Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 438 015 A blood-and-blood mill battle (V) The Podolsk Infantry Regiment's hard work

Napoleon saw that Augereau's attack was not going well, and he missed Lannes.

The Fifth Army suffered heavy losses in Pultusk, and was arranged by him to the rear of the Warsaw Defense Army, so it was not brought to Eylau.

The current performance of Augereau and Ney has made Napoleon unable to look directly at Augereau, but he still has some expectations for Ney.

Although this guy, Nagel, is reckless, his brain is not always short-circuited. His attack today made little Kamensky very uncomfortable.

If the Russian headquarters did not make the right decision and put the reserve troops here to little Kamensky, then Davout's detour from the north would be very successful.

In this case, the entire battle situation, the Russian army's iron barrel formation will also be pierced.

However, everyone in the headquarters can really sit still now.

After observing the French movements in front of Kamensky, Langgeron initially considered sending the 4th Division, but the French also made moves in the southwest and northeast, and the pre-war reconnaissance had already learned the situation.

Therefore, even though Kamensky's 14th Division was in a tough battle, he did not make any moves after seeing the situation on the scene.

Even if the 4th Division really wanted to move, it would have to wait until the Prussian army led by Lestock entered the battlefield.

In the latest report, the Prussian army was very clear that they had escaped Bernadotte's pursuit, but because of the long march, it was indeed difficult for the more than 10,000 troops to gather together.

However, the Russian army did not fail to receive support from the Prussian army. There was always a Prussian artillery in East Prussia fighting with the Russian army, and it performed well in several rearguard battles.

At this time, there were also a few Prussian cavalry units that could be pulled out from Königsberg.

They can't even be called the corresponding cavalry, because the cuirassiers have no cuirass, the dragoons also lack carbines, and only the hussars are dressed in Hungarian style, but the number is very limited.

When seeing this support army, Solovyov even felt that Prussia, which had run out of resources, had no obligation to help them.

Such a teammate is more reliable than Austria in that it can use all its only things to support the Russian army's actions. If Prussia had not given its heads to France, this war would not have been fought.

Even the Austrians might tear up the treaty and join the anti-French alliance camp, and the drama of 1813 might be staged in 1806 to 1807.

For Russia, it seems that there are always German teammates who dig holes.

Now, this Prussian cavalry is only placed on the right wing of the entire army, keeping an eye on the movements of the French army of Soult's unit while responding to Lestock's corps arriving on the battlefield.

The situation was not very good. After a morning of fighting, the Russian army held their positions, but the pressure was very great. Bagration and Kamensky had to withdraw soldiers in turn to reorganize, replenish ammunition, accommodate deserters and wounded, and then wanted reinforcements.

"Let Bagration and Essen retreat. Michel, send someone to convey this order immediately."

"If we let Augero in here, we should still use artillery."

"Of course I know this, you go and convey the order now."

"I can't help but think, at this time."

"We didn't retreat in the morning, and now we have to retreat again. The contradictory orders will indeed cause confusion. But Count Kamensky can't retreat, let Bagowut go to him."

"Okay."

Soloviev began to convey the order according to Langeron's instructions. Bagration and Essen retreated from their current positions and retreated to the preset positions between Kamensky and Eylau, where there were some artillery and reserve infantry as support.

On the premise that the French army would not be able to bypass him from behind, Kamensky still ordered not to retreat a step and to block Ney at the existing position for a day.

At least he had to wait for the Prussian army and some Russian troops outside the battlefield to join the battle, which would be considered the completion of the mission.

But Solovyov could only simply convey the specific details to the count.

The commander of the Russian army in this battle did join a lot of fresh blood, but it seemed that they were all a group of generals who had just shown their talents in the Second Anti-French Alliance, and many veterans were replaced.

They were all very enthusiastic, willing to accomplish many things, and had strong initiative.

The only problem might be the lack of patience. If they were asked to launch a counterattack now, they would probably be impatient to start.

"It's really hard to get through this day."

Napoleon also found something strange.

The Russian army was in high spirits and was able to hold its position, but from the current situation, it can be seen that the French army had the advantage.

But the French emperor also found it strange that the Russian army was very patient and had not yet taken out the reserve.

"Your Majesty, the Russian army in the southeast has retreated to Eylau."

"They just had a brigade there, why did they retreat?"

Napoleon was also a little excited at this time, and he didn't understand the purpose of the Russian army's operation.

"Berthier, ask Augereau to pursue the Russians and stick to their retreating columns, especially to retain the rear guard. We have to open the door to victory here now."

"Your Majesty, judging from the current situation."

"Convey the order, Berthier, and ask Soult to wait for the opportunity. At least the Russians are not active in the forest now, and our contact with him can remain unimpeded."

Napoleon has not used Soult's troops, but has been waiting for the actions of Davout and Ney.

Now that the Russian army has retreated, it is necessary to let Augereau on the main road launch a pursuit to prevent the Russian army from effectively reorganizing.

However, it is not an easy task to break through Bagration's rear guard.

He left the Smolensk Regiment and the Moscow Grenadiers Regiment. These two troops are very resilient in the Russian army. The French army rushed over with bayonets, arranged in columns, but it was difficult to make any progress.

In this way, the French army had no chance, and Augereau's pursuit troops were all repelled by the Russian army.

As for the Russian army, Langgeron was relieved.

"At this time, it's Bagration."

In addition to the bayonet charge being repelled, the French cavalry also launched an attack, and even went around to the back of the two regiments left by Bagration, but they were quickly beaten back because of the new phalanx formed by the Russian army.

The new phalanx of the Russian army obviously had some effect. In a smaller area, with the help of the front bunker, the artillery continued to bombard the French army to interfere with their actions, and the rectangular phalanx could also exert firepower, causing considerable casualties to the French cavalry and infantry.

