Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Napoleon did not expect the Russian army to be so bold, and did not go too far. Moreover, this road was easy to disperse the main force, so he did not intend to take any action in Frankovo.

Since Davout and Ney had taken the detour to the east, they should go this way.

However, Murat and Augereau were advancing from this direction.

This made the emperor very angry. Although he allowed the armies to split up when supplies were difficult, Davout had already stated that this place was not suitable for action.

But the action had already taken place. If the Russian army had any action, the part of the troops that Murat and Augereau marched here would be a good bait.

If the Russian army could be defeated in a battle far away from Königsberg, it would seem to be a good choice.

Then, Napoleon urgently issued an order to Davout and Ney to seize Biestynek.

His action was obviously to compete with the Russian army in the maneuver.

At the same time, in the Russian headquarters, the division commanders also argued endlessly about the location of the battle with the French army.

Because on the battlefield, General Dolokhov's Izyum Hussar Regiment captured a messenger sent by Davout, and the French army had doubts about the terrain around Frankovo, so the Third Army and the Sixth Army went from the east.

But the latest intelligence shows that near the "Jewish" town of Yejorane, there are actually French vanguards crossing the lake and forest and heading towards Frankovo.

The first person to raise questions was Baron Essen. After all, his troops had to take the main attack in this ambush.

There is a very important problem, that is, the environment in the wild is too harsh. If you want to light a fire behind the mountain to keep warm, it is easy to be discovered by the French and the not-so-"friendly" Poles.

"If the French go around behind us, the road to the east will be cut off. At this time, we can only advance from the west to Königsberg."

Obviously, no one wants to mention "retreat". At this time, the French and Russian armies are still showing off their operations on the battlefield, but the Russian army is now going to fight in Frankovo ​​in turn.

"That's true, but the French army actually has some soldiers coming in from here, so we have no choice but to fight before leaving."

"If we have to fight, we should leave after the fight. We must not stay here."

After Essen finished speaking, it was Baron Sacken again. These Germans. Solovyov had no choice. What they said made sense. They had a good personal relationship in the past, so there was no need to make the relationship awkward.

"We are not Bonaparte, who likes to spend the night on the battlefield. Naturally, we will leave after the fight. This was the case in Pultusk before. We can't waste too much time this time."

Langeron spoke as the commander-in-chief, and only then did this problem get solved.

The division commanders did not mind his royalist identity, after all, his considerations were always more detailed.

"According to the previous practice, Barclay will move to the village of Hof to protect the retreat route behind us towards Eylau. As for Bartoszyce, this place cannot be easily given to the French army."

"Since we have to fight, I think we should also give the French a night attack to disrupt their deployment, and then retreat immediately."

Soloviev thought about it. Before, in Charnovo, Osterman-Tolstoy was attacked by Davout at night, and now he can only do the same. After finding out the approximate strength of the French army, he will use the rear guard to attack him. Instead of the original plan of attacking the enemy in the pocket, he will take advantage of the exchange of fire here and make a feint to the east and attack to the west to attract the attention of the French.

Then, he can move with the large army to Bartoszyce.

Napoleon still wants to have a good fight with the Russian army when the main force is gathered, so as to attract the French army to move in this direction.

Both sides are changing their means to make the other side bite the hook first.

Solovyov's idea was to fish for law enforcement in Frankovo. Since some French soldiers fell into the trap, he would teach them a lesson.

However, Davout's detour from the east forced him to consider the problem of transportation lines and retreat routes.

Therefore, he could only use the means of night attack.

At this time, Murat had not noticed the situation and was heading towards Frankovo. Moreover, the village in front was not burned down, so there was indeed a place to stay.

The reason why Murat did not suspect was that not all towns and villages along the way were burned down.

Frankovo ​​was obviously more suitable for him to stay.

Moreover, no situation was found during the day, and part of the troops of the subsequent Seventh Army also came here.

The reason for not conducting reconnaissance was that the climate was relatively bad. It was sunny in the past few days, but now it started to snow again, and the temperature dropped sharply. It was not convenient for the French army to move forward.

The Russian army was active nearby, leaving three divisions of Osterman-Tolstoy, Sacken and Essen, ready to attack the French army.

Murat could not have imagined that there was such a pocket in such a small place, and even wanted to attack him at night.

Most of the French soldiers still did not have tents, so they could only gather around the campfire to keep warm.

And they had to face their heads outwards and their feet inwards, so that they could warm themselves by the fire, and if they formed a circle, they could also keep warm together.

As for the Russian night attack, it was a bit unethical.

Langeron saw Davout making a detour from the east, and as the commander-in-chief, he would not stay here for too long, so he had to scare Murat.

Most of the troops entering the vicinity of Frankovo ​​were French cavalry, and they wanted to create as much chaos as possible.

Then, Murat discovered that Russian troops had attacked his sentry posts on the mainland north of Frankovo.

And judging from the size of the team, there were quite a few people, and they shouted "Ura" as they attacked.

"There is no other way, we can only bluff like this to attract attention."

Even when Langeron took action at the end, he only left two regiments under Essen, and the cavalry under Sacken and Osterman-Tolstoy.

It seemed that there were indeed three divisions of Russian troops roaming nearby.

At the same time, he ordered Dokhturov to capture Bartoszyce, control the road to the east, and ensure that the main force could retreat from here.

As for Barclay in Hof, his mission changed from covering the retreat of the main force of the corps to covering the retreat of Bagration's column.

"Put the king in the castle, Count, you are playing chess."

"There is no way. If you wait here, Bonaparte's pawns will become queens, and then they will be dead."

