Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Normally, more civil servants would appear at the funeral of old Count Stroganov, after all, most of his students and former officials were from this field.

However, when we arrived at the scene, there were still more soldiers.

After all, his son, the head of the Stroganov family, changed his career to become a soldier, and as a result, a large number of colleagues from the 1st Army came.

As for who is coming, you can refer to the sequence of the Western 1st Army released today.

Of course, Barclay still seemed somewhat unpopular. While serving as Minister of War, he was also the commander of the 1st Western Army, commanding the largest main force of the Russian army.

"I said you look a little lonely standing here by yourself."

Barclay was not surprised to see Solovyov, but his willingness to come over and talk to him reduced his embarrassment.

"Count, is there any mystery here?"

"What do you think?"

"If the flank is exposed, it will be very dangerous, especially on the western border."

"Which opinion do you think I hold?"

When Barclay heard this, he knew that Solovyov wanted to bring up the topic, so he held his hat under his arm and moved to the side of the corridor.

"Misha, I think you are the one who took the initiative to attack. Especially the brilliant victory in Turkey, it is hard to imagine that it was done by a 30-year-old young general. The means were very sophisticated, and it also contributed a beautiful annihilation battle. The Turks were driven into the Danube and drowned according to your script, just like Hannibal did at Cannae."

"You are being a bit flattering when you say that. I just encountered a weaker opponent and could perform better. By the way, I don't support active attack. That would not only prolong the battle line and be detrimental to our logistics supply, but also take into account that our troops have no support. Prussia and Austria are both scared, and the British are dealing with the French in Iberia. As for Sweden, although the Queen Mother there is the Queen's sister, it is lucky that they can protect themselves as an orphan and a widow. At most, they can help us contain Denmark."

"It seems that you have thought about this a long time ago and agree with my past plans."

"Although the Emperor has approved your plan, there are strong calls in the army and in Petersburg for taking the initiative to attack and engage in a battle with the French."

"Some people in St. Petersburg are just stirring up trouble. Some people have never served in the army for a day, but they dare to give orders here. Do they think they are like Madame Pompadour who can persuade Louis XV? They are just a bunch of old men. What matters is the opinions of the army."

"If I ask you to go to Prince Bagration, are you sure you can convince him? The Western Second Army already has the troops you led in the Balkans, so it will be more convenient for us to carry out our work."

"But I have to take care of Grand Duke Nicholas's studies recently. Even if he wants to go to the front, the earliest he can do so is after the winter break at Tsarskoye Selo High School. Besides, I always use my own staff, which is different from the one that Prince Bagration is used to leading."

"What a pity! It would be better if I could form a 9th Army under him, but we also have to pay attention to Ruthenia and Moldavia, so many legions are divided over there. You have to be patient even if you take up the post now. The 7th Army has been appointed to Laevsky, and the 8th Army to Polozkin. These are the candidates given by the emperor."

"There are quite a few people who have retired and been unemployed for many years. Do they have the physical strength to do this?"

"I think some people are riding horses, so there shouldn't be any problem. They can also get enough rest at home, unlike you. I said that when you were at the front line, you didn't forget to bring your wife, children and lover with you."

"That was in Sofia, Thessaloniki and Athens. The ladies are always useful. If we were fighting the French, I would not have brought them with me. It's a pity that due to the real threat from the French, Count Kutuzov had no choice but to gather his troops. The rest of the matter will be left to the negotiators."

"Do you still want to take all the troops to Constantinople?"

"It is precisely because I know that time is tight that I chose to go south to Greece. Otherwise, after taking Thessaloniki, I would have marched eastward. But considering the city of Constantinople, it would not be effective if we brought fewer people. We need 200,000 troops and the Black Sea Fleet. We don't even just want to fight in Europe. We have to bring the troops to Üsküdar."

"It seems you have your own ideas."

"There will be a serious competition in the future. This time the Austrians had no chance to intervene. If things go wrong next time, they may have to send people to Bucharest and Iasi to keep an eye on them."

"Haha! You really don't trust the Austrians. The Emperor has been dissatisfied with Metternich for a long time."

That’s right, this guy Metternich is really something. Although his level of pride is comparable to Solovyov, he is much more arrogant and doesn’t even try to hide it.

"After all, this is a conclusion I came to after getting along with them, and it's hard to say what the Austrians will do in the future."

Barclay nodded in agreement and also mentioned the situation of the 1st Army.

"You have six infantry corps and several cavalry corps in front of you. As long as you block the main road to the Baltic coast, the French will have no way to make a detour if they come. Going into the forest will only bring trouble to themselves."

"It seems that we can just place a few troops here, but what about the main road in front?"

"We should abandon some roads and sabotage the traffic lines. The French are always in trouble in Spain. Some Spanish men, women, old and young are fighting the French. Think about what the French have done. Our military discipline is often poor and we can't compare with them. The Cossacks go out to steal and rob, and open robbery is not common."

This statement is also a mockery of the entire European army. Perhaps the whole world is within the range of Solovyov's verbal cannon.

However, he himself strictly disciplined himself, which gave the Russian army the impression of a royal army in the Balkans, but this did not achieve the desired goal.

Petty theft is still a common occurrence, so much so that sometimes we have to learn from the British and beat them with whips.

When Arakcheev read the battle report, he was curious that even Solovyov had to use sticks to restrain his soldiers.

But even so, the sticks in Solovyov were not used in ordinary situations, but were always used for punishment.

