Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

In the early 19th century, there was no need to worry about formaldehyde, and Solovyov’s own mansion was so large, with good heating and ventilation, so there was no need to live in anxiety all day long like people in the future.

Solovyov did have this idea when he was in the study, and always thought that this was the anxiety of selling insurance, and the size of the crowd was very huge.

Moreover, while Russia now has banks and trust companies, it does not have a relatively standardized insurance company. If it appeared, it would have to be after the Napoleonic War.

Otherwise, if property insurance is sold, the Moscow fire alone will be enough for the insurance company to go bankrupt and reorganize.

Then he put away this ridiculous idea and turned his attention to the information given to him by Peter Volkonsky.

War has not yet broken out between Russia and Sweden. Even if Alexander is rejected again in November, he still has to make two preparations.

Just according to the timetable in Solovyov's hand, it looks like a special military operation.

He planned to launch an attack in February, but it was too late. The ground was soft and there was almost no place to go except the frontal road. The Swedish troops along the way would shrink into fortresses and various strongholds, or hide in the countryside controlled by the Finns. Go down.

He had thought of what the enemy was going to do, and now he was laughing.

Gerasimov turned out to be my own feeling, and sometimes I couldn’t be happy about it.

He has a very good mentality, although he can be impatient sometimes, but age is here, and sometimes a person in his thirties can be more impulsive.

"master"

Hearing this title, Solovyov knew that he was married, which was different from before, and the servants were all sent by his father-in-law's family, which were considered part of little Katya's dowry.

"What's the matter, Valery? Come to my study at this time."

"We have guests visiting at this time, what should we do?"

"Where did the guest come from?" Solovyov has not officially entertained any guests. The furnishings in his home are all brand new. That is to say, the jewelry and objects in Katya's dowry are relatively old, which can reflect the hostess. The status of the family, and the rising trend of the male owner as a new rich man.

"It's an acquaintance of yours, an old friend who fought together at Guimen Bridge."

"That is Count Nikolay Kamensky. Please invite him in."

Although the younger Count Kamensky has a stern personality and is unkind when he is in charge of the army, he sounds very similar to his father and brother. However, he is still willing to share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, so he has prestige among the soldiers, reputation among the officers, and is relatively Be taken seriously.

In addition to his performance in the rearguard battle and the retreat from Danzig, he was recently promoted to lieutenant general and became the commander of the newly formed 17th Infantry Division.

"Nikolai Mikhailovich, why did you come to my house?"

Because they don’t have a semi-mentor relationship with senior brothers like Bagration, and the age difference between the two is not very big, so they can be more relaxed in their movements, but they can’t kiss or nibble, just a Russian-style bear hug. .

"What, who would you like to be the first guest to come to your house?"

"It's good that you are here. How is your health, Marshal?"

"My father, why do you mention him? Mikhail Fedotovich's temper has become worse and worse recently. I only have this temper like him, but what is there to say? My brother returned to the manor I went there, my brother-in-law went to Ryazan to be the deputy governor, and I went to the reserve army in Petersburg.”

Obviously, both father and son have strong personalities, and the old man becomes more confused and violent, and the always strong little Count Kamensky may not be able to stand it.

"It seems that this sword is really rusty, and I am a little presumptuous. Nikolay Mikhailovich, what do you think of the Swedes?"

"Is there going to be a war? I received an order from the Minister of War. Arakcheyev did ask me to go to the 17th Division to reorganize the armaments. I can't cross the border from Vyborg in winter to fight the Swedes, right? "

"At this time, the battle can be sudden. According to the current situation, the main force of the Swedish army is in its western territory. The stupid King Gustav rejected the emperor's request for mediation and stated that the past covenant does not apply now. "

After hearing this, little Kamensky knew better.

"However, the combat readiness of the 17th Division is not good. Only the Brest Regiment can be considered an infantry regiment with combat experience. The rest of the regiments, and the stall Ma Liugin left for me, are not very good."

