Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 772 Napoleon begins retreat from Moscow
Having all the grenadiers on hand could also mean another situation, that is, when the operation unfolds, the 3rd Army might start as a reserve force and go to the most dangerous place at the critical moment.

Moreover, the two division commanders below him were also very friendly to him. One was his benefactor, and the other was his brother-in-law. They got along well with each other in daily social activities in St. Petersburg.

But after he arrived here, envoys from the French came again.

"Looking for General Derry's body? We will do our best, but please remind Marshal Murat that we are still fighting."

Kutuzov sat there, not in a hurry. After all, this request was difficult. At that time, the most intense cavalry battle between the two sides was where the Cossacks and Murat's guards were fighting fiercely.

Two generals were killed in the French army, one was General Derry, Murat's long-time confidant, and the other was General Fischer, the chief of staff of the Polish army.

That’s right, General Stanislaw Fischer was a Pole who had served in the French army for a long time, and not in the Polish Legion.

It is not surprising that even generals from Spanish colonies were used during the French Revolution.

The one who was killed on the Russian side was General Bagovet. Kutuzov was saddened by the loss of his outstanding generals and even had the idea of ​​moving the command positions of these generals in the front to the back.

But considering the battle situation, this is just a thought.

The French defeat also exacerbated the subsequent development of the situation.

But there was something Kutuzov didn't know here, that is, Bennigsen was actually going to report him in the letter to the Tsar.

Bennigsen believed that the failure to achieve a greater victory was due to the slow action of the Russian army.

By saying this, he was somewhat ignoring the situation on the battlefield.

His own actions did achieve suddenness, but he overlooked the complexity of night marches. The delay in Miloradovich's actions, coupled with Dokhturov's troops being far away from the battlefield, also prevented the Russian army from exerting its full strength.

The communication delay and the death of Bagowut are another matter.

Solovyov attended the military funeral of Bagovet, another acquaintance of his who was killed in this war. He had performed well in Pultusk before, and it was he who arrived in time to save the situation on the flank of Borodino.

He even survived several dangerous battles, but this time he was killed at the beginning of the battle.

After the war is over, I will probably go to visit the widow in his family to comfort her.

Many people have been lost, but the war continues.

At the same time in Moscow, Napoleon stopped at the Kremlin's Red Square wall, where he watched his army parade.

It seemed that he was trying to boost morale, but his secretary took a long time to sort out the series of inconsistent and confusing instructions.

There is no clear answer as to whether the overall goal is to reach Minsk, Vitebsk or Smolensk.

However, it was expected that they would have to pass through the Kaluga Highway and the Old Kaluga Road and carry out a series of complex maneuvers from here.

It was just that Kutuzov was on the Old Kaluga Road at the time, so the French army would not fight him head-on.

The French are now truly lacking in horses, and the combat effectiveness of their artillery will be greatly reduced, but the morale of the infantry is still good, and the reorganized cavalry still retains a number of cavalry units. At least Nansouty's cuirassiers and Grouchy's dragoons still largely maintain their combat effectiveness, and after coming out of Tarutino, their personnel are relatively complete.

The Poles are probably the cannon fodder commonly seen in wars.

The French marched neatly through the Red Square during the military parade, and now it seems that even though they are about to leave Moscow, they are in good shape after this period of rest.

But when we drive on the road in the future, it will be another matter.

"Your Majesty, I still implore you not to sabotage Moscow again. We have taken away a lot of things. There is no point in sabotaging again."

What Caulaincourt said was well thought out. They had no idea what attitude the Russians would take in the pursuit.

Under such circumstances, Napoleon simply responded with two "hmm"s and that was it.

As for whether to destroy or not, the engineers were indeed indecisive. They simply blew up some dangerous buildings that were severely damaged in the fire, so that they could serve as temporary roadblocks. Apart from that, they destroyed some places in the core area of ​​the city.

However, considering that the Queen was a Russian Grand Duchess and that there would not be any family disharmony when she returned, Napoleon did not destroy the Kremlin.

But there are still some small problems. The French also took away French expatriates in Moscow. The road from here to the west is still very long.

But there were some minor incidents. Napoleon's vanguard was just moving out of the city. On the Tver Road behind them, there was already a small group of troops moving towards Moscow.

Baron Winzengorod learned that the French were going to flee, so after receiving intelligence from the guerrillas, he headed for Moscow.

After seeing the militia's report, Sergei Volkonsky became a little worried.

"Sir, if you go to Moscow, you must also understand the situation. The militia only saw the French leaving, so they might actively report it, but now the French may have only left in part, so you still have to be careful."

"It doesn't matter. The French are about to run away. What new tricks can they come up with?"

The Baron himself was still very confident and did not listen to Prince Sergei, and came to Moscow with only a few followers.

Perhaps he also wanted to be the first Russian general to enter Moscow. When he served in the Austrian army, he had fought against Napoleon's army many times. It can be said that he had rich experience in defeat and was naturally very familiar with the French.

But this time, he ran a little too fast. When he came from Tverskaya Avenue, many French infantrymen had not yet retreated, so he was captured by the French troops before they retreated.

There were even a few followers who fell behind and were able to report the news to the leaders of their cavalry rangers.

Prince Sergei was born reckless, so he was extremely careful. However, in this situation, he had to command the squad together with his colleagues.

It was impossible to rescue the Baron, but they also had to find out the direction of the French actions.

