Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

When the French entered Vilna, they did not encounter any resistance, and almost all of the Russian troops retreated.

When the French were building a pontoon bridge across the Neman River, their movements had already been noticed by the Russian Cossacks.

The French naturally attempted to pursue, but after crossing the Neman River, there were swamps and bushes everywhere, which made it inconvenient for them to pursue.

Those Cossacks often ran away as soon as they were discovered, and even combat between cavalrymen rarely occurred.

This made the French very angry, and compared with the Russian army a few years ago, it was indeed disappointing to them.

In the past, the Russian army would always be caught up by them, and then fierce fighting would break out. Now, even if the Russian army only has cavalry, they never fight to the end and will run away after firing two shots.

Even for a hunter cavalry that can run very fast, it is very difficult to encounter such an opponent.

Sporadic exchanges of fire occurred in many places, but none of them led to large-scale battles.

“What are these Russians doing?”

"Your Majesty, they often break away from contact with us without firing a shot, and only launch a counterattack when our light cavalry continues to pursue them."

"If that's the case, they should retreat inland."

However, Napoleon was still quite confident that the Russian army would not retreat forever and would definitely choose to start a battle somewhere, or even take the initiative to fight.

Although the result should be correct, the distance is a bit far. Besides, the French would not think about the intensity of the war.

"Your Majesty, I think at this time, you should be paying attention to the movements of various units of our army."

"They will all cross the Neman River and the Bug River according to the predetermined plan. This is our action. Now I am more concerned about Lithuania's affairs."

What Napoleon has to do now is to rebuild the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. If a soldier thinks too much about politics, it may waste time.

But Napoleon did just that. Even when he had only controlled Vilno and his army had just crossed the river near Grodno, he had already "generously" divided Vilno, Grodno, Minsk, Mogilev and Bialystok to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and was also trying to form a provisional government.

As for the French army, the 10th Army led by MacDonald crossed the river near Tilsit, Napoleon himself led the main force to cross the river on the Neman River near Kovno, the troops led by Eugene were at Prena south of Kovno, and several armies led by Jerome crossed the river near Grodno.

The Grodno area was the defense zone of the 2nd Army. In addition to them, some of Platov's Cossacks were also active here.

However, according to the battle plan, the main force of the Russian army will take the initiative to withdraw from the front line. Some places in Lithuania and western Belarus do not seem to be so loyal to all parties, and fighting here will be more troublesome.

Taking the initiative to retreat and avoid the enemy's attack does seem to be a normal choice.

Solovyov thought so too, and the 8th Army finally changed the order of battle to cover the flank and rear of the entire army. If it had gone to Lida's side, it would probably have been necessary for Raevsky's 7th Army to do this job.

Fighting a rearguard battle alone is not Solovyov's style. He prefers to fight recklessly, and it depends on who the opponent is.

The glorious victory achieved in the Balkan Peninsula before was achieved by relying on only 4 troops, defeating the Ottoman Empire's huge garbage army in several battles. However, this can hardly be called a glorious victory, after all, the opponent was too weak.

Now facing the French, Solovyov also needs to cheer up.

However, as soon as Platov's Cossacks arrived near Grodno, they engaged in fierce fighting with the French.

At first, Solovyov was urging the 27th Division and the Combined Grenadier Division to destroy the supplies that they had not had time to take away while breaking camp, but the sound of gunfire always attracted his attention.

"How is this going?"

Although he was warlike, he felt that it was not necessary to fight the French so soon.

"In that direction, Cossacks from Platov began arriving yesterday."

"I'm afraid they took the initiative to fight with the French, but we don't know what the enemy is like. Bao Hong, you are also a Cossack, take a squadron of cavalry to see what the situation is."

In fact, he still had some desire for battle. If he could attract the attention of the French army, it would also be convenient for the 7th Army and the main force of the Army Cavalry to be diverted away from here.

It was a pity that the 2nd Grenadier Division was now under the command of Bagration himself. He took this unit to meet up with Raevsky and also paid attention to the condition of the bridges along the way.

When Bao Hong was leading the cavalry squadron towards the place where the battle broke out, he heard the continuous sound of artillery fire and he also felt strange.

If it was cavalry artillery, he knew that there was a group that could achieve this firing rate, and that was the Don Cossack cavalry artillery. No matter how accurate the shooting was, the loading speed of the artillery was very fast among all cavalry artillery units.

However, the Don Cossacks should normally be divided into two. The part following Bagration should be active in the area south of Grodno, monitoring the movements of the French army there, not here.

When he got closer, he also discovered some Don Cossack cavalry artillery.

"What are you doing here?"

"Sir, we are fighting the French. After they cross the river, they want to pass through this road. Behind us are retreating officials and civilians, and there are also some large carts there."

However, when Bao Hong got off his horse and looked through the telescope, what he saw was not the French as the artillery expected.

"It's a quadricorn hat. It looks like you have encountered Poles. However, the distance is too far. I'm afraid we can't see them clearly."

"Poles? No wonder they always try to hide behind something when they see us firing artillery. That way they can avoid the shells."

"It's just some small habits, but what about your superiors?"

While Bao Hong was asking this question, he also untied his cloak to let these Cossack artillerymen notice that he was also a Cossack.

"Sir, you can go to the back of the church over there and take a look. The commander of our rear guard is there."

So Bao Hong mounted his horse again and went over there to take a look, and sure enough, he met a few Cossack officers behind the woods.

"Krasnov, nice to see you here."

"Bao Hong, which army are you in now?"

