Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

After fighting for a while, Bagration in the back also felt something was wrong.

He had been planning to transfer the 2nd Grenadier Division from Solovyov's side, but he saw that even if Rayevsky had achieved some results in the battle, they were only on the edge of the woods and streams. Although the French did not have many troops on the front line, their combat effectiveness was still considerable.

If reinforcements really came, he might be trapped here by Dawu before he crossed the river.

Anyway, there is no God's perspective, and Bagration did not dare to take risks in this place. Completing the main combat objectives and killing people happily at once are two different things. The goal of the Russian army is to complete the established strategic goals after the reunion.

He didn't know Davout's attitude. At this time, his own army had less than 5 people. According to the description of the prisoners, the total strength of the French 1st Army was between 5 and 6 people, and the scale of the infantry regiments involved was larger than before.

A Russian regiment at this time was generally composed of three battalions, and only the Guards had two regiments of four battalions. It was obvious that the strength of both sides was not on the same level.

Therefore, his choice was very cautious and he gave the order to Rajevsky after nightfall.

The pontoon bridge has been built and the enemy's strength is unknown. We must take this opportunity to retreat to the left bank of the Dnieper River and abandon the original plan to go to Orsha.

Solovyov had already built a pontoon bridge. He asked Vorontsov to lead the 2nd Combined Grenadier Division to guard the bridgehead and let the cavalry and cuirassiers, who would be used in the future, cross one pontoon bridge first. The other bridge was still used by civilians who were willing to be evacuated with the Russian army.

It was because of his presence that the Russian people probably knew that Suvorov's disciples had very strict military discipline, and quite a few of them even moved with the army.

"I think now, should we build another floating bridge to facilitate the passage of the army?"

Clausewitz asked this because he saw that the common people were following him. Among them were masters, common people, and even many serfs.

"If we only need wood to build a pontoon bridge, it's fine. But we need to cross the river to replenish our river-crossing equipment. We must meet up with Barclay in Smolensk, otherwise we can only take the Kaluga Road to Moscow."

"Don't be so pessimistic, Mick. At least we can get the troops across the river now."

While they were talking, the adjutant sent by Bagration arrived.

"Count, the Prince asked me to come and see the progress of the 8th Army's bridge construction."

"Look, the bridge has been built and our cavalry has crossed the river. If you want to fight again, you can send the cuirassiers back."

"No need. The prince asked me to pass on the order to you. The Eighth Army will abandon its original plan to operate on the right bank. Except for a part left to cover the Seventh Army crossing the river, the rest will cross the Dnieper River tonight. We will not go to Orsha, but go directly to Smolensk."

"Okay, I got it. Go back and tell Peter Ivanovich that we are ready and hope that the Seventh Army will not fight and return to the ferry as soon as possible."

The adjutant understood the hint and returned with a few escorting cavalrymen to report.

Bagration was very confident in his junior fellow apprentice, especially when he heard that the troops had been arranged to cross the river and even the grenadiers were ready to provide cover at the ferry. He immediately asked Laevsky to withdraw his troops under the cover of night.

The French saw that there was always a bonfire in the Russian camp, so Davout did not dare to pursue.

It was not because of anything else. He knew in his heart that the actions of the Russian army group must be relatively close. If the 8th Army came up, or if Raevsky retreated to lure the enemy deep into the territory, Friant was still half a day away from here, and Guidan and Morand were even farther away, so it was naturally impossible for them to choose to take the initiative to attack.

Both sides were afraid of each other, which resulted in a battle that ended in vain.

However, neither side will regret it afterwards, as at least they can accumulate a certain amount of strength for future battles.

But Raevsky was a little annoyed. Nearly 600 people were killed and more than 2000 were injured, but in the end there was no result.

But he didn't know that as the attacking side, their losses were slightly less than that of the French side.

The French are still reinforcing their fortifications at night, waiting for the Russian army to attack.

However, nothing happened.

The Russian army did not seem to stop that night, and even cavalry could be seen moving on the French side.

So Davout mistakenly thought that the Russian army might reinforce its troops at night, so he made Compan and Desaix wait for a whole night.

Then, when they woke up the next morning, the French army was nervously waiting for the Russian army to arrive on the battlefield.

Unfortunately, the position over there was already empty, and the Russian army even had time to take away most of the wounded, but there was no time to take away some of the bodies between the two armies. That was it.

Davout was relieved when he saw the battle situation. He did not expect that the same situation happened on Bagration's side.

"Fortunately, we started preparing to retreat last night, otherwise most of our troops would not be able to withdraw today."

Bagration himself led the grenadiers to cover the retreat. Solovyov was worried about him, so he brought his military headquarters to accompany him here to organize the retreat and direct the traffic. Some unsuitable baggage vehicles were pushed directly into the river.

"But there is no other way. We don't know the enemy's situation. We can only retreat first and fight again later."

Solovyov looked at Bagration, who actually had a look of regret on his face.

From this we can see that if Bagration had not obeyed the overall strategy, he would probably have taken the initiative to fight the French.

But at this time, it would be more appropriate to choose a road to retreat.

"We can't go to Kaluga Avenue next, because that would leave Barclays isolated."

"We are not going there either, Peter Ivanovich. Look, the Smolensk Regiment, the rear guard of the 7th Army, has arrived. I recognize their flag."

Before Bagration could see clearly, Solovyov had already pointed his whip forward. He had good eyesight and could roughly see the pattern of the military flag at this distance without a telescope.

The Smolensk Regiment withdrew, and the rearguard arrived here.

Rajevsky's troops finally withdrew safely from the front line.

