Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 340 042 Find a way to fire a shot at the castle

According to the plan of Kutuzov and Schmidt, the sporadic Russian troops appeared in Dürenstein, mainly to lure the French army into the valley, and then the more than 20,000 coalition troops divided into six routes would begin their operations.

In fact, this arrangement puzzled Solovyov.

"Sir, why do you want to divide the troops into six teams? In the past in Italy, Bonaparte took advantage of our scattered forces and defeated them one by one."

"I know you only want to divide into four columns so that you can concentrate your forces, but you also have to consider the surrounding terrain. The terrain here is dangerous, and the French column has a strong impact capability. When encountering them at the pass and on the road, although the Russian infantry has always been known for its courage, few people have experienced combat, which is not good. Now it is divided into six columns, moving in five directions at the same time, and the cavalry and von Rosen columns can be on standby as mobile forces at any time."

Of course, what Schmidt did not explain is that although both the Russian and French armies like to set up impact formations, the French army is used to using columns, while the Russian army is used to using six rows of horizontal columns, and the orders issued by Kutuzov are still the ones issued by the Empress in the late 18th century.

There is no way, I am used to it.

Such impact columns are obviously more conducive to the French army's operations in narrow areas.

Schmidt made this deployment, but he still took the reinforcement issue into consideration. Since he had strengthened the artillery for Dokhturov, he also needed to keep some reserve troops.

But the sudden rain last night did cause the coalition forces to suffer a lot, and the temperature dropped sharply.

Some Austrian hunters from Croatia could no longer stand this kind of weather. When they set out, the climate was still relatively warm, so many soldiers still wore relatively thin coats.

The Russian army used military coats improved during the Paul period. Usually, they could be worn like a saddlebag, and even some things could be put inside. They were warmer than those coats in Western European countries.

It was cold enough. After all, Schmidt was old. An old comrade in his sixties could not stand it without a coat.

Solovyov took out the coat in his luggage to keep the Austrian veteran warm.

"The pattern on your coat is very beautiful, but this insect easily reminds people of Bonaparte."

"Uh, please don't mind it. This is my family's coat of arms. The red one is a bee."

Soloviev also knew that Napoleon's symbol was a golden bee. What's more terrible is that they are relatives, but this cannot be said.

"Ah, no wonder I have such an idea. The embroidery of this pattern is very clever. Whose craftsmanship is it?"

"When I was in Paris, I took in a little girl who sold flowers and asked her to be my maid. When she followed me, she learned the skills of embroidery and tailoring."

After listening to this, Schmidt did not say anything. After all, Russian nobles also raised French girls as servants, tutors, and housekeepers.

Of course, it is not ruled out that there are further steps.

As they continued to ride forward, they heard the sound of volleys, and from a long distance, they could already see the Russian squads exchanging fire with the French army, and the white smoke rising after the flintlocks were fired.

It's just that Schmidt used a monocular telescope, which was held by his attendant, while Solovyov wore binoculars around his neck.

When he went to Bavaria with Mark, he didn't have the opportunity to use the new invention, but now Solovyov can see clearly from a high place.

The craftsmanship of the craftsmen in the royal factory is indeed top-notch.

"You always have new tricks, Colonel. Is this another newly invented telescope?"

"Yes, when the emperor and his sister went to the training ground to watch live ammunition shooting, I got the inspiration from the monocular telescope and theater glasses. This is also the first batch of new products, and only some officers can be equipped with it."

"That's great, can I try it?"

"Of course, you can see the situation in the distance."

After Schmidt looked through the binoculars, he also thought it was pretty good.

"Ah, that's great, but this is your invention, and it's also your favorite thing, right? You've already lent me your coat, so I can't bring this new thing over. Besides, I prefer to use a single-barreled one."

Schmidt has told Solovyov a lot these days. After all, he was also the chief of staff of Archduke Karl, and witnessed the growth of Austria's only famous general, and even assisted and taught him a lot.

Because Solovyov has a good relationship with Archduke Karl, Schmidt is relatively caring towards him.

After saying that, Schmidt also ordered the column he led to continue to move forward, but also sent a message to Dokhturov, asking him to lead his headquarters to launch an attack at this time after the French army chased into the valley.

The French made very smooth progress along the way, and Motier also found that the Russian army was not reluctant to fight, which was different from the previous impression. He also determined that the Russian army was not willing to fight with the French army here, so he ordered Gazan to lead his troops to continue the pursuit.

Although Gazan was full of doubts, he still sent troops to continue the pursuit. After all, the Emperor's instructions to the Eighth Army also included pursuing the enemy, and so far, no Russian ambush had been seen.

In addition, Gazan was very confident in the combat effectiveness of the French army. After all, before his division came to the Eighth Army, it was the Second Division of the Fifth Army. Under Lana's command, the combat effectiveness of the troops would not be bad.

What's more, in Roman numerals, V stands for victory, so he decided to pursue.

At this time, because the last three squadrons of cavalry of Gazan's division were led away by the Russian Cossacks, the French army actually lost their eyes and went directly into the pocket set by the coalition forces.

The Russian artillery on the mountain was still under camouflage at this time. Of course, the weather was good during the day, and the French did not find these hidden artillery.

There was a layer of shrubs on it, which was a bit damp, but as long as it did not affect the firing, it would be fine.

"See, they all came in."

Tushin's artillery company was in a good position, but he was not in a hurry to fire. The more than 20 cannons and hidden hunters on the mountain were waiting for orders, the Russian flag raised from the top of the mountain, and the half unicorn cannon on the other side.

That thing is much more powerful than his quarter unicorn cannon and 6-pound cannon.

"Captain, what do you think the French will do?"

"They will still come in, and then they will be beaten. You all return to your posts and wait for orders to fire."