"That's better than the situation of the navy. We are fighting on the Baltic Sea. We will need the Baltic Fleet at that time. However, the condition of the entire fleet is very poor. We do not have many warships at our disposal. This will limit the mobility of the army. , On the contrary, the enemy can use the fleet to attack our flanks or carry out harassment. "

"Is it that serious? I remember that you have been to Sweden and have some understanding of their navy's combat readiness."

The incident mentioned by Kamensky Jr. happened when Solovyov was serving as a military attache in Sweden.

"But that was a few years ago. The Swedish navy was in a very bad situation at that time, but it is not ruled out that after the British captured the Danish navy ships in Copenhagen, they would take further actions to help the Swedes. This This possibility cannot be ruled out. We may encounter a group of cooked crayfish in Finland or Sweden.”

"Ah, you said it well. It's really vivid. I'm even a little hungry."

Young Kamensky said this, and Solovyov understood it at the time.

"Valery, go prepare lunch. It's best to have some fresh ingredients, such as crayfish."

"Yes, sir. Do you just want to call me madam too?"

"Of course I do. My wife used to be your young lady, and the guests here are acquaintances from both sides."

"Yes, sir."

Valery went to tell the kitchen to prepare lunch, and Solovyov continued to talk about the possibility of British intervention.

"Nicholas, Sweden and Portugal are the only remaining allies of the United Kingdom on the European continent. If they are ignored here, they will not mix on the continent in the future. Therefore, as long as Gustav himself is not stupid, the British will definitely It will come, not with the support of the Army, but also with the Royal Navy squadron."

"Then at this time, isn't the navy more needed?"

"Yes, so I am also considering the issue of the Baltic Fleet and whether it should be included in the combat plan. Of course, I don't know what the Navy Department is thinking about whether they will join this joint operation."

Solovyov really couldn't coordinate matters on the Navy side. Russia's geographical environment has led to the geographical isolation of the Black Sea Fleet, the Baltic Fleet and the Caspian Sea Fleet. The affairs of the Navy Department are basically related to the Ministry of War. Separate again.

Moreover, in the Baltic Sea at the beginning of the 19th century, the fleets of all parties were somewhat de-armed, which also led to the current embarrassing situation.

But if we really talk about the paper strength of the Baltic Fleet, even if the British send a squadron to fight for a while, they may not be guaranteed to get it done.

More than ten years ago, the Royal Navy regularly provided military training guidance to the Russian Navy every year, and sometimes even learned a few tricks.

For example, the tactics that Nelson often used were used earlier by the Russian Navy, just because they faced the Ottoman Empire's fleet, not the British four-boat fleet, and someone promoted it with great fanfare, so it was not so conspicuous.

Not to mention that Russia often means barbarism and backwardness in the minds of Europeans.

Therefore, the Russian Navy has some abilities that others don’t know about. Admiral Ushakov’s tactical level was highly praised by Nelson. When patrolling the Mediterranean, he was very fond of this junior in terms of his junior and command relationships. The old general was quite respected.

Of course, there is no conflict at all between being capable and lacking in armaments.

Senyavin is one of the few active naval admirals who can take action, but he is on the Atlantic Ocean. Considering the current diplomatic note Russia has issued to Britain, we cannot expect Senyavin to come back. If that happens with Roger, Zhitvinsky sounds no different, if not stupider.

Among the Russian naval bases in the Baltic Sea, the largest warship currently owned has 130 guns. It was borrowed from the "Grace" battleship of the Holy Trinity. This battleship was completed after Paul was assassinated. A battleship with a relatively good hull condition.

Among the rest of the Russian warships, most of the first-class ships were in very poor condition at this time. Even many large ships of the Russian Navy were already in use for more than ten years.

When little Kamensky came here, he actually enjoyed his family's crayfish dinner. Little Katya also knew that little Kamensky's father, the somewhat abstract tyrant marshal, had served under his grandfather, and his father had also He was a colleague, so he came out to greet me with a big belly.

