Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 747 Borodino (Part 049)

The tests that Karl von Bystrom and the Guards Jager Regiment had to endure did not at all show that they were feints.

Eugene's performance was very steady. His offensive was fierce. He also knew that the Russian army would not give up the village of Borodino easily. If they really wanted to give up, they would not send a Guards Regiment here.

While the 13th Division was striking hard at Borodino, there was already some action on the front.

Neverovsky had clearly seen from his position that there were French troops taking action in front of his bastion position.

However, the assembly point of these people was at the edge of Russian artillery fire, making it difficult to capture them.

Prince Gorchakov was injured before, and the command of the front line was in the hands of Konovnitsyn, who was also a lieutenant general and older than the young Neverovsky and Vorontsov. When he gave orders, he was also very decisive.

It was not until the infantry of the Compin Division entered a range where the artillery was very comfortable that the artillerymen on the gun positions opened fire and used grapeshot to attack the approaching French troops.

This caused heavy casualties to the infantry of the Companion Division. For a time, there were corpses lying all over the earth slope in front of the bastion, with many wounded soldiers among them.

Bagration, riding on his horse, could not help but admire it.

"Bravo, good fight!"

But Solovyov, who was in front of the grenadiers and not far from his position, kept a sullen look on his face.

The French artillery fire on the front was very fierce. Although the artillery and infantry cooperated to repel the first attack of the Compin Division, the French concentrated more than one hundred cannons in three salient redoubt positions.

Such a density of firepower was a huge test for the Russian troops in the fortress.

In addition, shells would occasionally fall near them, and the initial casualties among the reserve troops came from some of the grenades that flew farther.

He rode up to Bagration and asked for clear orders before the noise of the fighting prevented them from talking.

"We have a hard time with our brothers guarding the Salient."

"I know, Mishka. You and Prince Mecklenburg should not be anxious. When the enemy is about to attack the earth wall, there will be further instructions."

It has to be said that Bagration, who is usually impatient, still has the demeanor of a general on the battlefield.

His current calmness also comes from his confidence in the troops.

But for the front-line troops, they will have to continue to face tests.

Marshal Davout saw that the offensive of the Compin Division was blocked, so he began to continue to mobilize troops. Except for Friant's Division, which remained motionless, the rest of the troops began to take action.

The left side of the bastion was attacked by the French, and the fighting in this direction was the most intense.

At this time, Ney, who had always been reckless, was mobilizing the 11th Division and the Württemberg Division to launch an attack forward.

For the Russian soldiers on the Salient Fort position, they now felt like they were on top of a huge reef, with the French in blue uniforms constantly pouring in from several directions like a tide.

Ignoring the firepower, Konovnitsyn stood on the edge of the artillery position and observed the battle situation ahead. He saw a bald head appear among the French soldiers.

Konovnitsyn didn't know a lot of people. It was only when he arrived in Smolensk that he became acquainted with his colleagues in the 1st Army. As for the 2nd Army, many of them were young people, so he was only familiar with Bagration, and Solovyov didn't even have much impression of him.

But he has a lot of experience and is very calm during battles, which are big advantages.

He saw the French attack and realized the trouble.

Although he didn't know that the bald man was Marshal Davout, his choice was to get a few 12-pound cannons and directly attack the French troops in front of him, regardless of what kind of shells to use.

Davout didn't know that someone was going to entertain him today. As the imperial marshal, he was personally supervising an infantry regiment to launch an attack - this was also what he often did in battle.

When Konovnitsyn mobilized the artillery on the position to open fire, several solid shells pierced through the French infantry formation, causing blood and flesh to fly everywhere. The grapeshot fired by several cannons deployed in the front was also very effective.

The French suffered another round of heavy casualties, and Davout's adjutant could not find the marshal for a while.

Their marshal is bald and seems easier to find than ordinary generals. In fact, the Russian army can also use a similar method to find Barclay.

