Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

The headquarters of the 1st Western Army was close to the front, and Barclay was deeply worried after the Guards Cossacks arrived at his base to report.

According to the original strategy, the 1st Army would naturally lure the enemy deep into the territory and retreat to the Drusa line, while the 2nd Army would be responsible for attacking the French flank.

Such a goal would still create a local troop advantage for the Russian army, or at least not be too disadvantageous. However, according to Bennigsen's previous report, this place was obviously not suitable.

But Barclay himself knew that Bennigsen loved to make reports, and he would never feel at ease until he sent someone to check the situation on the scene.

He sent an adjutant here, and at the same time he also sent out the cavalry to observe the movements of the French.

As for Balashov passing by his headquarters, it was not a big deal. This man was not the Minister of Police now, so he posed no threat to him, and he was also responsible for delivering a message to the Emperor.

"It's a delicate situation. It looks like we will feel at ease if the French get closer so that we can have a good fight."

Balashov couldn't stay here for long, as he had another mission to do at Napoleon's estate.

"What are you going to do?"

"According to the plan I submitted to the Emperor, the army will retreat, but no matter where we go, Napoleon will definitely chase us."

"And you're going to take everything you can along the way?"

"If people want to leave, it's inevitable that they will be robbed by the French. It's better for us to take everyone who is willing to go with us to the inland areas. There will always be a place where people can accommodate them."

"But in places like Vilna, the locals are closer to the French. They will regard the French army as liberators."

"I remember when I was promoted to colonel, I fought against the Poles. They hoped that France could bring them freedom. Let them feel that way."

"I can't stay here any longer. I still have a mission to complete from the Emperor."

"You go now. I hope that when you come back, I will have peace of mind."

"In addition, the emperor is likely to come to the front to inspect the army. At that time, you will need to arrange a review. This may be a custom and a bit troublesome, but it will always be beneficial to the brothers."

In fact, although Barclay was promoted by Alexander, he did not like to review the troops on the march, which required assembly and delayed some time.

But this practice seemed to help boost morale. When meeting the Tsar, Russian officers and soldiers would always be in high spirits, so there was nothing they could do.

In addition, he was also waiting for news from the 2nd Army. Bagration was slow to get the news, after all, their entire corps was on the flank.

June 1812, 6 was the day when the declaration of war was submitted. What was different from the situation in 22 was that the French now had to cross the river and build a pontoon bridge in advance, and also had to assemble troops.

The marching columns of the French Army would probably be quite spectacular if a hot air balloon were placed in the sky to watch them.

It's just because the queue needs to be kept strict, so the walking is a bit rigid.

There is no way. It was limited by the conditions of the times. If judged by future standards, it may not be acceptable, but in this era the level of organization was already very high.

Napoleon himself was still in the manor and had not set out. He was also waiting for the actions of various units. Among them, Marshal MacDonald of the 10th Army and the cooperating Prussian troops were going to advance towards the Baltic Sea. Here they would be blocked by Count Wittgenstein's Russian 1st Army.

This was not the main direction. Now Napoleon himself and the main force led by Eugene were operating from the front, facing the Russian 1st Army led by Barclay de Tolly, while the flank corps led by Marshal Davout and Jerome were facing the Russian 2nd Army.

"Your Majesty, this is the latest intelligence. We have roughly figured out the size of the Russian Second Army."

"Berthier, how many of them are there?"

"Your Majesty, there should be no more than 5 men, but they are led by Prince Bagration."

"If it's this Georgian with a big nose, it's going to be a bit troublesome. We can never catch him when he's performing a rearguard battle, and we often even suffer losses."

Although the overall outcome of the battle is probably still victory.

But this tough guy is probably the most difficult opponent among the Russian army.

But this is not what Napoleon cares about now. Since Davout is there, there must be some way.

He was more concerned about the movements of the army, but at this time, Dirock walked in.

"Your Majesty, there is a Russian general who wants to see you. He claims to be Lieutenant General Balashov, the Tsar's aide-de-camp."

"Balashov?"

"Yes, your Majesty. He carries a letter from the Tsar himself."

Napoleon was not surprised. In fact, he himself was a little fascinated by Alexander, a human-shaped succubus.

"Since he is a messenger sent by Alexander, let him in."

Balashov's speed of movement was indeed fast enough. Alexander gave him instructions that night and asked his personal groom to take him to Vilna.

Although he was despised by Solovyov from the bottom of his heart because he refused to serve in the Caucasus when he joined the army and became a deserter, this guy was still quite good at rhetoric and pleasing his master.

Moreover, although he was unwilling to go to the Caucasus, he was still capable of performing diplomatic tasks.

It's just that it's a bit unreasonable for a general to have spent his entire life as a spectator on the battlefield and never actually commanded even a company in combat.

But Russia is sometimes very strange. Some middle and lower-level officers are favored by the Tsar. Regardless of their talents or suitability for certain positions, they are often able to rise to prominence just because of a piece of paper order.

Solovyov himself was promoted quickly from second lieutenant to major, which was partly due to this, and many of his military achievements were taken into account later.

"Your Majesty, General Balashov has been brought here."

"Let him in!"

When Balashov saw Napoleon, he also found that he seemed a little fatter than before, which was inevitable for middle-aged men of this age.

However, he was not there to express his opinion in this regard. His current mission was to deliver this handwritten letter from the Tsar himself.

"Your Majesty, by order of our Emperor, I have brought a handwritten letter to you, the respected Emperor of the French Empire." "Well, I want to see what Alexander said in the letter."

