Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Napoleon was about to start the operation again, and his first target was the troops led by Marshal Oudinot to march towards Berlin.

However, the operation was not smooth. After the armistice agreement was concluded, the weather was really bad. Continuous thunderstorms made the Central European plains, which were about to enter autumn, full of puddles, muddy roads, and swollen rivers.

Solovyov's entire army was on the Oder River. They received Blücher's request to join the Silesian Army, but there was no movement from Langeron.

In comparison, the loss of Berlin was not a big problem. However, the Silesian Corps would still need help if it wanted to fight the French.

Although the Prussian army was very enthusiastic about joining the war, Solovyov was indeed not very reassured about their impressive fighting power.

As for the Prussian recruits provided to him, Solovyov could now barely guarantee that they could reach the level of French recruits, that is, with more bayonet fighting training.

This kind of weather is strategically advantageous to the French, but on the battlefield it seems to be advantageous to the Allied forces.

After all, the French army's artillery advantage could not be brought into play, and the firepower of the Russian elite infantry on the coalition side. They were in the Bohemian Corps, and it seemed that there was no big impact. The Russian army had the advantage in hand-to-hand combat, and the coalition had an overall cavalry advantage, which was something Napoleon did not have.

But road traffic has become like this, and considering the capabilities of the coalition commanders, that is another matter.

As soon as the armistice agreement was concluded, the Prussians acted quickly while the Austrians were still dithering.

Therefore, Napoleon also judged that the Prussian corps that appeared in the direction of Silesia was actually the main force of the coalition forces.

The main thing is that once Blücher takes action, he moves quickly and makes a lot of noise.

He himself led the main force and headed in this direction.

Schwarzenberg only started to act at this moment, and slowly set out from the Allied camp north of Prague.

When Solovyov learned about the actions of various parties, he was still two days away from Blücher's troops.

He was surprised at the veteran's swift actions, and he swept through the French guard troops at the front and quickly drove these people away.

But it was meaningless. If Napoleon focused on dealing with him, with the fighting power of the Silesian Corps, there was a high probability that it would be defeated.

As for the order conveyed by Gneisenau, asking the Oder Army to cover the right wing of the Silesian Army, he did not understand this intention at first.

After all, this small legion is active near the main army, close to the battlefield of the main army, and must support these main forces.

His rank is not high enough, and his military strength is limited, so the supporting mission is still very important. If done well, he can even attack a French unit outside the main force. If he encounters a division, there is still a great chance of success.

If they were to encounter a French army head-on and the two sides were evenly matched, Solovyov himself was not optimistic that his army, with its complex ethnic composition, could defeat the enemy.

But if it rains, he has the only armored cavalry unit on the entire battlefield, and he may be able to face the French army that lacks cavalry, which can have a miraculous effect.

In fact, there were not many cavalry armies of this kind in the world at that time. If you don't look for them in the Middle East, you will find that there were only cotton-armored cavalry in the heart of Africa, and they even disappeared at about the same time as the Circassian fully-armored cavalry.

"How should I do it?"

Solovyov was a little confused. After all, his position was right between the two legions in the north.

Langgeron would probably choose to use the swampy terrain south of Berlin to launch his operation, as he was not someone like Bernadotte who was used to paddling.

After fighting against the French army from 1806 to 1807, this general from the royalist party would probably choose a more active way to join the battle.

"According to the order sent from the Silesian Corps, you should go around the French flank, look for an opportunity to act, conduct fire reconnaissance when you encounter the French, and then take action."

“But here in Berlin.”

Clausewitz had never seen Solovyov hesitate between two options like this. He always made choices quickly and was able to judge the enemy's situation and make the right decision.

Now it is probably because he has no confidence in his teammates, and the army under his command is really not like in the past, at least it is well prepared.

As for the people under his command, he has only just been brought together. Who knows what will happen next?
"To follow this directive, we still need to scout the enemy's movements."

Clausewitz probably guessed that Solovyov was always a little worried.

"Well, let Major Manstein lead the cavalry to scout in the direction of the march. If there is any movement, report it immediately."

Solovyov could not figure out what connection Manstein, who was already a strong man in his thirties, had with the master of shifting the blame, except for his last name.

In fact, there is, and it’s my great-grandfather who I support.

After all, that gentleman's original surname always makes people think of zippers or something.

After receiving the order, Major Manstein quickly set out with two cavalry squadrons.

Now Solovyov was reluctant to use the cavalry under his command. He also needed to use the Russian hussars for warning, so he had to let the Prussian cavalry move first.

Major Manstein had won the Blue Max on the battlefield last year. He originally belonged to the 2nd Dragoon Regiment of West Prussia. He was seriously injured in the battle of 1812 and only recently returned to the team.

It's just that he sometimes feels dizzy, which is probably a common problem among cavalrymen. When he becomes brave, no one can stop him.

He had no objection to accepting the command of a Russian. After all, the count seemed to get along well with the Prussian officers. It was just that his German with an Austrian accent always gave people a strange feeling.

A Russian with an Austrian accent who also hated Prince Metternich of Austria.

The troops he selected were also the squadron of the Silesian Light Cavalry Regiment. They marched a long way forward. During the day, they saw almost no enemies. There were only villagers from the nearby villages who were leaving their hometown.

The news I heard was that the French would be arriving soon, and they seemed to be concentrating their forces in the center because of the Prussian army's actions.

However, Manstein was a little confused because he didn't see any French people along the way.

He wanted to report directly to his superior, General von Tillmann, but given the situation at the front, it would take time for the messenger to return.

Just when he was still in a dilemma, he saw some French hunting cavalry moving in front of him.

And their number is smaller than ours, so this is an opportunity.

