Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 528 040 Unfortunate news for Catherine

Soon after the three grand duchesses visited the military camp in Vyborg, the Tafred Grenadiers arrived at the designated area.

The personnel were complete, but according to the strategy approved by Alexander, the Russian army did not need to be too anxious now. The main thing was to level several major strongholds in Finland before they could invest in the next stage of the strategy.

Although the Royal Navy still "occupied the advantage" on the sea, it only blocked the port of Hanko for a period of time. After the Russian fleet did not intend to go to war, the task force returned to the Swedish naval base and returned to the British base outside the Baltic Sea.

The meaning was very clear. The Royal Navy would not leave its warships in the Swedish military port during the winter freezing season.

But they also had to provide support to the Swedish army through the western coast of Sweden. After all, due to the salinity of the sea water and the North Atlantic warm current outside the strait, the freezing situation was definitely not that serious.

If you say it, the money provided by the British is still the mainstream, the support of the army and navy, if Gustav was not beaten this time, he would agree with Sir Moore's opinion to let the British army help the Swedish army defend the southern region and block the possible attacks of the French and Danish armies. At the same time, some of the more powerful troops in western Sweden can be transferred to northern Sweden to block the offensive of the Russian army.

After all, there has always been a problem for the British army, that is, they have no experience in winter combat in the environment of Northern Europe, so it is just right for them to keep an eye on the Danes.

Therefore, when Solovyov was training his troops, he did not consider the British factor too much, even though the King of England's German Corps had already appeared in Gothenburg.

This time, the troops were mainly sent to deal with the Swedes. The Swedish cavalry can be said to be the worst performer in the Napoleonic Wars, although the country's horses are in good condition.

The stronger part of the Swedish army is probably the infantry and the defense in the fortress.

This has been very obvious since the outbreak of the war in February 1808. The Swedish army rarely won in frontal field battles. Although it seems that the Swedish army has won more in the total number of battles, the Swedish army can only hold on to a few fortresses and expect the troops mobilized from the western border to maintain a decent peace, whether on the front line or in the actual control area, due to the successive surrender of the Finnish guerrillas.

Even this decent peace is a bit of luxury. Sweden's territory at this time is mainly the mainland, Finland and Pomerania. Part of Pomerania has been successively occupied by the French and was taken away by Prussia without any supervision; Sweden's mainland has not been threatened at this time, except for the previous attack on the Aland Islands and Gotland Island, which are not serious at present; finally, the situation in Finland is that there is no place under the effective control of the Swedish army. After the loss of Sveborg, the more than 10,000 Swedish troops basically retreated to some fortresses in the country to block the actions of the Russian army.

Solovyov knew that this final strategy still had to be finalized and Sweden would be completely defeated in the end. As for the outcome of the war, it would depend on where the final battle line would end, and the Swedes would not be able to hold on.

Speaking of which, Sweden still had different opinions on this war. In addition to the disputes between the hat party and the cap party left over from the era of Gustav III, those who supported the king and those who supported the uncle, Duke Nanmanlan, each had some power.

It seems that Sweden has many internal contradictions and this winter will be very difficult.

However, just as the Russian army was busy training, the messengers passing through Vyborg kept bringing some bad news.

It was better in southern Finland. The Swedish army's counterattack since June was not successful, but in the central and northern parts, it was still a stalemate.

And from Abo, which is Turku in the future, Bagration also sent a letter to Solovyov.

Solovyov knew that Ekaterina had been stalking men in the palace, although sometimes it was a prank, sometimes she acted cute in front of her brother, or with her cousin-in-law Bagration, just for fun and to admire a Russian war hero.

Her admiration for Solovyov's best friend, Prince Mikhail Dolgorukov, really turned into admiration. The two had already decided to spend their lives together, and even the Queen Mother acquiesced, waiting for the young prince to return with honor this time.

"Mick, what's the matter?"

"I think I need to go to St. Petersburg. Something happened with Tuchkov. Our army besieged a Swedish fortress and was ultimately defeated."

"Failure is inevitable. The Swedes are not good at field battles, so they rely on defensive battles in the fortress to cause us trouble. Perhaps the greater threat of this kind of trouble is disease, but the medical system you planned is more or less useful. If we fail this time, there will still be opportunities later."

Clausewitz could not see any changes on Solovyov's face, especially since he was facing him sideways, but then he also noticed that his master's face gradually became solemn.

