Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

On November 11, real trouble came for the French.

The Russian army moved closer to the pontoon bridge built by the French on the Berezina River. Although the artillery did not have the ability to directly threaten this place at present, it was only a matter of time before they attacked.

For this reason, the French did need to send follow-up troops to resist the Russian attack. In addition, there were the remnants of the French army and the panicked civilians. If they affected the retreat of these combat-ready troops, it would undoubtedly be a disastrous result.

At the same time, on this side of the Berezina River, the French army had to fight with the troops sent by Chichakov.

Chichakov has 24,000 men on his side, and more than 8,000 cavalry, so it seems that the advantage is on my side.

If it was just Oudinot who was stopping him, it might be okay.

However, Oudinot was shot and killed shortly after the battle began, and Ney took over the command.

A French tough king went down, and a guy who was a little too brave came up, so maybe the strength actually increased.

This made the Russian offensive somewhat difficult, although the troops from the 3rd Army and the Danube Army were still able to retain a large number of experienced veterans due to previous combat experiences.

Even among these generals, there were some veterans who had fought in Europe several times before.

However, their performance was confusing. It might also be that after the French formed their battle array, they showed a strong desire to survive in this battle. As a result, it was difficult for Chichakov to directly break through the French defense line in front of him, and he was even driven back in some places.

On the other side of the river, Gerard and Denders were also trying desperately to stop Wittgenstein's troops. If Wittgenstein got close enough to the range of the artillery, retreat would no longer be safe.

Therefore, these French troops turned to attack Wittgenstein's side, causing his 1st Army to be forced to retreat for a while.

However, what made the French even more worried was that there was no sign of Kutuzov's main force yet.

Although the iconic bishop's hat of the Pavlovsk Regiment also appeared here, this series of Russian troops was just four grenadier regiments that were not fully staffed.

Although Christian wanted to attack, he also had to consider his own limited strength.

Like Kutuzov's headquarters' estimate of the French army, he saw the crowd retreating to the two pontoon bridges and more or less thought that these people were capable of taking up arms.

The distance was too far, and Christian's mind was relatively simple. In addition, the cavalry supporting the grenadiers were cuirassiers, and the terrain on this side of the Berezina River - often swamps or bushes - made it difficult for the cavalry to perform.

When the Russian troops on the other side of the river finally approached the ferry, they could hardly pose a threat to the French army. Even the remaining artillery of the French and the combat-capable Guards under Napoleon joined the battle.

For the Russian troops along the way, this was a tough nut to crack, as waves of French soldiers continued to pass through the ferry.

These remnants of the defeated army were rushing to cross the pontoon bridge. Once they crossed the river, it would be difficult for the Russian army to catch up with them. After all, the subsequent large forces had to cross the Berezina River, which also took time.

Time is extremely precious at this time, but some Russian commanders are also slacking off.

While on the march, Solovyov received a strange order from Kutuzov, asking him to pay attention to the terrain and not to consume too many troops.

This was the commander-in-chief's usual "trick", and Solovyov was well aware of it. Although the temptation to defeat Napoleon was great, if they fought the French on the Berezina River a month later, more French people might freeze to death, but it would also make it easier for them to escape, and the Russian army would be able to pursue them more quickly, especially by sending out the Cossack cavalry.

But if Napoleon had fled earlier, he would probably be in Vitebsk now.

This is a very bad result. The one who will be unlucky is probably Wittgenstein, who is now the most active in the pursuit.

This honest general is now working the hardest, but his ability is limited. In the face of the French's desperate attitude of resistance, he can only do the best he can.

As a result, the Russian army had to pay a heavy price for every step forward. Hand-to-hand combat was often carried out on the battlefield, and neither side would give in.

At this time, Wittgenstein could no longer sit still, and he decided to send out the Riga Dragoon Regiment.

"Tell Balke to flank and teach these Frenchmen a lesson."

If he were not the army commander now, he would probably lead the dragoons to charge forward.

However, the kind of battle where the commander rushed to the front, at least until the Thirty Years' War, may not be a good thing.

The attack launched by the dragoons soon threatened the defenders, but Gerard still blocked the position near the Berezina River, while Denders began to form a square formation.

At least the Russian artillery was still lagging behind, and now it was unlikely that these Russian cavalry would be able to directly break through the French phalanx.

In fact, at this time, the phalanx formed by the French was even more reassuring than the battle line they formed.

The dragoons did not play any role. After all, the Russian dragoons were not the dragoons of Zhukov and Driver Luo's time. They were the dragoons of the World War I period. Although the Russian army was worse at that time, their combat effectiveness was still guaranteed, especially the courage of the cavalry team.

If these dragoons were some newly formed regiments, they might not have enough courage.

Balke's attack was not smooth, and in the end he only saved his cavalry and disrupted the deployment of Dunders' infantry.

Of course, it would also give the subsequent Russian troops time to reorganize. Wittgenstein's subordinates at this time included not only the two divisions of Borg and Sazonov, but also the Riga garrison in Essen and some troops from Finland. The troops had also been strengthened.

But when Wittgenstein invested in cavalry, he was still reluctant to spend money. He still had three Cossack regiments, two dragoon regiments and one hussar regiment, but he did not invest all of them.

It was also caused by the terrain on both sides of the Berezina River, but his area was relatively flat, always a good place to use force, unlike Chichakov's side where he could barely deploy his infantry, and he brought a lot of cavalry but they were of little use.

When he finally drove Ney out of his original position in the afternoon, he also discovered that the French army had other deployments in the rear.

Therefore, the Russian army had to regroup. It would not be wise to attack rashly now.

