Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

It was late August 1813, and the sun was setting quite late. If some warehouses and haystacks in the villages were burning, they could be seen clearly from a distance.

This kind of black smoke is usually seen more often during spring firefighting.

You have to know that agriculture in the early 19th century, at this technical level, might not have been considered too advanced in Europe, but here livestock is used more.

In China, if a young laborer could cultivate eight acres of land, he would be considered very outstanding.

If it was from Africa, well, that might have to be calculated separately.

But it is the same in Europe. The number of people who can participate in labor, even as a labor force, is even lower than that in China.

At this time, to be considered a laborer, one had to be able to hold the plow.

Sometimes, we cannot forget to mention the great virtues of Britain. English-speaking countries are always at the forefront when it comes to employing child labor.

In the village, Solovyov saw local people running out of cellars and various hiding places after the French troops fled.

The French army never vented its anger as it did in Russia, and probably they will never have the opportunity to attack there again.

But in Central Europe, the picture is quite different.

After these villagers came out, they also cleaned up the battlefield and of course picked up some things to take back.

"Sir, what should we do now?"

"As long as they don't search the bodies, it'll be fine. But after that, we probably won't be able to stop them once we leave here."

It was just a small-scale battle. After seeing the cavalry attacking from behind, Marchand retreated. Gerard, who came to support, had a fierce battle with the Russian army on the high ground.

Solovyov sent Petya out to deliver the order, and he himself went to the center of the village with only an orderly.

He also didn't understand why the Tatars were burning the haystacks there.

This is not good for the environment, not to mention that it is not spring, and the ashes will probably not be retained.
"What are you doing?"

"Master, we captured the enemy's baggage, but we didn't set it on fire. It was like a hawk catching a rabbit, silent and quiet."

"Ah, that was a quick escape, indeed as fast as lightning. I have a falcon at home, and it is indeed of some use."

"That's right, Grand Master. You are also a capable Noyan under the command of the White Khan. Not to mention raising falcons, you should also raise a 100-member band."

A band of 100 people, and this was said by a Kalmyk. Why does it feel like we are moving in the direction of Wang Khan?

His family could afford an orchestra, but he didn't need to be so particular as to be like the old Prince Volkonsky, who had a band with him whenever he took a walk. That was very authentic.

"But why do you call me 'Grand Master'?"

Solovyov was also curious, so he asked questions. After all, the last time he worked with these people was in Sweden.

The leaders of these Kalmyks explained it and praised Solovyov as a wise and brave Bater.

"You Kalmyks, you used to come from the forest people, how come you all became as slick-tongued as the Han Chinese from the Central Plains? Could it be that when Grand Tutor Yesen led the Chinese Emperor to the Great Wall, those Han Chinese taught you that?"

"Great Nuoyan, do you still know the Great Emperor of China and Grand Master Yesen?"

"Of course. Although I am a commander, I have done the work of a judge. Although I don't understand Genghis Khan's "Great Yasa" code, I can still serve as a governor of a place and benefit the people. This job requires not only the ability to fight, like an eagle on the grassland, but also the cunningness of a fox and the agility of a running hare."

When he spoke to these Kalmyks, his tone naturally changed to theirs.

Of course, these people were happy to hear this and continued to set fires, as if to announce that the French food and supplies had been robbed.

In this case, what would happen to MacDonald's troops that had already crossed the river?
Solovyov ignored them for the time being and went with the Tatar cavalry to check the supplies.

After seeing it, he also felt that the French food was really good.

Also unloaded from the baggage wagon were freshly baked baguettes, ham, red wine, and some canned fruit.

Cans are all made of glass bottles, and this is because Britain, France and Russia have different technology trees for food storage, and the British have also started using tinplate.

This thing has been around since 1810, but for many places, it may not be possible to make it even after 140 years, which gives unscrupulous businessmen the opportunity to use tinplate to impersonate tinplate.

This is an advantage of the British. Their corned beef is sometimes packaged like this.
There was even a sign of catching up. Solovyov didn't feel anything before, but after forming an alliance with Britain this time, he saw a lot of supplies provided by the British and realized the crisis.

But don’t worry about that now, you should always have a good meal.

There was no need to hold a banquet or anything like that, as he wasn't going to enjoy the wine, so he could just distribute it to his officers.

For the soldiers, apart from their dear little water vodka, the rum was probably the only liquor that could arouse their interest more.

But at this moment, many soldiers did not drink. They first looked at the wine bottles, and stuffed the unopened ones into their backpacks.

The advantage of being an infantryman is that they can obtain spoils of war at the front, and the advantage of being an artilleryman is that they can carry snacks and good wine in their gun carriages.

At this time when everyone was getting what they needed, naturally there were also some artillery and logistics officers who helped the infantry of their division and regiment to carry the luggage.

If you are lucky, you can even get captured wine as reward from the soldiers.

All in all, this was the happiest day for the Oder River Corps on the front line.

At night, it was a different story for McDonald.

His counterattacks on the front line were all repelled by Blücher, and now he could only retreat to the river bank. It was only because of his stubborn resistance and the fact that the Allied forces were always slow in action that he was able to maintain a fragmented but seemingly connected line of defense along the river.

Lauriston was already very dissatisfied. He crossed the river to support MacDonald, but not only was his 60,000 troops wiped out, but the red light that could be seen on the skyline on the other side of the river could only prove one thing.

There is no fire over there. The Marchand Division’s base was attacked, and the baggage there may have been burned.

However, the French did not expect that the irregular cavalry in Solovyov's army were always Tatars, who preferred arson to looting by Cossacks.