He was wounded in many places, but he still insisted on staying behind, and he brought two sons with him. If it were them, one son was too young, and the other only had a daughter, they probably wouldn't do that. "Nikolai Nikolayevich, I think you should go check on your injuries. Don't let them get worse."

"Misha, you are such a talkative kid. I'm fine. My flesh isn't rotten. The doctor has already disinfected it before treating it. It's okay."

Solovyov was indeed a little worried just looking at him like this.

After all, the medical skills of these doctors are not as good as those of the Naval Hospital or the Guards. They are general hospitals with improved organizational structures after the medical reform, and they are equipped with a full range of doctors.

He also knew the capabilities of the field hospital, Scharnhorst could be shot in the ankle and taken away, and the Prussian army fought like a drunk the following year.

It is really hard to say what the Russian army can do.

After Rayevsky's side had crossed the river, the Russian army finally chose to set fire to the pontoon bridge.

Davout did not react until that afternoon. By the time the hunting cavalry he sent out arrived, it was impossible to put out the fire because the pontoon bridge had been burned to pieces and was unusable.

"It's really funny. It looks like the Russians are also afraid of our large army."

After he personally went to the ferry where the Russian army was retreating and saw it, he knew that this time they would never be able to catch up with Bagration. If his troops had to build a bridge and organize a river crossing, it would be unlikely for them to catch up with Bagration and defeat him with the two divisions of Compan and Desaix, plus Friant who had just arrived.

The Russian army had already shown this kind of resilience when defending their country. This was the first time that the French had exchanged fire with the Russian army on the battlefield, and it was just a battle around two small villages. The opponents did not flinch when fighting on the battlefield.

Even if they retreated in the end, they were not caught. This time, the war against Russia did not look so easy, not to mention that they had to continue to advance deep inland.

However, as for Davout, he still advocated a fierce fight, but lamented that the Russian army was currently difficult to deal with.

Perhaps the stronger generals all have their own obsessions on this issue and must determine who is better on the battlefield.

In contrast, Bagration always felt that Solovyov was rather strange. In recent years, he had become famous for his brilliant victories on the battlefield. However, the final result was that he used his troops more and more cautiously, unlike in Sweden and Turkey, when he often defeated the larger force with a smaller one and acted boldly.

But his problem was always buried in his heart and he didn't say it out loud.

After crossing the Dnieper River, the 2nd Army first had the Cossacks escort the civilians who had crossed the river to nearby towns and manors to escape, while the main force advanced towards Smolensk.

The Cossacks' discipline was only poor when they went abroad, but the situation was much better at home. Moreover, Platov was also a Hetman, so naturally he had some restrictions on his subordinates.

Such disciplined Cossacks are a little unlike themselves.

But we always have to be careful on our own soil.

By the time they were on the road to Smolensk, the scouts who had been observing the movements of the French army near Mogilev on the left bank came back to report the situation of the French army.

Only one division of Davout's army had reached Mogilev, and the rest of the troops had not yet approached the battlefield.

Bagration did not regret it, after all, the point was to reunite with Barclay.

The fatal thing was probably that the French army did not stay for long and quickly headed towards Orsha.

"Mishka, what do you think Napoleon is going to do?"

Since Bagration asked, he naturally had to answer.

"I think the French have changed their strategy from encircling and defeating us to defeating us in battle. The French have not experienced any major battles since crossing the Neman River, and Napoleon is still eager to win in battle. His idea is naturally to record our defeat in the Grand Army Bulletin. If he only occupied the territory but did not defeat us in battle, then everything he did would probably be discounted."

"That makes sense, but will he do what we say?"

"He will definitely come. I think the Emperor of France will be very annoyed if Barclay does not fight him. He will continue to come in."

Solovyov knew Barclays very well and it was he who proposed the strategy.

Although the emperor could not figure out Alexander's words, he would not be shaken for the time being and had no intention of negotiating with Napoleon.

If there was a possibility of a problem, it would probably be when the French army arrived near Moscow, when the Tsar might have shown some signs of wavering.

If we really want to complete this strategy and finally defeat Napoleon, we probably still need a veteran like Kutuzov who can control the situation.

It's just that Kutuzov had just returned from the Balkans, and the troops of the Danube Army Group had also withdrawn from the Balkans, and even brought back volunteers from Serbia and Greece. With the strength of a brigade each and the assigned artillery, they could organize a volunteer division.

They really did thank Russia for its great efforts in fighting the Ottoman Empire and for sending reinforcements.

The Serbian people are all tall and strong, and they look like high-quality military personnel.

But it is not known whether their homes will be stolen by His Majesty the Sultan. After all, the Turks often violate the agreement without moral principles. They have been dragged by them in the past few years. It is also because the Sultan himself and the "Yamen", the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are capricious and have been listening to the instigation of Britain and France.

Now, the British have finally stopped the war with Russia, and the two sides signed a new diplomatic agreement in St. Petersburg in July. Presumably, the financial support from Britain will arrive soon.

They are not good at fighting now and they only rely on Wellington. Moore, who is a little more capable of fighting, was "taken away" by Solovyov.

In this way, they rely on paying money to Russia to maintain their confrontation with France.

When they reached the Dnieper River, news of what was happening in St. Petersburg was also transmitted by fast horses between St. Petersburg, Moscow and Kiev.

What Solovyov has been thinking about is actually preparing for the next stage of the war. If the French get complacent, they will probably be defeated in this war. If they counterattack in Europe in the future, it is hard to say what the situation will be like.

No one knows what strategy Prussia, Austria and Britain will adopt.

In the future, the British will see Russia's vast territory as a threat when looking at the map. Of all the European countries, the only one that can threaten several key nodes of Britain from the land is Russia, but this potential has never been developed. (End of this chapter)