Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Napoleon's offensive targeted Sacken and Dokhturov, also because of their prominent positions.

Moreover, it's so close to Antwerp that if the Russians wanted to, their cavalry could quickly enter Antwerp.

If these two armies were to enter Antwerp, it would be very disadvantageous for Napoleon.

The Russian army could use this place to obtain supplies from the British, while the French army, because Cano had served as the garrison commander here last year, knew some of the situation in the city.

If the Russians were allowed in, although it wouldn't necessarily lead to France's immediate defeat, the situation would be very unfavorable.

So Napoleon planned to meet the enemy in this way. He also seized the opportunity to station the vanguard of the Russian army at Helenthaus. Although the area was surrounded by waterways on three sides, the artificial traces were too obvious, and it was easy to cross.

French artillery had an advantage in a confined area.

Meanwhile, Davu was also on high alert in Westeros, ready to stop any Russian reinforcements if they arrived.

However, this was also very risky, because Solovyov was able to mobilize his troops very quickly. In his previous battles with the main French forces, he had simply waited for the enemy to come to him, and had not demonstrated that kind of efficient command ability.

However, in the battles against Sweden and the Ottoman Empire, it can be seen that he used a new system to fight very quickly and soon defeated the enemy.

However, dealing with Napoleon was still the Russian army's first battle in over a year, and Solovyov was being overly cautious.

He kept his main force in the rear, so he wasn't worried that the French would target his main force for a decisive battle.

That way he could make use of both flanks, with Sakhen and Dokhturov attacking from the right flank and the Prussian army flanking from the left.

Napoleon was able to anticipate his intentions, and therefore chose to launch a surprise attack in Antwerp.

Solovyov had anticipated the opponent's prediction, and he could only accept the arrangement; his ultimate goal was victory.

Therefore, when deploying his troops, he also noticed the activities of the French army on Davout's side to some extent, but he could not confirm how many men they had.

Solovyov now has the grenadier corps and the 4th, 6th, Guards corps and the 1st, 2nd and 7th corps trailing behind, with cavalry on the flanks.

After noticing the French operation, he prepared to engage them, because according to Prussian reconnaissance, the enemy's garrison should not be too large.

If that's the case, he also plans to attack the flank of the French army, defeat a portion of it first, and then engage Napoleon in battle.

Both sides share the same attitude, which is largely related to the current strategic situation.

However, their objectives differed. Solovyov wanted to consolidate his gains gradually, while Napoleon aimed for a swift victory.

When the sound of artillery fire erupted ahead, Solovyov quickly received Langeron's report.

So he would go there, observe the situation on the battlefield, and make a judgment.

"Your Excellency, the Great Net River is to the south, and our operations here have always followed the water network."

"It's strange that the French crossed the river first."

Solovyov watched the battle between Davu and Langeron through his binoculars, which inevitably left him with some doubts.

He wanted to say something to Yermolov, and was even prepared to commit the 4th Army to quickly resolve the battle.

However, after seeing the French army's formation, he hesitated again.

"Were there any captured French officers we could ask about the situation?"

"not yet."

"Alyosha, this is not good."

Many units within the French army have undergone changes in their organizational numbers. Not only has the French army been thrown into disarray by downsizing, but the Allied forces are also frequently struggling to keep up.

Some of the later-numbered armies no longer existed at this point.

Apart from Langeron discovering the flag of the Gérard army himself, Solovyov's side at this time also lacked any concept of the troops blocking the Russian army.

Although he was able to deduce some things from Napoleon's methods, he still didn't know who the commander was.

"Let's go further ahead and take a look!"

Solovyov saw things more clearly when he arrived in Langeron.

The French light infantry, in loose formation, used the obstacles to fire at the Russian troops.

Meanwhile, the Russian army took advantage of the Netherlands' unique terrain, which was flat and covered with waterways. In fact, if the light infantry on both sides continued to fight like this, it would be disadvantageous for the Russian army.

Solovyov also received reconnaissance reports in the morning, knowing that the French army had split into two groups.

If we don't see the bearskin hat, then Napoleon must have headed towards Sagin.

The two generals were fairly capable of defense, and Solovyov had actually prepared a contingency plan.

Losing the battle is not a big deal. The vanguard of the Russian army can even retreat to the Netherlands. Although the Dutch army is not large, it is unlikely that Napoleon will be able to pursue them across the river.

After winning the first battle, he will definitely target Solovyov's main force.

Solovyov wasn't looking down on Sakhen; he just thought this situation was likely due to the vast difference in their ability levels.

Therefore, he also reminded Sackena's group how to proceed, so that once they reached the Netherlands, they could coordinate with the main Russian forces.

With the Prussian army on his flank, Napoleon cannot win unless he wins a decisive battle in every engagement.

Under the conditions of the Napoleonic Wars, achieving such results would have been extremely difficult.

Langeron, on the other hand, remained calm as he watched the shells coming from the other side.

The French army's objective was to obstruct them, and as a royalist soldier who had left France in 1791, he was certainly aware of this.

The French army has always demanded swift action.

Solovyov found him and saw that he was behind a stone building, where the shells couldn't reach.

"What are you doing in a place like this?"

“Michel, I’m just placing the general staff here. The French artillery shells just happen to be out of reach of this area, as there are woodlands and villages in front of us.”

"It looks like the French are playing very tough and tenaciously. I'm planning to include Rajewski in the squad as well."

"But what if Sakeng and Dokhturov get attacked? Haven't you always wanted to control Antwerp?"

"The situation is always changing, Count. What I want is for the main force to deploy, but the movements of the Prussians are unclear. If they head towards Leuven or Brussels, they'll be far from the battlefield. And just like at the beginning of the war, the failure of the British and Prussian armies to join forces in time ultimately led to defeat." Solovyov remained very calm as he analyzed this point.

