Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 334 036 The Austrians sent a new quartermaster general

After Soult and Lannes fought against the Austrian army in the early stage, Napoleon divided the army in two directions in this form.

The three armies of Bernadotte, Lannes and Davout, as well as the Bavarian army, moved eastward as the left wing to prevent any possible coalition reinforcements from approaching; at the same time, Soult, Lannes and Ney, as well as Murat's cavalry army, continued to launch an offensive against Ulm to further compress the Austrian army's space for action. The Guards followed closely behind, but did not participate in the battle.

Speaking of which, the terrain in the Black Forest area is indeed very suitable for launching operations and dividing and encircling the enemy.

Especially for this kind of opponent who puts himself in a dead end, it is quite easy to wrap him up.

But the Austrians can still hold on for a while, and they will not be caught like 50,000 pigs in three days.

At the same time, the Russian army is rushing through Austria, and they are not clear about the situation on the front line.

As for Kutuzov's headquarters, there was also Peter Volkonsky, who rushed over from the Tsar's side to serve as the general on duty.

"Well, you're here too, Betja. This is the treatment given to Emperor Mikhail Illarionovich."

"Misha, why do you say that?"

"Look, when the secret committee was meeting to discuss military issues, the two of us..."

"Well, that makes sense."

"Also, how is your wife Sonya?"

"According to the time, she should have given birth these days."

"You're progressing fast enough with the third one. If it's a son, I think Dmitri Petrovich will be very happy."

"Although my uncle is more traditional, he is not like what you said, and you used to be his adjutant."

"But the two of us are still on duty here."

"That Andrei, isn't his wife going to give birth too?"

"Lisa will be later than Sonya."

"You guys should go to the Royal Hospital in St. Petersburg to be in charge of obstetrics and gynecology and pediatrics. You always care about other people's wives and children."

Speaking of which, Peter Volkonsky still knew that Solovyov had an Italian lover outside, but he really didn't know some things that had to be kept secret.

"Let's not talk about this for now. What I'm worried about is that the Austrians are not sure how much trouble they will cause in Bavaria."

"Why do you say that?"

"I'll show you this deployment, and you'll know."

Soloviev took out the map, which was Mark's map of the deployment around Ulm.

"If you were French, what would you do?"

"This deployment is too far forward. If you launch an attack from Ingstadt, you can cut off the Austrian army's retreat. Considering the terrain here, this is bound to fail. Moreover, I don't believe what you said, 'If you put it in a desperate situation, you still have a chance if you fight hard', at least the Austrians can't do it."

Soloviev also nodded. There are not many armies in Europe that can fight hard in desperate situations. The Russian army is relatively resilient in adversity. It's hard to say what will happen in desperate situations.

"This road is going to be cut off."

"Also, Misha, your novel is well translated, I like it very much."

When Soloviev went in just now, Kutuzov was still sleeping, really sleeping, but now he came out of the bedroom wearing a coat again.

"And the army should not be placed in Ulm, but on the main road. The prime minister is right."

If the eight banners masters who led the Qing knew that the three generations of the Luosha Kingdom were using the loss of Jieting in the Three Kingdoms to illustrate the current war situation, their expressions would be quite interesting.

"So what should we do now?"

"We still have to get as close as possible until we receive news from Mark."

Just as they were discussing how to deal with the crisis of Mark being surrounded in Ulm, the Austrian army outside the encirclement had sent a messenger to the Russian headquarters.

Kutuzov could hear someone speaking in German outside.

"It looks like they are coming, Misha, come and receive our guests."

Now it is not "unfortunate Mark". Von Kimmel, who is in retreat, has taken in more than 10,000 Austrian troops and is retreating to Munich, and is going to reach the Inn River Basin.

The messenger he sent can only explain the status of this retreating army.

As for the situation on Mark's side, he is also in the dark.

"Now we really need Mark's news. Thank you, Lieutenant, you can go to rest."

It is a luxury for the Austrian army to break out. After all, Ulm's position is not good, and the French army is coming faster than expected, and it is a complete flank attack.

But the Russian army now has its own problems, that is, the lack of a complete staff system.

This is what Peter Volkonsky thought of when he looked at Solovyov's homework. Speaking of which, he didn't think Solovyov was good, and

After all, he had an ambiguous relationship with Wittgenstein's son, Lev, a Decembrist, and let the gossipy court maid write it in her memoirs.

It seems that he has not yet opened a strange path.

As for the business on the map, Solovyov had quickly marked the direction of the Austrian army's action, and he also held a distance measurement tool in his hand.

"Hell, if the Austrian messenger is right, the main force of the French army has been gathered here in Ulm. They will not go to Italy, but will put the main battlefield in southern Germany."

While Solovyov was talking here, Kutuzov sat down again. Old people and being so fat will feel tired to a certain extent.

"So, our allies have created another huge trouble. But so what? The troops led by Bookholden are still in the Olmutz area, and the emperor and the Guards are located further away. We can only send out troops, gather our existing forces, and prepare to go to Yinhe."

"But, Your Excellency, I can only say that the French came too quickly, just like Alexander Vasilyevich did in Italy. It will be difficult for us to deploy in the Inn. It is possible to gather the Austrian army .Then, try to merge with nearby friendly forces as much as possible. Damn the Prussians, they are still thinking about which side can give them more benefits."

