Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

It was one thing to be scolded by Catherine after returning to Paris. Although Napoleon was like that when he was in the army, he was different when he returned home.

Now he felt that maybe Talleyrand had asked him to marry an Austrian woman. This girl had a strong temper, and he did like her, but he also had to consider many issues.

Of course, even if Austria did not send a princess to Paris, it was still a coward, after all, it was scared by the French.

But Emperor Franz also used some tricks behind the scenes. First, he asked Schwarzenberg to just defend Galicia and not obey the orders of Napoleon or his men.

This is not a big deal. If Austria is really outflanked by Russia, then the Austrian Empire, which is not yet armed, especially Hungary, which is very important in terms of economy and manpower, will be seized by Russia, and the situation will be even worse.

The premise is that the Russian army will choose to attack from this direction.

Obviously, the main goal of the Russian army is to regain lost territory and then attack from the direction of Poland.

In comparison, Poland, the starting point for the French attack on Russia, poses a greater threat to Russia.

Due to Napoleon's current defeat, Poland actually only has a small number of defenders and limited reserve troops.

The Emperor himself came to Warsaw, and he first wanted to see Reverend de Pratt, who was then the French ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Warsaw.

"Don't talk so much, Bishop. How are the preparations in Warsaw going now?"

"There are currently 8 people enlisted in the army, but they are all new recruits and have not received adequate training."

"But Poland still has a large population, so they should be able to recruit more soldiers."

"It should be said that, Your Majesty. The soldiers that Prince Poniatowski brought to Russia are the elites of the Polish army in recent years, as well as the backbone since the establishment of the Grand Duchy. Not many people were left behind to train new soldiers."

"Damn it, it's the same here. What about the horses?"

It was somewhat ironic that the bishop had to take on the duties of a quartermaster and recruiting officer, but he still had to answer.

"Your Majesty, what we know is that the Austrians have just sent news that the 2000 war horses that were to be sent from Krakow to Warsaw will now be difficult to deliver on time due to weather reasons."

"That's what they said, so what are we going to do next?"

Napoleon was already very angry, but he could do nothing about it. If he did not adopt a relatively "lenient" peace treaty, he would not be able to force Austria to surrender quickly.

However, "relaxed" means that the control is not in place, and it is not possible to recruit personnel like the members of the Netherlands and the Confederation of the Rhine. The marshals of the Netherlands are all French divisional generals.
The Austrians did not send horses to Warsaw, and this was only one direction. In fact, France was very dependent on the excellent horses provided by Austria. The French army's own consumption was too high, which was indeed a serious problem.

In this war, more than 15 military horses were lost, which actually destroyed more than half of France’s horse stock.

In the wars of the early 19th century, horses were still very important. Given the road conditions, no other vehicle was as economical as a horse-drawn carriage.

There were indeed some civilian horse-drawn carriages on the banks of the Berezina River, but the horses had been taken away by French soldiers, and the civilians could only wait to die there.

Knowing that most of the people there were French expatriates, the Russian army treated the civilians well. At least they asked them to pack up their belongings and took them to nearby towns for detention.

If you are a soldier, the place you are escorting will be far away.

Horses were indeed a problem for France. Napoleon did not know at that time that Wittgenstein had left Dibicki to negotiate with the Prussian commander York. It was only when he arrived in Warsaw that he learned about the Austrians' actions.

Even if Austria really attacks later, it wouldn’t seem strange.

This made him wary, after all, he had no marriage ties with Austria.

But he could not imagine how cowardly Emperor Franz was.

After all, there are not many capable generals among Austria's current generals. Napoleon himself even mocked that it was he who promoted Schwarzenberg to be a marshal in Austria.

Among the Austrian generals, the only one who seemed somewhat threatening at this time was Archduke Karl. However, because of the affairs at court, he had retired to the fiefdom left by his adoptive mother (also his aunt). He and his wife had three sons and two daughters in the past few years, and he seemed only willing to focus on family affairs.

After all, Metternich had many opponents within the Austrian aristocratic circle. If he were there, Archduke Karl would not have come out.

All he could do was to withhold the 20,000 horses that Napoleon was to provide this year and use them for himself, or leave them where they were, and that was all.

However, considering that it is a defeated country, even though the military factories are not in operation, it still has to provide a large amount of supplies. In this way, there is really no dignity to speak of.

Moreover, since a large number of Austrian arsenals were not in operation or even closed down, and it took time to arm the army, there was not much movement.

But even so, Austria's situation was much better than Prussia's. Prussia's old army no longer existed, a large number of soldiers were unemployed, and many officers simply went to Russia to work.

Napoleon did have a lot of things to take care of, and he was now dissatisfied with the situation in Warsaw because he had not been able to tap his war potential.

But he was blindly optimistic, believing that these 80,000 men would be in place quickly and that the Poles would fight hard to defend the capital of their country.

The idea is good, but it is not reliable if the soldiers are not trained.

He still has to continue on his journey, and when he gets home, it will be another matter.

In his headquarters, Berthier felt like he was in prison, and Murat was worried about losing his throne of Naples. Only Eugene was still working seriously.

It was only a matter of time. Back in Vilnius, Alexander summoned the generals for talks one by one, and now it was Solovyov's turn.

"Count, do you advocate staying at the border and waiting for a while?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. The army always needs sufficient supplies. If we continue to move westward from Wilno, when we reach Poland, the enemy's situation is still uncertain. How much strength do they have? Do our allies, Prussia and Austria, have the determination? Even if I already know it."

"Ah, the Grenadiers are now a guard unit, so you get the news faster."

