Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

On September 1812, 9 (Russian calendar), the French army had entered Moscow and even arranged accommodation. Each army made its own moves and began to deploy its troops in the city.

The Emperor himself was now entering Moscow, a place that was not his and certainly had no loyalty.

It was difficult for Napoleon to find some citizens.

Probably only Tutormin and his children in the orphanage, plus the orphanage's civil servants, servants and nannies
But there was no "welcome, welcome, warm welcome" in those days, so naturally when Napoleon entered the city, all you could see on the streets were French soldiers.

The mental state of these French soldiers is not the same as before.

Before the Battle of Borodino, although they were hungry and had diarrhea, the goal was to defeat the Russians, and the army generally maintained its spirits.

When we got to the battlefield of Borodino, it was a different story.

The French saw how the Russian army fought to the death. In the morning it was the grenadiers, and in the afternoon it was the Guards. The bastions and redoubts were a river of blood, and the fighting lasted until nightfall with no clear winner.

The French also suffered heavy losses in this battle. When passing through Mozhaysk, many people were already struggling to continue advancing.

Now that they have arrived in Moscow, they are taking out all the tables and chairs in the palace and burning them in an open area.

After all, room had to be made for the army. Some citizens who stayed in Moscow could also recall the military reforms during the reign of Tsar Paul, when many troops moved into magnificent palaces to save costs.

But now the French have moved in.
"These bastards, they came in and there was nothing we could do."

Some veterans who were stranded here due to injuries are now in tears.

After learning that Moscow was occupied by the French, many officers were also in despair.

Colonel Mokhnagin, who replaced Shatilov as the commander of the 2st Brigade of the 1nd Grenadier Division, tore off his bandages after learning the news and died soon after due to anger and worsening injuries.

When Solovyov arrived in Podolsk, he was quickly surrounded by the locals.

Unlike the civilians in Moscow who were instigated by the Governor-General, the locals were spontaneous.

Solovyov even saw an acquaintance, Suvorov's old orderly Dubasov.

"Uncle Prosha, why are you still in Podolsk?"

"I am a housekeeper for Alexander Vasilyevich, and the young master doesn't need me. Although the grandsons like me as an old man, the young master's wife doesn't like me. I live in Moscow. But you, Master Solovyov, you are a true disciple of the Grand Marshal. How can you watch the French enter Moscow like this? I am an old guy who is useless. Even serving people is not as skillful as before. But I also want to talk about you. I have worked for the Suvorov family all my life. I have followed my master wherever he went. We were so powerful at that time, defeating the French in Italy. You, the master, were also a young master at that time, and you captured the French commander-in-chief. But look at you now."

"I'm sorry, uncle. We are like this now, but we will have to fight back later."

Even though he is an old orderly, he is 69 years old. Now when he recalls the past when he stood behind the Grand Marshal and watched him so majestically, it is naturally difficult for him to accept his current situation.

"But no matter what you want to do, Mishka, you are a master and you have to give us some motivation. The young master is too far away from us."

This old servant, old orderly, had his reasons for speaking to him in this way.

After all, among the known Russian generals' orderly, he was the only one who was awarded an honorary status and a pension of 1200 rubles because he had served Suvorov for so many years.

"Uncle, let me tell you this, when the snow falls in winter, Napoleon will be finished! Don't worry, Marshal Kutuzov is already mobilizing the army. I came to Podolsk to monitor Napoleon's actions. If there is any movement over there, I will send an adjutant to report to the commander-in-chief."

"But how do we fight?"

An old hunter carrying a flintlock rifle asked. The old man was younger than Dubasov and looked very energetic.

"Before we go to war, we need to train the soldiers first. We need to gather several reserve infantry regiments and reserve cavalry regiments here and let the new recruits learn how to shoot guns first."

"Then let me, an old fellow, teach them. I used to serve in the regiment and fought against the Tartars in Crimea with Prince Vasily."

"If you are willing, you have to work harder. I welcome veterans to join us, but you old brothers, you probably served when my father was still in the army. You are my treasures. I hope you can teach us your skills as soon as possible so that these new recruits can quickly become heroes of the Podolsk Corps!"

He continued to speak, and this calmed the excited emotions of the local people.

As for Dubasov, he came here from the Suvorov family's house in Moscow with his grandson in a cart, and also brought some relics of the Marshal.

This is why he muttered that the master's belongings must not fall into the hands of the French.

"You have a nice farmhouse here, uncle."

"When I was serving the master, I was careless and broke the heel of his shoe while repairing it. This hurt the master's foot and caused him to use a cane all the time. But you always clean your own boots, which is..."

"Don't worry. Even though I was injured in the leg by the French in Novi, I didn't become a cripple like my unfortunate father."

"But I want to give it to you. You are a master after all, so it is not right for you to have only a servant. My grandson Valodia is fifteen years old now. I'd better let him follow you. He can drive a cart and has many other skills. More importantly, he can read. I suffered from my lack of education when I served the master, but Valodia can write letters for the villagers. You have always been an educated person, so perhaps you can use him."

"What about you? I know you have more than one grandson, but this is the only one you have right now. And he's only fifteen."

"Master, if you ask me, you have the young master of Count Ilia as your adjutant, and he is only sixteen. It would be no big deal if you bring my grandson with you."

