Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

The Russian army's surprise attack was very sudden. When they arrived in Russia, the French soldiers could only sleep in their clothes, so they were able to assemble relatively quickly.

However, there was no time to grab the ammunition and supplies, so they all fled on the road in a hurry.

Originally, Solovyov was worried that if the enemy moved quickly, both grenadier divisions would have to be put into battle to squeeze out and destroy the enemy, and finally the cavalry that had cut off the enemy's retreat would be joined in, outflank the flank, and annihilate the enemy in the snow.

The ideas are good, they are all good concepts, but they always seem difficult to realize.

Moreover, after the French were driven out, it was not easy to catch them because of their chaotic order.

Dillier even had time to lead these people to Little Augereau. Although many people from the three brigades were lost in the battle, there were still 5,000 people who rushed there in one go.

Solovyov's carefully planned surprise attack only killed a thousand people and cut off the enemy's retreat, so his own losses could be said to be extremely minor.

But this is not enough. We must always seize the time to surround the enemy and not give them any chance to breathe.

Young Augereau was just nice to the soldiers on normal days, and he got promoted and became rich largely because his brother, Marshal Augereau, had been with Napoleon for a long time. If the army was divided into factions, the Rhine Army did not have a close relationship with Napoleon, but the people on the Italian Army were closer to him.

Since Napoleon's incompetent brother could become king, then the brothers and nephews of some marshals and generals who have some ability and are not too bad and can pretend to be good will naturally have their benefits in promotion.

Therefore, the jobs Marshal Augereau found for his brother were always better than those for others.

He could even command a brigade with the rank of general, but this was not good for Augereau, who was not very good at thinking.
As long as it is said that this person is a time traveler who is also studying hard, there shouldn't be much change.

But now only his brigade did not suffer any losses in the night attack, so Dillier was not without ideas at this moment.

"I think at this time, we should move towards Yelnya. Our mission is to go there. Maybe there is still a glimmer of hope."

He was right to think so. Of course, he did not expect that in order to ensure that the strength of the army would not suffer too much damage, Kutuzov's main force would be dragged far behind at this time, which gave him an opportunity to take advantage of.

Moreover, just the night before, they received instructions from Eugene on the direction of the Grand Army's movement. The remnants of the 4th Army went to Dorogobuzh, where they finally gained a foothold and were not defeated by the Russian cavalry that followed them, thus retaining a passage.

Therefore, Eugene also sent his adjutant to Dilliers to confirm the situation. However, the French reinforcements, although they had winter clothes and did not make themselves look like beggars, still seemed to be in some order.

But overall their formation was in disarray, and it was obvious that they were hit by a sudden attack by the Russians.

The adjutant is also wearing strange clothes now. Murat's strange clothes are deliberately dressed up.

His strange clothes were the result of collecting all the "warm" clothes and fabrics along the way.

Suddenly, there was a sense of comic contrast.

Being defeated in a war is already close to despair, but seeing the friendly forces like this, you will probably only...
They didn't go to Moscow, yet they are in such a mess.

It did give the adjutant some energy and spirit, but when he went back to report, whatever he said would probably end up being bad.

Those who come to reinforce and cover are in a more miserable state than those who are defeated during the retreat, so it is better for them to break out on their own.

At least Eugene, who knew the miserable plight of Dilliès' Division, was determined to continue to escape with the 4th Army. Miloradovich did not just attack him alone. The Russian army was very cunning in the pursuit and tried not to cause too much loss to themselves, especially those Cossacks who were always running in the front. They were the most experienced in this situation.

But if Eugene wanted to run away, that was his business, and the situation on Dillier's side was not good.

After Solovyov discovered signs of the enemy's defeat, he simply drove them towards Yelnya.

The French had been running all day, and after losing their marching order, they stopped outside the city in a panic.

Because there are still organized militias in the city, and those guerrillas who lack horses and have poor mobility.
The arrival of these French people is simply an experience package delivered to your doorstep. After all, being a soldier or an official has a price tag.

And the ones chasing behind were actually the regular Russian army.

This time the militia has little combat effectiveness, but they will still fight with weapons.

What's more, the spontaneously organized guerrillas near Yelnya have already appeared here.

The French were now in a very bad situation. Dillier could only organize his troops. The nearest villages were obviously controlled by the Russian army, and they were completely surrounded in this place. It could be said that they had only one way out, either waiting for the annihilation of the entire army or waiting for the enemy to come and persuade them to surrender.

Solovyov would not come out to persuade the enemy to surrender himself. He did not think that a speech in front of the two armies would be of any use, not to mention that he did not know what the attitude of the French was.

It's nothing. He just fought too many times with the Turks in the Balkans. Those people have no martial ethics, so he always has to be cautious.

So he sent a military envoy and asked an adjutant to deliver a letter to General Dillier, asking him to lay down his arms. These French soldiers would be treated well and would be sent to the warmer prisoner-of-war camps in the south instead of digging potatoes in Siberia. They would even be allowed to go home after the war if the time was right.

Having said that, Solovyov actually preferred to send them to North America to build the Fort Ross colony.

It's a nice place. Compared to the potato-digging areas in Siberia, the climate there is pleasant, and there's no need to worry about various problems.

But if that's the case, it's a bit like not being Shinra.

What he didn't expect was that Dillier and little Augereau were happy to lay down their weapons.

They also knew that there was no point in continuing to fight at this time, so they chose to surrender.

After all, Solovyov was a relative of the emperor and was also very trusted by the Russian Tsar, so the guarantee he made was always useful.

