Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

"Look, sir. Over there are Sabanev's infantry, the 7th Army has arrived."

"They came at just the right time."

Solovyov was also getting nervous. The grenadiers had been exchanging opinions intensely with Vanda and Gérard for a long time since the start of the battle.

Moreover, in the afternoon, a piece of shrapnel hit Arkady.

This kid was lucky; he wasn't seriously injured and continued to support the battle on the front lines.

Solovyov had planned to send the Guards Jäger and the Guards Finnish Regiment up, but then withdrew the order, only ordering the two regiments to return to their ranks.

“Mishka, you’re getting a little anxious too.”

"Fortunately, we haven't sent them out yet. This kind of attrition is actually beneficial to us."

"But it seems unlikely that a winner will be decided today."

"Alyosha, you might need to lead the Royal Guard into battle in a little while. Or you might not. I'm waiting too."

"What if your uncle runs away?"

“If he wanted to run, he would have recalled his troops by now. I think he still intends to defeat us before nightfall, and he probably won’t change that mindset even if he were reduced to ashes.”

Solovyov knew Napoleon's mindset all too well; after this war of attrition, there wasn't even anything particularly remarkable to show for it.

Both sides' hospitals were filled with groaning wounded soldiers.

The day ended without a clear victor. To the French's dismay, they failed to capture any positions completely and only managed to force the Russians to retreat slightly.

"Your Majesty, should we consider retreating?"

"No, we shouldn't retreat yet. We can still fight, and the Russians don't have time to build Shevardino, the Fortress of the Convex, or the Fortress of the Multifaceted."

Soult saw Napoleon's state and knew he was determined to continue the fight, so he looked at Demid.

"Uncle, I think the Russian army will send reinforcements. They already have a whole corps of reinforcements today, but they haven't had time to deploy them to our right flank."

"I know, but what will happen if we retreat from here?"

Napoleon was well aware that if he suffered a defeat upon returning to France, the consequences would be disastrous.

If we were to retreat now, it would obviously not be as strategically advantageous as the route from Helenthaut to Brussels and then from Brussels to Lille, where there is much room for maneuver.

This time, the main Russian forces have closed in and are actively retreating on the battlefield, which means the enemy has the advantage in pursuit.

Solovyov was Suvorov's student and nephew, and he was also a participant in the Battle of Trebia, where the French army was defeated.

He will definitely pursue them; in fact, he defeated the Swedes and Turks using raids and pursuits in the past.

With both sides having already revealed their intentions, Napoleon himself would not back down.

Meanwhile, Solovyov sat by the campfire, chatting happily with the veteran grenadiers.

“I’m telling you, you’re a commander-in-chief now, yet you’re still hanging around with us soldiers. You don’t have the dignity of a master.”

"The master's authority? What good is that? The important thing is, brothers, we must win the battle so that my uncle can go back to Paris and take his child."

Solovyov always went to the grenadiers or the guards, and he would have a good chat with the soldiers in the evenings.

"Going home to hold the baby? Your wife just gave birth, right?"

"Yes."

"We also heard that you made a move on that girl you picked up from Serbia?"

"Yes, she also gave birth to a daughter for me."

"Tsk tsk tsk, you old man, you really didn't let anything slip by. We soldiers, even if we make it home alive, haven't seen our families for four years. We miss our wives so much!"

“Igor, if you miss your wife, we can go home once we win this battle. No matter what, Napoleon only had a maximum of 400,000 troops, while the Allied forces had many. Even if they wiped out 200,000 of us, we still have 800,000 left. This advantage is definitely in our hands. Besides, the French don’t have that many veterans like you, Igor.”

"Yes, their veterans are becoming fewer and fewer, one by one."

"They were all buried by his own hands on Russian soil. Why do the French have to fight us? They've been running rampant across the European continent. Prussia and Austria are their horse farms, Italy produces their grain, and the whole of Europe, except for us and the British, are his humble subordinates. He's also the Emperor's brother-in-law."

"Who knows what he's thinking? It's only because he's the Emperor's brother-in-law and your uncle, sir. Otherwise, when we catch him, we'll definitely hang him from that pillar."

“That’s called the Vendôme Column, Igor. But you don’t need to be so ruthless. Napoleon had his uses, but you should think of the British.”

Solovyov is now thinking about preparing for the next stage.

Moreover, he actually understood the concept and formulated his own plan.

As for the veterans, they are in good spirits now.

"By the way, you have a song you sing, could you sing one for us?"

"What's wrong? You've been away from home for four years, and you're starting to miss it?"

"Yes, some soldiers haven't even grown their beards yet, and their mothers at home still have to worry about them."

"But my mother passed away a long time ago, although my stepmother is good to me."

"She must be worried about you too, right? It's just that your relationship isn't going well, and your husband and your children are all your younger siblings who need your care."

"Yes, before I was even married, and didn't even have a lover, she was already searching the streets for aristocratic ladies to find me a partner."

That's for sure, and people can't help but whistle about it.

"How about we sing this?"

Solovyov took out his guitar and strummed it a few times.

"It's alright, this one is pretty good."

"You and I have been through gunfire for a very, very long time."
You and I have never had a break.

We crawled and rolled across battlefields, traversing half of Europe.

The final battle will take place tomorrow.

It's a bit too much for a commander-in-chief to be so close to his soldiers.

However, it was precisely because of this that he won the hearts of the soldiers.

Moreover, the soldiers who heard it were all moved by what they heard.

"Yes, the final battle. Your song is really good; we rarely hear it elsewhere."

"There will be plenty of time later. We will defeat Bonaparte! Tomorrow!"

Upon hearing this, the grenadiers began shouting "Hurrah!" It was late at night, and many soldiers were still awake, shouting "Hurrah!"