As for looting, although they would rob, they were always more simple. They would not be like the Cossacks, who would go to the trouble to find out what was in the luggage carts abandoned by the French nearby. "Your Excellency, Marshal, what we should do now is to retreat. Our logistical supplies, in addition to those in Marchand, also include the original station of the Lagrange Division and the military station near my 5th Army. For those Russians, their cavalry will soon harass these places. If we lose all the supplies and stay on this side of the Neisse River, the result will be a disaster, much worse than the Berezina River!"

After all, the French troops on this side of the river were all combat-capable troops, unlike the Berezina River in the cold winter, where only civilians who followed the army and those stragglers who had lost their combat effectiveness were abandoned there.

Lauriston's opinion was also supported by the generals.

MacDonald himself violated Napoleon's orders and crossed the Katzbach River. If it were not for his action, it would not have been so easy for Solovyov to launch a surprise attack on the French army in the rear.

If the French army still stayed here, they would not have to consider crossing the river when the coalition forces increased their strength the next day.

In fact, the French army is also studying the situation of these coalition generals.

Because Solovyov was a very conspicuous person in Sweden and the Balkans, and the total number of enemies killed was constantly increasing, some people paid attention to his battles.

On the banks of the Danube, it was shocking to see so many Ottoman troops driven into the river at once.

Although considering the level of the Ottoman Empire, defeating them is nothing to brag about.

But Solovyov did achieve a similar result here as at Cannae, but because of the strange statistics of the Ottoman army, it cannot be confirmed.

However, the French did not want to be driven into the river the next day, which would not be fun.

For the Russians, when they began to believe in Eastern Orthodoxy, in addition to Grand Prince Vladimir being impressed by the magnificent prayer ceremony, the believers were all rushed to the river to be baptized. The action was also very quick, and the progress was even faster than the missionaries had imagined.

This may have some "sacred" meaning in it. For the Prussians, they have finally boosted their morale, so naturally they want to strike a severe blow.

At this time, the morale of the coalition forces was high and they were ready to fight fiercely.

If the French continued to fight the Allied forces during the day, they might have faced an even more tragic defeat.

So MacDonald sat here now, and after a moment of silence, he finally made a decision.

"While the Prussians are not ready yet and the main Russian force is far away from here, we have to return to the other side."

However, in the organization of the retreat, the French formation was already in chaos when crossing the river, and now it was even more disorderly.

The troops in front near the river bank may still be maintaining order. There are some destroyed pontoon bridges, and engineers are now working hard to restore access to these places.

In addition, near the ferry, the French soldiers were scrambling to cross the river.

Many of these soldiers are new recruits, and their order is very chaotic when they retreat.

There was no need even for the Allied cavalry to pursue and harass them, they just needed to disrupt their own formation.

Even the sound of horse hooves in the dark can cause confusion.

Some people believed that it was the Russian Cossacks who chased them, and as a result, they crowded and trampled on each other while still in the river, and hundreds of people fell into the water as a result.

It can be said that there was no organization during the retreat. Even a division commander in the French army, General Siboué, fell into the river and disappeared.

By the time they found him, he was a cold drowned body lying on the river bank.

In addition, the French army also lost General Sooden and General Poutaud of the Netherlands.

MacDonald's performance was so bad that it highlighted Lauriston, who was still organizing his troops to cover the rear.

Although his troops were also stretched thin and the Allied forces chased after him after discovering the French retreat, he still put up a stubborn resistance to the best of his ability.

At last, a ferry crossing was preserved for the 5th Army's retreat.

After suffering considerable losses, the coalition forces did not pursue.

They also knew that at this time, the French would always load their cannons with buckshot and wait for them to chase them to the river bank.

By late night, MacDonald's side was still retreating in chaos, while Lauriston's side, after a while of artillery bombardment, retreated to the other side.

Those cannons were thrown onto the river bank or even pushed directly into the river.

In addition to the cannons, there were even two flags, which were thrown into the river to avoid being captured by the Russian army.

By the next morning, when Blücher led his troops to the river bank, there were no French troops on this side of the Neisse River. They had all run away.

"It looked like we had won and had beaten the French."

Blücher also rode on horseback to the shore to accept the congratulations of the soldiers, especially the cheers of the new recruits in the Prussian army.

They finally defeated the French once, but the outcome was not quite as expected.

"Sir, but we have to pursue them now. If we give them a chance to catch their breath, Napoleon will come back from Dresden and we will face another tough battle."

Gneisenau was already considering his words when he said this. His commander-in-chief had a straightforward temper, and if it weren't for the Prussian army's poor performance in the previous battle, he would probably have been quite satisfied with this staff.

"Yes, we should pursue him. This MacDonald, I remember you said that he was defeated by Suvorov in Italy before. We should not let him go today. And that kid, I remember he is the disciple of the Russian commander?"

"Yes, he also participated in the Battle of the Trebia River, where he performed outstandingly in command of the Jagers. You..."

"Nothing, any news about him?"

"Yes, the villages over there are all burning. He attacked the Marchand Division. Many French troops that did not cross the river were also hit. However, because the Aude River Corps lacked supplies, he only seized the French baggage and did not pursue them. He also sent an adjutant to ask for your opinion."

When Blücher heard this, his beard stood up, although his beard was not a Pringles beard.

Obviously, Solovyov's respect for him always made the old man very happy.

"Ah, then let him have a good rest. It's not good to eat damn bread all day long. They don't have a separate supply line. August, prepare some good wine for them. We can't just have snacks but no good wine!"

Of course, he also didn't know that the French never lacked red wine in their supplies. (End of this chapter)