Solovyov did not care that he and the Duke of Brunswick were friends for many years, and immediately began to insult the old marshal's relatives - after all, he was King Frederick's nephew.

"Yes, we need to be with our friendly forces, but we don't have that many 'staff' now. We need the officers and adjutants on duty to come here, and I want to assign tasks to them."

A cunning light flashed in Kutuzov's one eye, and he obviously had an idea. He may have made up his mind even before Solovyov mentioned it.

While talking, Solovyov went outside to find Andrei. He was in charge of the restless young lieutenants and was able to quickly summon them.

"Children, the order I am about to give now is for you to pass it on to each regiment and ask them to speed up their march. We must speed up our march and go to the front to meet our Austrian allies."

By speeding up the march, it is indeed possible to reach the Austrian army, even if there is a small hope.

At this time, Mark unfortunately failed again in the battle, and the orders he issued aroused widespread dissatisfaction with Archduke Ferdinand and the generals.

But it's not that there is no good news. General von Kleinau repelled a reckless attack by General Dupont. At least the Austrian army will not collapse here immediately.

But there were more and more French people outside, so that although Ulm was not completely surrounded, it seemed to be surrounded.

You must know that it is impossible to bring the Austrian army out from the mountains to the south. Suvorov also suffered huge losses when he jumped out of the Alps.

For the Austrian generals in the encirclement, there was also a fierce debate among themselves about whether to break out of the encirclement or to lay down their weapons and surrender.

If they surrender, there is only one situation. The French will ask them not to participate in hostilities against the French army for a period of time. This was also the practice on the European battlefield at that time.

If they break out, there will inevitably be a battle, but it's hard to say how many people can escape.

And even at the level of the Austrian army, it would be difficult to escape.

Mark could only continue to delay time. Anyway, the two sides were arguing about this matter, and it would take a few days.

At the same time, after giving the order, Kutuzov continued to advance towards the border of Austria and Bavaria. He was sitting in the carriage, accompanied by Andrei, but Volkonsky and Solovyov were both Followed on horseback.

Solovyov did not open the map. What he was studying now was a report such as the "Grand Army Bulletin".

"What are you doing?"

"I think we should study our opponents, these military commanders arranged by Napoleon, and their characteristics. When I was in Italy, I captured General Scherer, and he actually knew the situation of some of them. For example, the fourth Soult of the Army. Also, Bernadotte of the First Army is a good friend of General Moreau. I have met him in person in Paris. "

"Why are you still studying interpersonal relationships at this time?"

"We must also consider what they have done. Soult, under the command of Massena, defeated the coalition forces in Zurich and made us suffer in the mountains. This person still has certain command capabilities. As for Bernardo Well, he is just average, and Murat, that funny guy, is an excellent cavalry general if only his bravery is considered."

Solovyov's calculation is also very simple. The French commander's information was obtained before the war broke out. Although there may be some deviations in it, he is more familiar with these people than any Russian officer. .

Coupled with the content on the map, he even thought about whether he could eat a small group of French troops to boost morale when he had the advantage.

At this time, he finally discovered that the knowledge he brought over was not completely useless.

And he is also considering that the valleys and rivers on the map can actually be used to deal with the enemy. It is not impossible to gain an advantage in terms of location. After all, this is in Austria, and there will be more or less people in the Austrian army or civilians. There are a few people who are familiar with these places who can serve as guides.

As for what he considered, that is, some places can be used to block attacks, and other places can be used to ambush or contain, or even launch attacks against enemies of a certain size.

While he was thinking about this, the Austrian Emperor Franz, who had always been unreliable, sent an Austrian quartermaster general to Kutuzov, who was short of staff officers, when the defeat report from the front reached Vienna.

General Johann Heinrich von Schmidt, who had been retired for many years and was only reinstated when the war broke out, was once the chief of staff of Archduke Karl and General Krei.

Such an experienced general coming here might be of some use.

It's just that he has always had bad luck and always got into trouble because of various things. Although it doesn't weaken his business ability, it's also a factor to be considered.

If he wasn't here, the only staff officer that Emperor Franz could send nearby would be Werosser, whom Solovyov had known for a long time.

After Schmidt arrived at Kutuzov's headquarters, he started to operate with a staff team composed of Austrians.

Volkonsky can serve as the duty general here in Kutuzov, and Solovyov cannot be idle. He actually hopes that he can return to the Guards. After all, he is still the commander of the Guards Chasseur Regiment, and he should be able to play a better role there.

However, because he has certain staff business capabilities, he was also left here.

General Schmidt also believes that there is always a need for a Russian corps proficient in German to appear here, so that he can quickly convey orders.

Solovyov also had to stay to assist Schmidt in his work. After all, he is still very familiar with the commanders and various troops in the Russian army.

"Colonel, I think the commander-in-chief's idea is correct, but here at the Inn River, if the Danube Corps suffers too much loss, it will lead to a gap in manpower. At that time, we may have to retreat eastward, shorten our supply lines, and ask the French to stretch the front. At this time, there will be opportunities."

"What do you think of these places? If possible, we can take action against a French brigade or division and destroy them."

Schmidt saw the pencil marks made by Solovyov on the map, nodded, and continued: "It is true that we can take action with the help of these places, but we have to wait for the French to really take the bait before we can have this opportunity. At the same time, I have to say that you have a good appetite."