"My shells have no eyes. Petya can deliver mail on horseback, but a shell cannot hit a galloping horse. An egg thrown in the street cannot hit a person."

Solovyov almost unconsciously moved in the direction of Suvorov's "abstract". His casual remark made the old orderly cry.

"The master took care of you because you look a bit like him, but not quite like him. You must always hold this cane."

Solovyov could recognize that this was the old walking stick that Suvorov used during the Italian expedition. The loyal Marshal Dubasov had been dead for twelve years, but he still kept it well and even maintained it every day. It still looked like a brand new one.

"Uncle, I probably won't be able to use it at my age." "Now when it rains in autumn, and when the snow melts in winter, it can always be used. Even if you have healthy legs and feet, you can still use it when you encounter a difficult road."

"OK then"

Solovyov took up the cane and stroked it carefully again.

Suvorov did not meet him until his later years. Since Solovyov was still a teenager when they met, he naturally did not teach him many skills. All he left him was a book called "The Science of Victory" and some opinions he dictated on his sickbed.

Now it is only the walking stick he used in his later years, and probably the sword that Solovyov always carried with him.

Suvorov himself might not think that it was a big regret that he failed to fight Napoleon, but others might think differently. Some people always like to compare Guan Gong with Qin Qiong. If Suvorov were still alive, he would be 83 years old. Even if he could still walk, he probably could not ride a horse and could no longer fight.

But Solovyov was still young and had fought with Napoleon more than once.

Now he is also a lieutenant general and has the authority to form a small corps independently. Kutuzov also wants him to keep an eye on Moscow from the flank.

If it were any other place, it would be easy to say, but Podolsk, although there is more than one place called Podolsk on Russian soil, but what about this Podolsk?
I probably always encounter the early version, and the new recruits formed here will probably be directly added to the main force in the future. But to be honest, they are all a group of students and young people who volunteer to join the army.

He has a month's time. If the French don't come to cause trouble, he can help the new recruits build up some combat effectiveness, so they probably won't die in vain on the battlefield.

It can also be used when replenishing troops during the expedition in the future.

Even expeditions to the border, and even further into Europe.

The rear cannot be slack either. Of course, he should still lead the troops at that time, and he will not be able to sit still in the rear.

As for Uncle Prosa's grandson, this kid is quite hardworking.

"I'll take care of the boots myself. Just make me some tea."

He also couldn't let the uncle down. In such a harsh and difficult battle, Solovyov would not bring a maid. Besides, Mihlima was probably forced to come by Stojkovic, who was controlled by his pistol, so he brought her with him during the Balkans.

The counterattack may not begin now, but the French under the city of Moscow are cheering now, but they will be angry in the future.

Literally, a fire is bound to happen in the city of Moscow.

The French did not pay attention to fire safety and burned some wooden furniture. In addition, some of them set up large pots and were melting some precious metals. In addition, they also smashed some gold and silver decorations and statues.

As expected, French soldiers, no matter whether they are from Napoleon or Napoleon III, will inevitably rob other countries when they arrive.

In Moscow's "Chinatown", although there have never been Chinese people here, it was given this name because of its architectural style, and many French people soon came to the area.

Of course, in addition to the French, there are also Poles whose ancestors may have come here two hundred years ago.

The Polish soldiers and the soldiers from the German principalities were even more unscrupulous in their looting.

The French had to be more or less concerned about their image, not to mention that they had the Guards right under Napoleon's nose, so they could still maintain discipline temporarily.

A soldier from Württemberg was shot in the square for stealing property, which was considered to have some punishment effect.

However, the situation that followed gradually began to get out of control in a place that the Guards could not see.

Even the Guards had served in the French Army of the Republic and the Army of the Empire before being recruited from their respective units, so they were naturally familiar with the job.

Although the Kremlin has not been stripped of its gold layer, other places can still be stripped of it.

Some French officers had only issued orders to their junior officers and soldiers to collect food.

If everyone followed the rules like Captain Lambert, greeted everyone when entering the door, said a few more words when requisitioning things, and had a pleasant conversation with the host, then everyone would have excellent discipline among the general troops.

These French soldiers broke the locks of the doors of houses whose owners were not at home with the butts of their rifles, and then entered and plundered at will.

Some officers were unable to stop this behavior, but that did not stop them from writing about it in their military diaries.

Although, serious people often don't keep diaries.

Of course, order will begin to collapse at this time.

If the French had been willing to enforce military discipline, perhaps the fire in Moscow would not have started so quickly.

But the French soldiers left their footprints in all the capitals of the entire European continent. As the victors, they naturally chose to be the only sisters here, not brothers.

Since there are no Russian women on the streets who are as healthy as the queen, lively and a little hot, and beautiful as the queen's sisters as rumored, they are now interested in robbery.

In this way, more and more things were moved out of the house.

The first things taken out were silver tableware and candlesticks, followed by works of art and various gold and silver products, and then there were works of art and some other things.

While looting everything that had not been taken away, the French were also setting fires.

Of course, in this chaotic situation, the places where the French set fire "seemed controllable". After all, when the officers came later, they could still yell at them to put out the fire, but they really couldn't control the looting.

But the actions of some other people were probably organized, or even premeditated.

Moscow had a population of nearly 300,000 before the war. If they wanted to find some criminals and mentally ill people to take to the streets, and then have some Cossacks and local Moscow police to help, they could still accomplish something. (End of this chapter)