Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

The 6th Army commanded by Dokhturov was marching slowly through the woods, and the muddy road obviously affected the Russian army.

The general, who was good at defensive battles, was also surprised to see that although the grenadiers behind him were also trapped in the mud, their marching speed was still acceptable.

Come to think of it, he also knew that a fellow who liked to fill swamps and mud pits with wood had taken over the command of these grenadiers of the 3rd Army.

However, if we march like this, there will definitely be problems.

By that time, the order of battle would also change, so Dokhturov was also turning back to argue with Solovyov.

The other side was also a relatively honest general, and Solovyov didn't know what to say, so he slowed down the march and also brought Kutuzov's instructions to Dokhturov to attack the French army.

However, Kutuzov's judgment was wrong. His target was the village of Fominsky, but the French army that had already arrived there was as large as a division. If Dokhturov was allowed to go up, there would definitely be a big battle.

It was at this time that the guerrillas of Fegna and Seslavan passed the information to Dokhturov, which made the general decide not to follow Kutuzov's opinion.

"Please take the trouble to go to the commander-in-chief with my adjutant to explain the situation. I cannot disobey orders unless the battle situation changes in this way!"

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Kutuzov was with the Guards at the time, and the only general leading troops around him was Yermolov, who currently commanded the Guards Infantry Division.

He was even taking a nap in bed that day because he was tired.

It was Konovnitsyn who realized the importance of this information. He wanted to wake up the commander-in-chief, but was stopped.

"What's going on?"

It's not surprising that Bennigsen appears here.

His identity was very unpopular among the generals, but at this moment he was still very trusted by the Tsar, and even the banquet before the war was held in his villa.

Although Konovnitsyn and von Thor were planning to put the blame on this kind of person, they had never been able to succeed due to the urgency of the war situation and his higher rank.

"It's important information from the Seslavan guerrillas. Napoleon is already moving towards the Kaluga road. One of their troops has reached Fominsky."

"If we're heading toward Kaluga Road, we should try to stop him somewhere along the way."

At this time, Bennigsen wanted to take advantage of the information gap and his command authority to mobilize troops.

In this way, he can take all the credit, and it is also a good way for him to further control the army.

Konovnitsyn knew it, but since the other party was blocking the door, he couldn't get angry.

Time is of the essence, especially when it comes to where to send the troops if they are to resist the French vanguard.

"What else is in the intelligence?"

"I think it is time to ask the commander-in-chief himself to understand the situation. Our military command must always be approved by him personally."

Now that Kutuzov had been brought up, Bennigsen knew there was nothing he could do, and he didn't know what the outcome would be after he wrote a letter to the Tsar to accuse Kutuzov of his previous actions.

He has a strong speculative mentality, and this time is no exception.

However, what he didn't know was that Dokhturov's direction of action had been affected by the presence of French troops on Fominsky's side. He predicted that the French army's target would be Maloyaroslavets, so he sent people there to make contact.

Maloyaroslavetsis is just a small town with a population of more than a thousand people. It was founded by the Dontskoy family in the 14th century. At that time, these East Slavs were still paying taxes to the Golden Horde.

After that, this place was a little-known place for most of the time. Although the city was built relatively early and was on the only way from Moscow to Kaluga, it developed very slowly. It was even looted once by the Crimean Tatars during the reign of Ivan the Terrible.

It seems that many of the locals actually became slaves.

Ivan the Terrible once awarded this place to his son, Prince Ivan, but then it was a tragedy because his daughter-in-law did not dress in accordance with regulations when she was pregnant. It even directly changed the course of Russian history.

However, these have nothing to do with the place of Maloyaroslavetsky. It has always been unknown. The last time it became famous was because a battle was fought here in October 1812 and October 10.

The difference is that the French have already checked in in Moscow and are even on their way to evacuation, while Kimchi is still on his way.

"It looks like Vereya and Kaluga are fine, except for Klin."

Solovyov did not know what was happening with Bennigsen and Konovnitsyn. He also had to cooperate with Dokhturov's actions, so he ordered the 6nd Grenadier Division, which was closer to the 2th Army, to prepare to join the battle, and the 1st Grenadier Division also had to change its marching route.

"But sir, what does this have to do with Klin?"

Petya was a little curious. Although Count Solovyov was a leader among the young generals, and together with Bagration and Miloradovich, they could be regarded as the "three heroes" among the disciples of Marshal Suvorov, he was different from the two generals who were generous, optimistic and tenacious.

This earl has recently become more and more like the marshal who is rumored to have a habit of speaking strange words.

"Petya, what do you want to ask?"

"Klin is in the north, and Vereya and Kaluga are in the south. If, as you said, we were to outflank Moscow from both wings, we might go through these two places. But the French just fled, and they all went to the south. Maybe there would be enemies in Mozhaisk."

"You have much to learn from war, Petya, and this is only the beginning. But this is the glorious year of 1812, and the French gangsters are at the gates of Moscow."

"Do you need a piece of music to talk with?"

"Of course not. With Krillin's words, it can still fit the rhythm."

"There should be a battle there, right?"

"If our Rangers were there to fight the French cavalry that came to plunder the village, then that would count as well."

"Then we can only do as you say." Petya just thought that the count was a little strange, but he didn't have any other opinions.

Solovyov knew that if he did not take action in Fominsky further north, he would have to take a detour to Maloyaroslavetsky, where there was a river and a bridge in front.

If a fierce battle breaks out over the bridge and the river, I'm afraid a fierce battle is inevitable.

But there are also some advantages. If this place is blocked, Napoleon will not be able to go to Kaluga to rob the Russian warehouse. Now that the main force of the Russian army is in this position, if they want to destroy Kaluga, at least the army will not have time to help the locals evacuate.

