Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

It turns out that Alexander arranged for Solovyov to join the army so that he could be Barclay's deputy.

However, Barclay's health was very poor. His condition fluctuated throughout the summer, and doctors even worried that he only had about five years left to live. As a result, after the army reached Rhineland, he fell seriously ill and never recovered.

Although the doctor's diagnosis indicated that his life was not in danger, this still forced the Tsar to agree to his suggestion.

Solovyov was appointed acting commander-in-chief of the Russian army's front lines, although he lacked the two corps of Prince Württemberg, which allowed him to lead everyone.

Back in the village of Fil, Solovyov was merely the commander of the 8th Army, and he never imagined that he would now be in the limelight.

These generals were all his seniors.

But now, he has to take command.

Barclay himself was lying in bed, while he sat to one side.

All the commanders, as well as Vinzengrod, who is in charge of the cavalry, are here.

Actually, when it comes to commanding cavalry, Wittgenstein, who was not very good at fighting, was not incapable. However, he was too badly injured and had not fully recovered yet. In addition, his military positions were full, so he couldn't be made commander-in-chief, could he?

"Everyone is here, so let's have a short meeting. As you can see, I look like this. When Marshal Kutuzov was still alive, we were in Fili village. My health wasn't very good then, and it's like this now. Therefore, I wrote a memorial to the Emperor, explaining the situation at the front, and appointed Misha as acting commander-in-chief. Here is the Emperor's reply and the appointment notice. That's why I called you all here."

“I say, old Barclay, you should take a good rest. The Emperor has appointed you Field Marshal and Prince so that you can enjoy yourself. Don’t end up like that Pole who fell into the river right after becoming Bonaparte’s Field Marshal.”

"Count Langeron, if you say that, people will think you're up to something again."

Dokhturov, who is usually very honest, interrupted this time, also wanting to defend the Commander-in-Chief.

However, Langeron said, "I'm just concerned about my old friend, so don't overthink it."

Everyone knows Langeron has a big mouth, so no one bothers to argue with him.

It is said that Solovyov was familiar with him, and according to Langeron, this guy was the real sharp-tongued one, but in his usual manner, he rarely criticized anyone.

But becoming the commander-in-chief would be a different story, even if it's just an acting position.

However, Solovyov didn't think too much about it. He stood up and also took off his hat to salute everyone.

"But when I was acting as commander-in-chief, things were quite delicate. Our allies had just been defeated, with hundreds of thousands of troops lost and the Prussian army in disarray. The British could only return to their islands to regroup."

"He refused a corps from the Prince of Württemberg back then; perhaps he shouldn't have done so if he had had more troops."

Saken is an honest man; he doesn't keep anything to himself.

This was indeed something the Tsar had mentioned before.

At this time, the Allied forces consisted of 20 troops each from Russia and Austria, and although the Prussian army had lost more than 5 men, it still had more than 10. The German princes also had a considerable number of troops available.

However, with the Austrians as their allies and their commander not being Archduke Karl, Solovyov didn't think the situation was too good.

The allied forces, when fully assembled, should number one million.

But things are different now, and logistical support is also a major problem.

Solovyov believed that the war had to end before winter, as the next few years would be disastrous.

Although it won't have much impact on Russia and may not be significantly affected, given that the yield from the land is only so-so.

However, the "Year Without a Summer," and the following year or two, primarily impacted Western Europe.

If war broke out again at that time, the logistical costs would be unbearable, and it would be an absolute disaster for all parties involved.

Moreover, Napoleon could not be given more time. Within two months, he could not muster more troops. At most, after a large-scale conscription, he could increase his forces to 40.

The coalition will still have the advantage, but Solovyov won't have the advantage on my side; he'll have to think it over carefully.

"Napoleon wants to take advantage of the fact that our various forces have not yet converged to defeat them one by one. Now he has forced the British army to temporarily withdraw from the war, while the Prussians have suffered heavy losses. The next target will probably fall on our heads. If he adopts an aggressive attitude towards war, this is probably how it will be."

Solovyov has already begun to consider the issue and wants to explain it clearly to the generals.

"As for the specifics, Petya, open the map and let's see the current situation."

Right there in Barclay's bedroom, Solovyov had Petya open the map and place it on the floor.

During the armistice, he returned to Moscow and proposed to Katya's sister, Sonya. Because he was returning with a medal, like his brother Nikolai, Solovyov's mother-in-law didn't object and agreed to the marriage.

Then, Petya will become Solovyov's brother-in-law in the future, which is also quite interesting.

Although Solovyov always lamented that the little girl Katya was holding hands with back then is almost getting married.

But the generals always felt that Solovyov had become more sociable. Before, he would only bring his adjutant according to the mission, but now he had finally put a relative by his side, who was also his brother-in-law.

The only difference was the difference in their status: one was an infantry general acting commander-in-chief, and the other was a cavalry lieutenant adjutant.

"Let's look at the current situation. If Napoleon had to choose an opponent, do you think he would pursue us from Liège, or take a different route?"

Solovyov pointed with his riding crop to the area drawn on the map at that moment. Blue represented France, green represented Russia, red represented Britain, black represented Prussia, and the Austrians were represented by brown because white was too inconspicuous.

"I think he will launch a very aggressive attack on us, which would turn the tide of the war. Our Austrian allies are still besieging several French border cities with little success. Meanwhile, the French are also mobilizing troops from the south."

Raevsky said so, and Solovyov nodded in agreement.

"Yes, but which approach should we take? Should we take the initiative to attack, or wait for them to come over? While playing inside is more advantageous for us, waiting for the enemy to make a move would mean losing the initiative."

Solovyov was actually quite bold; when he encountered Napoleon in Poland, he would fight a defensive battle and then flee as soon as possible.