So Major Manstein led his cavalry in an attack, but the results were disappointing.

The Prussian cavalry, which had a 2 to 1 advantage in numbers, ran into trouble because of the muddy ground.

Of course, the same thing happened on the other side. The battle turned into a shootout between the two sides on the muddy road. The light cavalry, each equipped with their own pistols and carbines, began to shoot at each other from a long distance.

Their respective missions were all reconnaissance, and there was no need to engage in a head-on battle.

In the end, Manstein failed to capture any prisoners, and his own losses were not great, with only a few wounded soldiers.

However, he always judged from the color of the French cavalry's uniforms that these hunting cavalry belonged to part of the 2nd Army that was attacking the Silesian Corps, and Napoleon was rushing towards this side.

After all, the body fell into the pond and it was clear to see if it was fished out.

"Well done, Major Manstein, you did a great job. I think this deserves an Iron Cross."

"But, Count, you are a Russian general."

"If there is any good news, it is probably that Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte and our country's Grand Duke Nicholas have been good playmates since childhood. After the war, Prussia and Russia may want to form an alliance through marriage. Moreover, I have a good relationship with your royal family, so this can still be done."

Apart from the fact that he felt a little uncomfortable seeing a bald Manstein, everything else was fine for Solovyov.

Lewinsky always wanted to laugh when she thought about it.

Moreover, this major was indeed very brave, but he only showed it in the past when he fought against the Russian army. It was really lucky to get such a cavalry officer, which was like picking up a treasure.

But for Major Manstein, this was extremely lucky, because during a reconnaissance, he fished out a French soldier who was either killed or drowned, and thus learned the movements of the French army.

Although it was a little late, his contribution was still significant.

When Major Manstein went down, Solovyov ordered to pay attention to the direction of York Corps' movement and cover its flank retreat.

"Why is this again?"

"Karl, I didn't understand General Gneisenau's intentions before. But now, the problem is that Napoleon himself has come. If his main force moves quickly enough and Schwarzenberg, the stupid Bohemian landowner, does not go to Dresden in time, General Blücher's entire corps will be in trouble."

Then he spread out the map and placed a bunch of chess pieces on it.

"what is this?"

"Go, an ancient Chinese game, except I'm using chess pieces to mark the enemy's positions. The black ones are us, and the white ones are the French."

This is surprisingly apt, considering that when Yunzi's black spots are held up, they glow green in the sunlight.

The chessboard may need to be placed in the luggage, but it is just right to use this to mark when you are not working on the map.

Speaking of this set of clouds, the price in the Kyakhta market is not low. Russia is now buying all the new and novel things that China can see, and this is the driving force to revitalize the economy.

After it was put on display, it was very clear to see.

"The problem is, if the French move fast enough, our troops on this front line will be in big trouble."

It was even clearer than the homework in the picture, but Solovyov had no one to play chess with, and he didn't like to wear a fur vest except in winter.

But this cunningness is still there.

"Then what should we do?"

"Draft a new order, asking General von Tillmann to lead the cavalry to monitor the enemy's activities on the main road, with the Brunswick Brigade and the Balkan Division in the front, the 9th Division as the rear guard, Schwerin's Brigade in the center, the heavy cavalry following the Brunswick Brigade, and the rest of the cavalry under the command of Tillmann."

Colonel von Schwerin, whose family seemed always to have caught a cannonball in the face, died at Waterloo in 1815 from a shrapnel blow to the head.

"Ok."

Clausewitz also knew that Solovyov had to arrange his troops properly on the road so that no problems would arise.

The Schwerin Brigade, which has weaker combat effectiveness, should be placed in the middle to also protect the baggage and artillery. The 9th Division, which has stronger combat effectiveness, should be placed in the back as a rear guard.

He was also worried that the French army would come from this road, and he was somewhat concerned about Alkasha.

But at this time, as the commander of the legion, he had more responsibilities to take care of and had no other choice.

The "Black Duke" was in charge of the command of the front-line troops. Peric and he had become good friends over drinks, and considering his status and position, there was no problem with that.

Being with the Prussians might cause even more trouble.

But even so, Solovyov quickly changed his deployment.

When von Tillmann was patrolling behind him, he also discovered that the French army did not take this road, but was heading towards the main force of the Prussian army.

In the early battles, before any large-scale fighting, there were many deserters in Blücher's army. The number of fleeing and falling behind soldiers of the Prussian York Corps alone exceeded two thousand after the French caught up with them.

On the Russian side, there were very few soldiers falling behind.

Previous combat experiences have made Russian soldiers very resilient.

But Napoleon was also in hot pursuit, and he also noticed Blücher in front of him and Solovyov on the side.

Faced with this choice, he would naturally attack Blücher because the allied forces along this route had more troops.

"Your Majesty, what about Solovyov on the flank?"

It was inevitable that some people would raise questions, especially since the Emperor’s adopted nephew had performed well in previous campaigns, and even had performed well in the Balkans and in the war of 1812, which was really impressive.

"He has few men, and my nephew is very smart. He will definitely not cause trouble for us. Moreover, his force must be limited. He is just an auxiliary force of Blücher."

For this point, the marshals and generals in the tent also admired Napoleon's familiarity with the enemy and his confidence in controlling the battle situation.

What he said was probably correct. Blücher's troops had already begun to retreat eastward before the French army approached and had no intention of fighting the French army.

Judging from the situation of the lagging recruits and deserters, the Prussian army's current combat effectiveness is limited. Together with the Russian army, the entire corps has 120,000 troops. Add Solovyov's troops, and it exceeds 150,000.

But the performance of these troops.
Napoleon was impatient and was ready to give Blücher a big blow, but things always went against his wishes. (End of this chapter)