Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 746 048 Borodino (I)

The day before, the cheers of the French could be heard from the Russian positions near Shevardino, and for no other reason.

Mr. Gerard, who had painted Madame Récamier, painted a portrait of Napoleon and Catherine's child, the little King of Rome, and placed it on the chair where Napoleon usually sat.

These soldiers, especially the guards close to the emperor himself, were all shouting "Long live the emperor", but this also felt absurd.

The old guards actually had a good impression of Catherine. Besides being a Russian girl, the new queen was very much in the emperor's favor and liked to wield swords and guns. Although French women were tough, they didn't expect her to be like this. When she arrived in Paris, she could accompany the emperor to hunt ducks and use a saber to chop a target made of straw. Many young people might not be as brave as her.

The problem is that this child is half Russian, although his bloodline is mainly German. But the soldiers don't care too much, after all, the emperor finally let his wife give birth to a son, and now Unit 2 is almost born, but they don't know whether it is a boy or a girl.

The cause of the empire does seem to have successors, and Russian women are much better than Austrian women who make trouble all the time. In addition to the fact that her dearest brother and doting husband have to fight and cannot let her get involved in military affairs, the court in Paris even has some deterrent power and can control some reckless guys.

Napoleon himself thought that if his son was 15 years old, he would probably bring him to the battlefield, rather than a portrait of a child holding a scepter and poking a globe.

But he and Josephine had no children, and Hortense's children were not much older than his own children. If Eugene was counted, there might be one child. However, Josephine's son and Josephine's nephew had a fierce fight in Shevardino, and this time there was no winner between the two of them. The nephew on the Russian side withdrew from the battle with the main force of the Russian army.

Napoleon shook his head helplessly thinking about how Eugene and Michel, who could be good friends, were always fighting.

Looking at the next generation of children, the emperor's sister-in-law gave birth to many girls, but the son born to Leclerc by his sister Paulina, his own nephew Demid begged his mother to come over.

But because he had been in poor health since childhood and had not reached the age for military service, Napoleon sent him to his grandmother's house to be a leader.

He is so clever that he can recite military books by heart, and even performs very well on maps. It is obvious that he will be an outstanding staff officer like his father in the future, and maybe he even has some talent to be a commander.

It's just that the symbols that Demid and his brother Giuseppe drew on the map are very convenient to use. After asking, I found out that Solovyov taught the two children when he lived in Guastalla.

Polina's belly was also rather strange. Except for a daughter in 1810, the rest were sons. Her high fertility was somewhat unscientific. If they had all grown up, they would probably be of some use.

All in all, Demid is very devoted to his cousins, and it seems that there is still some hope for the next generation.

The rest probably depends on what is happening in front of you.

Apart from catching a cold, Napoleon was probably affected by inflammation. However, he was so energetic that he even had the leisure to ask his adjutant Rapp whether the rations of the Guards had been distributed.

After that, I would probably ask the soldiers, especially the Guards, when these people on duty came to serve.

The army on his side had already begun moving towards the starting position at dawn, and the sound of their marching footsteps could be heard.

He was still discussing some things with his subordinates at night, and there were still several major orders at this moment.

The first order was to concentrate more than 100 artillery pieces, and the artillery of these armies in the front should fire shells at the salient forts and multi-faceted forts (Raevsky Battery). However, the position of the fortress was out of range, and the position had to be moved forward, just like the bayonets on the cannons in the past battles, so that the artillery could hit the fortress itself.

The second order was for the Polish army, led by Prince Poniatowski, to cross the woods and attack the left wing of the Russian army and capture the village in front.

The third order was for General Compan to take the lead in launching an attack from the front of the salient, and the last one was for the 4th Army commanded by Eugène de Beauharnais, together with Grouchy's dragoons, to launch a feint attack on Borodino.

His purpose was to attract Kutuzov's attention by attacking the Russian right wing and to divert his forces to that side.

