Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

In the past, the Russian army had a military committee that guided the army's combat operations, but this practice had been complained about while Suvorov was still alive.

The Austrian generals also fully agreed with this point.

Moreover, with the support of the Tsar, after Alexander came to power, he reorganized the Military Council into the Ministry of War and established a Minister of War.

But Sergey Kuzmic, according to various sources, this old man is not very suitable for holding both positions, and the overall military department of the Russian army has this problem.

As early as the time of Peter the Great, the Russian army had already begun to build a staff system, but the results were very few.

Even in Paul's time there was a serious deterioration.

Now, it is indeed necessary to re-establish the system in the entire Russian army.

Because of this problem, Archduke Constantine called a few old friends here in the Guards.

The commanders of the Guards, as well as Peter Volkonsky, and some of Alexander's staff have gathered at the Guards headquarters to discuss this issue.

What Solovyov was more curious about was that Konstantin also called Nikolay and Mikhail.

"Your Highness, I think you have to take this into consideration at times like this."

After all, he was still one of the teachers of the two Grand Dukes, so he always had to think more carefully.

"Considering what?"

"Although it is a military meeting, and as the leaders of the Ismailov Regiment and the Guards Artillery Battalion, the two Highnesses have the right to attend the meeting."

When Solovyov said this, Konstantin understood. Fortunately, General Lanzdorf was called today, and the old man could take the two children out.

"Then, we can now start discussing the reorganization of the Guards' command structure. On such an occasion, everyone can speak freely regardless of your rank."

Solovyov did not want to stand up and speak in advance, although he already had some plans in his mind, and he and Volkonsky had been working on solutions separately before. It was just because they had to serve as the young grand duke's teacher and As Alexander's senior staff, this also caused a problem. They were not able to focus all their energy on the work at hand.

At the same time, Peter Volkonski has a wife at home. It would indeed be more energy-intensive to have a young and beautiful cousin as his wife.

But Solovyov is fine here. He recently corresponded with Mrs. Rekamir and explained his current situation. As a "big sister", Mrs. is more considerate and can understand his military-related state.

Anyway, one thing is certain, that is, Mrs. Rekamir has always been like that and will not go to bed easily with others. She and Solovyov also communicate spiritually first and then get in touch with each other physically. It is still a bit difficult for her to complete this process. Yes, Solovyov got this qualification only after he translated a lyric poem that satisfied his wife.

As for those who came out to speak first, it was the leaders of the Guards Cavalry Regiment. Anyway, they were all quite impatient. Constantine also said that they could speak freely, so they all mentioned the problems encountered in this battle. .

The Russian Guards have indeed not participated in combat for a long time. Although the problems encountered during training can be solved, they are obviously not completely consistent with those encountered in actual combat.

It's just that the common problem with cavalry officers is that, just like the examples they often brag about in front of women in taverns, they are somewhat one-sided.

As for what can be reflected, it is also the problems encountered by the cavalry during the charge.

The Russian cavalry performed very well, but their disconnection from the cavalry and artillery during the battle resulted in local battles not stopping the enemy as much as possible, and the overall command problem was not able to be brought into play.

But their discussion did quickly introduce a key issue.

The orders of the command organization cannot be communicated effectively, the organization is bloated, the orders are confusing, and there is one thing that even Constantine cannot say casually.

That is, we must interfere with the command at critical moments. This way we cannot win.

But in this war, the main ones who took the blame were the command organization headed by Kutuzov and the staff organization composed of a group of Austrian outsiders.

"That's the problem. We have also thought about it. In the past few years, our army's command organization has always used the Austrian staff organization during expeditions. The problem caused by this is that the orders issued are inefficient, and among them problem."

Everyone will agree on this. After all, there are many problems with the German orders issued by Velosse.

"But the Austrians cannot be entirely blamed. General Schmidt's original plan was very useful."

"Oh? Solovyov, you were not in the Guards at that time, but in Kutuzov's headquarters."

"It is true, Your Excellency the Count. I was there at the time, whether it was General Schmidt or General Velosse, I worked with them, even when Alexander Vasilyevich was still there, I had Worked with Verother in his headquarters."

"Ah, young scholar, if you keep talking, I'm afraid you're going to write a paper."

"But I already had a monograph before, and the problems we are looking for are all there."

It is not easy for Solovyov to continue to wrangle with Count Peter Tolstoy on some details. What he wants to focus on is not the summary, but the future reorganization of the command and administrative structures of the Russian army.

This time is very critical.

For the Russian army, there was no large-scale war in early 1806, and the relationship with the Ottoman Empire was only tense, and the battle in the Persian Empire was still undecided because of a murder that had just occurred.

There is still some time to make preliminary adjustments.

If possible, we should not continue to be involved in the war in Europe, but given the relationship between Prussia and France, and the relationship between Prussia and Russia, it is difficult to say what will happen.

But this is not something they can decide, and even the Tsar cannot decide.

After all, with Napoleon's ambition, he has to do much more than what he has now.

In the Fourth Anti-French Alliance, I am afraid that Russia will be forced to fight because of its own pig teammates.

"So, what did you write?"

Peter Tolstoy said so, and Solovyov had to fight.

"In the military theory textbooks published in the past, our country's war department should be divided into the Army Department responsible for military construction and administrative dispatch, and the General Staff Headquarters responsible for military command. In addition, there should be supporting military academies, in addition to those in St. Petersburg and Moscow, there are also various military governors' districts, as well as military schools in the army. Although the military schools in the army have not been clearly established, they have been reflected in the tradition of our staff since Peter the Great."