While they were reorganizing, the Russian troops were also mobilizing artillery to block the area where the pontoon bridge was located. Now that they could not capture it directly, they would use artillery to bombard it from both sides, which would also achieve great results.

Kutuzov soon received requests from the commanders of these two routes, asking the main Russian forces pursuing along the road to Borisov to join the battle.

But Kutuzov knew that if Napoleon had already crossed the river at this point, it would be meaningless to let some French go or annihilate the remaining enemies.

Moreover, he considered a lot about whether the British would benefit, and he always said that he was a Russian general. That is, although Mr. Wilson represented the interests of Britain, he was just urging them, and his words behind the scenes were not as unpleasant as those of the lord who participated in the conspiracy group. He even affirmed Kutuzov's courage and believed that his "slacking" must have a reason.

In addition, the main force of the Russian army had fought very hard in the previous battles, so Wilson could not say anything.

Now Kutuzov was in no hurry to attack. He gave orders directly to Solovyov and Laevsky instead of going through Tormasov first.

In fact, the reason for him to do this was very simple. It was to preserve the strength of the Russian army. Even if they reached a village on the front line tonight, they had to let the vanguard troops have a good rest.

As for Prince Karl Christian of Mecklenburg, who was already approaching the ferry, his small force was still separated by a river. After reporting back, the commander-in-chief himself did not approve the plan of attack.

After all, Kutuzov didn't know that if the French there were like the Turks, with tens of thousands of people, it would be appropriate to attack them, but if they got close, they would find that they had tens of thousands of troops, which would be troublesome.

If Wittgenstein had been able to use artillery to strike the French pontoon bridge as he got closer, the situation would have been clear.

So he asked Wittgenstein to continue the attack and said that the main force would arrive in a day or two, especially the two grenadier divisions of the 3rd Army, whose marching columns were already very close.

After hearing the news, Wittgenstein stepped up his efforts.

But he didn't know that Kutuzov had no intention of attacking. Sometimes even such honest cavalry generals were unaware of the old man's cunningness.

But this also worked. Knowing that friendly forces were approaching, the Russian army attacked more vigorously.

After a day of fierce fighting, the French finally couldn't hold out and began to retreat. Now they could only stop the Russian infantry from getting closer, but they couldn't stop the Russian artillery from approaching.

It would be very useful to push the cannon into an area where it can threaten the pontoon bridge.

Even for the Russians, it only took one artillery battery to threaten the pontoon bridges, and the final result would be catastrophic for the French.

On this side of the Berezina River, there were some combat-capable French infantrymen who were in retreat, a large number of defeated soldiers who had already discarded their weapons and were only preparing to flee to the other side, as well as some refugees and their families, both French and Russian.

As for the prisoners, the French had no time to care about them now. The Russians had Cossack cavalry wandering around them every day, and that was a live broadcast. Kutuzov and others knew very well what difficulties the French were facing now.

Those high-ranking prisoners were either sent directly to Paris or rescued by guerrillas on the way. For example, Baron Winzengorod, who fell into a trap and was captured in Moscow, was finally rescued by guerrillas in Belarus.

The cannons have now been set up at the ferry, but are still waiting for Wittgenstein's orders.

The final outcome of the battle on the Berezina River is about to come.

As for those who are fleeing, they cannot take care of this at this moment.

The unfortunate Sergeant Martial is now at the edge of the pontoon bridge.

However, he was not in a hurry to cross the river. Most of Ney's few remaining soldiers were here. They were able to escape and were barely organized. They had to be placed in the back to support the two divisions fighting desperately in the front.

Only when they received the order to retreat did they hurriedly cross the pontoon bridge.

But now it seems that the bridge is also a bit unstable.

Martial finally got to the bridge and was almost there.

At this time, he heard the sound of artillery fire in the distance.

The French cannons had almost run out of ammunition.

Therefore, everyone knew that the French troops who were still resisting on the east coast were still maintaining discipline at this time to ensure that the Russian infantry would not rush over quickly.

But it was different for the people near the pontoon bridge. They heard the sound of artillery fire, and the shells fell near the pontoon bridge, which caused serious chaos.

The part of the army that was still waiting to get on the bridge on the other side was the first to start to get into chaos. They even rushed onto the pontoon bridge despite the rebukes from their superiors.

If the French had suffered heavy losses in Spain in the past when they stepped on the bridge, which caused resonance, this time, it would probably be a stampede.

If someone is trampled to death, it may be considered lucky for the person involved, after all, the body will be thrown into the river and the pain will only be temporary.

If you can swim, you will be in this desperate situation. Even if you reach the shore, you may die from hypothermia.

However, due to the Russian artillery fire, these French soldiers had lost their order, and then the civilians were stopped aside.

The French army only had time to control one of the pontoon bridges and push away all the vehicles crowded on it, regardless of whether there were people inside.

Even the carriages transporting ammunition and carrying the wounded suffered the same fate. Some defeated soldiers who dared to run onto the bridge would be driven back with bayonets by the French soldiers guarding the bridge, regardless of whether they were officers or soldiers.

As for the people who fell into the river due to trampling and crowding, although there were quite a few of them, it was not too many. After all, not many people would pass by such a short section of the river at the same time.

Some people even tried to swim directly across the river, but with such freezing cold water, there would be no place chosen for the winter swimming competition.

Some jokes that later became widely used probably originated from the French's embarrassing situation on the Berezina River in 1812.

When more and more people are crowded on the bridge, it can no longer bear the weight of such lives.

In the end, the floating bridge that was packed with people broke apart and even collapsed in full view of everyone.

Many people fell into the water at this time, and it was not even the result of the Russian artillery.

All they had to do was fire and let the shells fall nearby and cause great chaos.

They did exactly that, and the French retreat became chaotic and even out of control. (End of this chapter)