At the same time, the main force of the French army launched an attack on the left front positions of the Russian army. By capturing these positions, defeating the main Russian forces and driving them to the other side of the Kolocha River and the Moscow River, the final victory, a decisive victory, could be achieved.

His idea was also relatively conservative, and he did not support Davout's bold plan for the 1st and 5th Armies to outflank the Russian left wing.

If this place was not so far from Paris, and Davout's relationship with all the generals except the division commanders of the 1st Army had been getting worse and worse recently, this plan might have been implemented.

Although it was not certain that the Russian army could be defeated immediately, it was probably a brilliant mistake that Tuchkov, who was ambushing in the forest, was maneuvered by Bennigsen to the high ground.

Now it looks like this.

Solovyov got up at four in the morning and even had time to drink a cup of kvass and eat two slices of bread. In short, he would not let himself go hungry.

As for the Salient Redoubt, he could also feel that the French would launch an attack as soon as daybreak came.

When he went to deal with the Turks, he didn't have to get up so early. The battle with the Swedes was in winter, and the winter nights in the high latitudes in the north were very long.

Now it was Borodino where the enemy was fighting the French, and both sides were setting up their battle formations.

Solovyov knew that his uncle, the emperor, only slept four hours a day, and that he would have to sleep less under special circumstances. If he wanted to develop relationships with his mistresses, he would even time his sex life.

He gets up earlier than the chicken and sleeps later than the dog, and his work efficiency is comparable to that of the donkey in the production team.

But when he thought of the donkey, he felt that the braised meat prepared by the orderly for him tasted a bit strange.

"You added too much soy sauce. It's a bit salty."

"Sir, it is a little salty. If you add more salt, you can leave it for a while longer."

"That makes sense, and the texture looks like donkey meat."

He would not tell his orderly that he had just thought of the donkey and had simply stood up to stretch.

Before going to bed last night, he asked Bao Hong to go to Kutuzov and bring him a letter.

In fact, he had known for a long time that because of the river branches, the French might not choose to come from the location of Bagovut's 2nd Army.

If Pierre came, even he, an outsider, would probably notice that the Russian army's left wing looked a little weak.

In fact, if Nikolay Tuchkov's 3rd Army had remained in the woods, it might have been more effective because the French would not have noticed it at first.

After all, Solovyov had a lot of resentment towards Jieting. When he translated this part himself, he also made some sharp comments on Ma Canjun's actions.

Perhaps the officers in the Russian army who like to read novels know this story, but Bennigsen still did it. As for what will happen next, that is another matter.

The battle was bound to begin. Kutuzov lived in the yard of a local landowner. When the battle started, he would take his men to the high ground to watch.

Now he had no rest either. The Emperor's uncle, Prince Alexander of Württemberg, was chatting with an officer at the door. He woke up early, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had to let his son-in-law and adjutant help him up so that he could hear what was going on.

After all, this Prince of Württemberg is the Queen Mother's younger brother, so he is very responsible and can hear what he says.

"From the position at the Salient? Was it a message from Bagration?"

"Commander-in-chief, it's the Cossack adjutant of the 8th Army Command. He brought a letter from Count Solovyov with his opinions on the deployment of the Kolocha River and the Moscow River."

"We have to start fighting now. What is he thinking? Our deployment has been made, and the deployment can only start at this time. If there is something going on with Bagowut and he is not in this defense zone, I think we should still hold on to the Salient Fort."

"But I think there is some use to what is said here. Letting Bagowut transfer down early as a reserve, or strengthening behind Osterman, may have some benefits."

It was for this reason that Kutuzov had always kept the prince, the late emperor’s brother-in-law and the emperor’s uncle, by his side, for he still had some sense.

"Okay, Your Highness, you can read it to me."

Prince Alexander also laughed. He was an old man with one eye, and the eyesight of that eye was very poor. It was a miracle that two bullets shot into his eye from the same angle during two battles, but only blinded one of his eyes and did not take his life at the time.

