Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

People like Dolokhov, apart from being a filial son, a good brother who loves his sister, and considerate to his gypsy woman, are complete bastards and experts in making trouble. There is nothing bad he dare not do.

After being shot by Pierre, he learned his lesson. Plus, his sense of right and wrong also changed with his age. Now he is not as much of a bastard as before.

But in war, this is a good thing.

Even though he was demoted to a soldier, he would fight bravely and capture French officers on the battlefield to restore his officer status.

Or they would risk crawling under the enemy's position and scout the enemy's situation in the mud.

Now he is the commander of the commando unit. Although he is a member of the Guards Infantry, he is an excellent horseman. He is always brave and merciless to the enemy on the battlefield.

Today he first rescued Pierre outside the village, and then after discovering the situation, he immediately came to support after Denisov sent a signal.

The image of the burning village was also unforgettable for Denisov, who came from a noble family in the countryside of Vyazma.

The house of Davydov, who formed the special forces with him, was demolished to build a fortification.

As for Denisov, now a major-general of cavalry, his village was also destroyed during the retreat. It was his own relatives and peasants who set it on fire.

But judging from the pattern of the fire this time, it was obviously done by the French when they were retreating.

When Denisov met Dolokhov, the two immediately took their respective men to put out the fire, leaving Figner and the rescued prisoners to stand guard at the edge of the woods.

It would be best if Figner could get some help.

Seeing Pierre's current state, Dolokhov had no intention of asking him to help, even though he was a strong man who could lift a marble table and dismantle a door frame with his bare hands.

But Pierre, who was kind-hearted by nature, could not allow himself to stay like this. He had eaten half a loaf of bread in the morning, and asked Figner for a can of food. He drank some red wine, just like Popeye eating spinach, and he actually recovered a lot.

"Hercules, are you really okay?"

"You can't just leave it alone."

Dolokhov also smiled at what he said and pointed to the church door.

"We should break this locked thing open. There are people screaming for help in there. It sounds like there are quite a few."

Dolokhov said so, and Pierre asked him for a captured French rifle, and broke the lock with all his might, and rescued the man.

There were many civilians and prisoners inside. Pierre also saw several wounded soldiers who had been captured by the French in Moscow.

If Solovyov saw this scene, he would probably directly characterize the French as "French devils".

Of course, we cannot be sure that it was definitely done by the French; perhaps it was the German devils.

After all, in Solovyov's mind, the traitors were even more vicious than the Japanese in doing bad things.

In short, just rescue everyone.

The church was beyond saving, but the people were evacuated. Some of the houses in the village were still habitable after the fire was put out.

The Kalmyk and Tatar cavalry who followed behind were still asking questions to the commandos in fluent but accented Russian.

"Why are you warriors here? The prey is right in front of you, and an old hunter will not rest."

"It's hard to explain in a few words. You guys go chase them first."

The Tatars saw this and probably knew what was going on. Some of them had gone to fight in Sweden and still remembered the scene of the burning houses.

It's just that at that time they were burning empty houses and were restrained by Noyan Baturu, so naturally nothing happened.

But these French people?

The Tatar cavalry went after the French, and Pierre was relieved.

"Where are you going next?"

"Who knows? I'd like to go to Kyiv, where..."

The Bezukhov family's assets can be said to be everywhere. In the past, these places all had their manors or official residences, but now they have become a large amount of means of production.

"Don't even think about going to Kiev. Wait until we find a place on the road that looks stable. I'll leave you there and wait for your family to pick you up. Especially your cousin, even though she's an old maid with a serious face and a bad temper. Of course, I'm not referring to this. I have my own woman, but we're not married."

Dolokhov was thinking of his friends, and he mentioned Pierre's cousins. The two younger ones were better, pretty and had good personalities, and they were passively involved in the struggle for the family property.

As for Pierre's eldest cousin, probably only some middle-aged widows with some property at home would dare to consider remarrying. After all, she is a really good housekeeper, and her deceased father also had a prince-level title.

"I just thought that after the war is over, you can find a place to stay. You know, I have a lot of houses at home."

"That woman Helen is gone again, which is a good thing for both of us, and you should find a good wife. If we were friends when you took me to that salon, and of course we are friends now, I would probably suggest that you consider it."

“But at that time.”

After Pierre spoke, Dolokhov remembered that Pierre's closest friends were in the army, even the bastard Anatoly was included. They were all packed into the army to fight the French. At that time, Prince Vasily of the Kurakin family could do whatever he wanted to Pierre.

"No wonder. When you look for a wife this time, you should find a good, obedient one who can listen to your opinions and recognize your valuable qualities, not me." "You talked a lot, but you didn't drink much, did you?"

"It's just a little rum. Let's rest here today. Tomorrow we will continue on the road to chase those Frenchmen."

He would find a farmhouse that had not been burned down to sleep. After all, with the French soldiers in their current state, it would not be surprising if they could leave intermittent road signs along the way to indicate their pursuit.

Even for some officers who were in a hurry to achieve results, they didn't even have time to capture the French soldiers.

As for Miloladovic, he still has to catch up, and it doesn't seem to be a big problem for him to take down the French defender.

Kutuzov, on his part, was not in a hurry. He still maintained this attitude, but he also had plans to attack.

"Misha, are you feeling better?"