Upon arriving in Eau, he put up a fierce fight, and the following year he began another miraculous maneuver. However, at that time he was the Chief of Staff, and Langeron was even the Commander-in-Chief for a period. After that, whenever Solovyov was in charge, he was always involved in dealing with Napoleon.

Especially in Lance, after stalling for time, he ran away.

Now, his tone sounds rather strange.

"You must be wondering why someone who has always advocated a defensive stance against Napoleon is now advocating for a proactive war? What I want to say is that Napoleon has just fought against the Allied forces, so we shouldn't give them too much breathing room. In fact, we should be even more proactive and give him no chance to breathe."

Solovyov was indeed very bold; he intended to overwhelm them by leveraging his local numerical superiority.

After all, he really did have 7 men, and after marching, he was finally able to reach the designated area in early July.

"After crossing the river from Maastricht, we don't need to hide anymore; we should head to Liège. Give the Prussians some time to rest. Their Guards, as well as the 5th and 6th Corps, can always replenish their forces. And although the Dutch were defeated at Saint-Jean, they should still have some troops that can be recruited."

Solovyov pointed to several more places on the map, and soon a plan formed in his mind.

After all, he used to be a chief of staff, so such a deployment plan will come out very quickly.

"If we add Prince Eugene's two armies, we will have even more troops. We must take advantage of this local advantage. Our armies should maintain marching columns and, after crossing the Meuse River, should not be too far apart and should form a coordinated force. If Napoleon is preparing to attack our flanks, then we will actively engage him."

Although it also looks like a long, single-file formation, Solovyov's attack is dynamic, and he also knows exactly how he wants to fire.

"We not only have a numerical advantage, but also an advantage in artillery. Napoleon will certainly want to concentrate his artillery fire against us, but we must also concentrate our artillery. Past lessons have proven that dispersed artillery is not very effective. Our artillery command must be systematized, forming a cannon cluster with 400 cannons."

Solovyov's way of speaking here is indeed quite different from that of previous commanders-in-chief.

In the past, Suvorov focused on proactive attacks in an abstract manner, Kutuzov seized opportunities while waiting for the right moment to strike, while Barclay was meticulous in his planning and indecisive.
Solovyov, however, wanted to explain the general strategy to the generals before the war even began, in order to seek their support.

He also realized that the Austrians were indeed useless, and were even lingering at the border.

Last time, Le Gub blocked them at Leipzig, and this time he even used an observation corps to block the Austrians again, 10,000 against 60,000.

Solovyov even felt that if he were with Schwarzenberg, the war might not have had to be fought, and he would have to put up with the Austrian Field Marshal appointed by Napoleon above him.

He is young, but because of his past military achievements, no one in the Russian army will cause him trouble. Moreover, he seems to be the only one who has served as the commander-in-chief in a certain direction, which makes him convincing.

But Schwarzenberg and Solovyov had already pointed out the problem during their last battle.

Therefore, Solovyov also felt that the real purpose of mobilizing the army was to seize the initiative in the war. If they were just waiting for the enemy to come and joining forces with the Austrians, there was obviously nothing to say.

Because he had previously held off Napoleon in Reims, everyone believed in his command abilities.

But the fact that they would take the initiative to attack is indeed somewhat surprising.

If Marshal Suvorov were still alive, he probably would have done this.

Bagration was one of them, but considering that Solovyov was the last disciple mentored by the Grand Marshal, it's not surprising.

For Napoleon, the most difficult thing to recover now is his experienced soldiers.

After several battles, the losses will only increase.

However, there is no intelligence to indicate the exact extent of the French army's losses.

Therefore, he also wrote to Blücher in Liège to inquire about the specific situation.

Gneisenau then replied, only providing information on the Prussian army's losses and the Allied forces' performance in the two battles.

However, this is enough for analysis. Before Barclays went to Cologne to recuperate, the facts always need to be clarified.

Moreover, Solovyov needs a chief of staff; he can't do everything himself right now.

So Yermolov, who had previously led the grenadiers, became his chief of staff, while Solovyov brought in Arkady to command the grenadiers.

Although he was far inferior to the Grand Marshal in military affairs, as the Grand Marshal's son, he was much better than the other second-generation leaders, except for the already deceased Kamensky Jr., who was mostly inferior to him.

Moreover, he is brave enough to command grenadiers without any problem.

That's how it was back then, during the war in the Balkans.

As for the rest of the command structure, Solovyov is also adjusting it as the situation develops.

After everything was nearly ready, he ordered Dokhtulov and Raevsky to cross the river and enter Belgium first.

The fact that the Russian army was going to launch an offensive made everyone in the Allied forces, except for Blücher who was close by, think that he had lost his mind.

Prince Metternich even waited to see the Tsar make a fool of himself, and said: "It's not very good to send that pretty boy to fight Napoleon, but he should be good at dealing with the Turks."

As for Napoleon himself, he had arrived in Leuven at this time.

He wasn't surprised that Solovyov dared to enter Belgium on his own initiative, and even spoke of it with a hint of disdain.

“Michel will be an excellent commander in the future, but like Suvorov, he only has courage and a little bit of cleverness and superhuman bravery when defending. If he attacks, we will give him a good beating.”

Indeed, no one could have imagined that 20 Russian troops would come to them on their own initiative when their allies had already suffered defeats.

When Napoleon entered Russia, he probably never encountered such a well-organized main force of the Russian army.

Now it's the Russian army that's coming to him, and they're being so proactive, turning the tables on what happened three years ago.

But he wouldn't back down. If the French emperor showed any sign of retreat, the ambitious figures in Paris would likely take action. (End of Chapter)