"I recently went to the 8th Army. I'm currently serving as an adjutant there. I came to see the firefight going on here." "So the 8th Army is nearby?"

Krasnov was in a bit of a tight spot here, after all, he only had artillery and cavalry, and was facing four Polish regiments.

Therefore, he still hoped for reliable reinforcements. Bao Hong came from the 8th Army and was naturally the original local garrison, so he always had some hope.

"But we only have a small part of the troops acting as rear guards, and we always have to obey orders and instructions."

"Of course, but these Poles, after being hit by artillery, still keep a certain distance from us. Artillery can only do limited damage to them. If we have infantry here, we Cossacks can rush over to hit them and cooperate better with the artillery."

"If you want support, I can send a messenger to talk to Count Solovyov. Although he advocates retreat, he also prefers to pick his opponents."

"Ah, that relative of Napoleon, right? He is quite good at fighting, but he could defeat the Swedes and Turks with fewer troops, but if he faces the French here..."

"It doesn't matter. His favorite people to beat are the French. The women he likes are all French girls, and they even give birth to his children."

Solovyov didn't care about these gossips. Bao Hong often said these things behind his back because he was familiar with him and he could always use them to confuse the public.

The loved ones who truly need protection will be ignored.

"This is not a joke. You have your own tasks too."

"There will always be some way. I'll send someone to pass on the message first, and then see if there will be reinforcements later."

Bao Hong said so and really sent his Cossacks to Solovyov.

This made him feel troubled, after all, he had just proposed to Bagration to retreat from the Baranovichi direction, and Platov's Cossacks would shift their target to Lida.

Moreover, looking at these troops, it is inconvenient to split them up in terms of operations. As can be seen from the order of their establishment time and number, most of the regiments of the 27th Division are relatively new infantry regiments.

The Combined Grenadier Division, Vorontsov's division was composed of grenadiers carefully selected from various infantry regiments. Although its combat effectiveness was very strong, they were reluctant to use it.

"If they want infantry, it would be easier if I were still a division commander."

Vorontsov was also somewhat puzzled, so he asked: "What are you going to do?"

"We can use part of our troops to support Platov, and we can also strike at the pursuing Poles, so that they will misjudge that our main force is heading in the direction of Lida. At the same time, both the civilians evacuated from Grodno and the large forces we left here can retreat according to their respective plans. If the enemy chases these forces in the direction of Lida, the main force of our army can breathe a sigh of relief."

His idea was mainly to make a feint to the east and attack in the west.

Although he had been fighting in the Caucasus before, Vorontsov had heard about Solovyov's tricks. He always liked to play tricks, and people often fell into his trap in the past, especially Murat, who was not very smart.
"Unfortunately, I am now a military commander, and I have many more issues to consider."

"Misha, I think you should leave this task to me."

Solovyov did not expect that Vorontsov, a rich young man, would take the initiative to take on the task.

"If you are willing to go, you must know that this kind of battle is the most dangerous. Don't get too close to the enemy. After holding on for a while, withdraw from the battle with your friendly forces."

"Of course I know that, but you still need the brothers to perform more like the main force, so we naturally have to teach them a lesson."

Solovyov probably guessed what Vorontsov meant. He was willing to lead the 2nd Combined Grenadier Division to Lida to lure away the enemy's main force, but he would probably be able to join up with the main force before getting close to Minsk.

For such an operation, as long as Bagration acts fast enough and reaches Minsk or Mogilev first, the various forces can quickly reunite.

But to act realistically, he had to bleed. Solovyov looked at Major General Duka, the commander of the Cuirassier Brigade, and he had an idea.

"Serbian, how about I lend you a cuirassiers regiment to help Vorontsov lure the enemy?"

"You are trying to play the same trick you did in Poland. I'm afraid the Poles will think you are going to eat them."

"Is it?"

This seemingly serious Serbian man said this, and Solovyov himself couldn't help laughing.

"If you go with a Cuirassiers Regiment, it will be the main force anyway, and it will attract all the attention of the French. But you made the Poles suffer a loss a few years ago, and they will probably be afraid after being bitten by a snake."

"That's right. You can give the Novgorod Regiment to Vorontsov and take part of the artillery with you. That way the performance will be more realistic."

Duca was still happy to serve. His cuirassiers brigade had three regiments, which was already a bit overstaffed, so it would be appropriate to draw troops to join the operation.

It's just that he personally believed that the Little Russian Cuirassier Regiment he led was more suitable for this task, after all, the Novgorod Regiment was established relatively late.

However, since Solovyov had made the transfer, he had to follow the order.

Since Vorontsov was willing to take the initiative to undertake this task, Solovyov had to make arrangements before he set off.

Especially the reminders and instructions.
"Don't fight too long. Once you've temporarily repelled the enemy, you should be ready to withdraw from the battle."

"Don't worry, we will definitely meet in Minsk."

Having said this, Vorontsov led the fully-assembled grenadier division and a cuirassiers regiment to support the Cossacks led by Krasnov.

However, Solovyov did not expect how many talented people were on the flank "commanded" by Jerome.

The commander of the Polish Legion was Prince Poniatowski, a man who still had some fighting ability, but sometimes he could not force his way across a river that did not seem deep.

The commander of the Westphalian Army was Vandamme, who was not very capable, but could be said to be not bad.

But Solovyov had met Jerome in the United States. Although they were relatives and could be considered relatives through the child's mother's relationship, considering his level, if he really came to command the battle.

Solovyov is such a person who likes to show off on the battlefield. This time, it depends on how well he handles the operation of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west. (End of this chapter)