At this time, there was some unrest among the French army, but they still chose to attack.

Seeing the situation, Konovnitsyn ordered his soldiers to fire in the direction where the French army was coming.

However, these French soldiers rushed up quickly, and the two sides soon engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat on the hillside where the artillery position was located.

Bagration then gave the order, and Neverovsky's troops advanced from the side and rear to the front, including two cavalry regiments, all of whom went up to support Vorontsov's position.

At the same time, he also sent a messenger to Rayevsky to seek support, asking him to send the reserve troops of the 7th Army in the rear to the battlefield.

But there are still some minor troubles.

"Sir, General Nikolai Tuchkov's troops are engaging the Poles on the hillside at the edge of the village of Utitsa!"

"how is the situation?"

"The Poles are charging very fiercely, so we can only let the 1st Grenadier Division hold them off temporarily."

Although Stroganov was a latecomer, his courage is unquestionable.

Moreover, the 1st Grenadier Division was also elite, and their combat effectiveness was guaranteed. Bagration was only annoyed because the Poles tied down part of his infantry units.

But there is also good news. Kutuzov was worried about the left wing before, so he mobilized the 3rd Army. Now seeing this situation, only the 4th Army and the Guards are still keeping an eye on the movements of the French on the Kolocha River line, and the 2nd Army is being mobilized from the river branch.

In fact, Solovyov did not know that after reading his letter, Kutuzov mobilized the 2nd Army in advance to start moving its position. Taking advantage of the terrain and the frontal fire zone, he let Bagovut maneuver behind Bagration and take action at any time.

Of course, if Kutuzov knew about Bennigsen's micro-management, he would probably curse first, and then it would be Bagration's turn. Solovyov, on the other hand, would not complain much because the salient bastion positions were all on his side.

But the melee here is now inevitable.

Napoleon was now at the Shevardino Fortress, where a fierce battle had taken place two days earlier and which had now become the French army's forward base camp.

He remained very calm after receiving the news from the front. The Russians are always tenacious when fighting, and the land under his feet in Shevardino was the closest one to them.

After receiving the report from the front, he remained calm. Before receiving a more accurate report, he did not believe Davout's "death".

In fact, the marshal himself was quite lucky, as his mount was killed by the Russian counterattack fire, and he was pinned down. It was the infantry who arrived here later who lifted him up.

However, the 1st Army suffered heavy losses. Its chief of staff, General Romev, was seriously injured. At this time, after Compan was injured, several regimental commanders of the 5th Division where he was located were also injured. As for the losses of soldiers, they were even greater.

However, the French army continued to attack despite casualties, which put tremendous pressure on the Russian troops on the artillery position.

He himself was fine, and he even had the mind to check on the condition of the 4th Division nearby.

However, Des waved his hand and showed him the bandage on his hand.

This guy was a doctor before the war, he can take care of himself. And it seems that he can handle it himself, studying medicine can at least save himself.

"Charrière, let the brothers continue the attack and tell them I'm fine!"

Davout then returned to the French army's formation, continued to encourage the soldiers to attack, and also inspired the courage of these French soldiers.

After they rushed onto the artillery position, the hand-to-hand combat became more and more intense, to the point that Bagration had to withdraw some of Tuchkov's men to launch a counterattack against the French troops who were attacking the bastion.

After Neverovsky went up, he was quickly driven out of the battlefield by French bayonets, and his followers took him down.

Then Vorontsov was also wounded by a bayonet. If they were not generals, the French soldiers would probably have stabbed them in the kidneys, which would have killed them even faster.

However, even when the division commanders were seriously injured and had to withdraw from the battle one after another, the Russian army still fought tenaciously.

"Prince, let me go now. I will lead the brothers of the Moscow Regiment and drive them out with a bayonet charge!"

Christian was ready to try, but Bagration looked at him.

Elena's brother-in-law was indeed brave enough, but the grenadiers could not move yet.

