Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 47 047 Review of the Old Marshal's Manor

Marshal Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov's daily routine was very fixed. Because of his age, he might not sleep well at night, but he would usually get up on time the next morning when the rooster crowed.

However, on this morning, on September 22, 1798, he got up a little late and needed his loyal servant to shake him up. This happened occasionally a few days a year.

"Ah, Prosha, you're fine today. You shook me up. If you don't come on time again, I won't whip you, but you'll have to eat less meat for lunch!"

"Master, what you said is true. You don't eat breakfast, and the lunch is just bread. The bacon is going to be given to me in the end?"

"Ah, old man, it's true. Did you get a letter?"

"Yes, Master Andrei from my hometown wrote a letter. I asked Mr. Antin to read it. He said he got a job in the Moscow Regiment, but it was the Grenadiers, not the Musketeers. , he is complaining about this matter! "

"I told him to have a snack in the morning and keep an eye on the vacancies of the grenadiers and hussars. He wants to go to the musket regiment. When he is dispatched, something will definitely go wrong!"

"That's right, sir. There are letters here. Please take a look. The first one is from the emperor, and the rest are from the masters and young masters you have led in Petersburg."

Although this old servant could not read, he would ask Colonel John Antin, the adjutant and secretary who was demoted with Suvorov, to sort out the letters. Except for family letters, he would open them directly, and he would not read general correspondence.

The old marshal looked at the letter from the Tsar and agreed with his nine opinions, and said that this was very important for the construction of the Russian army. At the same time, in the letter, he also explained Arkady's position in the court and arranged for him to serve as a servant beside Crown Prince Alexander.

For a child, this is a standard configuration for entering the court, and the old marshal is quite satisfied.

There is no need to worry about family matters. The Tsar also promised that he would approve similar requests from a group of nobles in the future, and there would be no problem with his will.

"The emperor is still so impatient. He made such a change, but he did not agree to the reform of the regiment master system. In the future, Russian soldiers will complain that they were handed over to the Germans by the emperor! Look at the following letters, Proshka, whose seals are all on them."

"This one is from Prince Bagration. I still remember that when we were in Warsaw, he was really a good guy."

"Yes, he is a good guy. The emperor wants him to lead the troops to the war. This is to say goodbye to me. If you ask me, he is over 30 years old and doesn't even have a wife."

"Master, you have a young lady and a young master, It's not too early. "

"Stop talking, I'll read the next few letters myself, you go and bring the morning tea to the table."

"Master, you are wearing pajamas and a nightcap, and then have a cup of morning tea? It is said that you and Prince Bolkonsky are "brothers", and sometimes you are a bit similar in this respect."

"You have to let me take a shower first."

His living habits also include learning Turkish and Karelian, because many of his serfs are Karelian, and even want to chat with the servants in the manor, which cannot be changed.

During the morning tea time, Suvorov was still wearing loose clothes. He was reading his son's letter, reporting what he did in Petersburg, including the recent replacement of Captain Solovyov as a painting model for Grand Duchess Elena, all trivial things in life.

But the letter also stated that the captain was coming to Novgorod, and it was said that the emperor issued an order through the legion.

Before he had read the remaining letters, he heard a commotion at the gate of the manor. It sounded like the drumbeats of the Petersburg Guards. The old marshal was very clear about this.

When he commanded the troops, he rarely used the Guards. They were all experienced musket regiments and cavalry regiments recruited from various places. Now a team of guards and grenadiers drove to his door. He didn't know what new tricks the emperor was playing this time.

"Master, do you want me to go and see?"

"You don't have to go. Mr. Antin should go. He has dealt with the Guards and is very familiar with this aspect."

The reason for this call is that the unfortunate Mr. Antin was ordered to retire. He would rather be the butler for his old superior than go back home to live.

Speaking of which, the people around the old marshal are still loyal, but his temper is sometimes bad.

