Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Napoleon often slept only four hours a day. He even arrived at the front very early in the morning, so early that even the Cossack leader Platov, who always got up early, took a nap in a stable near the battlefield.

He brought dozens of followers and the Guards Cavalry to inspect the artillery positions on the front line, which always made the Cossacks on duty at night somewhat alert.

Especially the Cossack Guards under Orlov-Denisov. They were carefully selected. In addition, they happened to be on duty in the second half of the night. They were still energetic at this moment and even saw this posture.

"What's the matter, Samoilov?"

"Captain, look over there, the French seem to be making some movements."

"What else could there be? As long as the French don't shout 'Long Live the Emperor', there shouldn't be much noise in this area, right?"

However, after Captain Karpov was pulled over by Samoilov, he realized that the noise seemed to be quite large.

"There is a general and a cavalry guard. He looks like a high-ranking official."

As for how big the person was, Karpov had no idea at the moment, but he estimated that this person was a high-ranking official.

So he quickly sent someone to wake up Platov.

When Platov heard about the unusual movement at the front, he immediately took more than a thousand Cossacks and hid behind the woods to observe the situation.

When he saw it clearly through the telescope, he discussed it with his cousins ​​who came over.

"It looks like we should deal with an enemy of this size. It might be the devil himself."

"Chief, I think we should do one too."

They acted as soon as they said it. The goal of these Cossacks was not only to launch a surprise attack on Napoleon's team that came to the front line to observe, they actually came to steal cannons in the early morning.

It would be best to capture a general or something, but to complete the mission seriously, the goal should also be to break up the enemy's front line.

Seeing these enemy guards cavalry, Platov actually knew that they were not easy to deal with.

Now he could only deploy four Cossack regiments, but the Guards Cossacks were left behind. He did not have the command of such elite troops, and he was reluctant to use them.

So these Don Cossacks rushed out of the woods and launched a surprise attack on the artillery positions in front of Napoleon.

Napoleon heard the sound of horse hooves in front of him, and he also saw a large number of Russian cavalry rushing towards him.

He looked a little nervous. The last time Russian grenadiers approached him, he was escorted by a large number of infantrymen, but now there were only some cavalry and unprepared artillery in front.

And when the Cossacks came to steal the cannons, it was hard not to say that they were targeting him.

Then a rare scene occurred in the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon and his court attendants all drew their swords and prepared to fight. Fortunately, these people were all military men, except for the servant Constantine.
Rustam was a Mamluk apprentice, and while serving Napoleon he never forgot his unique skills.

The Guards Cavalry brought by Napoleon included the Guards Mamluk Squadron. Not to mention how many warriors from Egypt were among them, they were already riding horses and brandishing swords, standing between the emperor and the Cossacks.

An old Cossack who fought against the Turks on a daily basis saw the Mamluks from afar on horseback and even said something subconsciously.

"It's really a damn thing that we can meet Turks in this place."

When the two sides were fighting, they actually slowed down their horses.

The Don Cossacks had a large number of people, and some of them even had enough manpower to steal cannons. When the French artillerymen saw that things were not going well, they abandoned their artillery positions and ran away. They didn't even fire a single shot, and the Cossacks seized 11 cannons.

The Cossacks in front were actually fighting against the French Guards Cavalry. This seemed a bit outrageous, but it really happened on this day.

In fact, the Europeans' one-on-one or many-on-many fights on the battlefield began when Alexander was on an expedition. Alexander even liked to take the lead in challenging others.
As for this fight, there was no winner after a while. The Mamluk squadron leader was knocked off his horse by an elbow from his opponent's Cossack regiment commander.

Not using weapons is still a small victory.

Seeing their leader being knocked down, the Mamluks quickly rushed over to protect him, causing the battle group to be somewhat confused for a while.

It was at this time that Napoleon took advantage of the chaos to flee the battlefield in front of him, and naturally he was still frightened.
"Your Majesty, the attack by these Cossacks just now was really close."

Napoleon felt uncomfortable when he heard what Caulaincourt said.

Before entering Moscow, Caulaincourt had been saying things that were somewhat unpleasant to the ear, and he kept saying them, and others always supported his opinions.

Napoleon was unhappy after hearing this. In fact, he understood everything, but he was extremely conceited. Relying on his intelligence and his ability to fight, he was unwilling to listen to some people's opinions.

If Solovyov saw his current behavior, he probably would not make a joke of Xiang Yu and Napoleon, but would only compare this uncle with King Zhou.

Although he didn't do anything "wine and meat", he was lustful enough. As for what he did?
When fighting in the east, strange equations like Slavs = Dongyi can even emerge.

He refused to listen to others and stubbornly did things according to his own ideas, and obviously ignored the current situation.

If he doesn't fail now, there will be plenty of places waiting for him to fail in the future.

"It was just an accidental action."

But a lot of cannons were lost, which was also a big loss.

What was even stranger that day was that both the Russian and French armies remained motionless and did not take any action.

Kutuzov was more patient, and now the initiative seemed to have turned into his hands. The fact that the French did not attack on this day but only adopted a standoff also proved that the French were wavering and not determined to launch an attack.

But whether this has anything to do with the Cossack attacks is hard to say.

Even now the weather is favorable for Napoleon. Not only is there no frost, but the temperature is also very suitable.

If he ran away now, it would be difficult for Kutuzov to catch him.

Napoleon also received bad news. Some of the Ilovaisky brothers were not in the Maloyaroslavetz battlefield. They encountered Poniatowski's vanguard. Not only were the Polish troops beaten and scattered, but even the commanding general Tyshkevich was captured. For Napoleon, his way south was no longer safe.

