Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

The place of Vergina is backed by mountains to the west and the plains of Macedonia to the east. It was once the capital of the late Macedonian Kingdom. After the defeat of Antigonus One-Eye, his son Demetrius once seized Macedonia, but soon failed because of a speculative war in Asia.

Finally, it was One-Eyed's grandson Antigonus II who retook Macedonia amidst chaos in the Greek world, and the Greeks also respected him as their overlord. However, the Romans soon came, and his descendants failed to defend Macedonia. In the end, he was the first of the three successors to be destroyed.

But this place is good. The cities built in ancient Macedonia still block the main transportation routes even two thousand years later.

The Greeks were very powerful in the past, but they are no longer so powerful now.

It is true that Andrusos worked under Ali Pasha, but the clothing worn by the Greeks here has been influenced by Turkification for about four hundred years, and even the appearance of the late Eastern Roman Empire cannot be seen.

But his name was really clever. Odysseus was indeed a clever guy with a lot of bad ideas. After Solovyov let him go, he only took a Russian liaison officer with him. When Solovyov arrived in Vergina, he had already arrived in Larissa and had a reply letter.

The Turkish army's defense in Larissa seemed very weak. After Solovyov's army set out, the Uvarov Division also left Skopje, and the Serbs took over the siege.

At least the Turks can no longer threaten the Russian army's transportation lines. Even if they are released, they will probably be driven to Ali Pasha's territory.

Karageorge probably also knew what some local Ottoman Pashas were doing. There must always be a large number of people who wanted to become local emperors, so he also had some connections with Albania.

In the tent, he was also looking at the latest intelligence.

"If that's the case, our whereabouts should have been exposed. Why not have some of our troops attack Larissa, and we'll use bait here to wait for the Turks. When the defenders of Thessaloniki come out, we'll still use the old method to fight them."

"Who is the right person to go then?"

Solovyov looked at the three division commanders. To be honest, the ability of these three people to lead troops alone was questionable. Trubetskoy spent most of his time in the headquarters; Christian was brave enough in battle, but he had no experience of leading troops alone; Arkady was the son of the field marshal, but he also had problems.

He was the only one who had led a team alone or done staff work. Now he looked at the bearded Kunev next to him and he liked him better.

But he was a cavalry officer and often went out, but his qualifications were lower than those of the three princes under his command.

He thought about it and decided that it would be fine if he could hold the cavalry in his own hands and let Kunev's deputy lead them.

"Kunev, I'll give you a task, can you complete it?"

Kunev was very excited when Solovyov said this, as he finally got a big job.

What he thought in his heart was that this kid had finally given him an important task, but he couldn't tell it out loud.

"Sir, I'm afraid your words are going to make me do a big job."

"Yes, look at Larissa. We need to send people to bluff and create the illusion that our main force is moving towards Larissa."

"If you want to create momentum, you can't have too few people."

"Is it enough for me to give you two cavalry regiments and five infantry regiments?"

"Then you have too few troops here. Even if the Turks are useless, I'm afraid they won't be enough."

"It doesn't matter. Uvarov will be here soon. If you don't act this way, it won't look real."

"Well, I'll take seven regiments with me. We'll also need artillery, otherwise the performance won't be realistic."

"Then you can go with the Unicorn Cannon. The more powerful the cannon is, the more realistic the performance will be. We don't need so many cannons on our front. We just need to lure the enemy out."

Solovyov knew what he was doing. He wanted to set up his battle array near Vergina, but he also wanted to lure the Turkish army into a trap, so he naturally had to make himself look weak.

Therefore, the grenadiers were asked to change their uniforms.

Even now, only the Pavlovsk Regiment has grenadiers wearing grenadier's bishop's hat on their heads, but there are still some differences between grenadiers and ordinary line infantry.

It seems that the Russian troops here are all "ordinary infantry", and some of them are even in tatters. They don't look like they are currently combat-ready. It seems that they suffered heavy losses in the previous battle.

This tactic has been used before. Sometimes people would dress like this during a march. Whether it was the uniform or the armor from the past, it would be in their luggage during a march.

Without unpacking their luggage and wearing ordinary uniforms, it is really hard to tell what unit they are from.

In order to pretend to be weaker, they had to form a formation with fewer people in the front and more in the back, and it would appear that a large amount of supplies were placed in front of the defenders of Thessaloniki to lure them into making mistakes.

For this reason, Solovyov's deployment was also very ridiculous. He used reserve soldiers with relatively weak combat effectiveness in the front, but also built positions. It seemed that he was prepared, but the personnel were very weak.

These days he would rather let the main force of the Russian army hide behind and rest. The terrain near Vergina is very suitable for hiding. Moreover, the Russian army is located in the woods, high above the ground, and naturally there is no shortage of water.

"Look at it this way. If the Turks don't come out and get close to the front camp, we can't move. It's a good opportunity to rest here. The weather here is very good. Even after October, it probably won't be too cold, so camping is relatively convenient."

"What about Larissa?"

"Kunev and Odysseus go to Larissa in the south. We will place the main force here. The grenadiers will be placed in the second line. The cavalry will retreat to the valley. The front scouts will be placed west of Alexandria. There will also be some cavalry artillery and hussars here."

"Misha, your bait isn't tasty enough, they won't take it."

"Christian, I know this. So we need to put a lot of 'baggage' here, and if we want to make it look like this, we need to stockpile supplies here."

In fact, the Russian army's supply point is in the mountains, which is difficult for the Turkish army to find. Even if they want to take action, they have to pass through Vergina. No matter what, as long as the Turkish army comes out, they will definitely meet with the Russian army.

"That's good. Don't take the bait."

