Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 888 008 How many days does it take to catch pigs in France? (Part )

Napoleon's army moved very quickly, so Blücher's retreat was not surprising.

After all, he had been beaten before and knew the level of his opponent.

It was truly a brilliant arrangement to disperse nearly 60,000 troops across such a long front.

As for the York and Saken armies, they had already approached Paris, but now they had to retreat.

Even the nearest place to Paris is not too far away.

At least the road signs erected by Napoleon no longer have "faris" on them, but kilometers instead.

"Another 70 kilometers? I have to say that the method established by the usurper is quite convenient. It even simplifies the measurement of distance. We can even adopt it."

This was the first thing York mentioned after meeting Sarken.

"But for you, it may be calculated in versts."

"Sir, there are still many native Russian soldiers in our legion, but you insist on mentioning this to me. The problem is that Bonaparte is back and he even defeated Olsufiev very quickly. Only a few of us have escaped."

"I think the most angry person should be Soloviev. I heard that he commanded the 9th Division when he was in the Balkans?"

"Yes, he led several divisions on the flank of Kamensky's army, from Vidin on the Danube to Athens."

"Maybe he will be the Russian Bonaparte"

"It's different, sir. Misha has a good relationship with the royal family, especially since he is the teacher of the two young grand dukes. And in my opinion, he has no personal ambitions, only the desire to establish a career."

"That's not bad, but it sounds strange for a young man like this. Is he only pursuing achievements on the battlefield?"

"Maybe there's another thing, which is saving money. He never gambles."

Because he didn't gamble, those old German gamblers had a general relationship with Solovyov, but Bagration had a good relationship with him, which was another factor.

"That sounds interesting, but that's not what we need to focus on right now. Rather, it's whether our army can successfully join up with the commander-in-chief."

"What we are afraid of now is that if Bonaparte turns his fist against us, it will be difficult to deal with."

To be honest, everyone on the Silesian Corps side, except Solovyov at the back, was marching with laughter all the way, but suddenly they suffered such a tragic defeat. The change from "hero" to clown was extremely rapid.

The troops who retreated in a hurry received simple orders.

After York and Sacken returned to their respective troops, they were to control Montmirail and occupy the important bridge over the Marne River. At the same time, Sacken had to control another bridge at Trierport.

However, things changed after the two of them separated.

York's Hussars soon encountered French cavalry on the road. After a brief exchange of fire, the French cavalry ran away.

When the intelligence was provided to York, he also realized that something was wrong.

"Take this to General Saccon and tell him that the French are on their way. I advise him to join me near the Château de Thierry. If you encounter the enemy, do not fight them. This may be Bonaparte's main force. Some of them appear to be dragoons of the Guards."

It is the "Queen's Dragoons" sponsored by Josephine. This regiment is also very distinctive. They may have stayed in Spain for a longer time and were not always with the Guards, but they also enjoyed the treatment of the Guards.

York was already very careful, but what he didn't expect was that Sacken himself would have problems in the army.

"Captain, your superior is worrying too much."

"But the situation is urgent now, sir. Our army is advancing towards Château-Thierry. If you insist on staying here, it will be difficult for us to meet you in time even if we advance at full speed because of the muddy road."

The adjutant spoke earnestly, but Sacken remained indifferent.

Among the Prussian and Russian commanders during these two days, more than one had mental problems. Except for York who was more cautious and gave a relatively reliable suggestion, the rest did not take the French seriously at all or did not realize the coming danger.

"But, sir, our friendly forces' suggestions are not without reason."

Someone said this, but Saken still didn't take it seriously. He still wanted to carry out his original plan.

However, with nearly 20,000 troops under his command, it seemed that it would not be easy for him to be defeated by Napoleon. Even if he had a mediocre general, he would end up being defeated, unlike Orsufiev before.

"It's only been a day, and now we have to fight the enemy again."

Napoleon and his entourage were marching on the muddy road at this time.

It is obvious that many of the French cavalry are new recruits, and some of them have even learned to ride horses for a shorter time than they have been in the army.

But the battle went very well. These young cavalrymen actually captured two generals in the first direct battle, and during the pursuit, they also seized 12 Russian cannons.

In the eyes of the French artillery, the Russian artillery is currently of better quality, because the gun mounts they use have been dried for a long time, are sturdy and durable, and the types of ammunition are similar to those of France and can be used directly.

Napoleon lost 50 cannons in the previous two battles, so he also brought the captured Russian artillery here.

"It's just that your majesty, we are short of horses now, and we need at least a few more horses."

"Then why don't we go to a nearby farmhouse? Perhaps we can find something there?"

Even this morning, when Napoleon began the engagement on the cavalry side, he was looking for horses to pull the artillery.

After all, due to the lack of manpower, Napoleon could already start micro-managing the company.

But when they passed a farmhouse, it was obvious that the hostess disagreed.

He only saw Napoleon's bicorne hat, gray coat and green military uniform, but did not recognize the emperor.

The peasant woman was still cursing because the tyrant had taken both of her sons to serve in the army, and both of them had died in battle and never returned.

Although Napoleon had a bad temper, he was still willing to listen to a peasant woman's complaints until a Guards Grenadier mentioned "the Emperor" inappropriately.

"What did they call you?"

"Yes, the tyrant you curse is me. Can you provide us with horses to pull the cannons? I want to find horses and pull out the cannons, so that we can use these cannonballs to avenge the Alemanni or the Russians who actually killed your son. As for me, you can say whatever you want. You can even come here if you want." "Okay, let them follow me." The peasant woman had just been gesturing with a pitchfork, wanting to drive away Napoleon, Berthier, Motier and Caulaincourt, but now she has been convinced by the emperor.

