

But they didn't know that the Gloucester Regiment, which had performed so well when the British entered Egypt, had its flag captured by the Russian army. (End of this chapter)