Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Kutuzov himself had five daughters, but six sons-in-law.

He sometimes wanted to cry when he thought of his third son-in-law, Tickenhausen, who died heroically at Austerlitz.

The fourth son-in-law, Prince Kudashev, looks very promising, just like the unfortunate third son-in-law. I hope he doesn't have the same unfortunate fate.

When the elderly reach this age, their premonitions become somewhat eerily accurate.

He sent his adjutants to call for help, but he himself was teasing the landlord's little girl, Malasha, by giving her the sugar cube that she was going to add to her tea.

Although he was blind in one eye and that eye looked very scary, Kutuzov was still very kind to children. No matter how you look at him, he was a kind and gentle old grandfather, not a cunning old fox.

After Solovyov had finished his meal, he mounted his horse and went with his followers to the village cottage.

He didn't have an adjutant with him now, only an orderly following him.

"Sir, do you think we will continue to retreat?"

"Why, you don't want to leave Moscow?"

"My Lord, I have not yet entered this city."

"I was in Sparrow Hills when I got married. No wonder you didn't follow me then."

"My lord, you seem reluctant to part with it."

"You have some cleverness, if you can see it. Do you think we should give up Moscow?"

"This is all the business of a master like the commander-in-chief. And you, sir, have also been invited by the commander-in-chief. If I were you, I probably wouldn't give up Moscow, but it depends on whether we can fight."

"You cunning fellow! It would have been more appropriate to call yourself Ochumelov, but you chose to call yourself Khryukin."

Chameleons may still be a native product of Russia. If it were in modern times, it would probably be about an unlucky captain who was frozen fish and eventually turned into a dog named "Major".

But these words always made people confused, and some of the words seemed strange to the country orderly Khryukin, "the master's words."

"But my last name is Hryukin, sir."

"I didn't ask you to change your last name, but what you said is indeed not wrong."

The two men rode together towards the village of Feli. To their surprise, only people from Kutuzov's headquarters were there, and many people had not arrived yet.

As for entering the farmhouse, Solovyov saw Kaisarov and von Toll and just nodded.

"The commander-in-chief is inside. If you go over now, you can talk to him alone."

Bennigsen is not here. He is probably thinking about something at the moment.

What surprised Kutuzov was that Solovyov came so early.

"Misha, you came really early. It was obviously the last adjutant I sent to your place."

“Maybe it’s a habit.”

He looked at the little girl, Malasha, patted her cheek, and looked at the sugar cube in her hand.

"You gave the child this kind of candy, although it is sweet. I also have fruit gummies here."

The child was also very smart. She looked at the "old grandfather" and then at the uncle. The child knew who was good to her. As for when Solovyov picked her up, the technique was obviously very skillful.

"When you were in the palace, you often came to take care of the children. I know that too."

"It's the same at home. I've always had children around me. I take care of the princes in the palace, take care of my younger brothers and sisters at home, and then my own children."

After hearing this, Kutuzov also understood why he was always so smooth in taking care of children, and why he always carried some fruit gummies with him even when he was in the army.

"But the love for family will never change."

"But now we have to decide not only the fate of our army, but also the fate of Moscow and Russia."

Kutuzov even spoke a little seriously at this time, but he had no chance to talk to Solovyov alone at this time.

Barclay arrived very quickly. If he was Scottish, his habit of always arriving on time definitely made him a German.

But Bennigsen did not arrive as early as him. In fact, Barclay is still sick and his condition has not been good in the past few days. On that day in Borodino, Kutuzov almost lost the commanders of two of his army groups at the same time.

"There are always people who arrive earlier. Young people just have more energy."

He put his hat aside, revealing his bald head.

"It's just that I heard that bald Frenchmen are stronger. This saying came from you."

"Hahaha, this story is only about Davout. He is indeed very capable and caused us a lot of trouble along the way."

"But I, a bald head, just need some quinine to relieve the damn symptoms. Misha, you fought the Turks and went to Greece, and you didn't get malaria."

"It may be related to the pathogen, but there will always be doctors who will find the reason in the future."

Solovyov now acted as he had done in his days as an aide-de-camp and found a chair for Barclay.

"If Alyosha were to sit next to you, there wouldn't be enough room on this bench."

"You can't sit on the floor either."

Barclay looked at the situation and found that he and Kutuzov were sitting more comfortably.

But Solovyov has not yet decided where he will sit, so it seems he has no choice but to bring a stool or bench by himself.

The next person to come in was Konovnitsyn, who also liked children. As soon as he entered the room, he began to wink at the little girl who was lying on the stove.

After everyone had been busy for a while, Bennigsen finally came over, but a seat had to be reserved for him.

It can be seen that he is very good at winning over others, otherwise he would definitely make enemies with his actions. Kutuzov did not take a nap today, which also meant that the situation was serious.

"What we are going to discuss today is whether or not to fight in Moscow. I think everyone has the right to speak, state their opinions, and listen to everyone's opinions. In the end, we will make a decision."

According to the situation of these people, they will speak one after another.

But when Bennigsen spoke, although he had mentioned to Barclay before that they should retreat, his statement now was very strange.

"Should we abandon Russia's sacred ancient capital? Or should we fight the enemy here?"

When Bennigsen made his remarks, Barclay, who was already feeling unwell today, was startled. He didn't understand what kind of medicine he was selling.

Von Toll, who was sitting next to Kutuzov, was also surprised. Several of their "German" officers had previously advocated running away, but it was the Russians who wanted to fight to the death.

Now Bennigsen seems to have suddenly changed his mind, which may also change the situation.

Kutuzov's one eye was already wide open. He always pretended to be old and confused, but today he couldn't control himself.

