Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Jerome Bonaparte, Napoleon's younger brother and former captain of a naval frigate, almost got into trouble for shelling the British in peacetime. He married a beautiful American girl in the United States, but was separated by his brother.

Apart from being handsome and able to please women, he may not be that capable in other aspects.

However, the direct descendants of Bonaparte who could inherit Napoleon's family status were all children born to the wives he married after returning to his country.

To some extent, he is still somewhat useful. Although he is greedy and likes to make trouble, he always supports his brother's general policies. After all, his brother can promote him to be king and allow him to live a luxurious life.

But this time, he was indeed the incompetent and stupid younger brother, but he led the flank legion here, always wanting to show off in front of his brother that he was still capable of commanding these troops.

Previously, this job in the army was reserved for the fourth brother Louis, but it fell through because he opposed Napoleon's policy toward the Netherlands.

Now he commanded the Polish Army, his own Westphalian Army, and the 4th Cavalry Army. These were a lot of troops, and seemed to be too much for his ability.

When he heard that the 17th Division of the Polish Army had already fought with the Russian Army, he did not care at first. After all, it was just a small group of Cossacks, and it seemed that they were covering the retreat of the main force.

At the same time, the 4th Cavalry Corps also encountered such Russian troops on the flank. Even those Russian dragoons and Cossacks did not have long contact and quickly withdrew from the battlefield.

His mentality at the moment was still to take it easy, especially since the Russian army was running so fast.

He even really believed what Napoleon said, that the war would end soon.

Therefore, his mentality was to score points, and the abilities of several of his army commanders were quite good, and there was also a Davout on the flank who was always operating nearby.

If history were restored, he probably wouldn't have had this opportunity and would have been slacking off until Dawu came to take over the command, and then he could return to the palace in Kassel to be with his wife.

But on the other side there was a man named Solovyov whom he considered to be his friend, and who was also the lover of his second sister. Solovyov knew the characteristics of Jerome, especially his love of showing off and that Italian narcissism.

Who made them all come from Corsica?

Jerome just watched his legion move slowly, and even his big tent had just been set up on this side of the Neman River.

But seeing this gold wire decoration always makes people can't help but complain.

If you don’t know, you might think that the Golden Horde has returned in a different form!
Now, he also prefers to enjoy himself. Although his wife Katarina seems to have the same IQ as his American wife and always owes some money, their life is still happy, so it is better to be at home than to come to Russia.

Speaking of which, these people in the Bonaparte family, Napoleon and Jerome are all related to the Russian royal family. Napoleon is now the son-in-law of Queen Mother Maria, and the Queen Mother is also the aunt of Jerome's wife. The closer the relatives, the harder they are beaten.

Even so, if the main force of the Russian army really appeared, he would probably still fight actively, after all, this was an opportunity to save face in front of his brother.

"What? Besides the Cossacks, there were grenadiers and even cuirassiers in the afternoon?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, General Debrovsky is still exchanging fire with the Russians. The reinforcements they called in are also very powerful, and they have even strengthened some of the artillery."

"What kind of enemy could this be?"

When Jerome raised this question, the generals all raised their foreheads in astonishment. Although he was not completely ignorant of military affairs and had some command ability on the warship, he would always have to grope his way around when he really got to the land.

In fact, when he arrived at Waterloo, he found out the true movements of the Prussian army, despite being unreliable all his life. However, Napoleon completely ignored the only reliable experience in his stupid brother's life, and then due to a series of chain reactions, he could not escape failure.

Come to think of it, he was actually a growing general, which was a bit funny. His greatest ability was probably living a long life, and he could even enjoy a life of leisure and wealth with his nephew in his old age.

"Your Majesty, grenadiers and cuirassiers have appeared. They must be the rear guard of the Russian army."

"Ah, I heard that my Russian relative Solovyov said that his senior brother Prince Bagration is the best at rearguard battles and has caused a lot of trouble for my brother."

At least it proves that he is not stupid and has some basic knowledge in some aspects.

"That's right. If there are any Russian rear guards, the Emperor's orders are that we must catch up with the enemy and not let them get away."

"That's it, we still have tens of thousands of Polish troops, but unfortunately most of them have gone to other units. Please make your own decisions, gentlemen. At least we can pursue the enemy."

Jerome finally had a chance to show his presence. In the past, he only had to irritate his brother because of his misbehavior in the court of Kassel, but now he had the opportunity to prove himself.

If he acknowledged Solovyov as his nephew, he might have taken advantage of him, but from the perspective of his own nephew, they were still peers, after all, he had an even more ridiculous sister.

Now, he gave the order to use the three divisions of the Polish Army to advance together and prepare to pursue the Russian army.

No matter how you calculate it, the Russian rear guard is now smaller than his. Even the 2nd Army does not have as many troops as his two infantry armies and one cavalry army on the flank. There is also support from friendly forces on the flank, so he has no choice but to take action.

However, the Polish generals had no objection to fighting like this. After all, the enemy did not seem to be too numerous, but they would definitely be accompanied by rearguard troops, and there might be the main force of the Russian army nearby.

This will be beneficial for them to achieve success in their careers.

I wonder how they would feel if they knew that these Russian troops were the main force that had been discounted again and again.

At this time, Solovyov himself led the remaining troops of the 8th Army to pursue Bagration's troops from the direction of Baranovichi.

However, he still maintained the rear guard formation and did not relax just because he let Vorontsov attract the attention of the French army.

In this case, the army will naturally have to retreat eastward.

