Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 443 020 A Battle of the Flesh Mill (X) Grenadier vs. Old Guard

The charge of the cavalry was barely contained.

Napoleon himself did not comment too much when he saw this scene near his new headquarters.

"It's so impressive. This should be enough."

However, the price paid was too high. General Dople, the commander of the cuirassier division, was seriously injured, and Murat's mount was killed once. What was even more costly was the heavy losses of the dragoons and cuirassiers, who went to respond. The Grenadier Guards also lost dozens of men.

After being attacked, the Russian army was still organizing a defense line.

"Marshal Lefebvre, lead the Guards to attack!"

After observing the battle situation, Napoleon ordered the Guards to attack the breakthrough point where the heavy cavalry was charging.

After seeing the bearskin hat of the Old Guard, Solovyov did not take off the binoculars from his eyes, but said: "Count, I think Napoleon is going to launch the final attack now, just after noon. Just use these Guards."

"It looks like we're going to be desperate. Is there any backup force available?"

"We still have the Pavlovsk Grenadier Regiment and several regiments that have been rotated to rest. What should we do?"

"Michelle, do you have the confidence to stop this enemy?"

"It would be better if there were two more combined grenadier battalions, the Pavlovsk regiment. I went to the Guards from there. I know what level it is. At this time, I think it should be able to stop the French. , but how long it can be resisted depends on the situation. "

Solovyov now thought that if the Russian Guards were here at this time, they could compete again.

After all, in this kind of pure attrition battle, it still depends on the quality of the soldiers.

As for going to the Pavlovsk regiment, Solovyov rode to the regiment's hiding place and met General Mazovsky, the brigade commander of the 1st Brigade of the 2nd Division and the leader of the Grenadier Regiment.

"Nikolai Nikolayevich, I have been ordered to come and take command of the reserves, including the Pavlovsk and Rostov regiments, as well as the combined grenadier battalion, to launch a counterattack against the French."

"Where are we going to face Bonaparte's Guards directly? Although I am old and my eyesight is a little dazzled, I clearly saw those bearskin hats there. To be honest, this will make Bonaparte Pakistan’s most elite infantry is exactly what I want!”

It seems that this 50-year-old comrade is still very confident.

"Okay, let's go together."

If the general goes together, he can also assist in the command.

As for the soldiers of the Pavlovsk regiment, these soldiers wearing bishop's hats are indeed tall and strong, and they can be regarded as elites.

When Solovyov rode up to the grenadiers, Mazovsky also signaled to him: "Mishka, you are also an officer from this regiment. Whether you are from the Moscow regiment or your own regiment, you have a good relationship with them." It’s very deep, I should say something before setting off.”

"Okay, since you insist, I'm going to say a few words to everyone."

When these grenadiers saw Solovyov riding in front of them, they knew that now the chief of staff of the regiment, a young general from the regiment, was here, and it was going to be a tough battle.

"Brothers, although we have not been with you for a long time, we are also brothers who have drank soup from the pot. At this time, the French on the opposite side are going to use their Guards to start a contest with us! Napoleon This enemy is not a big deal. Now they We were forced to show our last trump card! At this time, the headquarters gave us the most difficult task, for the sake of the motherland and the emperor, and to carry forward the glorious traditions of our old Moscow regiment and Pavlovsk regiment. Drive these Frenchmen back from the front!"

He said this for a long time. Because of the environment and the interference of artillery fire, he could not hear clearly, but Ula could still be noticed by everyone.

All the grenadiers here were cheering each other, and the atmosphere was obviously aroused.

As for the officers collectively pulling out their swords and asking the adjutants and attendants to lead the horses away, this was a desperate situation.

These soldiers of the Russian army also had bayonets attached, but according to the old rules of the Russian army, the bullets in the barrels were kept.

In close combat, Russian army officers are generally equipped with their own pistols.

Solovyov himself brought two revolvers into the scene. Even without loading bullets, he could still shoot twice.