This fat Italian man is indeed very persuasive, and if he is moved by emotion, he probably won't be arrogant.

But his biggest shortcoming is undoubtedly that he is too narrow-minded. If he could tolerate Moreau and his loyal generals.
Now at least even Bernadotte, who was slacking off, defeated the British squad near Antwerp, but he had to choose to retreat because there were too many people in the Northern Legion.

Ney was always by his side and was one of the few friends of Moreau who was not affected.

As for Lecourbe, I hope he can hold on to Besançon.

The peasant woman found two horses and at least helped to pull the cannon out.

Now Napoleon had to move on and lead the Guards to cause trouble for his opponents.

However, before negotiating with the peasant woman, he was considering capturing the Prussians first and then catching Sacken.

But York was a cautious man. After he gave up his plan to advance towards Montmirail, he did not forget to remind his friendly forces to retreat to Château-Thierry.

If they all got there, it would probably be 30,000 to 30,000, and it would not be easy for Napoleon to defeat them all together.

But Saken did not do as he wished, but went straight towards Montmirail.

Near noon, the Russian army discovered that Napoleon was taking action, so the first few infantry regiments, although they did not have many soldiers and even a division might have only more than 2,000 people, were still deployed to the front line.

As for the French, they were waiting for the artillery.

The battle is about to begin again, but Sakken's performance is much better than Olsufiev, who was almost sent to a military court by him.

Napoleon did not gain much advantage, as the Russian infantry on the front line were clearly very resilient.

"Damn it, we can't let these Russians get together with the Prussians easily today. We need Nansuti to control the road to the castle. We have to stop any possible reinforcements."

Sarken is reckless and lacks ability, but he can make up for it with courage.

At least he let the soldiers on the front line know that although the emperor had handed them over to the Germans, this guy did appear by their side despite the French artillery fire.

But the effect was not good. When the battle reached the afternoon, the Russian army discovered some guys wearing bear-skin hats advancing towards Marches.

Napoleon realized that the village and the high ground were the key. Normally, he kept his old guards from joining the battle, but today he quickly deployed two of their battalions, followed by four more.

This boosted the morale of the French soldiers. They knew that the emperor would not be too far away, so they shouted "Long live the emperor" and attacked forward.

Only then did Sacken realize that the situation was not good. It was somewhat difficult for him to fight Napoleon alone. He was also present when Langeron and Bagration led the Russian all-star lineup to fight against the French army in Eylau.

It wasn't an easy time.
So he began to send cavalry to control the road to Château-Thierry, muttering to himself: "Damn, York is right. Bonaparte runs so fast!"

However, York was not idle either. He sent a cavalry unit to support Sacken, and finally secured the Russian army's retreat route.

However, an infantry regiment was divided by the French cavalry, and the trapped Russian infantrymen had to fight their way out with bayonets, but there were not many of them left.

Sacken's troops were finally rescued, but they lost a lot of men and also abandoned some artillery.

Although the spoils left for Napoleon were not much, it was enough for him to declare victory.

However, at the end of today's battle, due to the rain, the road became increasingly muddy and we could no longer pursue the enemy.

Napoleon assembled his troops and had a short rest at night. The next day he would pursue in the direction of Thierry. If he did not defeat York and Sacken's troops, his end would be in jeopardy.

But Napoleon, who personally took charge of the battlefield, was still able to win the cheers and sincere support of the soldiers.

"Your Majesty, what shall we do now? MacDonald cannot arrive in time, for the bridges are all destroyed."

"His report said he only destroyed one bridge."

"But, Your Majesty, the Russians destroyed another one when they retreated."

"What the hell!"

Napoleon was so angry that he laughed. Of course, he also thought that MacDonald always encountered strange problems by the river, which was probably a world-class problem in the French army.

"Tell MacDonald to hurry up and join us. Now that the enemy threatening Paris no longer exists, we can concentrate our troops and fight a good battle. In addition, tell our troops to continue bluffing and monitor Blücher's actions. When the battle here is over, we will immediately turn back to defeat this old bastard."

The reason why they didn't use the "eliminate" method was simple. Old Deng was too good a runner. He could ride very fast at his age and was often impossible to catch.

This time, because of the muddy roads, the fact that they were fighting at home, and the fact that the coalition forces were caught off guard along the way, only the part where the old man was could escape.

But his order also came. After York and Sacken met at the Château-Thierry, they received Blücher's order to retreat to Reims.

Actually, Reims surrendered too quickly. Only a dozen cavalrymen passed by and the locals quickly surrendered. Even Blücher's troops did not enter the city when they passed by.

It can be said that France today is very different from what it was in 1793.

But the time is not long now, and the coalition forces seem to be able to exercise restraint.

Saken's troops now looked in a very bad state because of the defeat and the night march, and even the ranks were not very orderly.

At the same time, York's troops were not in good condition. While marching quickly towards Paris, they suddenly received an order to retreat, which always caused the army to fall into temporary chaos.

Fortunately, he did not encounter Napoleon's troops first, and he wisely chose to retreat to Château-Thierry.

But another problem arose. York controlled the castle and the village, and not only was the road ahead smooth, but there was also a problem that he could not overcome.

By this time, many of the castles in France were no longer just a pile of stones on the outside.

Regarding this, perhaps a former citizen representative in southern France has a say, after all, his family used to live in the countryside and served as a follower for the knight.
Then the Great Revolution came, and many of the original French castles were transformed into palaces and villas. They are no longer what they used to be, and some may even have to be converted into hotels in the future.

(End of this chapter)