If they come towards Tver, we will have to fight again.

If you take the Mozhaysk or Kaluga highway, you have to run.

As for Liangzan?
If they went there, they would probably rob, but that would make it easy for the Russian army on the Old Kaluga Road to cut off their retreat. Therefore, running would probably be the only option.

Sergei led the cavalry detachment and approached the Tver Road. He arrived a little late and saw that there were only a few French left here, with only a few guys still packing up the carts.

So he called over and arrested more than a dozen people at once.

"Your Excellency, what shall we do with these people after we catch them?"

"You can take them with you and ask the officer to give you the reward. I am not financially independent yet. My father didn't give me any estate."

At this point, everyone knows that although this prince is young and noble, and his brother-in-law is a big shot in front of the emperor, there is really not much money in the family that can be taken out. If he wants to collect the reward, he has to find a wealthy superior.

"Well, then, you just go and catch those Frenchmen so that we can get more supplies from them. That would be more appropriate."

But there is another important but not urgent matter that Sergei and his people are powerless to do.

After all, their superior was too reckless. When the wind was favorable, he actually gave his head to the French as a prisoner.

If we want to save him, it probably won't be possible with just these people. We'll have to wait for the commander-in-chief's large army to arrive before we have any chance.

However, the commander-in-chief was in the south. Although they had a number of larger rangers and guerrillas, they would probably be defeated if they fought the French head-on without the support of infantry and artillery.

Being reckless does not mean giving away one's life. Sergei asked about what happened to Vinzengorod after he was captured by the French, and he was still a little worried.

"what did you just say?"

"Monsieur, what I said is true. Our general is sending the Russian general you are looking for, who looks like a German, to the Emperor."

"what?"

If Baron Winzengorod had a household registration book, he would now be a citizen of the Kingdom of Westphalia. In Napoleon's eyes, he might even be considered a "traitor" and would probably have his household registration cancelled.

"This is not good. Our baron may be in big trouble."

"Sir, you say the general is going to be in big trouble?"

"Yes, and the devil will probably shoot him because he's a German."

"He was shot for being a Kraut, or for sleeping with his sister, like Count Soloviev did?"

Well, this gossip had already been spreading before Napoleon invaded. Sergei's sister and brother-in-law were acquaintances of Solovyov, so it was not surprising that they got this "inside information".

"No, and don't spread gossip about the Count. Although he has a good temper, his subordinates and relatives may not be. And if he is really angry, the pistol on his waist is fast and accurate. You have never seen it. I only heard from my brother-in-law that he could quickly fire and knock down several French soldiers on the battlefield."

But these cavalrymen just laughed it off. The count has always been magnanimous and will not spread the news in the future.

But the case of Baron Winzengorod was troublesome, as he was actually escorted to Napoleon.

"Your Majesty, we have captured a Russian general, but he seems to be a former Austrian officer, Baron Winzengorod, a citizen of Westphalia."

Before coming in, I had already asked everything clearly. For a general, even the interrogation team had to be relatively civilized.

"You, Fyodor von Winzengorod, are from the old Hesse-Kassel. You should be considered a citizen of the Kingdom of Westphalia, or a subject of a member state of the Rhine Confederation?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"But you have always been against us, even though your home is in Kassel."

"Your Majesty, you want to blow up the Kremlin. I went to Marshal Mortier to talk to him, but your hospitality is not very polite."

His words made Napoleon feel a little embarrassed. When Marshal Mortier met with the baron, they still negotiated in a friendly manner. But when it came to Napoleon, it became a matter of shooting a traitor who had never been "loyal" to him.

But he was right, so Napoleon had no choice but to keep him.

After all, this kind of behavior just shows that Napoleon was impolite.

Many people have said that Napoleon was impolite, but they didn't do anything wrong.

"Originally I should have shot you, but it's not good to shoot a general without investigation and trial. We still have to be reasonable in the procedure. Maybe we can let you return to Alexander later. We also have some generals captured by you. This is a normal prisoner exchange."

Having said this, Vinzengorod just smiled contemptuously.

To enter Moscow, we can probably only rely on Benkendorf and Sergei, who is young and reckless but quite calm at critical moments.

"It seems that I still need to thank His Majesty."

"Sir, you should know that it was this civilized society that saved you. I have heard more than once how the Russians acted against our people."

"That's only a part of the people, Your Majesty. And you should also consider that I am a foreigner, and I may also think that the Russians are a bit barbaric, but they also treat the 'guests' who enter their homes according to the situation."

"They burned their own city, and when we were retreating, you came here after hearing we were going to blow up the Kremlin, but we didn't do anything. At least my wife is a Russian princess, so she has something to live with."

He actually told him what Caulaincourt and Lauriston had said to him, but he did not mention anything about his intention to retreat.

The unfortunate Baron Winzengorod was taken away and classified as a high-level prisoner of war.

We also have to consider that he had another identity, that is, the Tsar's former attendant general and senior adjutant. If such a person collapsed, it would be somewhat disrespectful to Alexander.

Baron Winzengorod's father was once an aide-de-camp to Frederick the Great, and his family had seen a lot of the world. He also couldn't stand the strict rules and regulations of the Prussian court, so he served in Austria and Russia.

As for the captured Russians now, how many of them can be classified into this category? It may also depend on their levels. Hiding their identities is another matter.

(End of this chapter)