Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

The French were now in danger of being attacked, and even their vanguard being eaten up again.

Napoleon's desire for control was indeed very strong. After expressing his dissatisfaction with Eugene's actions, he moved his headquarters forward.

On the Russian side, Kutuzov was still far behind. Only Dokhturov and Raevsky were in front. Solovyov's grenadiers were still marching rapidly in the back.

When the artillery sounded, the Russian soldiers probably didn't need any orders at this moment. If their superiors were not there, they would probably go in the direction where the louder the gunfire, the more intense the fighting.

But now the Russian army has commanders who always have to restrain the troops and not let overly enthusiastic soldiers rush forward in a swarm, otherwise it will not be a battle.

It might be more like the group fight between the American militia and the lobster soldiers in the movie "The Patriot", or even worse.

After the battle of Maloyaroslavets began, the 13th Division of the French army took action first. The reason why General Delsong was so active was not only because his own troops were there.

Eugene had assigned him the task the night before, asking him to control Maloyaroslavetsis, which was a great achievement. Although the French army's supplies were not too tight when they left Moscow, there were always some baggage. If they could hold on to Smolensk, they would probably be fine without running around. It even seemed that the 4th Army still had some supplies left.

The troops with the best supplies are naturally the Guards. There are more or less different levels in Napoleon's army. You can't expect the son of Paulie's former loyal follower to have too high awareness.

In this regard, there may be some, but not many.

Eugene, who was born into a hereditary aristocratic family, lost his father when he was young. He relied on his mother to make friends with big shots in the upper class society to maintain a decent life for the mother and his two children in Paris. Seeing his mother socializing with so many celebrities
He was still able to realize the problem and grew up very quickly. Even his stepfather helped him a lot, but his attitude was very firm.

Even if he mobilized troops without authorization, Napoleon would decide how to deal with him in the future. That was a matter for the future.

Now the action at the front was more important, so he asked Delson to lead the 13th Division to launch a counterattack.

Two brigade commanders of this division had died in Borodino, and there were also many shortages among officers at the beginning.

In other words, the French infantry regiments that invaded Russia were all large in size, and were able to maintain a command structure for these troops.

The Russian army's initial battle to capture the town went relatively smoothly, and their light infantry even gave the French a severe lesson with bayonets.

The French army, unable to resist, has now retreated to the bridgehead, and the Russian army's efficiency has dropped.

It was not because of anything else. The French artillery fire had been hitting the Russian troops near the bridgehead on the opposite bank, and the French army was also using the downstream embankment and pontoon bridge to deploy troops to the opposite bank. After the French army upstream also took control of the place destroyed by Belyaev, the French also began to cross the river one after another, and the fighting between the two sides approached the town again.

Dokhturov now realized that although there were not many French here, there were quite a few on the other side of the river. However, due to the special terrain conditions, the French controlled the ferry, making it impossible for him to make a flanking attack.

In this case, he can only hope that the subsequent army commanders can quickly approach the battlefield and help him drive out the French.

The first to bring the news was from Raevsky, whose 7th Army was also required to move with Dokhturov, and they were relatively close. The general said he would arrive at the battlefield at 11 o'clock.

Next came Solovyov, but his two grenadier divisions were now on the Kaluga Highway, forming a long snake formation. The vanguard would be able to reach the battlefield by about noon, but the follow-up troops would definitely arrive later due to changes in orders.

As for the 2nd Army, it is farther away, but Prince of Württemberg himself said that he would arrive in the afternoon.

On Kutuzov's side, the old man received a series of explosive news when he woke up in the morning.

"It's not too late for you to report now."

His attitude has always been somewhat evasive. He does not want to lose too many troops now, and the French's movements have always been unclear. He knows that he has escaped, but it is not so certain that he is heading to Kaluga.

Once the vanguard arrives, this pot of rice must be eaten.

"Commander-in-chief, just ahead now"

"If we encounter the enemy and they want to fight, we should be ready to fight. We should send our main forces to block this road and prevent them from reaching Kaluga."

It was obvious that Kutuzov intended to block the road here, and the forests here in Kaluga were not suitable for the French army's roundabout operations, and the road conditions were not like those around Moscow or Smolensk.

Using the method of advancing step by step, constantly approaching and compressing the French army's space for action, rather than actively fighting and deciding the outcome in a decisive battle, this method was considered a very clever strategy at that time.

If it is finally resolved on the battlefield, it will actually be a disadvantage.

The best strategy is to attack the enemy's strategy. Strategic planning is always the most important.

At this time, he was leisurely riding in a carriage to the front line. He did not fully adopt Bennigsen's series of suggestions. He only asked the generals at the front to join the battle under the command of Dokhturov, and asked Raevsky to move over quickly.

These were the orders. As for the execution of the orders, just like in Borodino, Kutuzov always preferred to let his men do it freely.

At this time, Solovyov, who was sent out to Kaluga, quickly turned back.

As for Miloradovich, he had gone to pursue Murat before and took some troops with him towards Moscow, so he would be back slower.

"God bless you. Now that this deployment is completed, you must entangle the French. If the weather turns cold, we can catch them. This should be a great victory."

His attitude is still cautious, but as for "unnecessary failures", even those who understand his strategy can no longer hold back.

Not everyone can sit still like him, and the next action may even involve more brutal battles.

This was already the case in Maloyaroslavetsky, with the Russians attacking and the French counterattacking, which resulted in two changes of control over the town.

Due to the fierce exchange of fire between the two sides and the repeated battles for the front-line positions, even after the soldiers of both sides were knocked down, there was no time to take care of the wounded, and no one could take care of those who were killed at this time.

