Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 330 032 Not mark my words, comrad

Fortunately, at this time, although Napoleon's actions are fast, they are not so fast as to exceed this era.

Even when Soloviev arrived at the temporary station of Kutuzov's headquarters, his army had only set out from Boulogne-sur-Mer not long ago.

For the British, the danger they faced was relieved, but at the same time, the pressure came to the Austrians.

After a short rest, Kutuzov's Podolsk Army finally approached Vienna after a long march.

However, this is only close to Vienna, and most of the Russian troops are still on the road.

Even Soloviev, who rode a fast horse and traveled lightly, had to realize that this journey was too far.

He was a little panicked to rely on the Austrians for supplies, and he had to travel continuously.

Fortunately, he could still change horses at the Habsburg post station on the way. He now realized that if he continued riding like this, he might be able to change his military branch to cavalry in the future.

But when he arrived in Vienna, the Austrian army that existed here was just the troops that Archduke John was going to take to the secondary Tyrol direction.

For this archduke, Solovyov could only say that if he did not command the army, we could still be good friends.

As for Mark, he had to go to the border between Bavaria and Habsburg to find him. At present, the Austrian army deployed more than 70,000 people commanded by Archduke Ferdinand and others there. This force was an overwhelming advantage for the Bavarian army.

Solovyov thought that the wife of the Bavarian Elector was Louisa's second sister, and he felt that the relationship between these German nobles was too complicated.

If there was no relationship between them, it would be difficult to greet each other.

As for him, as a liaison officer, he ran all the way from Krakow and came to Mark's headquarters without stopping. He saw that the atmosphere here was still very relaxed.

"Hey, man, you are dressed like this. Are you a liaison officer sent by General Kutuzov?"

"Yes, I want to see General Mark."

"Your accent sounds like a Bavarian from the opposite side, or you are from our side, serving in Russia?"

Soloviev knew that his appearance would easily make the Austrians mistake him for an officer serving in Russia, no matter which German prince he came from.

"No, I'm Russian, Colonel Mikhail Soloviev, the commander of the Guards Chasseur Regiment. I was ordered to come to General Kutuzov, but after a short rest, I received this mission. Not only do I greet General Mark and shoulder the responsibility of communication between the two armies, but I also have to make some friendly reminders."

"Uh, you are the colonel who communicated with Archduke Karl?"

Soloviev didn't expect that an adjutant at the entrance of General Mark's headquarters actually knew about him.

It seems that he is quite famous in Austria.

"I thought you should be a theorist in your thirties, but I didn't expect you to be so young."

The other party's attitude was quite polite, which made a good impression on Soloviev.

"That's not surprising. Your Highness and I met in Dresden."

"Ah, when you say that about the Archduke, I remember that he was assigned to religious activities in the past. No one expected that he would be such a great general. It's just a pity that I can't say more for reasons you know."

It seems that this one, although working at the door of General Mark, is inclined to Archduke Karl, as for his own surname.

"Perisic, from Zagreb, is now General Mark's major adjutant."

"You are Croatian, no wonder you look a little different from the Austrians."

"From what some people say, Croatians are very close to you Russians except that their religion is different."

"Let's not talk about this for now. Does General Mark have time now?"

"You know, in our Austrian army, we often have meetings."

"Okay."

This old problem cannot be changed at present. As for the first stage of the Austrian army's goal, it is to control Bavaria and advance to block the main roads in southern Germany.

It's just that with General Mark's level, he can realize this problem, but he has to make Ulm his strategic center.

Outside, Soloviev talked a lot with the Croatian major.

Anyway, officers from various countries now generally have no sense of confidentiality. After a few words with them, they will tell you everything you want to know, just like pouring beans.

Soloviev could think that the cautious Archduke Karl would definitely find a troop to be ready to meet Mark's corps at any time.

The corps led by Archduke Karl has nearly 100,000 people, and these people are going to Italy, because in the military memories of the coalition forces, the Austrians unanimously believed that Napoleon won the previous two battles in Italy, and this is the location of the French and Austrian treasury. The French will definitely mobilize the army to join the Italian army commanded by Eugene.

Both sides have walked here several times, and the path is very familiar, and it seems to be a good choice.

However, the Austrians generally have some inertial thinking, and even follow the French method step by step.

In fact, the strategies and tactics adopted by the Austrians during the anti-French alliance were all used by others, so it was not surprising that they were discovered.

First of all, the choice of strategic focus was a big mistake.

Even if you don't have a keen eye, you should know that since the Thirty Years' War, the main battlefield in Europe has always been north of the Alps, especially it is more convenient for the main forces of both sides to be deployed in this direction.

It may also be for this consideration that Archduke Karl proposed to allocate about 20,000 troops from the army that went to Italy to protect the rear of Ulm, the strategic focus of Mark.

As for what Mark thought, Solovyov was not clear.

"You are a theorist, Colonel, what do you think of the current deployment?"

"I think we should protect the rear of our army and not go too far forward. Instead, we can use the Black Forest area to let the French enter from several directions. Of course, with Napoleon's ability, he will definitely pay attention to this problem and make more use of the mobility advantage of the French army."

This is also what he learned from Suvorov. In strategy, action must be fast.

"Yes, this Corsican is really quick. He was in Italy before."

"Have you experienced the battle in 1796?"

"No, I was here at that time."

"Ah, it seems that you are more familiar with this side. The officers used in the southern German direction are more familiar with this side?"