The conflict with his wife was because his wife cheated on him, but the son he gave birth to did not live with him, and his style was the same as his. Considering that the current emperor had the same and highly consistent behavior habits as Peter III more than 30 years ago, he should still be his biological son; but the son-in-law made him very angry. This son-in-law was very good at business, and sent someone to help the old marshal's friend manage the manor. His poor and thin estate doubled in property after management and allocation. However, the embezzlement of more than 10,000 rubles in other places made the old man very dissatisfied, so much so that he recently lost his temper and cut off contact with his son-in-law.

Now Mr. Antin came to the door. He looked at this row of soldiers in neat formation, with five companies. Except for one company in the uniform of grenadiers, the other four companies were guards hunters.

"Hello, is this Mr. Antin? I am Captain Solovyov. By the emperor's order, I am here to give a report to Field Marshal Alexander Vasilyevich, the owner of Konchanskoye Manor."

In fact, this was Solovyov's ghost idea. Anyway, he relied on Paul's love of thinking off-line and doing innovative things from time to time, and colluded with Major von Byström, the commander of the Guards Chasseur Battalion. Since we are not allowed to go to the front line, we can use the Chasseur drill mentioned in the old marshal's communication with the Tsar to organize a march to Novgorod, which can also be used to train soldiers.

Going back and forth, including Konchanskoye, the old marshal must also have to take care of the food.

"You go into the courtyard and wait a moment. I want to report to the Marshal."

These hunters came here after several days of marching, staying in villages during the period, and had to pay bills to the village according to the price. The journey went very smoothly, and there were even some dry food bags stuffed by the villagers. Bread crumbs - after all, they are more portable than whole black bread.

This caught the old marshal off guard. He estimated the general marching time, and based on the marching speed of the Russian Chasseurs, they should arrive at least one day after his son's letter. This was determined before the last communication with the Tsar. The march departure date is set.

It has to be said that the soldiers of the Russian army are still very powerful when they are well organized. Even with the marching baggage carriages and military bands, their marching speed reached a level that exceeded expectations.

The 69-year-old marshal was "sucked secretly" by two young men who had no martial ethics this time. He hurriedly changed his clothes, but it was not the uniform of a field marshal, but that of an old country squire. Dressed up, with the Order of Santa Anna First Class hanging around his neck, he came out to greet the five companies of Chasseurs who filled his front yard.

And they also brought a military band. When the old marshal walked in front of him, Major von Byström, holding a saber, accompanied him in the review.

The old marshal was very satisfied when he saw that except for the officers and soldiers, whose leather boots were covered with mud, their military appearance was in good order.

As for his greetings to the soldiers, their response was: "Comrade Marshal, I wish you good health."

Although "comrade" or "comrade-in-arms" sounds like a Prussian term, it is also a tradition of the Russian army. After the flag changed, it should be said that there is not much difference in modern times.

As for the next step, there will be a series of performances to keep the old marshal alive. This is the first time I have seen such a performance.

There are also several veterans at his estate, as well as Sergeant Ivan Sergeyev, who has retained his military status and has been serving at his side. This veteran has also served him for fifteen years.

Asking them and Mr. Antin to stand behind the marshal and accept the review was also a tribute to the veteran soldiers. Paul didn't even know where the little captain who always stood guard at the entrance of the Little Winter Palace came up with this trick. In line with the principle that since you are all going to go there, it will be approved. It has been decided that each legion will send condolences to the retired generals, officers and veterans stationed in the area according to the needs of the duty. The number of personnel can be decided by themselves, but in principle No more than one battalion allowed.

As Marshal Suvorov, these five companies seemed to have no problems, and the military band was still playing new music.

After Langeron was recruited, the old marshal was not immune to the customs. Although this piece of music was relatively new, it could be regarded as the traditional march drum beat of the Russian army. Although the songs played successively were a bit "avant-garde", he did not hear anything strange. , after all, he doesn’t know what Russia will become in the future. He just feels that although the emperor likes to mess around, sometimes it’s not bad to delegate power to young people to play tricks.