Now he is doing it himself. He reads very slowly, but his opinions are expressed.

"As for the deployment in the forest, he also saw from his position that the troops of the Third Army moved from the forest to the edge of the high ground."

After hearing this, Kutuzov's face became unusually calm.

"That's good. We can mobilize the army, but we have to see the situation on the battlefield clearly. We must always be patient. Let Misha's adjutant go back and tell his superiors that war is not a joke. After the deployment has been determined, everyone must do their duty. He is now in charge of the salient and helping Prince Bagration hold that position. This is the greatest victory. And..."

He called his fourth son-in-law, Prince Kudashev, and had him dictate a short letter.

It was made very clear that although Solovyov's father was not of a high rank when he retired, he was an old acquaintance of Kutuzov after all, and he hoped that Solovyov would perform well on the battlefield.

Kutuzov's only son died in childhood, so he treated his sons-in-law and young men he liked as his own sons. Moreover, when Solovyov was demoted, he still respected his elders as usual. It was rare for a young man like him to respect his elders as a junior.

He found the problem, but sometimes it's not the time to give feedback.

At this time, all you can do is fulfill your duties.

When Bao Hong rode back to the bastion on horseback, artillery fire was heard outside the position of the Guards Chasseur Regiment in Borodino.

It was still 5:30, not even daybreak, and the French launched their attack.

The Battle of Borodino officially started at this time.

Solovyov's judgment was mainly due to the fact that when he looked at the map, he always felt that there were some problems with the deployment of the 2nd Army. The French in the river ahead would not easily come from this direction, so it would be fine as long as Uvarov and Platov's cavalry were left there.

Uvarov once led a division under him, so he had some understanding of the situation.

As for Platov, as long as he is allowed to play freely and gives appropriate orders during the battle, it will naturally have some miraculous effects.

But he always worried about where the battle would break out.

After all, that was the Guards Jager Regiment, and he had once been the commander of the regiment. The current commander, von Bystrom, was also his old friend. The two brothers had already become acquainted with him during the march to Suvorov's estate.

The mission of this regiment was to defend the village of Borodino and confront the French head-on.

The village of Borodino itself, on the other side of the Kolotsa River, looked like a bridgehead, and if either side chose to make a detour in any direction, it would probably be inseparable from this axis.

When the French attacked, the infantry formed neat lines in the front, and the action at dawn showed that the whole army was in good spirits.

“A very neat queue.”

After seeing this, Karl von Bystrom admired the neat formation of the French infantry, but he was just admiring it.

The Guards Chasseurs in the trenches and behind obstacles each chose their own targets and hit the French hard with their rifles.

However, the French army now is not disrupted by the Russian army's intensive and precise shooting like it was in Austria, Poland and East Prussia in the past.

After the shooting began, they chose to disperse part of their formation and, under the cover of the artillery fire from behind, launched an attack on the positions of the Guards Chasseurs.

When setting out from the Neman River, a French infantry regiment might have 3600 or more men, and now Eugene was sending more than one regiment to attack Borodino.

As for the Guards Chasseurs, even when they were fully staffed, they might not be as numerous as the current French soldiers who were still combat-ready.

Hard fighting was inevitable. Even the village of Borodino, which could be seen from a distance, was now shrouded in smoke - the exploding grenades and shooting from both sides brought white smoke, and it soon became unclear what was happening there.

Kutuzov could see the situation here. He would not rush to give any orders at the beginning of the battle. As a coach, he always needed to be patient.

Shortly after the feint attack was launched, artillery fire was heard from the direction of the bastion.

The fighting had started here, and Kutuzov was no longer worried.

It seemed that Napoleon was going to take advantage of the relatively weak and unprotected half-finished fortress on his left wing.

In this case, what will be competed is all the fighting skills of both sides.

(End of this chapter)