Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

"Sometimes you shouldn't drink. You're doing something really bad right now!"

Faced with Solovyov's complaints, Christian had no choice but to endure it.

But he finally came to his senses now. Solovyov knew his brother-in-law's problems and he had to suffer from them as well.

If this guy wasn't his brother-in-law, and didn't care about his life in a war.
The person cannot be replaced, and his rank must remain in the 2nd Grenadier Division. In the three brigades below it, there is also the Moscow Grenadier Regiment in the 1st Brigade, because he is the regimental commanding general. In short, he cannot be removed.

This is also a system with Russian characteristics, and Solovyov also had to take into account that his brother-in-law was drinking too much and had not yet decided to start a war. Although he was a problem, he also had to take into account the strange operations of the two army commanders and the army commanders.

Solovyov thought that if he were the commander-in-chief, he would probably station all the troops in Smolensk and wait for the French to come up, and then use his expertise in defensive operations to bleed the French along the banks of the Dnieper River and in front of the Smolensk Road to weaken their army.

Instead of taking the initiative like this, we have now caused so much trouble.

By the afternoon, more and more French people arrived. In Davout's 1st Army, the Guidan Division was ready to join the battle, and the Poles were also moving closer.

Barclay's headquarters was in the process of moving at this time. He only had the staff headed by Yermolov and a few guards in the marching column. Although they were already close to Smolensk, there were too many things for him to consider.

"Alyosha, if the French continue to attack and cut off the main road to Moscow, it will be troublesome for us. I don't know if we can control the retreat now. We shouldn't take the small road in the north. It may be okay to evacuate the civilians of Smolensk there. It would be a disaster for our army to march from here."

This problem is indeed the current reality. The Russian army needs a strong force to ensure its retreat. Barclay believes that the main force of the Russian army must preserve its strength and only after weakening the enemy to a certain extent will it be possible to launch a counterattack.

Therefore, he had to ensure the retreat route according to the battle plan he had discussed with Bagration before and the latest revised battle plan by Yermolov. He also prepared to arrange for the 2nd Army to go to protect the rear of the main force of the Russian army.

To this end, he also rearranged the battle sequence and let the 6th Army commanded by Dokhturov take over Rayevsky's position.

However, the 2nd Grenadier Division did not move for the time being and remained behind the Royal Fortress.

Relying on its own strength, the Russian troops in front had repelled the French offensive on the first day, which made the 2nd Grenadier Division look more like it was resting here.

Except that some French artillery shells would pose a threat to the areas where they were stationed, this was of course a minor matter.

Solovyov holds the most powerful infantry and cavalry in the 2nd Army, and their role must be demonstrated at the critical moment.

It’s just that whether it’s Dokhturov or Raevsky, they are both better at defense. Perhaps the entire Russian army, except Suvorov, is like this, and they are very resilient in defensive operations.

Solovyov himself was the same, and he had to fight a lot of defensive battles.

It's just that now, because the elite troops with stronger combat effectiveness in his army are always here, he can't help but often sit in the back and watch the show.

He also tried to lead the team forward, but it also depended on whether the friendly forces gave him a chance.

The first day of the Battle of Smolensk became a bit boring. The Russian army did not have enough troops to face the French army on the front line, and they could only barely drive them to the edge of the artillery range.

This did not stop the French army from starting to build artillery positions, and the artillery deployed on the front line still posed a great threat to the city walls.

Obviously, there is no option to hold Smolensk. The Russian army probably wants to abandon this place and continue to lure the enemy deeper.

If this continued, Barclay would certainly find it difficult to control the troops. Although his command was criticized for its hesitation except for the counterattack on Rudnia, the reason was that the generals who advocated the battle could no longer hold back and called for a counterattack, which eventually led to an embarrassing situation.

More and more Russian troops retreated at night, and now due to the exchange of artillery fire from both sides, some wooden buildings in Smolensk had begun to burn.

The Russian army was also destroying the supplies in Smolensk, just like before. In addition to the supplies taken away by the baggage train, a large amount of fodder prepared for the cavalry was burned. If the French knew about this, they might be even more angry.

They had come so far that both the people and the horses were hungry. People could still hold on for a while, but the horses would suffer from malnutrition if they didn't have the right fodder. In addition, the Russian land they had passed through before was not the southern Russian steppes, which were relatively convenient for grazing horses. Naturally, there were many problems. The more horses they lost, the bigger the problems would be.

There were also several explosions, and it was obvious that some ammunition that could not be taken away had to be destroyed in a centralized manner.

The 2nd Grenadier Division was fine. Although their supplies were not supplied separately, they were distributed carefully and no major problems occurred.

After all, they are the more elite grenadiers in the Russian army. Their supplies are always guaranteed, and the weapons and equipment in their hands are much better.

If it is the infantry regiments belonging to the new infantry divisions with later numbers, that’s another matter.

At least when Paskevich's troops retreated, some of the soldiers had already switched to French rifles.

Considering the gunpowder loading at that time and the fact that lead bullets were always made before the war, there would probably be no problem. It was even possible that these French rifles were better than the old rifles or "Tula rifles" they had used before.

In short, having some spoils of war is better than having nothing. Although the 12th Division is also part of the 7th Army, they still use old stuff. After all, except for the battle in Saltynovka, they have not had any large-scale battles with the French army during this period.

In addition, Kolyubakin was not as active as Paskevich in combat, but he completed the tasks assigned by Raevsky more appropriately.