"You mean the sacred ancient capital of Russia? Allow me to tell you, sir, that this question is regarded by one Russian as meaningless. Such questions should not be asked, such questions are meaningless. The question I am asking these gentlemen to discuss is a military question. The question is this: 'The salvation of Russia depends on the army. Is it worth sacrificing the army and risking a war with Moscow, or is it better to give up Moscow and not fight this war? This is the question I want to know what you think.'"

Kutuzov was even a little excited while speaking.

Because the distance was too close, Solovyov couldn't say anything obscene to Stroganov and Osterman-Tolstoy standing next to him.

His father, Sergei Solovyov, had known Kutuzov when he was in the army. Judging from the Marshal's own words and what his father had said before, they had known each other for at least thirty years. In addition, he himself was also familiar with Kutuzov, and it had been fifteen years since he first saw him on the streets of St. Petersburg.

Kutuzov had never been seen so angry. He was obviously very excited and wanted to challenge Bennigsen.

The little girl lying on the stove watched the "old man" and the "man in long robe" arguing here, and they even blushed a little.

Naturally, her thoughts were still on Kutuzov's side, but as a child she had no idea what the two were arguing about, and she was not yet able to understand such a complicated issue.

This debate was the most intense one ever.

Solovyov knew that although Kutuzov was good at diplomatic rhetoric, his emotions were generally stable. He would not pretend to be confused in most cases like he did today.

But no one could ignore the current situation. As for the opinion put forward by Bennigsen, some people agreed with him. It seemed that except for Kutuzov and Barclay, the older people all advocated fighting, but the young people were divided.

Stroganov, who was not supposed to join the meeting and looked more like he was there to raise the average appearance value, was eager to speak.

"Count, do you have any opinions?"

"I think so. It's hard to say, but my mother and sister also live in Moscow."

Everyone knew that his mother ran away with a gigolo and lived in Moscow.

"Who among us doesn't have a few relatives in Moscow? But now we have to go to war. I can't accept it emotionally, but if we have to go to war, we always have to have a plan. I joined the army very late. I have lived in France since I was a child, but I love this country like everyone else."

There is no doubt about this. Although both of them have lived abroad since childhood, they speak Russian very well, much better than many upper-class aristocrats.

"We have to fight now, but we don't want to watch the enemy bleed. We have to take a gamble with Moscow. If Count Bennigsen, as the chief of staff, has the right to 'gamble', the commander-in-chief does not. We are responsible for the future of Russia. To win this war, we need to make a plan, not just talk about the significance of fighting the enemy under the city of Moscow."

When he came in and said this, everyone looked at him with new eyes.

On the contrary, he is the person who should have some emotions in politics, but he behaved very calmly and rationally today. This is probably due to the family style of the Stroganov family. His late father was a rare encyclopedic scholar who grew up in an atmosphere of Enlightenment thought. Although he devoted himself to the French Revolution in his early years and was once a formal member of the Jacobin Club, he returned to Russia as he grew older.

It was none of his business. Kutuzov called Solovyov over today because he hoped that the count would remain neutral.

The role that should have been to fire the shot should have been Solovyov, but no one expected that an unexpected heavyweight character would suddenly appear.

Stroganov has a special identity. He is a close friend of the Tsar himself and is also very talented. Anyone who has been in the Jacobin Club must be good at speaking.

"Thank you, Count, your advice is valuable, but..."

Just as Bennigsen was about to speak, Solovyov stood up.

This old guy is obviously not so easy to deal with. If we don’t defeat him today, we probably won’t be able to force the Russian army to withdraw from Moscow.

"Some people talk about political significance, and some people say that they want to live and die with Moscow, but you are not in front of the emperor, so you should reveal your true attitude. Now we have to fight here on Sparrow Hill. If we have the conditions, we can naturally take a gamble, but you, Leonty Leontyevich, want us to face the enemy here with our backs to the water. If we fail, we will be doomed."

Considering that Bennigsen knew Han Xin, probably only from a note in the book he translated, or maybe he had never read it at all, he could only serve the hard part, after all, there was no Friedland in 1807.

"It doesn't matter how others lose. I have the most say because I was the only one who drove the Turks into the Danube like sheep. I'm afraid more than 10,000 people drowned. My Lord Count, you are also a veteran who has been on the battlefield for a long time. Whether you are considering personal grudges, your future in the army, or the fate of Russia, you should speak carefully. You, a foreigner, are talking about the fate of Russia. This is inappropriate. I have many relatives in Moscow, and almost all of their property is here. If I don't consider the overall strategy, maybe I should be like you. After all, this involves the interests of many people."

Solovyov stared at Bennigsen fiercely. He also knew that this man had asked Alexander for 12,000 gold rubles in order to compensate for his impending loss of property in Vilno, which was considered a free gift from the Tsar.

This kind of person only cares about his own interests!

He even had the white gloves in his hands, which clearly showed that he was going to duel.

When Bennigsen saw him, his fierce eyes were like a lion staring at its prey.

Especially considering that Solovyov always keeps his hair relatively long, he looks more like a lion.

But what's scary is that he was Paul's personal guard officer, and he might still be brooding over the assassination.

"If you were a Russian, I would be fooled by such high-sounding words. If you, a cavalry general, are willing to lead a group of guerrillas to harass Napoleon's transportation lines behind his back like me, do you have the courage to do so?"

Yermolov, who originally wanted to fight, was indeed a little surprised to see Solovyov like this.

There were so many people who surprised everyone today, and Stroganov’s performance here was amazing.

At this time, Bennigsen was always pushed back by Solovyov.

Kutuzov achieved his goal, and he had to make this difficult decision in the end. Even though the three counts were arguing with each other, he was still the commander-in-chief.

The Military Meeting of Fili Village in History (End of this Chapter)