"They will definitely take the bait. Those Pashas and Beys have always been greedy for wealth. Even if we really lose our baggage, as long as we eliminate these enemies, we will probably be able to earn back what we lost from their courts very quickly. Besides, now that we are in Greece, there are some wicked masters here, and we can give them a beating."

Solovyov was too strict, and some Russian officers might be unhappy. After all, there was nothing to rob, and it was unlikely that they would be restrained all the time. Since the commander-in-chief himself said so, it was tacitly agreed that they could rob those Baiyi masters during the operation.

Compared to the poor old men they always encountered after crossing the Danube, Greece is obviously richer. After all, it is a coastal area, and although its business has declined, it still has some weight.

Ali Pasha, a man of modest power, was able to put on a big show in Epirus, not to mention the various lords here. The Ottoman Empire also had a large number of governors in Greece, perhaps one on an island. You can imagine what a lucrative job the lords here had.

Of course, the situation in Cyprus is probably an exception.

After Solovyov completed his deployment, he was actually doing his homework. The number of Turkish troops in Larissa was small, and if Kunev went too far, the effect might be better.

Therefore, after he finished mobilizing his troops, he went to see Kunev alone.

Kunev was also drinking in the tent. He knew that Solovyov had a low alcohol tolerance and was usually quite restrained, so he did not force him.

After all, this pretty boy is a higher-ranking official than himself and is also very good at fighting.

"Mishka, how come you can't drink so much?"

"I don't know. Maybe my mother died of liver disease. I have to be careful. Fortunately, I am not a person who will feel uncomfortable in the liver and spleen when I move. Otherwise, I can't be a soldier."

"You are very courageous. This is the first time we have brought troops to Greece. The women here are pretty good, but we are too busy fighting to have time to hook up."

"Don't just think about the women. We have to make a big scene so that Sultan Mahmud will waver in his determination to continue the confrontation in Rumelia and send some troops to Thessalonika."

"You're thinking too much. I'm afraid you have more than one purpose for entering Greece, right?"

"If possible, we can mobilize the Greeks to end the Turkish rule here. After Serbia, Greece, Wallachia and Moldavia are separated from the Turks, we will probably have an easier time on the west coast of the Black Sea."

"That's something the bigwigs in Petersburg have to consider. If we win the war, they can gain an advantage at the negotiation table. But you come to me."

"Kunev, when you get to Larissa, you still have to make things bigger. If possible, you can also unite the Greek armed forces. We can use troops in Greece, but we don't bring many troops, so we may need local people to join the battle. You don't have enough troops, but you can mobilize these militias to join the battle."

"I think they are OK, but your troops are not enough until Uvarov is here."

"The Turks are only so capable. I dare give you seven regiments and artillery, and you will have no problem defending Vergina. Now we are only afraid of one thing, that is, the enemy does not move."

"If they don't move, I'm really going to take Larissa down."

"Then don't be in a hurry. If you rush to attack the city, it will be counterproductive."

Kunev knew what was going on, so Solovyov felt relieved. This cavalry general was not as rough as he looked, and he was also seriously considering the changes on the battlefield.

What Solovyov needs to pay attention to is the movements of the Turkish troops in the city of Thessalonika and whether the Sultan will send troops to the east of Macedonia.

If the enemy was only of this size, Solovyov would still be very confident of winning.

But if the enemy sends more troops and there are too many of them, he must also be clear that even if Uvarov arrives here, the Russian army may be in a tough battle.

The reason why he thought so was because once he arrived in Greece he would be warmly welcomed by the locals, and some people would even offer support on their own initiative. Whether it was logistical supplies or intelligence gathering, it would be more convenient in Greece than in Bulgaria.

The enemy's movements were indeed semi-transparent to his private work.

However, logistical supply is still very difficult for long-term operations here. A lot of food and ammunition still need to be transported from the rear. Even though there are logistics warehouses in Bucharest and Vidin, a supply line has also been established specifically to provide supplies to the Macedonian Corps.

But Russia is huge and this route is too long, so there will always be some difficulties.

Solovyov's overall determination has not changed, which is to make things bigger in Greece, but his battle deployment is always changing, which is also largely related to the difficulty in supplying materials for this expedition.

He let the Macedonian Legion rest in Sofia for a period of time, which was also related to this. It is also a relatively difficult task to maintain the condition while fighting abroad for a long time.

After returning from Kunev, he started playing the erhu again, but the tunes he played always sounded more familiar.

He didn't even know what strange idea had awakened to him, and he started singing by himself. Even the adjutant next to him, who had been with him for a long time, not only didn't understand him, but also didn't know what he was doing, even though the officer on duty today was his brother-in-law.

It is indeed quite strange to hear someone singing the empty city plan in Greece.

It's just that Zhuge Liang's empty city plan was really empty inside, while Solovyov's "empty camp" was filled with a huge ambush.

"You play quite interestingly, but what are you singing?"

"You don't need to know what I'm singing. Do you think the enemy will be fooled, Vasya?"

"It would be best if they fell for it, but what will you do if they don't?"

"If I mess up the whole of Greece and they still don't come, it means their butts are glued and they can't move."

Little Prince Vasily looked at his brother-in-law. It was very hard for others to deploy the troops during a war, but it was different for him. Regardless of what happened on weekdays, when it came to fighting, he had one weird idea after another. It was good to have many weird ideas.

He was unable to do such an energy-consuming task, and joining the army was indeed a rule for the Russian aristocracy. What Prince Vasily thought in his heart was that after the war was over, based on his own merits, he could probably retire and go home to get married.

He was a little anxious about getting married, after all, there was a cooling-off period after the engagement!

Solovyov didn't care what his brother-in-law thought, he was just thinking about how to fight this battle. (End of this chapter)