This call boosted morale.

This has always been the case for the Russian military.

On the French side, although they also shouted "Long live the Emperor" and still had absolute trust in him, the French were ultimately the ones with inferior military strength.

Solovyov returned to his lodgings, a farm, where his orderly, Valodia, had prepared a late-night snack for him.

"Sir, you must eat something."

"Yeah, I didn't get much to eat with the grenadiers. This place is much better, and most importantly, there are fresh vegetables."

Solovyov is very careful about his diet. He is happy to have fresh cabbage, even if it is just stewed in soup.

After he finished eating, he didn't rest. He only slept for a little while in the middle of the night.

"Alyosha, is there any news of the Prince?"

"Not yet, but they will definitely come, we just don't know when."

"It would be best if... best not to arrive in the morning. If our forces are close together, it will be difficult to defeat Napoleon; we might even be defeated by him. But if the Prince and those four armies arrive, the advantage will be on our side, and Napoleon will have to consider retreating."

"I think it would be better to send an adjutant instead."

"The decision-making power rests with the prince. He is the commander of the reserve forces, and he will arrive whenever friendly forces need support."

Indeed, the Empress Dowager's nephew was very capable, saving the army at critical moments several times, or providing effective flank support to prevent greater defeats.

"And what about the Prussians?"

"Prussians, any news of Blücher? Hopefully he'll arrive soon this time; we really need his light cavalry!"

The last time the Prussian army was able to retreat unscathed from Mont Saint-Jean, it was because the Prussian light cavalry managed to fire a couple of shots at the French infantry after their infantry had been routed, thus slowing down the French advance.

“There was a letter that was delivered by a captain in the Prussian army.”

Solovyov opened the letter and learned of Blücher's movements.

"That's good. Now that they've all arrived, we have a better chance of winning. But we need to be careful now. I'm a little sleepy. It would be even better if they send us news tomorrow morning."

"Should we go to bed early tonight?"

"Fighting a war is more agonizing than being with a woman, you know that!"

This is still based on the fact that the relationships in the Solovyov family are relatively harmonious, and his wife, housekeeper, and mistress all get along well and won't cause any major trouble.

Of course, as a doting father, Solovyov always thought about his children.

He really wanted to hold his daughter's hand and hand her over to her husband.

Octavia was just like her mother, beautiful but somewhat impulsive, and even more beautiful than her mother at the same age, in Solovyov's opinion. She was truly a good daughter who inherited the best features of both of them.

As for Yermolov, after arranging the duty officer, he also needed to rest for a while.

At this point, Napoleon once again made the mistake of being stubborn and refusing to admit his mistake.

However, it cannot be said that he has no advantages.

Even Solovyov pursued them all the way to Lille, but the Austrian army only managed to repel Lapp. Instead, after Suchet relieved Le Gub, they repelled the Austrian army that came from Switzerland.

The Alpine Legion and the Rhine Legion have merged, and Schücher can even find a new place to block Schwarzenberg.

However, the Russian army in front of him was simply too numerous, a problem that Napoleon was unable to solve.

Moreover, it was a bloody day, with neither side having any particularly noteworthy moments in their battles.

Napoleon could sense that this was a delaying tactic, but he had no choice but to grit his teeth and proceed.

The rest, that is, in the battle on the second day, he would see if he could defeat the Russians.

But we also need to consider where those reinforcements went.

Solovyov wanted Eugen of Württemberg to move slowly, while Blücher wanted to move quickly.

If they all arrive at the battlefield near Bettina in time, victory will be theirs.

As for Napoleon's subsequent retreat, whether it was a rout or an orderly withdrawal, Solovyov did not intend to pursue him quickly.

He also needed to follow the Tsar's instructions to arrange negotiations outside Paris this time, and Napoleon's defeat was something he had to accept.

But having this idea doesn't mean you can open champagne halfway through the game.

The final defeat of Napoleon was not due to the strength of the Allied generals, but purely to the difference in strength and the fact that Napoleon's later years had depleted France's resources.

At that time, Britain was already showing signs of being unable to hold out any longer and was about to start negotiations.

It was precisely because of this that Solovyov was able to fight two against one on the battlefield.

Such a strategic advantage, however, was nothing more than defeating a France that was already severely weakened. While victory was certainly cause for celebration, it was ultimately just that.

When both coaches got up the next morning, they also noticed the weather conditions.

Although it didn't rain, the morning was still quite cool with a breeze.

"Good weather, Alyosha. Although it's summer now, the temperature is indeed quite nice."

"You said it yourself, the climate is always nice where it's not far from the sea."

"Yes, it's not far from the English Channel; you can see the cliffs of Dover from Calais. But I'm not thinking about that now. Is there any news of reinforcements?"

"They will all arrive in the afternoon, the prince may arrive a little earlier, and his advance party, if it arrives, will arrive at noon, as mentioned in the reply."

"That's enough. We must endure another round of Napoleon's attacks, wear down his forces, and finally achieve victory. But it also depends on everyone's efforts. We must make sure the brothers are well-fed and have all the meat and fresh vegetables we can find."

"I know what you mean."

“Yes, even considering the worst-case scenario, the outcome might not be like that. Alyosha, let’s go check on the deployment at the front.”

Solovyov didn't intend to "micromanage" anything; his visit to the army was also to boost morale.

Napoleon on the other side was doing the same thing, and they really were uncle and nephew, even though Josephine had no blood relation to Solovyov.

However, we must also consider whether this kid is a relative through other means or actually related.

On the plains east of Bettina, on the second and final day of the campaign, the battle was about to begin.

There was more bad news for the French: they didn't have any decent reinforcements. After Canault managed to scrape together a division of veterans, he had no troops left to spare. (End of Chapter)