Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Sergei and others were too late to rescue Baron Wintzengorod, but because the baron had served in various courts for a long time, he escaped the fate of being shot by Napoleon.

But now that the French retreat had become a fact, the Russian troops began to take action, especially the commandos and militias near Moscow.

Sergei and their team's new leader, General Benkendorf, passed the message to the surrounding troops, as well as to Count Rostopchin, the Governor of Moscow who had not yet gone far, asking them to quickly move towards Moscow.

Who knows whether Napoleon would have the nerve to destroy important buildings in Moscow, and the losses caused by the fire also need to be assessed.

Even Dolokhov, who was operating in the south, chose to lead a small team at night to bypass Murat's defeated troops and move to the Mozhaysk area.

This is for his uncle, Lieutenant General Dolokhov, who is temporarily in charge of the Hussars in the 1st Army. He knows the situation west of Moscow. The Hussars are always responsible for reconnaissance, so the Cossacks and cavalry commanders who have been sent out in various directions are now obtaining intelligence through various channels.

The French are now trying to escape, which has indeed aroused the excitement of the various Russian troops.

Although except for the Battle of Tarutino, the Russian army had not achieved any decent victory, and even in several rearguard battles, it could not be considered a victory, and sometimes it even felt that the results were not as good as those from 1806 to 1807.

But now that Napoleon had left Moscow, whether he actually retreated or took some other action, it meant that Russia had the possibility of winning.

But there is a problem. When the French are retreating, the climate seems to be very good. The French even feel that except for the muddy roads in Russia, the climate along the way is very good, as if they are still in the "southern country" in France.

Kutuzov, on the other hand, looked at the map and then at the calendar with an unpleasant expression on his face.

According to the climate in previous years, it should be getting colder by now. This weather is abnormal.

Napoleon was even somewhat favored by the weather. When he was pursuing from Smolensk, the operation had to be cancelled if it rained.

Then he had a clear day, and the whole army pursued to Moscow.

Now it is different from the past. When he left Moscow, the weather was actually very good. I really don’t know if he has mastered some meteorological technology.

"It seems that it is not so easy to stop Napoleon. But we have to keep an eye on them. When Tormasov's troops arrive from the south, our strength will exceed that of the French. At this time, we can take the initiative to attack."

It is not surprising that Kutuzov adopted a cautious attitude. You know, although the Russian army had replenished its troops at this time, when it comes to real action, these new recruits are indeed not as useful as the old soldiers.

Even if some troops want to restore their combat effectiveness, they cannot join the battle and can only be placed in the reserve forces, and they are not even divided into reserve forces.

The situation was indeed troublesome for both sides, but if the French ran away without firing a shot, they probably would not be able to achieve their goal.

As for the French strength, it is better to weaken it as much as possible so that they have no ability to come back.

If it were the Tsar's political considerations, it would be to completely defeat Napoleon, but this can only be explained in the future.

Another good news for Napoleon was that Bennigsen was still sowing discord within the group as usual. Although Kutuzov had transferred Konovnitsyn and von Thor to set a trap for Bennigsen, he was also trying to win over some people and report his one-sided story to the Tsar, hoping to seize power and remove Kutuzov from the position of commander-in-chief.

"But during this period of time, we also have to consider that Napoleon is not taking the Smolensk Road now, so he may head for Kaluga. We have supplies here, but..."

Solovyov took a cautious attitude. He did not want to act as a prophet and point out a place like Maloyaroslavetsky because this place was not the preset battlefield.

"Misha, you can stick to your opinion. What will happen if you go to this place?"

"Napoleon's army has always had logistical difficulties. They will probably take action against our warehouses along the Kaluga Road all the way to Tula. We can't let them succeed."

Therefore, Solovyov advocated taking action, and some unpleasant words could not be said while Bennigsen was here.

"We should keep the French away from these places. If they seize our warehouses, they may choose to spend the winter in Smolensk, which will be very disadvantageous to us."

Kutuzov also gave a characterization of the situation. Now the focus of the fighting between the two sides must be shifted away from the vicinity of Moscow.

In fact, Napoleon's army had lost a lot of its fighting spirit, and this was a good opportunity to destroy his army.

But to eliminate him, given his current luck, the weather was favorable for the French retreat, and the Russian army's debate on strategic direction in the early stages of the war evolved into a struggle for command between the commander-in-chief and the chief of staff.

If Bennigsen joined in, his actions would be much more despicable, and he might even plot behind the scenes to confuse right and wrong.

But he did not express any opinion now, probably because there was no chance. Kutuzov decided to mobilize the army to take action behind Napoleon. If there was a chance, he would fight. If there was no chance, he would probably conserve his strength.

When everyone agrees, there is no room for him to show his abilities.

The Russian army also started to take action, but the first to take action were the commandos taken over by Benkendorf and the militia near Moscow.

Knowing that the French were retreating, some citizens who had not traveled far from Moscow, free peasants in the countryside, and serfs on the manors all took action to get something into Moscow.

Unlike the French, some people just wanted to move some things that were still useful after being looted by the French to the countryside. If it were in China in the future, this would be essentially no different from picking up foreign spoils.

Rostopchin was unable to deal with these people. He still had to maintain basic order in Moscow, and it seemed that most places here were unusable this winter, except for the area around the orphanage and a few churches and apartments that had not been burned down.

