Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 312 014 Europeans also know how to use strategies (Part 2)

Grand Duke Konstantin still wanted Solovyov to show some real skills, but the length of Sun Tzu's Art of War was not that simple.

Although the content is not much, the analysis and cases still require work.

Just as Solovyov often read the works of Frontinus and Vegetius, the former basically talks about small skills on the battlefield, while the latter is about military systems.

Although the latter appeared during the period of internal and external troubles when Rome began to decline, and is obviously a bit out of date, the things recorded are very useful.

After all, in the ancient world, this could be used to build an army, and the theoretical basis was relatively solid.

Whether it is applicable or not depends on the environment at the time, and Europeans are not so rigid in fighting wars. There are actually many stereotypes.

"If we talk about it, there are many things in common between the East and the West in their military theories."

Konstantin nodded in agreement with Solovyov's opinion. After all, he had seen the plot of Sun Bin and Pang Juan's battle of wits that Solovyov had translated and transformed, and knew some of the outlines of the story. In this regard, both the East and the West are familiar with it. Focus on strategy.

Otherwise, there would be no strategic deception in war, and the embarrassing scene of some people inventing strategies but actually not knowing how to win.

The battlefield not only requires the art of military command during battles, but also includes logistics, strategies in war, tactics in battles, and the daily construction of the army. It is a process cultivated by the entire system.

There is no shortcut in this regard. Military always requires the combination of war art and military technology, and it is not that simple as a comprehensive discipline.

It’s just basic military theory that needs to be clarified.

In the context of Europeans, it is actually the pile of unfinished things that Clausewitz created in the future, which can be regarded as a basic theoretical textbook.

It was said that it was not completed because he and Gneisenau were taken away by cholera, and many of the remaining manuscripts were compiled by his wife.

As for how to achieve this standard, Solovyov still lacks one thing, and that is experience.

In his commentary, Archduke Charles's first reply has arrived, and some points need to be corrected.

"But one thing is right, that is, on the battlefield, commanders have many things to do proactively and cannot passively accept instructions."

This problem will be encountered by many people in the next ten years, especially Solovyov's main acquaintances.

"In the past, there was a military committee, which was more troublesome. Now it has been restructured into the Ministry of War, with the Minister of War in charge. At least the administrative instructions and daily construction of the army can be clarified."

The reform of departments and committees was actually something Alexander did better after he came to the throne, which reduced a lot of unnecessary troubles.

At least there is no need for a group of old guys to meet and discuss. Now it only needs to be signed by the old guy, Minister of War Sergei Kuzmich, and submitted directly to the Tsar himself. After approval, you can enter the next stage, in terms of efficiency. Greatly improved.

Solovyov said this, and Konstantin also agreed. When they stood next to Suvorov, they all heard the old marshal mentioning to the Austrian generals that Russia and Austria's poor military commission system was a joke. It was said during the Battle of Trebbia.

"As for the use of strategies, Your Highness, we will all think of it. At this time, avoiding the truth and attacking the illusion, and creating an illusion when crossing the river is the most basic way to deceive the enemy."

As for explaining the virtual and real chapters, as well as the use of strategies on the battlefield, there are actually many places that can be combined.

Solovyov thought a lot and had prepared all the relevant content.

"These are some examples of war. I just don't know how to make the entire discussion more reasonable."

When Grand Duke Konstantin brought it over to look at it, he put his daughter down and she went to Solovyov's side.

"Children seem to like to cling to you, Misha, and so does the emperor's daughter."

"Especially when the twins took candy out of my pocket, didn't they?"

Speaking of which, Solovyov exposed the little tricks of the two princesses. Polina first negotiated with Svetlana, and then she came to restrain Solovyov.

It's just a little trick played by children, and they are starting to become overly cautious.

They have always been formidable, and indeed they also have their scary aspects.

While Solovyov was holding Konstantin's Sofia, the Grand Duke himself was reading the plot.

I have to mention here that what Chief Du said when giving the air-dropping order is in this article.

And Alexander does have this problem now.

This kind of thing cannot be said by close ministers like Solovyov. Someone with weight is needed to guide Alexander and not to give blind orders in the war of 1805.

"If you don't understand the expediency of military operations, but you want to interfere with the command of the army, the soldiers will have doubts. It is true that this is the case. The Austrian Emperor did this, but we can't raise this question. After all, our army has arrived in Italy and Switzerland It is to help the court in Vienna and to fully respect them.”

Emperor Franz took advantage of all the things he shouldn't have done, so he was beaten severely.

However, he still did not change his shortcomings.

"Similarly, some monarchs don't even understand military construction. I have to express my great concern about what Mark has done. I am thankful that the Austrian army has not been weakened."

"Why do you say that?"

"Your Highness, military reform should be properly adjusted through professionals, combined with existing resources and actual national conditions. If Archduke Karl is doing this, he can still do something with his understanding of the army. But Mark..."

"In this way, the topic is going back, Misha."

"But the military reform in Austria should not be replaced at such a critical time, especially when the policies of these two people are completely opposite."

This is the fact, and there is nothing to refute.

It's just that the court in Vienna believes that with the support of powerful allies, it can always win.

They obviously only look at the recipe, not the art of war.

Archduke Karl recently returned to Teschen and is not in Vienna. Obviously, his influence on Emperor Franz is also extremely limited.

Soloviev really thinks there is no hope for this terrible scenario.

"This is indeed a problem. Are there any other places?"