As for Vorontsov, they arrived at the battlefield and concentrated their artillery to fire a burst of cannon at the Poles. Seeing that the opponent was still the same, he discussed with Krasnov and ordered the infantry to stand their ground while the Cossacks and cuirassiers launched a flank attack.

The Poles lacked cavalry support. Although Poland was most famous for its birdmen, these strong cavalry regiments of the Polish army were almost not on the battlefield during the exchange of fire. Only a few cavalry squadrons of the 12th Lancers Regiment were far away.

By the time they noticed that the infantry had started fighting and decided to move closer to friendly forces, the day's fighting had already ended.

The Russian army left the battlefield under the cover of night. The coordinated attack by the Cossacks and cuirassiers was very successful. Some Polish infantry battalions even chose to retreat under the impact of the cavalry.

Krasnov saw this and did not rush to pursue. His losses were minor, with only a few cuirassiers injured, and the Cossacks themselves suffered little loss. However, he killed more than 200 Poles and prevented the Poles on the flank from passing over the pontoon bridge in front of him. Most of them were still on the other side.

"This looks good. We can choose to retreat. The French will not continue to pursue us at night."

However, Vorontsov also had his own ideas. He saw that the Polish Army was being pursued and its initial counterattack was not active. It also seemed that it was waiting for friendly forces on the flank. He thought that they could not stay here for long, so he discussed with Krasnov to withdraw from the battle.

Several regimental and battalion commanders also agreed to withdraw from the battle at this time, so Vorontsov retreated towards Lida.

There is a small road from Lida, which can lead to the reunion of the Russian troops retreating along the main road from Baranovichi. It is more appropriate for Vorontsov's troops to move in this direction.

If there were more troops, it might not be so convenient.

When Jerome gathered his troops and sneaked up to attack the Russian army the next day, he found that he had found nothing except some damaged and broken weapons and marked graves where the soldiers' bodies were hastily buried.

But he firmly believed that the main force of the Russian army was heading towards Lida, and he had rarely seen anyone on the Russian side play the trick of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west before. Perhaps this situation would occur if Jerome did not focus on military affairs.

Most of the 8th Army led by Solovyov has safely retreated from Baranovichi.

It seems that the French army is not necessarily as strong as it was in 1805, and the Russian army's choice is much better than the one in the Danube Valley. At least on its own territory, the terrain on both sides is swampy, which is much better than the formation that is difficult to maneuver between two mountains.

After Bagration knew that Solovyov had made a feint, he did not care. After all, this did attract the attention of the French army.

Whether to continue the battle next is another matter. The 2nd Army still has to continue retreating, but it is inevitable that some battles will occur along the way.

A bald French marshal is entering the battlefield. He has received an order from Napoleon to find a way to intercept the Russian 2nd Army and prevent them from joining Barclay. He also has command of Jerome's three armies.

The tough battle may still be ahead.

But Solovyov knew nothing about it, and he even let the military band continue to play, which made him look like a "French invader" no matter how you looked at it. Moreover, the flute part in the song did not sound out of place to the French.

But after playing with the jokes so many times, from having the Moscow grenadiers draw their swords to now having the "French invaders", he has become somewhat into the role and even wants to write poetry.

However, the written content does not seem to be something that Russians can understand directly.

"What is this you wrote, Count?"

"It's a poem written in Chinese characters, so of course you can't understand it."

"If there is another person here who knows this language, we can probably use it to send codes. I don't think the French will be able to figure it out unless they capture a few Jesuit missionaries."

"That's a good idea, but the French often study Chinese characters, and it's hard to guarantee that there won't be someone among them who can understand it."

"What exactly does this mean?"

Neverovsky continued to ask questions, and Solovyov could only answer.

"It is the summer of 1812. The French army has invaded Russia. We must rise up to resist. But when the war reaches our homes, civilians will also be affected by the disaster. When the enemy invades, we are always confident that we can defeat the enemy and finally proclaim our victory on the Champ de Mars."

"You are so confident. Why don't you give me this poem?"

Seeing him like this, Solovyov carefully re-copied it, wrote it more neatly, and attached a French translation.

It’s not that Neverovsky can’t understand Russian, but given the current cultural level of the Russian aristocracy, it is more convenient to read in French.

He is not like the little curly-haired boy in St. Petersburg who writes poetry in Russian because of his education level.

But it was always the "French flute" that was playing, and Solovyov was getting a little tired of listening to it.

"Change to a more lively song to cheer up the brothers."

"Okay, sir, but I don't know what to replace it with?"

"That was a good song when we were marching to Austria."

Although Solovyov might have preferred these soldiers to sing stories about the Russian army's past victories over the enemy to encourage everyone to achieve great things, that was too far away and would not be as good as some cheerful songs.

And unlike the unfortunate Mark who was a stunner, the Russian army has now temporarily shaken off the pursuing French, making its actions look freer.

"That looks good, Count."

"But this is just the beginning. More difficult battles may still be ahead. You have to know that the scale of the enemy has never been seen before. Even the Persian king in Gaugamela may not have half the French force. Even this number of people, I probably only saw it in translated novels before."

"Should we set fire to them?"

Neverovsky said this, and Solovyov also laughed.

It seems that this person is a loyal reader of the Three Kingdoms.

"Do you think we have the ability to set fire to hundreds of thousands of troops?"

"That must be an exaggeration. It also proves that novels are just novels after all. Even Alexander's achievements are always difficult to reach. In fact, Napoleon seemed to have such a chance, but we are different."

"But if he gets too arrogant, he will probably go downhill in this war between Russia and us. Now they can still maintain their combat effectiveness in the border areas, but what about in the future?"

The real trouble and test for both sides are yet to come. (End of this chapter)