"I think so."

As they were talking, the door of the conference room inside opened.

Among a group of Austrian officers in white clothes, Solovyov in a green coat was still very conspicuous.

"Sir, this is Colonel Solovyov from General Kutuzov's headquarters."

"General Mark, I brought a handwritten letter from General Kutuzov."

"Very good."

However, Mark's relationship with Archduke Karl was not good, but it could not be said to be bad.

As for Solovyov, who had a good relationship with the Archduke, there were correspondences to discuss military theories, which always aroused his taboo.

After reading the letter, Kutuzov's meaning was also very simple, hoping that the two armies could meet. I hope General Mark will be patient and wait for the arrival of the Russian follow-up troops, and don't fight the French easily.

"We have the advantage of using typical Fabian tactics to resist the French. Moreover, Ulm, a strategic center, is in a very good location and can control the main roads in several directions. It is difficult for people to give up such a place."

What Mark said was not wrong.

"But Napoleon cannot be underestimated. He always moves quickly. I have studied his actions in Italy."

Of course, compared with Schwarzenberg, who was conservative and cautious to the point of being almost stupid, Mark still has some advantages. At least he pays attention to his opponents. No matter how bad he is at dealing with them, he still has this attitude.

"Have you studied it?"

"Yes, General. Moreover, I also brought a copy of the content that was just published in St. Petersburg. This is some strategic research."

And Solovyov is very good at doing things. He believes that this is the work he wrote and completed after being proofread by many generals in Austria and Russia. In the preface, he also thanked Archduke Karl, General Melas, General Krei and others.

Although he had a bad relationship with Archduke Karl, Mark still had some respect for Melas, the veteran who almost defeated Napoleon.

"It's interesting. Can you leave this book to me? At least it can be used to study our enemies. When you rest here, you can also be an observer to see our battle against the Bavarian army, and then go back to report to General Kutuzov."

"Thank you very much."

Although Mark was stubborn, as the leader of the war faction, he still had some skills, at least he had some skills in his mouth.

As for why Mark had such a high status, Solovyov and Perisic chatted outside for a while and had a rough idea.

In the past, this General Mark served as an adjutant during the reign of Emperor Joseph II. This adjutant was like the "Prime Minister's Private Secretary" job that Bernard did among the secretaries, and the relationship was quite close.

And although Archduke Karl and Mark's relationship was not very good recently, the two had fought side by side before. With this relationship, it was just a difference of opinion, not too bad.

But there is another problem, that is, Mark often has a bad relationship with his direct military commander, but he is very trusted by the emperor.

Although it is a strange thing, he also has some skills in it. Even if he has a very bad relationship with Marshal Laudon and almost sent him to a military court, it did not affect his promotion.

However, it is easy to have a bad relationship with generals, which is very troublesome.

Solovyov came to General Mark this time to test his attitude with Archduke Ferdinand, then go back to report and make new decisions.

But he can detect that some generals have a bad relationship with Mark.

And at the same time, Mark, as the chief of military supplies, is actually a commander on the battlefield, but he has a bad relationship with the generals other than Archduke Ferdinand, and he always trusts his own command more than using the entire system.

But he is still quite enthusiastic about the messenger of the friendly army.

"Colonel, how old are you this year?"

After chatting for a while, they returned to the issue of age.

"24 years old, General."

"You are really young, and you have won a medal. Have you been to the Italian battlefield before?"

"Yes, I followed Marshal Suvorov to participate in the entire Italian and Swiss expedition, from the beginning to the end. Except for being injured in the Battle of Novi, I participated in all the major combat operations."

"So in your opinion, what should be done? The Marshal's approach is still very good, and we should take the initiative to fight."

"But now we should pay attention to reconnaissance on the battlefield and attach great importance to enemy intelligence. The Austrian cavalry is so excellent that we can send light cavalry and Hungarian hussars to scout the French on the main roads and make effective judgments based on intelligence."

"Well, you are quite interesting. So after the reconnaissance, if the French attack us, what should we do?"

"Of course, it is to delay time. Our army has an advantage in numbers. In an area where our army has an advantage At the same time, we need to send a small force to attack the French rear, so that the French cannot easily get supplies, so that the enemy will be tired. At the same time, we must ensure the safety of the transportation line, and gather more troops at the same time, and launch the final attack when we have a greater advantage. Although we may not be able to defeat Napoleon, we can also let him know how powerful he is, and get more bargaining chips when making peace. "

"Although you are very young, you are too cautious."

"I am not like Archduke Karl who does not advocate war, but young officers like me still rely on military merits to be promoted!"

"Well, that's true."

But General Mark did not accept his opinion. Listen to the king's words, as if listening to a word.

The action taken to adopt Solovyov's opinion was to ask him to observe the actions of the Austrian army in Bavaria as an observer, and to take away the pamphlet he brought with him to study the French, and there was no other action.

But even so, Mark's performance is better than that of a third-rate general. He is not without his own abilities. For example, his attitude towards the war faction in the Vienna court won the trust of Emperor Franz.

After that, we have to see how this person acts.

If it is Solovyov himself, he must act quickly.

Mobilize troops from Linz to directly surround the 30,000 Bavarian troops, directly eat up the enemy, weaken the power of Napoleon's vassal states, and then consider the issue of using Ulm as the center to compete with the French army.

At least in the Ansbach area, send troops to cut off the road to form a situation of closing the door and beating the dog.