After all, most generals and middle and senior officers have limited abilities. Paskovich will be a field marshal in the future, but his cultural level is not high enough. The 7th Army also gradually withdrew from the battle and was replaced by the 6th Army.

Dokhturov also commands troops drawn from various armies, including Konovnitsyn and Neverovsky, and Solovyov's 8th Army is actually here as well.

But Dokhturov's rank is high, so it is relatively convenient for him to give commands.

They were responsible for the two armies and the several reinforced divisions and regiments. In short, they had to continue to hold out in Smolensk and wait for the main force to be transferred to the Smolensk Road.

The French were also quiet during the night and took no further action.

This gave Solovyov some time to check out the situation in the southwest position. Except for some collapsed city walls, most of the fortifications were still usable.

It is just unclear how the French army will mobilize its troops next. After all, several armies have already arrived near Smolensk. Considering the current French force advantage over the Russian army of nearly 3, the Russian army should really choose to transfer. The interests must always be distinguished.

As for Paskevich, after he withdrew, he had a good chat with Konovnitsyn, who took over his defense zone. This was actually the first time the two met. In the previous operations, Konovnitsyn led the troops as a rear guard and did not participate in the military meeting in Smolensk.

For the grenadiers, it is necessary to take advantage of this night to have a good rest, but some troops still remain highly vigilant at night.

It was not like the French had not carried out night raids before, and Konovnitsyn was wary of this because Ostermann-Tolstoy had mentioned French night raids in Poland before, when the 3rd and 4th Armies were operating together.

But not everyone can be alert here, and one has to keep one ear perked up even when sleeping.

What Solovyov is more worried about now is probably that his mother-in-law and sister-in-law are still in their estate in Moscow, and they should prepare to leave now.

However, the family always had to make some contributions to the army. Among the property left by my father-in-law, there were many farm horses and carts in the manor, which were always useful.

Solovyov thought that his mother-in-law was not going to St. Petersburg today anyway, and would probably go to her own old house in Ryazan, which was convenient for living, and transportation was also more convenient if she went to places further south.

However, given the French's level, their mobility would probably not be very good once they reach Moscow, and it would be difficult for them to escape at that time.

This is what will happen in the fall, and the French are now lined up to launch an attack the next morning.

After Napoleon saw that the Russian army was still on high alert in Smolensk, he naturally had to look for some other ways, and even considered making a detour from the nearby ferry to encircle the Russian troops in the rear.

However, the scouts sent out had bad luck. Several horses used to explore the way drowned in several ferry crossings that seemed to have shallow water. However, the people were fine after they went down, as they could still swim to shore.

Seeing this, Napoleon had no choice but to follow Ney's method of the previous day and began to concentrate the several armies that had arrived in Smolensk, and each of them would draw troops to continue the attack on Smolensk.

Compared with Laevsky who held his ground the day before, Dokhturov had some time to prepare. Not only did he find several places outside the range of the French artillery to set up artillery positions, he also reinforced some earth ramparts. When resting at night, there were always some rotating soldiers, and they also took the opportunity to dig some trenches. After all, the terrain conditions were better than those of the friendly forces who held their ground here on the first day.

Although the French army concentrated its superior artillery firepower to attack the Russian fortresses in front of it, it had little effect.

However, what both sides could see was that the front-line infantry on both sides would rather choose to position themselves further back, so that at least the shells could fly over their heads or bounce off due to the slope.

The defending Russians had endured a continuous barrage during the morning but seemed to be doing OK.

The attacking French army launched an attack from the front shortly after the artillery preparation.

The two sides were still fighting around the fortress, but Napoleon saw that the Russian firepower on the front was relatively fierce, causing considerable casualties to his own infantry. The Illyrian Infantry Regiment, which had performed mediocrely before, was like the Portuguese yesterday. After being beaten, it retreated quickly and was pursued by the Russian bayonets, causing considerable losses.

"Damn it, it looks like we need some other troops. Berthier, now ask Poniatovsky to make a detour to the east of Smolensk, threatening the Russians' retreat route and making it uncomfortable for them to move."

Napoleon was somewhat annoyed now. The Russian army had always been like this, very resilient and it was difficult to destroy them. When they really wanted to retreat, it was not easy to catch them, even though the French army had always marched faster.

"Your Majesty, order the 5th Army to head east of Smolensk, where the Russian army has a large number of artillery after reconnaissance."

"Don't worry about it, Berthier. What we need most now is time to tie up the Russians in Smolensk. There are at least 3 enemies here. If we can capture them, it will be a victory."

Having said that, Berthier then redeployed according to the emperor's wishes. Davout's 1st Army and the Polish 5th Army each joined the battle, launching attacks on the Molokhov Gate and the eastern suburbs. Artillery was also concentrated and deployed on the battlefield.

After all, the old city walls of Smolensk were also a rather troublesome target for the French.

The Russian troops based here caused great trouble to the French army, so that by the second day their progress was still limited.

This is a good thing for the Russian army. If they can delay time further, the retreating Russian army can further destroy the baggage along the way from Smolensk to Vyazma, leaving only empty cities or even burned towns for the pursuing French army.

Let's not consider these now. If the shells fired by the French themselves ignited something, some places in the southern part of Smolensk would have caught fire, and many places in the north had been burned down by the Russian army themselves.

But the French still made some progress, because part of the city wall had collapsed, and the city behind was on fire, which led to the Russian army not being able to continue fighting in the trenches in the suburbs. They had to abandon the Smolensk Cemetery and rely on the fortress and the newly built offensive at night to continue to resist. (End of this chapter)