As for the appearance of the Old Guards, according to Solovyov's plan, he used two joint grenadier battalions and the musketeers of the Rostov Regiment to hold off this opponent, while the Pavlovsk Regiment first continued to fire, After destroying the old guard's intention to fight with a bayonet, he took advantage of the opponent's confusion to launch a bayonet attack.

This method is not used by no one, but I am afraid that Solovyov and Wellesley will have a verbal lawsuit.

The situation of the Russian army on the front line was indeed not good. The Old Guards rushed up under the cover of artillery fire and quickly defeated the two Russian regiments and the Prussian regiment that came to support. It was considered that the French army was preserved. The gap opened by the cavalry.

Now, they came to the second line and encountered the Rostov Regiment and the Combined Grenadier Battalion.

In addition to the Guards, there were other troops on the French side who also launched an attack. Unexpectedly by Solovyov, there were some hussars and chasseurs on the flanks of the Grenadier Regiment and launched an attack. attack.

"Don't form a formation, just fire and drive them back!"

This is different from the command from the French side. The order received by the old guards was not to shoot, but to launch a bayonet charge.

It can be said that the commanders on both sides, because of the differences in their respective troops and equipment, obviously have different methods of on-the-spot command.

Marshal Lefebvre chose to charge after the Guards joined the battlefield.

On Solovyov's side, he asked the Pavlovsk Regiment to drive the French light cavalry first, and then freely shoot at the Guards.

Because of the continuous shooting on the battlefield, it caused smoke, even if the Pavlovsk Regiment used the most advanced breech-loading paper shell rifles, it was difficult to guarantee the hit rate.

Unlike Austerlitz, the last volley of the Russian Guards at that time, at least on the two positions behind the Pratzen Heights, the vision was still very clear.

Although this chaotic state caused considerable casualties to the French Guards, the accuracy of the Russian side also declined significantly.

Moreover, the trouble for the Rostov Regiment and the Combined Grenadiers Battalion was that the old guards were too fierce when they rushed.

Even though the Russian army had generally undergone bayonet training, and even the new recruits would hold their bayonets and do bayonet fighting, the French army was obviously more experienced.

Even the Grand Marshal's curtain-raising tactics had been implemented before the Eighth Master, and it was also quite troublesome to deal with these French soldiers who were determined to fight with bayonets.

Speaking of which, they lived a good life. The first army master they hired for those who sold scallops to America was still from France.

These old guards had experienced dozens of battles before they were qualified to join the most elite troops of the French army. Naturally, they were all veterans, and on the battlefield, those who had seen blood and those who had not seen blood, and the amount of blood they had seen was different, and the difference was not small.

The Rostov Regiment and the Combined Grenadiers Battalion were driven out of their positions in this way.

"Okay, now it looks like we really have to go."

At this time, the elite Russian grenadiers and the French Guards were going to fight here.

Although the old French Guards were composed of two grenadier regiments and two chasseur regiments at this time, the 2nd Guards Grenadier Regiment had just been formed and was not on this battlefield.

Therefore, the Pavlovsk Regiment and the Rostov Regiment, as well as the two combined grenadier battalions of the Russian army, faced the 1st Guards Grenadier Regiment and the two Guards Chasseur Regiments. In fact, the French army still had a slight advantage in terms of manpower on the battlefield.

As a commanding general, Solovyov could not retreat. Generals of this era were more or less with the soldiers when leading brigades and regiments.

As for how they performed, it was clear on the battlefield now.

After the Russian army barely blocked the French attack, the two sides started a hand-to-hand fight.

According to general practice, after a bayonet attack, it is rare for the attacked party to choose to fight on the spot.

But now the Russian army really couldn't retreat. If the French army's attack worked, they would break through the second line of defense, and the Russian front line of defense would be broken.

At this time, the Russian soldiers did not retreat, but joined the hand-to-hand combat.

As for Solovyov himself, he was even blocked by two old guards during the battle.