But when Kutuzov learned the news, he was extremely cautious.

There was no fighting that day and he was recovering his strength. It was very hard for an elderly person to command a war for a long time. Marshal Prozorovsky and Marshal Gudovich both died as commander-in-chief on their respective fronts. Personnel arrangements in the Russian army often depended on this.

Kutuzov was still in his rocking chair listening to the report from the front, and his adjutants would not notice that the commander-in-chief himself had a sly smile at this time.

It was a very brief moment, and after hearing what had happened, Kutuzov pretended to be calm.

"Since the Poles have already reached a nearby location, we should also ensure the safety of the Kaluga Road. We only defeated a small part of the Poles there. There may be other troops to follow. We always need to be cautious at this time."

He didn't care what his subordinates thought and just asked everyone to return to their posts.

These people were somewhat dissatisfied, but as long as an old veteran like Kutuzov was here, the young people could not have any opinions. Bennigsen now had to face Konovnitsyn and von Toll, so he had no chance to further carry out his power grab.

What he didn't know at this time was that the Tsar had taken strange measures to give Kutuzov an honorary weapon, and at the same time gave Bennigsen a bonus of 10 silver rubles, and also delivered Bennigsen's letter to Kutuzov.

This is still a matter for the future. Kutuzov is now only concerned with ensuring the safety of his army's flanks, and he is also correcting the intelligence.

The army commanders would come to him one after another, and Solovyov would be the first to be called because he was not responsible for the overall battle situation.

"Commander-in-Chief, you want to see me again at this time?"

"Yes, Misha, sit down and let's talk."

"But I didn't join the battle after Moscow until yesterday, since I went to Podolsk."

"I also want to hear your feelings. After all, you are willing to think and have performed well in Borodino."

The reason why we didn't look for Rajevsky and Dokhturov is that they are both calm and brave generals, but they lack talent as commanders.

Kutuzov was already very optimistic about Solovyov. The abilities this kid had demonstrated in Sweden and the Balkans and the brilliant results he had achieved also proved that he was capable of acting independently.

Unfortunately, after serving as corps commander, he was no longer willing to serve as chief of staff.

"As for feelings, in Borodino, the enemy was still strong and orderly, striving for the goal of capturing Moscow. But now... their fighting power should have declined. As the saying goes, the first push is strong, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted."

"The drumming represents attack, right?"

"Yes, Mikhail Illarionovich, this is Chinese wisdom from more than 2,000 years ago. We must have something similar here."

"That's the way it is, and we should be more cautious now."

"But the right time to defeat the enemy is coming soon. If we retreat, we will lose precious time by advancing to Kaluga to seize supplies. The supplies they can carry should also be limited. Didn't our Cossacks report that the French baggage train was short of horses?"

"Then they probably didn't carry much rations."

"If this continues, I think it will be a disaster for the French people. I just don't dare to guess how big this disaster will be."

His statement was very cautious, but Kutuzov also knew that under the current circumstances, the most difficult period for the Russian army had passed.

As for Napoleon, his failure was inevitable, at least this time his attack on Russia would not be successful.

If we want to fight back now, it would be more appropriate to focus on the French’s own problems.

Kutuzov then sought out Ostermann Tolstoy, who was more cautious, but also believed that they should follow the French army, not let them retreat too easily, and wait for an opportunity to attack.

But they didn't know the situation on Napoleon's side. After returning to the base, Napoleon ordered his personal doctor to prepare a bottle of poison for him. This bottle of poison was to be hung on his chest. If the emperor himself was captured or in desperate situation, this bottle of poison would still be useful.

Of course, it is hard to say whether the efficacy of poison prepared on the spur of the moment can be guaranteed.

At the same time, Murat and others couldn't believe their ears.

At the French military meeting, Napoleon did not make any comment on the word "retreat", which was a word that could not be mentioned in front of him.

The emperor himself acquiesced in the retreat. Although it now seems to have no impact on the overall operation, the French emperor did not give up the opportunity to take the initiative to attack even in the most difficult Egypt and Syria.

At this time, some people just have a bad premonition, but they don’t have too many thoughts about their future outcomes.

As for the Russian army, after waiting for a day, they found that the French did not take the initiative to attack, and some troops even began to retreat on the Luza River.

Kutuzov did not choose to pursue, but watched the French leave from here.

One side lacked determination, while the other was too cautious, and the battle of Maloyaroslavetsky ended in a whimper.

Napoleon successfully escaped once again, but it is hard to say whether he will have such an opportunity in the future.

On the Russian side, Miloradovich finally arrived at the battlefield, and the cavalry who had gathered the horses also returned.

For Kutuzov, he now had more troops than Napoleon and could take the initiative to take action.

But he still sat there, always with plenty of patience.

The generals were somewhat worried about this, but it was not convenient for them to ask given their identities, so they urged Kutuzov's son-in-law, Prince Kudashev, to ask.

The conclusion was simple. We had to wait until the army was fully assembled before pursuing. Moreover, there were still a large number of militias, guerrillas and rangers monitoring Napoleon's actions from all directions. He could not escape and was always under the surveillance of the Russians.

And now if Napoleon wants to leave, he can only return to Mozhaysk via the Kaluga road. Then he will have to retreat westward via the Smolensk road. The Russians don't know what his final choice will be.

What Napoleon knew was that he had to withdraw to between Smolensk and Minsk, but the order was vague and only emphasized this principle again. (End of this chapter)