What's more, Solovyov is not Sima Yi, and he will not treat his promise as nonsense.

These French troops soon laid down their weapons one after another, but they wanted to continue fighting. In fact, Solovyov's letter made it very clear that the main force led by Marshal Kutuzov was right behind them, and the French troops trapped here had to recognize the situation themselves.

Then the French surrendered. Kutuzov was at least a day's journey away, and his large army was marching behind, so he was not in a hurry to fight.

When the news came that Solovyov had forced the French army to lay down their arms in Yelnya and that more than 4,000 prisoners were captured, Kutuzov's face was full of smiles, but since he was rather fat, not many wrinkles could be seen.

"Misha did a good job. This way, the French right wing is open."

"Commander-in-Chief, should we go around to Smolensk at this time and cut off the French retreat?"

"But we don't know how many troops the French have now. They may have 100,000 or only tens of thousands, but this is not a force to be underestimated. Alexander Petrovich, you fought against the Austrians and Saxons before. They are all Germans. It is easy to defeat or contain them. After all, they are not very mobile. If we take appropriate measures, we can defeat the Austrians. But the French are going to act now. If we cut off the main road, they will also find a way to bypass it."

At this point, Kutuzov thought of Bagration again. At the beginning of the war, the 2nd Army relied on a series of tactical maneuvers to escape the pursuit of the French army.

Although the French are now in a state of collapse, Napoleon's Guards and some orderly troops still maintain their combat effectiveness. After the road to Smolensk is cut off, they will definitely turn to seek other roads.

What's more, Kutuzov was now in the southeast and had no information about Wittgenstein in the northwest. He only had the latest letter from Chichakov, which stated that they had gotten rid of the enemy, but the flank troops had suffered some losses in the battle.

If he knew about Wittgenstein's actions, he would probably be even more lenient. The people around him never understood what the marshal was trying to do.

He is definitely very cunning and even his own people are not aware of the situation.

A very important reason is that he cannot be sure how powerful Napoleon is now.

And his subordinates are now eager to try, which he thinks is very troublesome.

What he didn't want to see was the army defeating Napoleon "beautifully". The troops that had been in pursuit were very tired. It would seem easier to accomplish this goal if fresh troops came from the two flanks.

But he did not tell the people around him much about these ideas, and even Solovyov was only sent to break the French flank.

What he had to do now was to send the battle report to St. Petersburg again to let the Tsar know about the glorious victories of the previous and subsequent battles.

For Kutuzov, this was also the pinnacle of his personal honor. Alexander was very excited after receiving the victory report near Vyazma. He ignored the letters of complaint from some generals, saying that Kutuzov's actions ultimately let a large number of enemies escape.

Now Kutuzov is the Grand Prince of Smolensk and holds high medals. According to his status, this is also the pinnacle of Russia for a veteran who has spent his entire life in military service.

Others can probably only envy him. For a soldier, the honor of being a special prince is also the greatest honor, which is usually achieved during his most glorious war victory.

However, Kutuzov had no sons, so the title would probably be passed on to one of his more promising sons-in-law, or it would be his own honor.

As for those who made contributions in the battle, they were also rewarded accordingly.

Solovyov did not receive any medals for his performance in Yelnya.

But there are some practical benefits, and in the end it was given to Katya.

It included a bonus of 5 rubles and the honor of the Order of Catherine the Younger, and she could also be promoted in the rank of court lady.

However, Katya was originally the queen's maid. After getting married, she automatically became a court lady and even got an upgrade.
It is not surprising that the reward was like this. After all, this battle was not impressive enough. The method used to destroy a French division was to persuade them to surrender after a night attack, which indeed reduced the value of the reward.

But for Solovyov, what he wanted was not to achieve a seemingly good victory on such a battlefield, but to finally defeat Napoleon.

At the same time, after the war, you probably shouldn't add any more projects to yourself.

When the name Dilliere was mentioned, Solovyov would be a little wary, but he would not say anything.

After all, there is a marshal's younger brother here, and he couldn't have imagined that a marshal's father would also surrender.

This way of ending a battle can be used to your heart's content even in the future.

But what about the Breast Act of 1812?

Solovyov probably didn't know that some people said that Napoleon's retreat from Moscow was actually a victory, and even the defeat at Vyazma was said to be a tactical victory for the Russian army and a strategic victory for the French army.

It is really ridiculous to talk about strategy when the war has turned out like this. Even some French experts in the 21st century said so.

It is no wonder that some people go to France to study art and get their brains burned out, and after returning they become one of the national masters of pseudo-historical theory, which is a shame for the country's training of them.

There are some people who are still stubborn.

After being captured, some French officers expressed their unwillingness to fight in an upright manner.

Kutuzov had heard this many times, and when Solovyov came to report his victory, he mentioned it again.

"Misha, what should we do in this situation?"

"If that's what I mean, we should defeat them once more. There are no rules in war. The most important thing is to win under basic rules and morals. What's more, the invaders have no right to choose. You also showed me Marshal Berthier's letter of protest."

"Yes, there are such people. We must continue to go to the border and escort these uninvited guests out of our home."

"That's what you think, but the emperor may have his own considerations, and there will inevitably be some debate at that time."

"Yeah, that's what happened. I'd like to hear your opinion."

"It depends on how the situation in Europe changes. Those Germans will gradually fall in line with the trend."

Kutuzov listened and nodded in agreement, but did not say anything more. (End of this chapter)