Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

After the French suffered setbacks in their previous actions, they will continue to find ways to get back at their own game.

However, if the Russian troops want to escape, it will be difficult to stop them given the area they control.

Even if the two corps that arrived the next day wanted to detour to the east side of Smolensk, it would not seem so easy.

Although Paskevich's troops had followed Bagration to Solovyov's crossing, he was left behind to assist Dokhturov in commanding part of the Smolensk garrison.

The Russian army was still using the bridge over the Dnieper River to retreat. Barclay was too cautious about the retreat, so he split up Bagration's troops before his main force arrived. But only Dokhturov came here, and it was also very dangerous now.

If the French army launched a full-scale attack and the Russian troops near the Royal Fortress and the ferry were unable to resist, it would be a disaster for the subsequent troops of the 1st Army entering the area around Smolensk.

However, it always takes some time for the Poles to enter the battlefield in order to launch an attack.

Moreover, the defense zone they had to pass through was just on the side of the grenadiers' ambush site.

Solovyov had not received any orders to act, but the situation improved as the 3st Grenadier Division of the 1rd Army entered Smolensk.

Anyway, Count Stroganov was a latecomer, and his courage was far greater than his command ability. As long as he could obey orders and keep his troops holding their positions, he would probably be qualified.

He even had time to come to Dokhturov's headquarters behind the gate.

"You come to the city at this time to strengthen the city's defenses?"

"Probably. As you know, we have always played as defenders. It's just that we didn't play in Ostrovno before."

Dokhturov looked at him and then at Christian. These two "relatives" were in charge of the most elite grenadier division. It had to be said that this was a Russian characteristic.

The Poles have already attacked, and he always needs fresh troops to fight against the French.

Yermolov had gone to supervise the artillery. In addition to being Barclay's chief of staff, he was also a senior artilleryman.

However, Dokhturov himself was not optimistic about the commanders of the counterattack. The commanders of the two grenadier divisions were brave enough, but fighting a war always required a capable guy.

So he looked at Solovyov on the side. After all, he was also a corps commander and was willing to take charge of the command.

"Misha, now we need to repel those Poles. They have been threatening our flanks. Is there any good way?"

"I think we should deploy two regiments of the 1st Grenadier Division to the ferry under the cover of the city wall. There is an area suitable for an ambush there. Four of the remaining 10 grenadier regiments should be used as reserves, and the rest should launch a flank attack from the front of the city wall to drive back all the Poles."

After he said that, Dokhturov thought about it for a while and felt that it was a good idea.

"You go there and attack with two grenadier divisions, but don't go too far in pursuit."

"The artillery support must also keep up, especially before we attack, use grenades to hit them first."

"I understand."

While they were deploying, Davout and Poniatowski had already started to act.

The Poles were also tasked with threatening Smolensk from the east, entering the city and seizing the ferry, and if possible cutting off the Russian army's retreat.

The ancestors of these Poles had arrived here two hundred years ago and had also entered Moscow.

In the past few decades, because the hard work done by the Poles themselves gave opportunities to surrounding countries, the country was divided up by Russia, Prussia and Austria.

Now they have another chance to fight the Russians, and it seems that their actions are very aggressive at the beginning.

Seeing that the Russian army was still retreating from the Dnieper River to the Moscow Road in the north, Poniatovsky also began to deploy artillery, attempting to blockade it with firepower, or at least disrupt it.

Therefore, he also deployed artillery positions in an attempt to take action.

At first things looked good. After several Polish infantry regiments arrived, they quickly occupied large tracts of land in the suburbs and approached the walls of Smolensk.

When Yermolov saw the Poles rushing over, he became a little nervous, so he ordered the artillery to turn their guns around and bombard the Poles who were very close to the city wall with grapeshot.

The Poles then stopped outside the effective range of grapeshot.

In doing so, they indeed wasted Solovyov's ambush.

The special forces may seem wasted, but the regular forces are very useful.

Because of the direction of the Poles' attack, their marching column was completely exposed to the Russian firepower when it turned.

Under normal circumstances, Solovyov would probably communicate by sending a signal to Yermolov, who was urging the artillery to fire at the Poles.

However, his communications adjutant was shot and wounded, and at this moment, he might not be able to send a signal as quickly as the messenger.

If we wait for Yermolov to take action, it will be too late.

So he decided to lead the Moscow Grenadiers in the attack himself, drew his sword, dismounted and fought alongside the infantry.

At the same time, he also prevented the French from making him a target. Officers on horseback were easily targeted by the enemy in close combat.

Solovyov himself liked to do this and asked some soldiers to shoot freely to attack enemy officers. It can be said that this was something the 2nd Grenadier Division often did.

When dealing with the Turks before, those gorgeously dressed Baiji masters were often treated harshly.

The unlucky ones today were the Polish officers. Many of them were hit by bullets in the first round of shooting.

In this situation, the Poles, who were usually fine in a favorable battle but might shrink back if they encountered trouble, stopped at the edge of the artillery's range.

Yermolov had originally planned to fire a few rounds of shotgun at the Poles when they approached, killing as many as possible.

But these guys were just "provoking" him at the edge of his artillery range. If Poniatovsky was right in front of him, Yermolov would probably choose to punch him directly.

Considering that he was a fat man and had always exercised, it would be difficult for ordinary people to hit him with fists and feet. But this was a battlefield, so Yermolov had to give up using artillery to bombard the Poles and instead let two grenadier regiments led by Solovyov personally launch an attack from the front.