"Are you going to provoke a full-scale resistance before you take action?"

"I've thought about this. There are no maps for these places in the west. I'll give you a rough idea. Maybe it will be of some use."

Barclay also signaled Solovyov to continue. He had also studied staff work, but he personally commanded independently most of the time.

The Russian army does not necessarily have a permanent chief of staff. Even when Suvorov went on an expedition, he used the Austrian chief of staff. This position is above the quartermaster general and has only been created recently. "Well, we have to take into account that many places in the western region were part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the past. These places are close to Poland. The French will definitely find a way to cut off this part of the land. Their activities there are also likely to be supported by local nobles. For civilians, they need to liberate serfs. But when they reach the inland areas, the situation is different. When they cross Minsk, pass through Vitebsk or Bobruisk, cross the forests of Orsha, and come to Smolensk."

"You look like you want to have a fight here."

"No, we need to send them deeper, all the way to Mozhaysk."

If he wasn't careful, he would probably sing "Can't forget Vilya, and Klin and the glorious guards of Kaluga"
Although he is a member of the Guards, doing this would easily lead to misunderstanding and would also be out of place.

We will also see in the future that in 1812 there were probably some people who really crossed the stage.

"Putting the enemy in Mozhaysk is too far-fetched."

"We can't negotiate with them and let them go all the way to Moscow, thinking that they can sign a victory treaty in Moscow, but the final result is always rejection. Even if we let them enter Moscow, or even go deep into Ryazan."

After hearing this, Barclay felt that Solovyov was a really ruthless person.

"Your family is from Liangzan, right? And not only your family, but also the property of your relatives and friends are all there."

"It doesn't matter. In the end, we can defeat the enemy and get everything back."

Barclay was not surprised to see such a ruthless person, but he did not expect that he would be so ruthless as to burn down his own house.

But think about it, when he was in Poland, he abandoned the baggage and soldiers' bags, and eventually annihilated more than 10,000 Polish troops. It is inevitable to make such an assumption.

"I thought my plan was, how should I put it, cruel and ruthless."

"In war, there are not so many things to consider. And we also have to talk about the problems in the areas east of Smolensk. Many serfs have not been liberated. When the French come, there will definitely be serfs who will rise up in rebellion. But in times of national crisis, there are still more people who will stand up to defend their country and their families. These masters must make some promises to them and truly give them freedom."

"You think long-term, but a lot of things involve politics and the interests of a lot of big people."

Barclay did not take the content to this point, in fact, because as a professional soldier, he did not pay much attention to the ultimate political issues.

This is also a common problem among these "foreign generals". When Solovyov first met Rosenberg and Essen, he found that Germans generally had this problem.

Of course, although Barclay is a descendant of Scottish aristocracy and also has German ancestry, he does not pay much attention to politics.

It seems that Clausewitz is an outlier, but his summary is still useful, at least it can give these generals a good political lesson.

Among the generals in Russia, there are always a few exceptions who are more enthusiastic about politics.

At least, Kutuzov demonstrated this ability in diplomatic occasions.

On the battlefield of 1812, it was indeed a cunning veteran like Kutuzov who was more suitable to deal with Napoleon.

The problem with Barclay is that he is rather cautious, and because of his qualifications and pedigree, he can be easily overturned in two directions.

"Since we're going this deep, we'll naturally need to arm the civilians, right?"

"That's right. It's not a good idea not to use the weapons produced in Tula, Izhevsk, and Luhansk at this time. After letting the enemy penetrate deep into our territory, a large number of guerrillas will naturally appear near the French transportation lines. The detachment mainly composed of light cavalry will focus on attacking the transportation lines. As for the militia, they will provide support in several directions and can also deploy on the flanks of the battle line when necessary. But most of the time."

"You're still planning to make it difficult for the French to form their formation, so you just take action, right?"

"This will require a large number of officers to act on the flanks, but approval will be required at that time. In our conversation, you are the Minister of War. If we want this war to develop into a full-scale war with a common hatred of the enemy, your arrangements are also very important."

Barclay also nodded in agreement, but he was not as ruthless as Solovyov.

Considering that many generals' homes stretch from Vitebsk to Ryazan and Vladimir, such as Major General Paskevich's ancestral property is in Vitebsk, Belarus, Solovyov's family is in Ryazan, and his father-in-law's farm is near Moscow, there are many generals' homes in Smolensk.

Barclay's strategy would naturally be easier to implement if generals from the local faction were willing to speak out.

But it takes a lot of determination to destroy everything.

As he stood by the wall thinking, Solovyov also knew his attitude.

If a plan for a total war is really to be made, the attitude of the Minister of War himself is indeed very important.

At least the Tsar agreed with his opinion, and the final deployment and execution depended on him and Arakcheev.

Although Arakcheev regarded Speransky as a political enemy, he was still a magnanimous man and would not hinder this plan.

"There will definitely be problems eventually, but if we can't win this battle, the trouble will be even bigger."

This is true. If we want to eventually consume the French, we probably won't be able to completely trap Napoleon without shedding blood ourselves.

"What will happen if we really put it in?"

"I believe that for the ultimate victory, there will always be a price to pay. If it is really necessary to do so, then this winter, the governors of all places should issue an order requiring all noble lords to build camps and storage facilities in the woods."

Obviously, this is a decentralized arrangement, very suitable for guerrillas to use.

One winter is probably enough, until May of next year (end of this chapter)