Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

When Kutuzov arrived here, he also saw those French people. He was naturally a little tired now, but he still appeared in front of the soldiers on horseback.

"Lower those flags. Yes, lower them."

Although Napoleon destroyed many of them, the captured military flags still appeared here.

Kutuzov had the soldiers hold the flags, and he himself was there, always with something to say.

As for him, there were the staff officers of the headquarters and the generals of various Russian troops who had gathered at the Berezina River because of the pursuit.

"That's right, brothers, victory, hurrah!"

The soldiers nearby heard the commander-in-chief say this first, and they began to shout "Ura".

"Brothers, you love your country, traveled a long way to come here, fought bravely here, and finally won the victory."

When this was said, someone started shouting "Ura" again.

"But we still have to work harder and send the guests away before we can clean the house. But what about these people? They came uninvited. Who invited them? When they were arrogant, none of us were cowards. But look at them now? They look so pitiful. They are also human beings. But..."

Kutuzov wanted to express his sympathy for these French soldiers. After all, he was old and sometimes sentimental. Not everyone was like Suvorov, who started every morning with something abstract, such as rolling on the lawn.

He changed his mind and realized that today was the day of victory, not the day to show mercy to the French.

"But, these beasts, these, Misha, what's your word for them?"

"Your Highness, it's the 'French devils'."

Solovyov never expected that "X country devils" would first appear in Russian.

Then, people could also hear Kutuzov continuing his speech. Although the old man was very tired because of the tiring journey, his face looked more swollen than when he took over the army, but he was still in good spirits.

"These French devils, they deserve it!"

Then he rode his horse forward, and many soldiers shouted "Ura" on the snowy field.

After several months of fierce fighting, the French soldiers were driven away, leaving behind 20 soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians as prisoners, half of whom died after being captured.

Of the more than 400,000 troops that set out from Poland, only a few are left now. Even the Guards have only a little over a thousand people who can fight at this time, not to mention the wounded who will recover and return to the team later.

As for Napoleon himself, he now arrived at the village of Smergon and prepared a carriage for himself.

Although the Russian army was in pursuit, they were still some distance away from Napoleon.

After crossing the Berezina River, Victor's troops were not affected too much because they did not go deep into the Russian hinterland and their own losses were not great. They were still diligently serving as the rear guard.

But the other armies probably no longer exist.

Napoleon himself was now going to hand over the army to Marshal Murat for command, and he himself was going to return to Paris with only a few followers, using the alias of the Duke of Vicenza, which was actually Mr. Caulaincourt.

He was going to bring back the troops there and said he would come back.

The morale of the French army has now hit rock bottom. What's even worse is that the Russians are still chasing them closely, and more and more people are gathering here.

Reynier was on the Polish border. The Saxon army was loyal because their king was actually the head of state of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, so they stayed on the Polish border waiting for Napoleon's army to return.

In fact, only Reignier performed well and drove back the Russian detachment, but he was unable to achieve all the goals.

As for Schwarzenberg, he returned to the Galicia region of Austria, which would not be affected by the war at least for the time being.

The next goal of the Russian army is to advance to the Russian border.

"Sir, now that we are here, isn't it time to take a rest?"

"We must move on. We must not be like the Chasseurs of the Guards, who could not find a good house to camp for a month. Damn it, the French took away a lot of edibles. Petya, don't just think about eating. The Emperor said he would give me some leave. When I get to Petersburg, I'll have a good meal at my house."

Petya was delighted to hear this.

Because he knew that Solovyov's mother-in-law, Princess Catherine, and his sister-in-law Sonya, would also go to St. Petersburg after living in Ryazan for a while.

Moscow was no longer habitable. Many houses there were destroyed. The estate left by Solovyov's father-in-law, Prince Vasily, was also destroyed when the French retreated. The losses there were also considerable.

But there is also a good thing. If Katya's aunt continues to worry about property issues, it will probably be difficult for the court to handle the case.

After all, much of the property she mentioned was destroyed during the war.

Solovyov also knew that reconstruction would always cost money, and now he could also talk to Count Rostopchin about compensation for Moscow's losses.

His family's losses were considered small. After the fire, two-thirds of the urban area was destroyed and the property losses were also huge. Later, part of the property was looted by nearby villagers who came into the city. There are many things that cannot be explained clearly.

As for Napoleon, he did not forget to give a speech when he got on the carriage in the village of Smergon.

He made a lot of high-sounding speeches in the past, but now he is not sober enough to think that he can still have a strong army.

However, only a small number of the hundreds of thousands of war horses remained, and in the end only one tenth of the cavalry could keep their own horses, and many people continued to move westward on foot.

This was a complete failure. Napoleon knew that his department had no other way to deal with such a humiliating defeat. He could only announce the actual situation through the Grand Army Bulletin.

On the Russian side, the Tsar himself was on his way to Vilna, which had recently been abandoned by the French army.

Speaking of which, Napoleon bargained with Alexander a lot over this place, and the result was that the Grand Duchy of Lithuania did not even have a head of state elected, and it was destroyed in less than half a year.

Although others may not feel anything when they see it, after Solovyov saw it, he looked to the south and seemed to have seen this kind of thing somewhere before.

As soon as he entered Vilno, he began to clean up the area where the army was to be stationed. In addition, he had to prepare accommodation for the Tsar and Grand Duke Constantine who were about to arrive here.