"At least I can still mount my horse and command the battle, and there are still some things to do. At this time when the battle on the front line is tense, the emperor actually came to tell me about some diplomatic events related to Khitan just because I am a professional in this field."

"That's because the Emperor sees your talent. But then again, if I ask you to go to Yelnya and intercept the French flank, can you do it?"

"I think it's okay. We have been taking small roads all the way from Kaluga Road. If we go to Yelnya, it is southwest of Vyazma and south of Dogorobzh. If we think about it, we should really take this place and attack the French flank, or even leave them directly between Vyazma and Dogorobzh."

Kutuzov was satisfied when he heard the previous part, but he knew that Solovyov was a good guy on weekdays, but when he really wanted to get angry, his appetite would always be big.

From the tone of his voice, it sounded like he wanted to eliminate Napoleon on the road during his retreat.

"But this is somewhat difficult. The idea is good and we are determined, but it also depends on the final execution."

Kutuzov expressed his opposition, but Solovyov would not force it. It was enough to fight a good battle. As for such a big appetite, let's talk about it later.

As for the troops in action, Solovyov had the 3rd Army, which was composed entirely of grenadiers. He just needed some cavalry, and the rest was to fill in the gaps and make the road smoother for them.

Finally, when they pursued the French army to the flank, they were able to complete the original plan of two army groups attacking the French army, but the direction of movement of the troops was different and the scale was much smaller.

The important thing is that the French were also greatly weakened, which made it easier for them to launch operations, as they no longer had to face hundreds of thousands of enemies at the beginning.

At this time in the battle, the power of all parties was also changing. MacDonald and Oudinot seemed unable to entangle Wittgenstein, while Schwarzenberg and Tormasov were at the edge of the swamp. After seeing this situation, Tormasov shook off the Austrians and led his troops towards the French-controlled area.

On the road behind, the French 9th Army, which was sent to provide support, and part of the 11th Army, which was responsible for logistics in the rear, were struggling to hold on to the traffic line under the command of Marshal Victor.

They are limited in number and also have to ensure the rear of the army.

There were indeed a large amount of supplies in the warehouses of Vitebsk, but the 9th Army's manpower was not enough, and the Saxon army led by Reignier was also useless. Naturally, the situation was very critical.

To be honest, if the Russian army had some determination at this time, they might have been able to wipe out the French without leaving a single soldier behind.

But Kutuzov knew very well that based on what the British had done in the previous few years, if Napoleon was eliminated on Russian territory, Britain would be the one to benefit the most, regardless of whether it had the ability to do so or not.

That's why he wanted to send Solovyov, so that Wilson would say less. The old man wanted to have peace of mind.

Therefore, he also chose Solovyov, who wanted to defeat Napoleon but also had a broad perspective.

PS: If it were a protagonist of a cool novel, he would probably defeat the main force of Napoleon's army somewhere on the way and force it to surrender, then fall out with the British within a few years, cross the English Channel again, and return with a great victory.
Seeing that the young man was willing to take on the task, Kutuzov was very satisfied and asked him to sit down again.

"When you go out later, Mr. Wilson probably won't ask you. I have already told you about the arrangement this time. You have to work hard. Although you are too young and your family has no power to rely on, we old guys can still help you. It's a pity for Andre. You are different from him because you are a little cunning because of your background. You still have a long way to go. Don't always think about things in the short term. Apart from this."

Kutuzov pointed to the things on his desk and his face turned grim.

"You should also know that in our army, there are always some people who will do something and fight for power. Of course, this time it has nothing to do with you. The emperor gave you the medal relatively early. This honorary weapon is mine, and this bonus is General Bennigsen's. They are all to recognize the "victory" in the previous battle. But you actually know General Bennigsen, don't you?"

"Yes, he must have written a letter to the Emperor, saying that your strategic plan has no courage and is just to make the French leave our land on their own."

"You have seen part of the problem. In fact, what he wants is to control this army. Even if I die, I will not let him succeed."

After saying this, Kutuzov coughed twice. He was old, and if he caught a cold, he might die soon. He also died of illness while pursuing Napoleon the following year.

Therefore, Solovyov was more concerned about his health. Kutuzov, the old man, was still very fat and should have some underlying diseases. Unlike Suvorov who was taken away because of old age and frailty, he could hold on for a while even if he was sick.

Now it seems that there are some clues.

"You should just take care of your body and don't say such things."

"You are doing this for my own good, and I know that. But now we have to keep a firm grip on the army. It's a pity that Barclay always makes everyone unhappy in the army, otherwise he would be more suitable for this position. As for the future, when Tormasov arrives here, the situation will be better. Before that, I think we should think of some solutions."

Solovyov understood what he meant and had already figured out what to do.

"Mikhail Illarionovich, how about we take General Bennigsen's recent physical condition and whether he was overexcited and suffered some kind of stimulation on the battlefield and let him retire due to illness?"

Kutuzov could not help laughing after hearing this.

"That's a good idea. It won't make you look bad. And he's coming to my place this afternoon, so you don't have to leave for now. I still have some coffee beans here. Do you want to drink some hand-ground coffee that I make?"

At this time, the old man has not forgotten the skills he learned in Türkiye, and he probably wants Solovyov to hide behind and watch the show. (End of this chapter)