It's just that he didn't follow the martial ethics when facing the old guys. He raised his hand and shot, knocking down one first, and the other rushed over before he could load the next bullet.

This is more troublesome for Solovyov. He is a long-range fighter. He does have melee skills, but it's also more troublesome.

On the one hand, he wanted to play with the knife, and on the other hand, from the medals he wore, the French soldiers knew that this guy must be a young officer with military merits. It was because he was too young that they didn't notice that he was a general.

In this way, he was indeed quite passive. He was forced to the bottom of the wall by the old guard with a bayonet. It was troublesome to use a saber against a bayonet. Such a long saber seemed short when facing a rifle with a bayonet.

However, there were also grenadiers who saw this dangerous scene and took the initiative to run over to help the superiors out.

Soloviev saw that they were still veterans from the Moscow Regiment. These old guys were really useful in such dangerous times.

As for the melee between the two sides, the commanders-in-chief of both sides were also terrified.

One was the emperor of France, and the other was a general of the royalist party. They had experienced many battles. The hard battle in Eylau was so fierce and cruel. The bodies of officers and soldiers on both sides were everywhere. The wailing wounded would soon die of hypothermia if no one rescued them.

As for the officers of both sides who led their troops to join the battle, many of them were also in the fierce battle and actually joined the hand-to-hand combat.

In the end, the French had a slight advantage, and the Old Guards finally drove the Russian army out of the position.

But Napoleon couldn't laugh either. After a little retreat, the tenacious Russian army actually organized a temporary defense line.

Although the farms and positions were captured, the Russian army still barely maintained the front line in a line, which made it impossible for the French army to break through and continue to expand the results of the battle, but only further compressed the Russian front line.

In this way, it was not a decisive victory.

But Napoleon had seen the opportunity. If this continued, even if the Russian army could hold on tonight, it seemed that there would be some strategies to defeat the enemy tomorrow.

On the Russian side, the heroic performance of the Pavlovsk Regiment was seen by everyone in the headquarters, not to mention that the chief of staff personally led the team to launch the attack.

In such a melee, even some old officers of the Prussian army who came to support recalled that when they were young, they heard those old soldiers tell stories about fighting with the Russian army.

"Fortunately, these Russians are our allies"

As for the Russian army itself, they were not defeated. Even when the grenadiers attacked, even with the help of the Rostov Regiment, their troops were still slightly inferior to the old guards.

Being able to withstand the opponent's impact and allowing the troops to hold on and maintain the front line at this time is already a huge victory.

For Solovyov himself, this was not a victory. His arm was scratched by the French bayonet, not only was his uniform pierced, but the silk vest inside was also pierced.

He was lucky. If the French bayonet was a little more off, or he didn't hide in time, I'm afraid this book would have ended directly.

Of course, as usual, his hat was hit again, and this happened every time he fought a fierce battle.

"How is it?"

"I'm fine, just scratched by an old guy's bayonet. Those who are more seriously injured should be taken care of. I don't even need a doctor, just a sterilized bandage to stop the bleeding."

Langeron looked at this guy. Although he regretted sending him to the front, this deployment was not wrong. At least the reserve team blocked the Guards and left the Russian army time to reorganize.

"It's just that the French have opened a gap in our position. In addition to the position on the ice lake, Tuchkov has also lost the horse farm. I have ordered Sacken to retreat to Eylau at night."

"Do we still want to fight? If we continue to fight like this, the outcome may not be decided tomorrow, but the situation is already very unfavorable. At this time, we should retreat to Königsberg, then withdraw directly to Memel from the main road, and then go to Jelgava to spend the winter."

"That makes sense, and those who advocate fighting a battle also agree to retreat. On the contrary, Bagration wants to continue fighting. This Georgian, you and he are from the same school, so I can't persuade him."

"It doesn't matter. He still respects the result of the headquarters' vote. In addition, select some of the elite troops of the 2nd, 6th and 8th Divisions that can be mobilized as rear guard troops."

"That's exactly what I want, let's do it."

The tone of the retreat has now been determined.