From Kaluga you can also go to Bryansk, Orel and Kursk. Anyway, the French...
After a few days, the words that Solovyov thought of were probably no longer French or Frenchmen.

He cannot be allowed to go to these places, and this is also the gateway to the elite areas of Russia, an agricultural country. If he is controlled by Napoleon, he will even have to go further to Ukraine.

PS: You should know that among Napoleon's invading army, there was a 126th Line Infantry Regiment. This unit still existed until 2025. Macron's newspaper claimed that the regiment was preparing to go to Ukraine.

This is like letting the Corsican rat enter the rice jar, which is a serious matter.

Therefore, Dokhturov only had time to send his adjutant once again to inform Kutuzov of his decision during the mobilization. At the same time, he began to mobilize the troops and also notified the friendly neighbors Prince of Württemberg and Solovyov, as these two young men were at least reliable.

The Queen Mother's nephew took over the 2nd Army and had already begun to turn around, but Solovyov was even faster and even responded to Dokhturov using an optical signal.

The place Dokhturov was going to was Maloyaroslavetsky. In order to destroy the road, he sent his adjutant and Cossacks to the town to contact the mayor.

Under the command of Mayor Baikov, local residents have begun to destroy the bridge.

It was just that the local court secretary Beleyev had a sudden idea and thought of the upstream dam. If it was completely destroyed when the French built the pontoon bridge, it would be a devastating blow to the bridge-building operation, and the bridge would probably not be built.

Compared to the fire in Moscow, although there might be some flooding here in this season, it's still better than if everything were burned down.

However, the plot was not quite what Belyayev had expected, so Bykov followed his advice and asked him to lead the team to the embankment.

The French vanguard arrived so quickly that the mayor only had time to destroy the bridge over the Luza River and even used up the local stockpile of gunpowder.

The French infantrymen in the vanguard had already seen the bridgehead, and then they heard a loud noise.

"Damn Russians, they destroyed the bridge here."

The 13th Division passed from this direction, and Eugene was not too far from the vanguard, but he realized a problem, that is, whoever took control of Maloyaroslavets first would be able to temporarily control the traffic here.

So he ordered the 13th Division to move forward as quickly as possible and try to capture the place before the Russian army arrived.

As it turned out, he succeeded, but at this time, Napoleon's micro-management came into play.

Two infantry battalions of the 13th Division entered the town and began to clear the road for the follow-up troops. Eugene also planned to let the entire 2th Army cross the river at this time to cover the main force of the army on the road.

The Russian army was still some distance away, and the French had plenty of time to prepare.

However, Napoleon himself made misjudgments due to some issues, which led to the withdrawal of the follow-up troops of the 4th Army.

Because he himself saw some Russian troops moving near him.
At this point, interfering with the command at the front and taking action without understanding the actual situation will definitely cause trouble.

Dokhturov once again sent out scouts to confirm, and he also learned that there were not many French troops in the town.

In this situation, it was natural for the vanguard troops to take action. His orders were also sent to the 33rd Chasseur Regiment closest to the town and the Cossack cavalry cruising nearby, asking them to join the battle.

Before the French could gain a foothold in the town, they were attacked by the Russian army, and local officials and civilians also destroyed the embankments and bridges.

Eugene was more careful. He left the engineering corps behind, and the 13th Division did not go far. He just let the follow-up troops return to his adoptive father, the emperor, first.

If anything happens, the 13th Division can join the battle and control the town ahead, which will also ensure that the road to Kaluga is open.

A little south of here is the intersection of the Old Kaluga Road and the Kaluga Avenue. If we control this place, we can actually keep the Russian army out of Kaluga, and the offensive and defensive situation will be reversed.

However, Napoleon's actions had nothing to do with fighting a serious war, and Eugene didn't know what he was focusing on.

At this time, the next morning, October 10th in the Russian calendar and October 12th in the Gregorian calendar, before dawn, the Russian army had already launched an attack on the French troops in the town.

As soon as the battle started, Belyaev destroyed the dam. He was far away from the French-controlled area. Because the French soldiers had limited manpower here at this time, they were unable to effectively control this area.

Now, when the Russian army launched the attack, these vanguard troops were almost driven out of the town.

After hearing about the situation at the front, Eugene quickly mobilized follow-up troops to reinforce.

The Russian plan to destroy the pontoon bridge was apparently not very successful. The French, whose large force was approaching, quickly repaired the bridge and even organized follow-up troops to cross the river to engage the French.

Belyaev can only say now that with the amount of water in the local rivers, if there is more rainfall, it will definitely cause great trouble to the French.

After all, these tributaries are just "small rivers" in the eyes of Russians, and the threat factor is definitely not great. If they were to be effective, it would probably be someone whose name should be left blank, but his actions were purely that of a beast harming his own people.

But there is always an effect
The French were crossing the river, cursing the damn Russians who were trying to create a flood.

Eugene realized the situation on the battlefield at this time. He was about to mobilize the two divisions behind him and the Italian Guards to join the battle, but was stopped by the messenger sent by Napoleon.

Napoleon was unhappy with Eugene's unauthorized mobilization of the army, and did not care that if he could quickly control the town, the army would have a greater chance of reaching the Kaluga Road and even defeat the Russian troops that were on their way.

When it comes to the combat effectiveness of the French army alone, there is no doubt that this is the case, especially for the French army that wants to fight seriously. There is no doubt that Eugene's 4th Army belongs to this category at this time.

Eugene also felt aggrieved about his stepfather's attitude. This was not the first time he had been wronged, even when his own mother wanted to divorce him.
On the other hand, after hearing the sound of artillery fire in front of them, the Russian army was also moving closer to Maloyaroslavets.

Now, it seems to be just an ordinary encounter. (End of this chapter)