He knew that Alexander was definitely going to use negotiations to delay time, but he didn't expect that the letter would tell him to withdraw his army across the Neman River and then start negotiations.

"Sir, is Alexander teasing me? Do you want me to withdraw all my troops to the left bank of the Neman River?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. In this way, our two countries can still maintain peace. Of course, we can also negotiate on the spot. Compared with fighting and leaving corpses everywhere, peace is better."

"That's just Alexander's wishful thinking. It looks like we'll have to meet on the battlefield and eventually sit at the negotiation table. Sir, which is the shortest way to Moscow?"

"Your Majesty, there are many ways to go to Moscow. Charles XII of Sweden chose to go through Poltava."

The attitude of this statement is very clear. If you come, you have to fight. You are going to fail anyway. Charles XII was defeated by the Russian army in Poltava and fled to the Ottoman Empire.

After saying this, Balashov quickly left Napoleon's residence.

On the way back, he could see a steady stream of French troops crossing the Neman River.

Anyone who sees such a large army would be a little afraid, after all, they have so many people.

The same goes for Balashov, but he has completed his mission and is just going back to Alexander to report the results of this mission.

Alexander was still on the way to the Russian headquarters with his guards. Barclay was only the commander of the 1st Army so far, and the nominal commander-in-chief was still the Tsar himself. The main task of the Minister of War was to convey the Tsar's instructions.

However, this time, Alexander obviously learned from his previous lessons. He actually stopped interfering with military command, unless the command of some generals was really hard to describe.

But even so, Barclay's position is still not very solid, and his position always looks quite embarrassing.

Now he commanded all the troops to prepare for action. Except for the 1st Army led by Wittgenstein, which had a large number of Germans and guarded the main road along the Baltic coast, the other five infantry armies and main cavalry forces retreated to the east.

The biggest problem for Barclay was that Bagration's base was too far away from him, and communication was a huge problem.

Optical communication cannot be relied upon, after all, there are swamps and forests in between. This is the terrain of Belarus. Reliable communication is still the action between messengers.

It is under such circumstances that Bagration's Army Group, like Bagration's Column in Shengraben in the past, always encounters numerous difficulties and dangers.

Barclay himself knew that if he withdrew from the border area and abandoned Vilnius and the surrounding military camps, he would be giving this place to the French.

It was obviously useless to fight hard at this time, so he retreated all five armies under the 1st Army to the east. Only Tuchkov's 5rd Army and Osterman-Tolstoy's 3th Army took turns to cover, and the rest of the troops had already run in.

He felt a little sorry that a general like Shuvalov, who cooperated well with him and supported the general strategy, had to leave the front line due to serious illness. Otherwise, there would not have been people opposing him in the army.

This was even when many of the people in the 1st Army were of German descent, and he still encountered unprecedented opposition. If it were the 2nd Army, whose cultural level was led by only Raevsky and Solovyov, the situation would probably be even more difficult.

"Sergei, I know you want to go to the 2nd Army. You've been tired of going back and forth to Petersburg these two days. Send this order to Prince Bagration and tell him that we are going to meet in Drusa as planned. If there are any other problems, send someone to convey them through the flank road."

"Yes, sir. But if I go there, I will have problems if I have to go through Minsk on the way."

"You have thought it through carefully. We cannot guarantee the situation on our flanks. If you want to take a detour, you have to find a small path. If the 2nd Army retreats, it may reach Bobruisk."

After receiving the order, Sergei mounted his horse and set off with a few followers.

"Is this kid any good?"

His chief of staff, Lieutenant General Lavrov, looked puzzled. After all, Prince Sergei's impulsive, reckless and injustice-fighting character was very uncomfortable.

"No problem. Sergei has been serving in the army since he was 18. At a time like this, we need a brave young man like him to pass on orders. It won't work if he has more tricks."

"That's a weird thing to say."

"You have to take good rest, old man. It's not good to keep coughing like this all day."

"If it weren't for the damn French, I would have gone to Italy to recuperate, and this is what's happening now."

Lieutenant General Lavrov's health is really poor. If Solovyov saw him, his first reaction would be that he is an old guy with poor immunity.

But he also had to undertake heavy staff work, and even when Barclay needed someone to command a certain army, he would be the first to go.

His deputy was Yermolov, an acquaintance of Solovyov. The fat man was leisurely standing aside.

It’s not that he has nothing to do. Every position needs people now, but Lavrov always takes on all the work.

He had a lot of time to think, and by comparison, he would rather just attack directly.

After all, the French have already entered Russian territory, and it would be unreasonable not to give them a few blows.

So after Lavrov left, he stood up and asked Barclay.

"Mikhail Bogdanovich, if we just retreat, it will also affect the morale of our brothers."

"I know that. This means that the Cossacks will intercept the French cavalry. However, in a large-scale battle, unless the rear guard encounters the enemy, it is best not to engage in contact easily."

"I wish you had said so earlier."

"Don't think you have nothing to do here. When the war starts, we will really need you. But since you are such a big target, you still need to find a good cover for yourself."

Barclay, who usually didn't joke much, suddenly said this, and Yermolov didn't even grin.

"Who knows? Some skinny guys are more susceptible to bullets. It's usually grapeshot that bothers me."

"Then you have to be careful too. We have many more battles to fight. Also, tell Platov not to fight after he comes into contact with the enemy. Make a decision after seeing clearly what the French are doing."

This requirement is still a bit difficult, but Platov, the Cossack Hetman, can still do it. (End of this chapter)