Fortunately, Rostopchin did not have to take the blame for the destruction of the Kremlin. After all, when the French retreated, they only destroyed the bridges and some civilian buildings in the city. In addition, they took away the rations that could be collected locally and looted many valuable items from the churches in the city.

During the French retreat, they may have lacked horses for transporting cannons, but they had plenty for transporting goods. Some people even got out rickshaws and carts. The French soldiers in the city and their allies, soldiers from Poland, Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria and Westphalia, each looted a lot of things in large and small packages.

In this case, if Napoleon himself had not been here, and someone else had commanded the army, the order would have been lost even faster.

After entering the city, Rostopchin could only classify the burned areas as total loss. As for the areas that were not burned, the owners had to petition the Governor-General of Moscow to demand compensation for their losses due to the looting of the French army and the scavenging of Russian peasants.

These things have already given him enough headaches, and he can also be thankful that although he is an infantry general, he is only responsible for the civil affairs.

At the same time, the French vanguard was continuing to advance. As they passed along the Old Kaluga Road, they could still see sporadic Cossacks and militiamen coming to harass them. However, when the French used cavalry to drive them away, as soon as they made some movements, these people had already run away to who knows where. If they continued to move in the woods, it would be difficult to find them.

The militia quickly reported their whereabouts to the Russian patrol, and reports that there were no French activities in the Mozhaysk direction had also reached Kutuzov.

Don't spend too much time in the headquarters. Kutuzov has already been deeply impressed by Yermolov's previous visit.

So this time he arranged for all the army commanders to return to their troops.

Only the Guards and Grenadiers were left near Kutuzov's base, and their action was only delayed a little, as they still had to set out later.

Even though Kutuzov did not have a strong subjective will in the battle, he had to consider the French actions towards Kaluga, his own supplies and the dire consequences of allowing Napoleon to wreak havoc south of Moscow.

Therefore, at this stage, the Russian army no longer tried to avoid fighting as it did in the early stages of the war. At this time, the initiative of the war was no longer on Napoleon's side.

But no one knows what destiny this guy has. The current weather is very convenient for him to take action. The climate is acceptable when traveling from Moscow to anywhere. As long as he doesn't commit suicide, probably no one can stop him.

He even picked up a big trick from the Russian army at this time. The patrol sent by Dokhturov did not initially believe the news that the French had retreated, and even repeatedly confirmed it with the militia.

With the communication capabilities of this era, a delay of one hour could be fatal, and repeated wrangling is even more undesirable. Either take action quickly or adopt a cautious attitude.

However, when the Russian army received intelligence on the French actions, it once again made a wrong judgment, causing Napoleon to continue advancing forward and even evading the Russian outposts again and again.

This time, it was obvious to the Russian army that the enemy almost escaped again.

However, Kutuzov had no time to blame Dokhturov and other generals for their mistakes. He himself was always cautious and seemed to hesitate in doing things, which was not decisive.

But at this time, he had to choose a more cautious attitude. He had to know that before a situation favorable to the Russian army emerged, he had to try his best to avoid an unnecessary failure.

He had this attitude before, and it remained the same even in his old age.

"But your caution may not be correct. Before the Battle of Borodino, you told us the story of the wolf falling into the doghouse. Now is the time to take action."

Konovnitsyn said this to Kutuzov. Although he had always obeyed Kutuzov's arrangements, he was always more active and even seemed to be willing to attack. He advocated an attack in the village of Fili.

"But we also need to find out the enemy's movements. Now is not the time to let the enemy eat horse meat. They will suffer when the time comes."

"Perhaps you should place the Grenadiers directly on the front line and only keep the Guards as a reserve."

"It's not necessary yet. If the French want to avoid a battle with us, they can disperse their troops along several routes that are favorable to us and finally join forces. This is a possible measure. However, we will do this only if the enemy does not seek a major battle. Otherwise, it will be the same as the Austrians did at Hohenlinden, right?"

Konovnitsyn listened and nodded in agreement. If Kutuzov chose to take active action, it would probably be when necessary, or he would lure the enemy into a trap, which was what he wanted.

Napoleon was always an active opponent and he always wanted to take the initiative. After a chaotic battle in Tarutino, the two sides were now generally in a balance, but the situation was gradually developing in favor of Russia.

As for when the turning point will come, Kutuzov was actually thinking that when winter comes, or the French lack supplies, the final result will be obvious.

He still has time to have a good chat with Wilson, or even to use the current active actions of the Russian army to stall him.

"Mr. Wilson, it would be great if you knew Russian. You would know our next move. We need to observe Napoleon's actions and then, when necessary, give him a heavy blow. Perhaps one move will not be fatal, because this man is very cunning and difficult to deal with. You should also know that we have always suffered in some places since we fought with him."

"Sir, I know you will take action only after careful consideration. At this stage, the Russian army's initiative to pursue the enemy is undoubtedly a good start. Perhaps in the next stage, we will see the army under your command achieve a brilliant victory, or even destroy Napoleon."

"No, I want to injure him severely. If we eliminate this opponent, who knows what tricks the French will come up with next? Perhaps an opponent who is easier to defeat on the battlefield than him, but generally more patient and willing to avoid risky actions. That might be more troublesome than this person who actively attacks us."

He didn't want to say that to the British right now. Some harsh words and key words only appear when necessary. (End of this chapter)