"Yes, pawns can become queens and castles."

"Now is not the time to have those new ideas. We must move north to a safer area as soon as possible."

Langeron felt a little sorry when he saw that Solovyov's series of plans were exposed, but because of the dispersion of the French army, some opportunities could still be created.

Murat was overwhelmed by the Russian artillery fire and infantry attacks, and was rushed to the village of Frankovo ​​by the Russian grenadiers, forcing him to mount his horse and move to Klein's dragoon division, which was considered safe.

As for his embarrassed appearance, it can only be said that he underestimated the enemy first and then stationed in an unsuitable pocket.

If the Russian army had not been worried about Davout's outflanking in the east, they would have killed him here directly.

The infantry regiment sent by Augereau, which Murat had placed in front, was dispersed by the attack of two Russian regiments. However, because the infantry battalions were fighting and retreating, they were only separated and then defended Frankovo ​​with the support of Nansouty's Cuirassiers and Klein's Dragoons.

However, despite the fierce fighting, the Russian army did not further invest in the attack, but withdrew from the chaos of the French army.

This battle was more anticlimactic than the one in Jankovo.

By the time the cavalry sent by Murat reported the battle situation to Napoleon who was on the way, the Russian army had already moved to Bartoszyce, blocking Davout's way forward.

Due to the dispersed actions, the forces of Davout and Ney were not enough to defeat the Russian army if they were taken out alone to fight against the Russian army, especially in the absence of supplies.

They did not intend to continue to advance. Although they could take the initiative to launch an attack at this time, the Russian army controlled the road and had destroyed the bridge, so they continued to leave.

But this time, the Russian engineers did not destroy it completely. The French engineers found materials and quickly put wooden boards on the bridge to reinforce the destroyed bridge.

In this way, the French army can continue to pursue, but the time has been delayed.

At the same time, Soult's pursuit of Kamensky the Younger did not yield any results, but he went to Hof's Barclay.

The French and Russian armies on both sides seemed to have a tacit understanding and were advancing towards the important city of Königsberg.

The Russian army chose to retreat to lure the enemy deep into the country, while the French army hoped to destroy the Russian army as much as possible here, and Napoleon also chased all the way.

When he arrived at Bartoszyce, he was really angry about the destruction of the roads and bridges here.

At this time, his idea was to continue the pursuit, and the main force of the Russian army had been invisible for three days before, and now it finally emerged. He hoped to take the initiative to launch an attack before the Russian army continued to retreat to Eylau, and the distance between the two sides was so close.

However, when he ordered Davout to continue advancing, it began to snow again.

Previously in Pultusk, the sudden heavy snowfall had covered the attack of the Russian cavalry, but the French army had also taken advantage of it. Before the battle in Morungen, the Russian army had delayed its marching schedule due to snowfall. Even if Langgeron chose to attack Bernadotte directly without stopping, it was delayed on the way by snowfall. Ney and Bernadotte both noticed it.

Now, it is snowing again, and this time the weather helped the Russian army.

Langgeron finally brought the main force of the East Prussian Corps out of the situation of being pursued by the French army.

As for the Bagration Column, they got rid of Soult and Bernadotte's pursuit along the way, and finally joined Markov, and brought news of Lestock along the way.

This Prussian general was not like Hohenlohe who had sent away his troops before. There were only more than 9,000 Prussian troops left at this time, and they finally got rid of the pursuit of the French army and were also moving towards Eylau.

However, this place was not a suitable area for fighting.

Moreover, Langeron and Solovyov, as the commander-in-chief and chief of staff, were obviously better at high-intensity operations, but they had to run to such a place.

It was just that due to a series of chaotic and high-intensity operations, when the Russian army gathered in Eylau from two directions, they were able to control the high ground in the city and the north of the city, which was considered to be in control of the terrain.

Moreover, at this time, neither side had the determination to start a battle.

On the Russian side, the headquarters believed that the rear guard should be left behind to cover the troops' retreat back to the eastern territory and gather with the Guards to launch a counterattack after the muddy season.

On the French side, Napoleon's troops were now relatively scattered. After a series of strategic maneuvers and large and small battles of fishing each other, Soult was active in the Hof area, Davout was in the east, and Ney was pulled back.

When the troops were not gathered, he did not intend to launch an attack, but to replenish the troops during the confrontation.

Moreover, for the French army, they controlled Bartoszyce and were very close to Eylau, so they were not in a hurry to attack.

At the same time, there was indeed a problem for the Russian army.

Although Alexander did not follow the micro-management this time, going north meant going to Königsberg, and going east meant giving up the city, which was politically unacceptable.

Therefore, there was also a call among the Russian army to fight the French army near Königsberg.

In this way, it has reached a very delicate stage.

Langgeron also knew that it was difficult to get direct instructions from Petersburg at this time. As the commander-in-chief of the front line, he really needed to consider how to fight the French.

If the forces of both armies were gathered here, it would still be very disadvantageous for the Russian army.

It was difficult to decide in several directions, and it was indeed necessary to hold a military meeting again.

Fortunately, they still had the initiative for the time being. The French army happened to be in two different directions. The French army in the west was just part of Soult and Murat's cavalry, while in the east was the main force led by Napoleon and Davout's Third Army, which had begun to continue to maneuver and cut off the Russian army's retreat to the east.

What about Bernadotte? He is now far away from the battlefield because of the repeated maneuvers of Markov and Lestock.

In this context, it seems more suitable to fight a battle.

Moreover, the Russian army left troops in the southeast to serve as a guard there, and also saw that the previously scattered French troops were gradually gathering.

What if the Russian army did not leave?