Even after the formation was reorganized, the shooting accuracy of the Russian soldiers improved for a time, causing the French soldiers of the Seventh Army to even think that they were blocked by the Russian Guards.

It was still the Battle of Austerlitz. The sensory impact caused by the new rifles of the Russian Guards was too great. Although the First Army did not become a laughing stock, it also aroused the high vigilance of the French army.

In fact, most of the Russian soldiers who stayed behind were well-trained veterans, many of whom had served for more than 15 years and were familiar with all kinds of skills. That is, their physical fitness had declined a little, but experience could make up for many deficiencies and even improve their combat effectiveness.

Although Bagration accepted the "rectangular phalanx" invented by his junior brother Solovyov, he still arranged the infantry into three rows according to the Russian tradition when lining up. The main task of the third row was to load rifles, so that the soldiers in the first two rows also reduced the loading steps. If they were in a hurry, they could take out a rifle from the back row and smash the butt of the rifle on the ground. Even if the final loading step was completed, the speed would be greatly improved.

The French army's illusion came from this. They also knew the shooting skills of the Russian soldiers. At this time, those rigid and dogmatic things no longer existed in the French and Russian armies. They were all fighting with all their might.

As for the accidental injury to the front row, the veterans of the two Russian regiments were not too worried about this problem. They might be knocked down by the enemy's firepower during the battle, but knocking down their own people, that is, stray bullets crossing the battlefield, and accidental injuries in the cross-fire of the two sides of the square, would not happen in the team.

Now the Russian army's persistence also forced Augereau to readjust the deployment and even wanted to seek reinforcements from Napoleon.

"Your Majesty, the Seventh Army lacks cavalry and only has one hunting cavalry regiment."

"I know that the only ones who can be mobilized for him now are Lasalle and Wattier, otherwise we can only let the Bavarian cavalry meet their relatives."

When saying this, the two Russian regiments were like reefs covered with green moss on the peninsula that were hit by blue waves, standing there motionless.

If the Russian army completed their rear guard mission, the French army would still need to gnaw the Russian army's hard nut one by one, and the price to pay would be very considerable.

After thinking for a while, Napoleon finally decided to let Lasalle's hussars go up and detour to the side of the Russian army.

In such a narrow space, Lasalle's hussars actually touched over and ran into the Levitsky Brigade, which was still in the retreating column.

The Russian army was attacked mainly by the infantry at the back. The Arkhangelsk Regiment was attacked first. Because they did not have time to form a square formation, they were dispersed by the French cavalry.

Although the loss was not large, there was a certain degree of chaos in the Russian army. The 7th Chasseur Regiment, a relatively old chasseur unit, was disrupted by the scattered infantry and took great efforts to maintain order.

"It's really embarrassing. If this group of hussars rushed over, Bagration's retreat would be in trouble."

Langgeron was also sweating. He was even ready to ask the Russian cavalry who had retreated to rejoin the battle and drive Lasalle's hussars back from the main road.

However, this worry was unnecessary. Solovyov saw a Russian army that had deployed three beautiful battalion formations, forming a V-shaped formation on the spot, shooting at the French who dared to enter their range.

"It seems that one regiment still withstood the pressure. It should be safe now, right?"

"Michel, it's still a long way to go. Five light cavalry regiments rushing together may not be able to defeat our infantry, but who knows what will happen if they charge down like this? What if the French army deploys the Guards?"

"Deploy the Guards? I don't think Napoleon will deploy the Guards in the current situation."

"Not now, but Bonaparte will definitely bet on it, and we can't help but follow it then."

That's true. The Guards have not yet been put into battle, and the 4th Division is the only force that the Russian army can rely on.

However, Solovyov is also curious. The Podolsk Infantry Regiment has less than ten years of experience, and the combat effectiveness shown by this regiment is far from the level of a new regiment.

Even if he gave the Selenge Regiment a special treatment, improved the training methods, and continued it, he did not achieve such an effect.

"The Podolsk Regiment is really amazing. It has persisted for so long under the impact of the French cavalry."

"This regiment was transferred from the naval infantry."

A staff officer said this, and Solovyov couldn't help but think of a steel plate impression of Russia.

The Russian Navy is invincible on the shore!

The Podolsk Regiment not only repelled the attack of the Lasalle Hussar Division, but also protected the retreat of the rear guard.

The only difference is that there will be no strange things coming out of the woods.

Augereau could see the situation of Lasalle being repelled in the telescope.

He had no way to deal with the two regiments left by Bagration, and could only let the other side form a six-battalion square and withdraw from the battlefield.

Even when the French army came to the position left by the 8th Division, they only seized a few damaged cannons, a pile of empty glass jars, empty wine bottles and a pile of broken glass.

The Podolsk Regiment, after receiving the retreat of Bagration's two regiments, also withdrew from the battlefield during the French adjustment period.

Speaking of which, both sides were very dissatisfied with the battle here.

The Russian army had to abandon several preset positions southeast of Eylau on the first day of the war, especially the two built in the village. They were even attacked by French cavalry during the retreat, causing some troops to fall into chaos without defense.

But they finally completed the task. The 8th Division and the reinforced reserve brigade finally withdrew after losing more than 2,000 people.

As for the French side, they captured the Russian positions, but problems also came.

The French army did not capture any major positions before the Russian army took the initiative to retreat. In addition, Lasalle's hussars were repelled by the Russian army during the detour, which was beyond Napoleon's expectations.

He knew that the Russian soldiers were very resilient, but he did not expect that at this time there would be a regiment that could withstand Lasalle's attack, and the brave divisional general was shot and wounded and had to withdraw from the battlefield.

But the battle had to continue, and he had to find a way to break through the Russian army's iron barrel formation.