"Just think that these lobsters are British. Our cooking method is different from other places. We use chili and Sichuan peppercorns imported from Mexico to add flavor. You can try it."

After little Kamensky ate it, he was quite satisfied, but he couldn't bear the spiciness after a while. Russians still prefer sweet peppers.

Because of Solovyov's physical condition, it is easy for him not to eat too spicy food.

"Want lemonade?"

"Quick, lemonade."

Seeing him like this, Katya also laughed.

"Mishka, it seems that not many people can enjoy your hot lobster dinner."

"Katya, do you feel it on your tongue after eating it?"

"Yeah, but I was prepared in advance, and I only tasted a little bit."

"It's always necessary to be prepared, don't you think so, Nikolay Mikhailovich?"

"My father has a bad temper and always beats people. Your mentor has a weird temper and always says weird things, but when he comes to you, he turns into teasing people."

"That doesn't count. You fell into a trap without conducting reconnaissance in advance, just like what we just said."

"That's right. I'm really convinced by you. You used this method to remind me that you want me to explain it clearly to Bookholder. I need to be fully prepared before the war, right?"

"It is best to quickly deal with the Swedish army in Finland when the war begins. As for our navy, we need to make additional planning arrangements."

Given the current situation of the Russian Navy, it is indeed difficult to achieve this goal.

Whether they have this capability or not is hard to say now. Many ships are even used as fort ships and placed near naval bases for security purposes.

Speaking of which, the biggest enemy of the Russian Navy may be the master of the Admiralty. They sent the only naval squadrons that could fight to the Mediterranean. Many of the battleships among them were blocked because the Baltic Sea was blocked. There is currently no way After returning, they were even handed over directly to the French, or after being intercepted by the British, they were taken to Portsmouth.

Finally, the squadron commanders and captains had to take the blame, which was very different from the situation of the War Department, which was in charge of the army.

On the army side, they lost the battle anyway. If someone was responsible, it was because of the defeat on the front line that they were "punished", but they would soon be reappointed.

On the navy side, it was another situation. Ushakov had said several times that although I was old, I could still do it at sea, but I was just living in Tambov's manor. Other generals, do they have this ability?

Thinking about Count Bobulinsky's complaints about his mentor Admiral De Ribas's lack of self-discipline, coupled with the black history of those foreigners in the navy, it was somewhat a headache.

Soloviev even thought about what he would become if he transferred to the navy?

There are role models in this regard. The son of General Hannibal did what an army general did as the commander of the Black Sea Fleet.

It sounds a bit strange for a black guy to be the fleet commander in Russia, but it did happen in Russia.

Of course, this was just a momentary fantasy. His greatest contribution to the navy before was probably the application of steamships, which allowed transport boats to sail even in windless and light wind conditions, but there was no way to deal with larger ships now.

After sending off Kamensky, the problems of the 17th Division seemed unimportant. By adding the Ryazan Regiment and several infantry regiments, the division's combat readiness could be completed, and this was Arakcheev's job.

But the navy did have some big problems. In the coming New Year, if a war broke out with Sweden, the British would definitely get involved.

Without a strong naval squadron, if the admiral was as cowardly as Villeneuve, he would not be able to do this job.

But there was a way. When Solovyov returned to his study to think, he saw Katya coming over with her stomach in her arms.

"Katya, after seeing off the guests, you should go back and rest. When you exercise, you should have someone to accompany you. I am thinking about this now. As a soldier, sometimes this may be fate."

"What are you thinking about? Although I don't understand military affairs, I am the granddaughter of the former commander-in-chief and the daughter of a retired general. If you are worried about the naval ship problem mentioned by Nikolai, why don't you ask Sister Natasha's husband?"

"Which Natalia are you talking about?"

"The one who married into the Goncharov family!"

Soloviev then remembered that there was such a person.