Napoleon acted too quickly. If history were to be reconstructed, the Allied forces would probably have ended up killing Napoleon there because they had more troops from several countries.

Even when they entered Paris last year, Solovyov could sense that, apart from himself constantly moving and Blücher constantly getting beaten, the other teams always ran away at the first sign of trouble. This familiar pattern had occurred several times before.

It's unimaginable how devastating Napoleon's defeat would have been if he had turned his attention to attacking the Austrians instead of advancing on his own campaign, had it not been for the forest blocking his way.

Schwarzenberg's current troop advantage isn't that significant, and they're camped outside several cities, in a defensive formation waiting to be attacked.

The two who were more proactive on the battlefield before have now both suffered defeats.

After some thought, Solovyov also became more cautious.

His troop movements were also an attempt to defeat the French army on the other side.

After seeing this situation, Davout began to retreat, wanting the main Russian forces to focus their firepower on him. If he could hold out until the afternoon, when there was a result on Napoleon's side of the battlefield, he could decide what to do next.

Solovyov found that there was still no response from Sakhen, so he sent an adjutant to Helenthout, but this back-and-forth trip took time.

For a time, the French and Russian armies were locked in a stalemate. However, Davout's retreat finally made Solovyov decide to launch a pincer attack using the armies of Raevsky and Langeron.

Arkady's grenadier corps was to be placed on the main road, serving as a reserve force while he observed the battlefield situation and made a final decision.

Meanwhile, Napoleon had already gained the opportunity to defeat Sackien.

During his morning reconnaissance, Vandham discovered that the Russian army was not adequately protecting the transportation lines, and that the bridges over the canal were not under Russian control at the time.

Further reconnaissance revealed that, after seeing a series of good news, Napoleon finally made up his mind to launch an offensive.

Although there was indeed a network of water on three sides at Hellenthaus, the water was so shallow that it couldn't do much, and the French launched an attack from two directions.

The resistance from the Russian army was even fiercer than the resistance the French had encountered from the Prussian and British armies.

The British soldiers only showed some resilience when under the command of their commander.

And the Russians? Their actions were even more spontaneous.

However, the Russian army will also back down when faced with defeat.

Napoleon ordered the French army to launch a full-scale attack, leaving only his Imperial Guard in his hands. He wanted a quick victory in this small town, and no matter where the Russian army eventually fled, it would turn eastward.

Sakhen held out for a whole morning, but he didn't send any signal to Solovyov.

It wasn't until Solovyov's adjutant arrived at Helenthaut that Sakhen realized his mistake.

Although it was still possible to report the battle situation to Solovyov in time, it had already had a significant impact on the battlefield deployment.

It wasn't until the afternoon, when Solovyov finally managed to assemble two corps to create a local numerical advantage over the French forces and prepare to deploy the 2nd Grenadier Division to attack, that he received a report from Sacken.

The French army did indeed attack him and Dokhturov, and Dokhturov was wounded again. The troops at the front were all placed under the command of Sakén.

His current situation is that he is being attacked from three sides by the French army, and the situation is critical.

But Solovyov ignored him and only asked Sakhen to cross the canal to the north if the situation turned unfavorable.

All the rest of my energy was focused on this.

Davu was indeed skilled in both offense and defense. He gave Solovyov no chance, and even if the grenadiers attacked, he had already arranged for a division of the 4th Army to be deployed on the flank.

Then, Solovyov's grenadiers faced a challenge in their area of ​​expertise.

The French army's weapons were of inferior quality, but their morale was high, and they were skilled in close combat.

Even as Solovyov launched his attack, light infantrymen went up to strike the Russian grenadiers.

Solovyov's attack naturally failed, and he could only try to use his superior numbers to push the French out.

In fact, Solovyov felt that the battlefield on the Belgian-Dutch border was not a good place for any side to maneuver, and that the area around Brussels and southern Belgium were probably the most suitable battlefields.

Because of the water network and the fact that neither side was willing to damage the dikes, both sides always had to cross ditches and canals during the battle, which always slowed down the progress of the battle.

However, Napoleon's victory at Helenthaut rendered Solovyov's efforts to drive Davout to the ferry crossing by nightfall meaningless.

Davout was even able to cross the Great Net River under cover of darkness and then set the bridge on fire.

He lost only four thousand men, while inflicting five thousand casualties on the Russian army.

Meanwhile, Napoleon defeated Sacken at Hellenthaus, but only a few thousand Russian soldiers were killed.

This time, Saken didn't have York to support him, but he had already been beaten once, so he was able to learn from his experience and pulled his main force out.

Napoleon achieved a tactical victory, but it wasn't enough for him.

Solovyov then ordered his seven corps to deploy.

"We're not going to Antwerp!"

"why?"

“Napoleon has cut off our road to Antwerp, but unfortunately we are not far enough from Brussels. If we were further away, we would send our main force up there to cut off his supply lines.”

Solovyov's words to Yermolov surprised the Russian generals present, but also excited them somewhat.

We've never been this proactive in dealing with Napoleon before.

This also means that the French army is currently at a disadvantage in terms of troop strength on the battlefield in Belgium.

Then the Russian army can fight more aggressively, and the plan that Verother ultimately failed can actually be used here.

In other words, Solovyov wanted to defeat him in a manner similar to Napoleon's, which was quite audacious.

However, whether he can achieve his goal depends on Napoleon's course of action and his own command of the Russian army.

If this strategy can be accomplished, all French troops in Belgium, except for Lamarck in Brussels, will be trapped in Antwerp.

His appetite is indeed enormous, but it depends on whether Napoleon agrees. (End of Chapter)