The French began to enter the Dürenstein area from the west side of the valley. After seeing the Russian army run away, Mortier saw that there was nothing left in the valley except villages, farmlands, and wine gardens.

"Sir, it seems that there are no Russians here."

"Then we will set up a headquarters here, in this castle."

Considering the location of Dürenstein, Mortier planned to build a logistics center here, including a headquarters, a field hospital and a warehouse. Obviously, the castle that once imprisoned Richard the Lionheart was still a good place.

This place was once captured and partially demolished by the Swedes, and was reinforced during the War of the Austrian Succession, but it was not a very large fortress.

As a temporary headquarters, it is very suitable, and there is no need to worry about the Russian field artillery, which will blow up this place with just a few shots. It is still a relatively suitable headquarters.

Most of the troops of the Gazan Division have now entered the river valley, and the rear road has actually been exposed to the coalition forces.

The columns of Bagration and Dokhturov were well hidden and were not noticed. At this time, the other three columns of the coalition forces had already set up pockets under the arrangement of Schmidt.

Motier was still unaware. He only felt a little bit now, that is, the bridge on the Danube had been destroyed and could not allow the army to pass, and the water flow in this area was not suitable for swimming, and only the ferry in hand could be used for communication.

In this case, it was not very good, but there seemed to be no movement on the top of the mountain.

Fortunately, Motier was not Boss Cao, and did not laugh and say that he wanted to ambush a group of people here. He just sent two regiments of the Gazan Division to continue forward.

Just at the village where the bend was, they finally found the Russian army, and some of them were wearing the bishop hat of the grenadiers on their heads.

This was the Kiev Grenadiers Regiment in Bagration's column. In addition, the 6th Chasseur Regiment, where Bagration had been the regiment commander, was hidden on the flank. Both regiments had strong firepower and fired volleys.

Well, the French army didn't expect that there would be such squatting. They were a little prepared for the shooting of the Grenadiers Regiment, but these Chasseurs had caps on their heads, squatted in the bushes and reloaded in advance, causing considerable losses.

But what Bagration didn't expect was that the French army actually launched a bayonet attack at this time?

He usually did this, and the current French army also had the courage to attack, and they also launched an attack against the Russian grenadiers, who were always tall and good at bayoneting.

Then, among the two regiments, one was the 4th Light Infantry Regiment of the French Army. Light infantry, when selecting, are always similar to the vaulters.

They dared to rush up like this, and they were obviously very confident in their combat effectiveness, but they were attacked by the butts of the Russians.

The Kiev Grenadiers were arranged in three rows against the French. Since the French dared to rush over, they would fight back. After all, these people were far inferior to them in size.

Many French soldiers had their heads broken by the butts of the Russians' guns. These light infantrymen were indeed a bit overconfident and lost a flag once they engaged in the battle.

This was not good. Gazan was a little annoyed watching from behind, but he also knew that the Russians might have an ambush. Seeing this situation, he was ready to reorganize the formation.

He was even worried that the artillery would fire shells from the top of the mountain. The French had dealt with the Russians in this way before at the St. Gotthard Pass, so the deployment was relatively concealed. With the help of the cover of the castle, the four regiments were deployed after the reorganization, and they were going to launch a counterattack against the Russians at noon.

At this time, Bagration also sent out three infantry regiments and the Pavlograd Hussar Regiment, and launched a counterattack against the French army under the cover of artillery.

After the two sides engaged in battle, the artillery on the mountain finally saw a good opportunity and fired at the French marching column.

Tushin's artillery company fired well. Although the accuracy of the muzzle-loading guns was not enough, the solid bullets of the first round of shooting also fell into the line of French infantry, smashing the French soldiers into pieces.

And the fuses of those quarter-unicorn cannons had some problems. The efficiency of grenades in this era was not very good, and they could only be used as solid bullets. After all, it was too damp the night before.

As for the ones that exploded, the delay was too high, and even gave the French who were not hit time to escape.

The Russian ambush now made Motier realize that the Russian army was going to do something big this time, at least to show him some color in the valley.

At this time, he took the opportunity that his back had not been closed yet, and sent a messenger to find the Dupont Division and the dragoons attached to the Gazan Division in the rear, asking these troops to come quickly and deal with the Russian army together.

At this time, Tushin turned the muzzle of the gun. He received a new order directly from Miloradovich.

Tushin wanted to use the unicorn cannon of his own artillery company to fire a few shots at the castle to intimidate the French commander.

This move was somewhat effective, but the French army's impact was too strong. Even though they were hit by the Russian artillery, they still lined up to attack, causing the Russian army to suffer heavy losses.

In the valley, the forces of both sides were roughly equal, so when they were in a stalemate, the other columns of the coalition forces needed to be in position.

What the French now hoped was that the Dupont Division, which was 30 kilometers away, could come to support quickly.

Then, after receiving the order, Dupont actually ordered the soldiers to move forward at a fast pace to support Motier and Gazan as soon as possible.

After the Russian army gained the upper hand in the initial hand-to-hand combat, they also found that the subsequent French army was also relatively tough. Although Bagration captured a military flag, he was able to find the problem.

The opponent was also relatively tough, so he also asked Kutuzov for help, hoping that each column would join the battle.

When the order came to Schmidt, his column had not yet entered the position. As for the Dokhturov column, it was still half an hour away from reaching the predetermined position.

At this time, of course, it was a great opportunity to close the door and fight the dog. The coalition forces still had the advantage. Even if the Dupont Division could arrive, the French army was still at a great disadvantage.

The French fighting power also impressed the Russian army, so Kutuzov ordered all troops to surround the river valley as soon as possible and find a way to eliminate these French.

The war was now imminent, and it was also a very critical battle, which even determined whether these coalition forces could continue to carry out military operations smoothly.