As a result, the bodies of both sides were piled up in the area of ​​​​the exchange of fire. The French and Russian armies each suffered heavy losses, and hand-to-hand combat was commonplace in the small area.

If they keep a little distance, the shooting from both sides will be very dense.

When the French army captured the town for the third time, General Delson, commander of the 13th Division, was shot and fell. He was now charging with the 84th Regiment. After being shot in the head, he was still encouraging the soldiers to move forward with blood all over his face.

Then he was hit for the second time. His brother, Benoit Delson, who was also his adjutant, tried to use his body to cover his brother. Then the two brothers were hit many times and finally died together. At this time, the French army still had some advantages. The soldiers of the 13th Division had time to snatch the body of their leader and then continued to fight.

From Borodino to now, many comrades, relatives and prestigious superiors from both sides have died in the fighting, so the fighting has become more intense and cruel.

The French also began to go a little crazy. The more intense the battle between the two sides, the more they seemed to have lost their minds.

In this situation, probably only the side whose "beast instinct" prevails will have some chance of winning in the end.

However, Dokhturov's follow-up troops had approached the town, and he could see that Raevsky's troops were about to enter the battlefield, so the Russian army might have some advantages at this time.

The situation on the battlefield was already horrific at this time. The town soon caught fire again. The Russian soldiers always carried grenades and Molotov cocktails with them. When they kept their distance, some Russian soldiers would throw these things towards the areas controlled by the French.

Except for the church and the town hall, which were not made of wood, most of the other buildings were burned down.

It’s just that in this situation, there was actually a large wooden house that was right on the battlefield and had survived without being burned.

"That wooden house must be blessed by God"

I wonder what Dokhturov would think if he knew that the house was still standing in 1941, and even survived another fierce battle here, and was demolished decades later because it was in disrepair and could not be maintained.

This house has a tough life, but these people are unlucky in the battlefield that is repeatedly fought over.

On ordinary battlefields, the bodies would probably just be missing some arms and legs, or their heads would be smashed by shells, making it impossible to recognize who they were, but they would generally be intact.

But in today's battle, in addition to the bodies of officers being carried away from the battlefield, even the torso was often missing large chunks, which also shows how fierce and cruel the battle was.

As for the soldiers from both sides who came up later, because what happened in front was an encounter battle, it turned into a fuel battle.

Initially it was just a battalion-level operation on both sides, but now more and more people from both sides are gathering here.

By noon, the battle had become a battalion-level one.

Eugene then brought the 14th and 15th Divisions into the battle, and Napoleon's accusations against him came again at this time.

It is obvious that Napoleon's misjudgment this time was very serious. It was also the micro-manipulation on his side that caused Eugene's vanguard to be unable to stand in the town, which led to a more intense battle.

So now both sides are mobilizing troops, but large groups of Russian cavalry are rarely seen.

Eugene also felt strange when he saw this situation on the bank of the Luza River. The number of Russian cavalry was not as large as in the previous battles.

After all, he himself was chased by the Cossacks in the battle of Borodino and was in a very bad situation.

The reason was that the encounter was very sudden. When Kutuzov figured out the movements of the French army, except for the part led by Miloradovich, the rest of the cavalry troops were scattered in the surrounding areas to collect fodder for the horses, and even left their mounts in nearby villages to eat the fodder there. It always took some time to assemble.

At this time, for the French who had suffered serious losses in cavalry after Borodino, it would be much better to fight with the opponent in a war of attrition here than to be hit by the concentrated Russian cavalry.

The battle of Maloyaroslavetsis was still going on, and the troops that Napoleon was going to mobilize were approaching. Eugene received support from Gerard's 3rd Division and Compan's 5th Division, but these two divisions were still on the way. He could only rely on his own 4th Army and other troops.

If the situation continued to be critical, he would probably have to throw in the Italian Guards and the cavalry he had.

What he doesn't want to see?
Russian reinforcements were also approaching. Russian troops coming from two directions approached the battlefield of Maloyaroslavetsis in marching columns, and the French had no choice but to continue fighting desperately.

They regained this place after paying a heavy price.

The Russian army merely withdrew from the town temporarily and reorganized in the open space outside the town.

They were also taking advantage of the fact that the French artillery was greatly weakened, and the Russian army only needed to concentrate a part of its troops to easily mobilize hundreds of artillery pieces outside the town.

Dokhturov also ordered the 2nd Grenadier Division to move to its left wing.

Christian also obeyed his orders. After all, it was Dokhturov who was in charge of commanding this battle.

Kutuzov himself was still on his way, and the adjutant he sent to Dokhturov only carried a note with the following words on it.

"Don't let the wolf escape."

Dokhturov listened to the story told by Kutuzov at the time, which was also one of the Russian fables collected by Krylov later.

Kutuzov then compared himself to the old hunter and Napoleon to the wolf.

Obviously, even a commander-in-chief who is not very active has to be ranked at this time.

What is more important about Maloyaroslavetsky is that it is an important bridgehead. As a town itself, it has no significance and is not even easy to notice on the map.

But this place is too good, so the two sides fought for it repeatedly, and now it is the Russian army's turn to launch an attack here.

At the same time, the French troops on the other side were increasing, and after noon the battle between the two sides had turned into a military-level contest.

Considering that the main forces of both sides are gradually approaching, the determined side may have to fight a decisive battle in the end.

Napoleon had rarely encountered such a situation before, and even before he reached the battlefield, his determination was not as firm as before.

This was not the battlefield he had expected, but more like the battlefield in Eylau filled with the smell of corpses.

That was indeed true. Now the smell of the burning corpse was drifting towards the French side with the wind. (End of this chapter)