"I think the calendar we use also needs attention. We are 12 days off. This will affect the movement of the army and make coordination more difficult. Moreover, the Austrian army itself lacks officers, which is not a good thing."

Soloviev told Grand Duke Constantine more here. The purpose was actually very clear. He hoped to concentrate the main forces on the battlefield in southern Germany instead of Italy.

After all, the final war goal was to send the French back to the border of 1792, and this control range was acceptable to all parties.

If you want to achieve this goal, you still need to act on the German battlefield instead of the Italian battlefield.

He said this because he knew the direction of the script, but geopolitical strategy was more important.

The French often carried out strategic deception before, and they were indeed successful. They even rode mules over the Alps. This only led to a lack of artillery, but the infantry and cavalry still passed a whole corps.

Because Napoleon was familiar with Italy and even fought twice, the coalition forces also preferred to use this as the main battlefield.

But this is just a trick of Napoleon. He made a big fuss about his victory in Marengo, but the final decisive battle was still in Hohenlinden. The complete failure of the Second Anti-French Alliance was here, where a chief of staff with extremely bad luck and a young and ignorant commander jointly gave Moreau, who had suffered many defeats before, a decisive victory.

This led to the coalition forces making an obvious misjudgment at the beginning of the plan, thinking that the battlefield would be on the Italian side.

In fact, if you want to strongly support France, you still have to launch an attack from the Rhine River. Obviously, if the battle in this direction can be successful, it will be more effective.

But many people did not notice this, and the coalition forces did not do their homework well.

If the army of Boulogne-sur-Mer wants to advance eastward, it obviously cannot go further. On the Italian battlefield, the main force will fight on the Danube line, which is more likely.

After listening to these problems, the attention of Grand Duke Constantine did not work. This ultimately depends on the final opinions of the coalition forces.

However, if it were those Austrians, they would have their own ideas in Italy.

On the one hand, Naples is under the control of France, and Italy is an important source of fiscal revenue for Austria. In the previous war, it was completely seized by France.

Obviously, the worst teammate at this time is not England.

When William Pitt the Younger organized this anti-French alliance, even if he had the advantage of the navy, he still had to worry about whether the French would attack.

At this time, we can see the consequences of the stagnation and even destruction of the French Navy in the past decade. Many warships and shipbuilding materials have been lost, and the navy has no suitable commanders and sailors. There are more advanced warships and more powerful naval guns, but they cannot play their power. They also transported a lot to the British.

There are still many warships in Nelson's Mediterranean Fleet, which were actually designed and manufactured by France. They were captured by the Royal Navy during the war and finally became British warships.

This is very bad. In fact, France had little possibility of successfully landing in Britain from the beginning. It could only invest nearly 200,000 troops in landing in England and finally turn to the European continent.

The analysis has come to this point. Whether it can be adopted is still a matter for the decision-makers.

Traditionally, the coalition should plan operations in several different directions, and take action from four directions: northern Germany, southern Germany, Italy and Naples.

Among the allies that Britain can win over, the most troublesome one is Prussia.

The current rule of King Frederick William III of Prussia has some problems, and his determination is not even as good as his wife.

Moreover, Prussia now wants to get benefits from both ends, but the facts will prove that they will get nothing in the end.

It seems that the coalition's military advantage is extremely exaggerated, and it plans to deploy more than 500,000 people to join the battlefield, while the total strength of the French army will not exceed 250,000.

In any case, such a battle force is obviously in my favor.

Soloviev also heard this rumor in Constantine. After all, many people still believe that absolute military superiority will be useful.

However, after being dispersed, it is easy to be defeated one by one. The coalition forces should not remember this for a long time, and this problem may not be changed in the future.

He knew that he could only do so much in his current position, so he concentrated on training troops and doing translation work.

At the same time, the diplomatic negotiations between Russia and Britain also entered the final stage. After the two sides fully exchanged opinions, the British side still had to pay money, and the price had to be raised.

If this round of negotiations was completed, Russia's position would change completely.

You know, Alexander chose to join this anti-French alliance more or less because of his personal friendship with the Queen of Prussia and his personal ideas.

As a monarch, it is more or less that the tutor taught him to express his personal will.

However, Prince Saltykov really couldn't even decide his own family affairs, which was very embarrassing.

Alexander himself didn't like the only one in their family who had a brain.

But these should have nothing to do with Soloviev, and there are limits to what he can do now.

Of course, he can't always not go to the Tavrid Palace. When the queen herself holds activities for the Smolny Palace Girls' School, she still needs the officers of the Guards to participate.

After Louisa came back from abroad, he rarely went to her court.

As for the matter with Madame Recamier,

this is also more troublesome. Fortunately, he didn't hit it this time, and it won't involve anything else.

The queen herself is looking forward to his arrival, and she is also worried about Alexander. She needs someone to help her resolve it.

After all, their relationship is still a political marriage chosen by the queen, and the relationship between the two is still more or less on the children.

In terms of spirit, Louisa and Alexander are not on the same frequency, but they always have to share his troubles.

Soloviev's home at No. 4 Laundry Lane also received a letter from the queen, asking him to go to the Tavrid Palace on the weekend.

Well, there is no way to avoid it at this time, and Louisa said so in the letter.

"You keep saying you'll 'wait for me to come back'. That poem is really good. I hope you can provide some literary inspiration for the girls. Many of them will become wives of officers and need to understand the lives of soldiers."