What's worse is that Nikolai is old enough to serve in the army, and he also wants to come, so only Mikhail is left to keep his mother, sister-in-law and sister at home.

As for Nicholas, he felt that he could finally "show his talents" in the army.

"Kolya, don't let your imagination run wild. If I send you to Solovyov, you'll have a hard time in the army. He's usually very strict with you as a teacher, but he's the only general in the army who doesn't use a whip, and he's also very strict in managing his troops."

"Brother, don't worry. I'm in good health. I run three miles every morning. There are no classes at school during this period."

Even Constantine, whose education level was not high, was worried about his brother. Was he studying at the Tsarskoye Selo High School, or was he doing something else?

But there was nothing to say. The troops at the front always needed reinforcements, and he had to return to the Guards temporarily.

When we arrived in Vilno, we saw banners hanging on the streets again, and there was a crowd welcoming the Tsar himself.

It's ironic, because they also welcomed the French here more than five months ago.

"Is that so?"

"Brother, you can now understand the attitude of the Italians when we followed the Grand Marshal to Italy."

When Constantine said this, Alexander just smiled.

"Don't let the women come here these days. Although Solovyov has cleaned the house, it looks..."

He was frowning. Constantine had been with his brother since childhood and probably knew what he meant. Although it was hard to guess, his expression clearly showed his disdain for Napoleon's "destruction" here.

A few months ago, when they were here, the place they lived in was pretty good.

As for the villa that Bennigsen sold to the Tsar, it was miraculously still well preserved. After the Russian army entered, only some generals lived here, as some places in the city were really inconvenient.

However, many of the soldiers who arrived here began to fall ill. For example, Prince Dmitry Golitsyn's brother Boris Golitsyn contracted typhoid fever after leading the cavalry here.

The situation was very serious. In order to ensure the safety of the Tsar and his military dependents, they were all arranged to live outside the city.

When Alexander himself saw Solovyov, he was playing chess with Kutuzov there.

"Young people react quickly. I have to think for a while before making a move, but you act immediately."

"But it's fine this way. Commander-in-Chief, the Emperor has arrived."

Kutuzov, helped by his son-in-law, stood up and saluted Alexander.

"Mikhail Illarionovich, you have done a good job. We have now driven out the French as well."

"This is also because God is blessing Russia and Your Majesty, and our brothers have fought hard, so we finally won the victory."

"But I heard that you only planned to stay here?"

Kutuzov also knew that although he won the battle, he could not avoid offending others. He could not guess what the emperor was thinking, and Bennigsen's previous actions would lead to his fate.

Now, the general sold the villa to the Tsar, but he himself is "on standby" in Kaluga.

"Your Majesty, we are just waiting for your order. And now, it is winter, our brothers are very tired when they reach the border, and the guards often go hungry."

Alexander was still relatively tolerant when his men achieved brilliant victories.

Kutuzov also ordered some ground coffee to be brought, but Alexander did not give any orders immediately after he sat down.

"You probably won't rush to attack now. We need to wait."

"Your Majesty, what do you mean?"

"Wait for Prussia and Austria to act."

At this moment, Kutuzov recalled what he had said to Yermolov a few days ago.

It is true that they want to pursue, but Prussia, Austria and those German princes are all fence-sitters, and they may even switch to one side or the other at any time.

"Your Majesty, I think at this time, we should still see the attitude of the Prussians."

Solovyov is here, and his attitude in his speech is actually very clear.

"Yes, we need to see their attitude. If we can have allies joining us at the right time, that would certainly be a good thing."

"But, Your Majesty, there will be a problem at this time."

"Tell me, Solovyov, I know you always have a lot to consider, but you don't want to be the deputy chief of the general staff."

"Your Majesty, this is because I am tired of office work. It is fine to be a staff officer in the army, but if I were in an office..."

"Of course I know."

Alexander knew that Solovyov wanted to free his brother-in-law Speransky, but Alexander's current thoughts would not give the former Secretary of State any release, so he did not express his opinion.

But Solovyov did not want to be in the general staff and only wanted to stay at the front where he could still play his role.

"Your Majesty, I think the prerequisite for Prussia to join us is very simple. One is that their soldiers will join us. There are already many Prussian officers here, serving as staff officers in various armies. The other is the attitude of His Majesty the King of Prussia."

The current king and queen are actually separated. Queen Louise is heartbroken about King FW, but because of the children and royal responsibilities, it is naturally unlikely that they will separate.

However, as a queen, Queen Louise is still very capable, even more powerful than some ministers of important departments, and both veterans and young soldiers listen to her.

If she wanted to, she could even add more strength to make Prussia side with Russia faster.

But this is just an expectation. Only when this thing actually happens can there be some follow-up.

Alexander originally wanted to discuss the matter of marriage. After all, Nicholas and Princess Charlotte, who came to St. Petersburg for refuge, got along very well and had a good impression of each other. If they could be friends and then husband and wife in the future, it would be a good choice.

And the Queen of Prussia has always had this idea.

But, this kid Nicholas
"Soloviev, what do you think of me asking Nikolai to come to your place for a while?"

"Your Majesty, do you mean His Royal Highness Nicholas?"

"Yes, only here, or at Paskovich's, can he experience military life."

Or, learn some more lessons. (End of this chapter)