However, the fact that two generals were injured in succession, both from the 8th Army, also made him a little worried.

Because Solovyov was with him, and this was not a time for tricks. His junior fellow apprentice was just a backup. If anything happened to him, it would be better to have him take over than Konovnitsyn and Polozkin.

Although Bagration was always brave, he was also a big liar.

"Prince, you have to look at the situation ahead. Now is not the time for the grenadiers to go up. Raevsky is mobilizing his troops, and our reserve troops will be here soon!"

That being said, Christian had no choice but to return to the 1st Brigade.

But Solovyov was very worried. He looked ahead through binoculars and saw the French flag appearing on one of the bastions.

"Brother, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but you should send a grenadier brigade up there right now!"

His meaning was clear. If the Moscow and Kiev regiments were not needed, they could always send others.

Since his junior fellow apprentice said so, Bagration also understood, so he issued an order. Although the grenadiers did not attack immediately, other troops were dispatched.

Three of the cuirassiers under the command of Major-General Duca joined the battle.

Their target was Nansouty's cuirassiers. Murat was also at the front line at this time. Of the three main divisions of his cavalry army, only Grouchy followed Eugene to the left wing of the French army, and the main forces were all here.

He himself always appeared among the cuirassiers in gorgeous clothes. Although there were always veterans who could not help but take up their guns to shoot such conspicuous targets, there were too many such people on the battlefield.

Facing the charging French cuirassiers, although the Russian firepower caused considerable casualties, their impact was too strong.

Between the polygonal forts and the bastions, the French cavalry and infantry cooperated well, and at least it seemed that they had driven a wedge.

But at this time the Russian cuirassiers rushed over, and the cavalry in front did not dare to fight hard. Under the impact of the Russian cuirassiers, Murat chose to escape behind the Württemberg Division.

Thanks to the protection of these German infantrymen, the imperial marshal, King of Naples, was not caught by the Russian cavalry.

As for Ney, who saw it nearby, he had no time to care about how the emperor's brother-in-law was embarrassing himself. His 10th Division also joined the battle.

After all, his army included Portuguese infantry, and the combat effectiveness of these two small regiments was indeed average. If all the troops were not deployed to the front, it would seem difficult to shake the opponent's counterattack.

It's just that the Russian cavalry and infantry were out of sync. Two division commanders were injured in hand-to-hand combat. In addition, the officers were encouraging the soldiers to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. However, Duka's actions have now reversed.

The Russian cuirassiers had to give up chasing Murat.
If their Crown Princess wasn't the Emperor's sister and a member of the Empress Dowager's family, the Cuirassiers' case would probably be more than just a spit.

The battle lasted for another hour, and both sides paid a heavy price. Even now, the artillery on the French side had increased to 160 cannons, and the number would probably double in the next stage.

Some French soldiers stuck to the edge of the bastion like taffy, which led to the uninterrupted exchange of fire between the two sides.

It was now clear to both sides that a bigger challenge was yet to come, so they began to deploy troops and launched more intense battles on the front line of the Salient Fort.

And in the forest on the edge of Utica village, there were not only Poles, but Junod also led the Westphalian army to join the battle.

It was obvious that the French also had to take action regarding the forest on the side of the salient.

The battle on Tuchkov's side was also more intense. The Kurgannaya Heights here was also an important place on the flank. If this position was captured by the French, the flank of the bastion would be even more dangerous.

After the situation report came in, Bagration was also looking at the troops at his disposal. He had to mobilize Konovnitsyn's three brigades, which put more pressure on Tuchkov.

But the good news is that Bagowut is about to arrive, the 2nd Army's action is ahead of schedule, and at least his left wing has been reinforced.

The battle was far from over. Napoleon stood on the heights of Shevardino and asked his adjutant who had returned from the front about the battle situation.

"What about the Russians?"

"Still where you are, Your Majesty."

"Increase the artillery fire. We have to teach them a lesson!"

(End of this chapter)