"That's right, your majesty."

Alexander also knew that Solovyov was actually more eager to establish merit, but he was always more cautious when facing France because he was familiar with Napoleon's situation.

As for other European countries, Kutuzov also exerted influence on him, saying that these people were unreliable. Therefore, Solovyov also advocated stopping, and even Alexander felt that he just wanted to go home to be with his wife and children.

But if you ask him to go up, he will definitely rush forward. It is very convenient to use such subordinates who have no ambition but can fight.

"But we have to go to Berlin now, or at least enter East Prussia first. This is also the reason why we asked Dibicki and York to negotiate. Prussia will not join us now, but they will eventually become an important supply base for us at the front."

"But I think the Prussian army is still not good enough. Even if the border guards have formed some troops, are they going to be able to form combat effectiveness? If Napoleon has 25 men now, we must be able to deploy 50 men on the battlefield at the same time, and we cannot have a stupid commander."

"You are quite thoughtful. If it were you, how would you arrange it?"

Alexander's tone left no doubt, and Solovyov knew that no matter what, entering Europe was certain this time.

He could not afford to offend the Tsar himself. Before Nicholas came to power, his future was in Alexander's hands.

What's more, his relationship with Louisa is still a secret. Although it might not be a big deal if it were known, it would be very embarrassing.

Since he had done all these things, he naturally had to ensure that he was serious about his work and not give the Tsar any evidence against him.

"Volkonsky will be the chief of staff, and Alexei Andreevich will also accompany the army. As for the commander-in-chief."

"It seems that Prince Kutuzov is the most suitable candidate now, and there is no other candidate."

Alexander knew Solovyov would say this, but Kutuzov had indeed acquired enormous prestige.

The Tsar was now unhappy that Kutuzov had "let Napoleon escape" on the Berezina River.

In fact, even if the French army was completely destroyed at that time, it might be difficult to keep Napoleon in the end. As long as he moved away from this desperate situation, it would not be easy for him later.

He had also read the report, which was the work of Solovyov and von Toll, and it also clearly stated the difficulties currently faced by the Russian army.

When they arrived at the border area, although there were still 140,000 troops, many of them were later reinforcements.

Of the 90,000 people who set out from Tarutino, 48,000 are now in the hospital, and even some generals who followed later also fell ill in the army.

The combat forces that could be mobilized were limited, and the supply of materials was even worse when it reached Vilno. The Russian troops on the Grodno front even had only two meals of army bread per week, and had to raise food on their own for the rest of the time.

But this is difficult in an area that has been exploited by the French.

Solovyov made it very clear, and he also had his own ideas.

He had some strategic ideas, but he wasn't sure whether Alexander would adopt them.

Bernadotte and Moreau actually made limited contributions to the coalition forces.

Moreau died in the front, while Bernadotte paddled the entire time.

But that is history, and Solovyov was among those who were going to make history in this place.

"Then how about moving forward in five columns?"

"There is no problem with this, and our troops in the border areas can also be deployed here. The goal is to capture Warsaw and Königsberg, first advance the army to the Vistula River line, and then continue to the Oder River and the Elbe River."

He spoke his thoughts out loud and stomped his right boot hard on the ground.

If anyone knows, they might have noticed that Zhukov's special actor Ulyanov sometimes has this habitual movement.

"To the Oder and the Elbe?"

Alexander's interest was piqued. After all, the cautious Solovyov was so bold in his march.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I have thought about it. Napoleon will definitely return to Paris to reorganize his army. We must control the Vistula River so that he cannot use Poland's manpower in the spring of 1813. If we stop, Poland now has troops that can be armed. If we take control of Poland first, they will have no way to concentrate their forces. Then we will enter the German region. I think Prussia will resist very firmly."

"But I am still worried about Frederick William. This king does not seem to be a determined person, although his envoys have conveyed their opinions secretly."

If we restore history, King FW still escaped under the protection of the army, but he was still not very reliable.

But the queen is still alive!
Alexander even heard that Solovyov and the Queen of Prussia had a good relationship, but he didn't know about their intimate nights in the spa hotel in Breslau and the birth of a child.
With this queen around, the situation would probably be much better.

Because of his seniority, Solovyov cannot lead an army alone. At the beginning, the commander-in-chief of Kamensky Junior was relatively young, so his flank corps could be staffed by a young general, and even the veterans had no objection.

But now a group of senior generals have come, and Solovyov will be assigned to the 3rd Army or other units.

"We have to take the lead now. We may assign you an important mission to the Prussian Army later."

"Your Majesty, that has to be arranged according to the current situation. Moreover, I have thought of a way to defeat Napoleon, but it requires the cooperation of several forces."

"Interesting, this is what I've been waiting for."

Alexander knew that Solovyov was against his uncle, his brother-in-law, and had always been against him.

If it were in France, a cheap nephew like Solovyov would not be likely to be given an important position.

Napoleon's distant cousin, General Donat, who later took over Countess Valewska's job, was now a divisional general, three years younger than Solovyov. He almost froze to death in the chaos of the army in Krasnoy because of his serious injuries. He was only found by his loyal adjutant and orderly who returned to the battlefield and desperately searched for him.

His promotion speed is not fast, let alone his cheap relative with a rather strange origin.

Solovyov was promoted quickly in the Guards in his early twenties because of Paul's promotion for his outstanding performance in the past. He made a name for himself in Poland and became a general at the age of 25. Now he is even a lieutenant general and has also had the experience of leading a flank corps alone.

There are other benefits in the court, which Napoleon probably cannot give except Paulina. (End of this chapter)