Indeed, adjutants and staff in the Russian army can often reflect this role.

Next, he paused for a while and continued.

"In the army, the headquarters should also be under the jurisdiction of the General Staff, and the Chief of Staff should assist the commander-in-chief in his work. This staff agency should preferably be properly arranged in the corps, column, brigade and regiment. But it cannot imitate the Austrian quartermaster general, but should be divided into the following points."

Soloviev started to say this, and everyone was interested, after all, there was some truth.

With the tacit consent of Grand Duke Constantine, he could continue to perform.

"Under the command and staff organs, there need to be military staff, intelligence staff, logistics staff and reconnaissance staff, each with its own duties. Military staff is mainly responsible for assisting the command, completing map operations and the final execution of military orders. Intelligence staff is responsible for collecting and analyzing all aspects of intelligence, and providing effective intelligence for the commander and chief of staff to analyze. Logistics staff. This requires the supply of materials for the army, as well as the replenishment and deployment of troops. The reconnaissance staff is responsible for pre-war reconnaissance, and its functions overlap with those of the first two types of staff, but reconnaissance operations are still very critical."

"That's a lot better."

Maliutin's injury had not yet healed, and he was called by Konstantin. As the infantry commander of the Russian Guards in the Battle of Austerlitz, he also expressed support for Solovyov.

After all, he had read Solovyov's report after the war, and the problems involved in it, this kind of institutional adjustment can indeed play a role.

"I think it's OK, Your Highness, what about you?"

Bagration also agreed, and after analyzing the pros and cons, Grand Duke Constantine also thought it was feasible.

"However, this can only be set up at the regiment level and the Guards level."

The Grand Duke himself also considered that the Austrian-style staff organization was bloated, and the Russian army's own structure, regardless of whether there was Paul's military reform, had actually been imitating Prussia and Austria in the regiment-level command structure.

"The command structure should also be adjusted. I think four infantry regiments can form a division, similar to the French command structure."

This is indeed feasible.

"Your Highness, then, in terms of divisions, the infantry regiments of the Guards can form a division, and the cavalry can form a cavalry division."

"But everyone, not only the commander of the Guards, you have also served in local areas, right? Our Russian army is not only the Guards, but also local troops, and these infantry regiments and cavalry regiments can also form such institutions."

"If possible, I think so"

Seeing that Solovyov still wanted to say something, Konstantin also gave him the right to speak and asked him to continue.

"Misha, you can speak freely, even if you say everything today, it's okay."

"Then I'll continue, Your Highness."

Soloviev actually had his own ideas, but they were more radical.

"We can cancel the brigade-level command structure. Each division can have three infantry regiments and one cavalry regiment, as well as an attached artillery unit, which can be a battalion or a regiment."

"Well, it's interesting, but with such a structure, I'm afraid that the generals at the brigade level will be unemployed."

For the current era, a division has two to three brigades, and each brigade has two regiments. This is still feasible. After all, the Russian infantry battalion structure is not as bloated as the Austrian one, and is relatively flexible.

A more appropriate Russian battalion-level unit, which suffers losses in battle, often maintains more than 400 people, so that it can maintain a certain combat effectiveness.

And the general battalion-level unit, according to the earliest infantry phalanx arrangement during the expedition of Alexander the Great, is generally between 500 and 600 people. Today, in fact, for a battalion, 600 to 800 people are more appropriate, but like the Austrian battalion of 1,200 people, it is very uncomfortable.

As for the transmission of orders, there are indeed problems, because there are no radio stations, let alone airplanes, so it is impossible to effectively micro-manage or airdrop orders, so it is still necessary to ensure a certain level of command, rather than flattening it.

At the same time, radio technology will not progress too quickly.

In my lifetime, it is unlikely to use a radio to play micro-management. I am grateful to be able to use telegraphs and railways.

You know, the railroad tracks made by Russia are not as advanced as those made by the British. Even if a large number of technicians have been poached, the railroad tracks used in the coal mines in the Donets Basin are still pulled by horse-drawn carriages, not steam locomotives.

Steam locomotives are still in a state of dystocia.

Since technological progress is so slow, some existing structures should be maintained instead of making any innovations.

However, Grand Duke Constantine also agreed with Solovyov's view, but the five infantry regiments and several cavalry regiments of the Guards could not be adjusted according to this formation.

The problem is that the Guards Cavalry Regiment will form the Guards Cavalry Division, and the expansion of the Guards itself will also increase the Guards militia battalion, and then expand to the Guards Finnish Regiment.

To do things, we still need to do it step by step.

He signaled Soloviev to continue, and the latter was not ambiguous.

"Your Highness, adjustments must also be made in the staff organization. As for this, the main thing involved is the transmission of orders. Since we are going to use our own staff, we must also consider the proportion of officers in the army. It is best to convey orders in Russian. After all, the letters we use are like an encryption measure for people who are not familiar with this language."

At this point, even those German officers couldn't help laughing.

Indeed, if you haven't been exposed to Russian, you can't tell anything from the note.

But on the other hand, since most Russian officers are familiar with French and German, they can still understand what the other party is saying.

Learning foreign languages ​​is very useful, and everyone will agree with this.

As for the Russian order, there is another one that Soloviev didn't say.

That is what Suvorov has always emphasized, that orders should be given in a concise manner.

However, many of the Guards officers present had some relationship with the Grand Marshal, so they also tacitly agreed to this.