Then, many Poles were killed and wounded by the Russian grenadiers' shooting, and they quickly began to retreat.

In just about half an hour, the Poles were almost completely driven out of the area they had previously occupied.

When Napoleon received the report, he was reluctant to believe it.

At least the Poles had performed well before and were not defeated like this.

But sometimes, there are some people who like to put on a fuss.

The Russian army's fierce attack came quickly, and in the front shooting, the veterans in the regiment shot very accurately, which caused great chaos to the Poles.

Then came the bayonet charges of the grenadiers, and several Polish regiments were thrown into disarray, some even running further than their starting positions.

Poniatowski himself felt a little embarrassed. The discipline of the Polish infantry was acceptable, except that they liked to steal. However, they were still okay when fighting, and many of them came for the "Second Polish Campaign" to take revenge on the Russians.

Now, this was a great mistake in front of Napoleon. Even the Russian army did not choose to pursue. They just chased in front of the city wall for a while and then began to gather their troops.

As for counterattack, it is impossible.

Napoleon also knew that the Poles were still quite vigilant after suffering losses, so they would not easily approach the walls of Smolensk.

In this way, there would be no threat to the ferry where the Russian army was retreating.

After seeing this counterattack, Dokhturov did not say anything. He even hoped that Solovyov would continue to defend the eastern position like this, and even drive the enemy away from the farms in the suburbs, so as to ensure the safety of the retreating army.

However, Barclays is still preparing to retreat.

The current Russian army can actually continue to hold on.

But Barclay also had his considerations. If he continued to stay in Smolensk, there would probably be no good results.

He was still arranging the retreat, but the order always made everyone unhappy.

In this operation, the 2nd and 4th Armies, except for a division led by the Queen Mother's nephew Prince Eugene of Württemberg, had not yet been put into battle.

If these fresh troops were deployed in the battle of Smolensk, they could even delay the battle, giving the main force more time to retreat calmly.

But he only arranged for the 6th Army and the two grenadier divisions in Smolensk to continue to hold on. Except for the Prince of Württemberg who joined in, the rest of the troops had moved to the north, and artillery and baggage had also begun to be transferred.

As a result, Bagration became even more dissatisfied. Even though they were retreating, it was obvious that the current deployment of the Russian army could not satisfy everyone.

If Barclay continues to serve as acting commander-in-chief, it is hard to say what will happen next.

The 2nd Grenadier Division set out that evening and headed for the Solovyov Ferry, where the 8th Army was preparing to complete its reorganization and serve as a flank cover for the entire Russian army, waiting for friendly forces in Smolensk to retreat one after another.

The French would launch an attack on Dokhturov's rear guard the following day.

In this way, the Russian army finally escaped danger again, but more and more people were dissatisfied.

So much so that when Bagration saw Solovyov coming back during the retreat, the first question he asked was this.

"What has our commander-in-chief done? We could have held out for at least one more day in Smolensk, but now we are retreating like this. We have to abandon our position again. Where will we go next?"

"I don't know either. Now we can only follow orders. The French are still attacking Smolensk. Even if we destroy the bridge, they will quickly build a new one. Also, our engineers really need adequate training. They often don't even understand how to sabotage."

This problem persisted until the Tsarist Russia was buried.

"I can see, Mishka, that you're a little unhappy too."

"This is a problem that existed before the war, and there is nothing much to say. The French will catch up soon. We have secured the ferry now and can retreat to the road between Smolensk and Moscow, but if the enemy wants to catch up, we still need to fight a rearguard battle."

Judging from the current situation of the 2nd Army, it would be more appropriate to let the 2nd Grenadier Division continue to perform this task, as the other three divisions had suffered greater losses in previous battles.

Although a lot of reinforcements were received after arriving in Smolensk, some of them had not received military training and had to be placed among the non-combat personnel, and the precious reinforcements were transferred to the regiment to fill the vacancies.

Bagration was also very clear about what Solovyov did not say. Barclay's main force and marching column were on another branch road in the north. The advantage was that it could conceal its marching route, but the disadvantage was that it had to cross many rivers in the middle.

But the prince didn't know that Solovyov, looking at Barclay's bald head, always felt that he might forget to build a pontoon bridge.

Fortunately, there are always some shallows on these rivers, so the main force of the Russian army can march quickly there.

As for the main road in front, the troops commanded by Pavel Tuchkov are there. If they can provide successful cover, Barclay's troops will naturally be able to retreat safely.

However, if this road was opened, even the 2nd Army, which had already safely controlled the ferry, would face a huge threat from the French army.

However, they were able to hold it in, which showed their magnanimity.

Bagration did not complain publicly. In fact, the one who was more dissatisfied at this moment was probably the Tsar himself.

Although he agreed with the entire strategy, Barclay's performance and the generals' gossip behind his back always made Alexander lose his patience.

However, he did not abandon Barclay as he did Speransky. At least he was still of some use and could help the potential successor commander-in-chief to command the battle and clarify the course of action.

But it was clear that he had no chance of being the commander-in-chief.

According to the arrangement of the court committee, after a meeting and discussion, a decision was made that Admiral Mikhail Kutuzov would serve as the new commander-in-chief of the Russian army. This only required the final confirmation of the Tsar himself.

However, just like Paul picking on Suvorov back then, Alexander was not satisfied with Kutuzov, otherwise he would not have assigned him the position of commander of the St. Petersburg militia in the beginning, which actually could not play any role. This position only needed a sitting commander.

But at this time, the only one who can make generals of all ages obey his orders is probably this one-eyed general. (End of this chapter)