His acceptance was so high that people didn't expect it. Solovyov was worried that the old marshal was not used to it, so he cut out all the lyrics and went to the conductor of the palace orchestra to run through the music and orchestration before bringing it out. The one he took out started with Tsarist Russia's "The Triumph of the Victor", and the songs he chose later were more upbeat. He didn't even dare to play songs with a tragic atmosphere!

The old marshal was very satisfied, and then asked the officers to wait a moment, as they still had to eat at noon.

At the same time, the serfs in the manor must also start preparing twice as much food as usual. After all, the population of his village, including men, women, old and young, is as many as the soldiers of these five companies.

As for the meal, the officers who led the team were also very strange. Usually in the home of a meritorious marshal of Alexander Vasilyevich's level, the old marshal should be sitting in the front seat, but he himself sat on the right hand The first seat, the seat at home, is vacant.

Moreover, tableware for twenty people is often prepared, regardless of whether the guests can fill the table. If there are fewer guests, more can be added.

Fortunately, although the officer had a large number of people, he just made his table longer.

"The lunch here may be a little shabby compared to other people's, but it's still enough to keep you satisfied. Officers also need to be full. Let a hungry bear den in a cave and it'll be full this winter." Can’t sleep well.”

By the way, he motioned to his servants to arrange bread for several company commanders, as well as two large barrels.

"The kvass and tea brewed in the manor are enough. If you are not used to this kind of tea, I also have bees here and you can brew some honey for drinking."

Although the food is not great, there is a lot of drink choices. If it comes to evening, some champagne and Hungarian wine are also served.

However, the old marshal has always had a weak stomach, so he was very restrained when eating, but he also encouraged these young officers to eat more, after all, they were young and had no health problems.

His diet was managed by his loyal old servant Proshka, who would remind the marshal himself if the limit was reached.

In the afternoon, the old marshal, accompanied by his servants, watched the soldiers' tactical formation performance in the manor again. Although these soldiers were all hunters, since 1789, the tactical division between the light infantry's skirmish tactics and the line infantry's tactics was sometimes blurred during the war. Sending such a unit here also wanted him to understand some of the changes that have taken place in the Russian army.

"This is very good, you have done a good job, we are a group of clever foxhounds!"

Then he also looked at the equipment of these soldiers, and when he learned that the ambulance he mentioned in the past had begun to be deployed in these companies, including the Guards, he was very satisfied.

"You are here to report your performance, and I can't let you let the hussars pass through the middle of the queue like in daily training!"

This is a reserved subject of Suvorov's military training, which can still be seen in Bagration's Jager Regiment. Not every corps can implement this training method of "more bloodshed in peacetime and less bloodshed in wartime".

Many officers can't be close to the soldiers.

As for the next two days of subject exercises, Suvorov also knows what they are going to do.

During dinner, he didn't eat much, but he prepared jam for officers and soldiers.

Soloviev saw what the old marshal had in the evening, a small amount of Hungarian liqueur and a few slices of lemon with jam, which is the diet of the Russian marshal.

Today, because there are so many young officers, he also made an exception and provided some vodka with coriander. Because he was old, he liked to do this in the past, but now his health is not as good as before, so he changed to liqueur.

"Misha, why don't you drink?"

"Marshal, I don't drink strong liquor, but you don't drink sweet wine with a spoon."

"Ah, that's it, you also have some sweet wine, like me, with blueberry jam and lemon, if you don't like it, add sugar!"

Major von Bystrom has long known that this kid writes to the marshal every week for advice, and no one else has this opportunity.

That is, when they came to the marshal's manor this time, Suvorov made an exception and taught them some experience in infantry combat, and hoped that they could make good use of the knowledge they learned.

Generally speaking, he only talked about these things to his entourage and subordinate officers. Being idle at home can be said to have suffocated him.

Suvorov's daily routine is based on the notes kept by Sergeant Ivan Sergeyev, who served as an orderly for Suvorov for 16 years and then as an orderly for Suvorov's son Arkady for 11 years.