"That's the problem. Tuchkov was wounded, and Mikhail Dolgorukov was hit by a shotgun and died on the spot. Fortunately, you are the only one in my office today, so don't make it public. From the front line Military reports should not affect the morale of the rear troops. The most important thing is that he is a close confidant of the emperor, and he is also the fiancé of His Highness Catherine. "

"I can tell, but it seems that the engagement has not been made public?"

"This guy Misha, His Highness promised him in the spring, he can actually come back. It's just that he thinks that after winning a victory on the battlefield, he wants to come back as a glorious hero to marry His Highness, that's it."

What is even more uncomfortable is that old Prince Peter has lost two promising sons in three years. However, he is far away in Tula, so he will know about his sons' situation relatively late. In addition, he has now retired from his position at the Tula Arsenal and is living in seclusion in his own manor. The last time he lost his second son, he was hit hard. That is, his eldest son, Prince Vladimir, has been unable to survive due to injury. Stay by his side, otherwise Paul's former confidant may be stimulated and turn him into a soulless body.

What's more important is Ekaterina's side.

After all, Bagration was still the cousin-in-law of several of their highnesses, so when he got the news, he first asked Tuchkov to keep it secret when writing letters home. Everyone knew that he had five Tuchkov brothers and four They are on active duty, and one of them is loose-mouthed. I am afraid that this matter will spread.

Moreover, Bagration also mentioned in the letter that Tuchkov and Prince Mikhail were in a stalemate over their siege tactics and once wanted to throw off their white gloves for a duel. However, under the persuasion of their subordinates, they each took them with them. A group of men went to attack the fort.

Then, Tuchkov was shot and wounded by a Swedish skirmisher during the battle, while Mikhail was hit in the abdomen by a shotgun.

Although when Tuchkov found his body afterwards, he told Bagration that it "looked like he was asleep."

In fact, what Tuchkov said was only aimed at the prince's abdomen and above.

When you want to say something, you really need a suitable person.

Bagration was a big liar on the battlefield, but when it came to women, he probably had a more direct approach to make women listen to his advice.

For example, now, the prince's wife has her own literary salon in Vienna, and she often goes in and out with Metternich. However, although the Austrian diplomat has a passionate relationship with the prince's wife and does everything he should do, he is not happy in bed. There is such an evaluation.

"Although my husband is a reckless man, he is not as good at pleasing women as you are, but in that regard"

This was probably the case, and Bagration could only find someone who had a good relationship with Ekaterina to talk about this kind of thing.

Solovyov also discovered that among the acquaintances around Yekaterina, he seemed to be the most suitable to do this.

Just telling her that your fiancé is dead is somewhat cruel to this girl.

After all, she had been thinking about it some time ago, and finally made up her mind to marry in China. From the perspective of these famous families, the Volkonsky family and the Dolgorukov family were the most suitable. Secondly, there were Some young people from the Golitsyn and Naryshkin families were recommended to her.

In the end, Mikhail was chosen. Although she was older, the two of them were familiar with each other.

"Hell, I still have to do this kind of thing. Fortunately, here in Vyborg, it's not far from Petersburg. Karl, during my absence, the training work will be left to you. If you are unsure about anything, you can Talk to the Governor, or write to Petersburg."

"These two steps are not too far. Don't make it seem like you would think you were going to Moscow if you didn't know better."

"I can't help it. After all, it's more appropriate for me to deal with this kind of interpersonal problem. And I have to think about what kind of words to use."

As for Yekaterina, she was probably aware of it at this time. After all, Prince Mikhail often sent her letters. Even when Poland was fighting with the French army, he often sent couriers home to mail things.

"Martha, good sister, I haven't received a letter from Mishka for many days. Is there something wrong?"

Speaking of which, the Romanovs have always been superstitious and believe in omens.

Even the sisters have always believed in a rumor that the soul of their father is still wandering in the Mikhailovsky Fortress, which is now the headquarters of General Suhtrun. The girls still miss their father very much, but Because of the special circumstances there, I only went to hear rumors and did not conduct any on-the-spot investigation.

As for Paul's ghost wandering around Petersburg, this story is one of the longest-running in Petersburg's supernatural legends.

"Didn't Solovyov tell us that there is not always time on the front line? Maybe Mikhail is fighting on the front line these days, or he has other things, or..."

"I hope it's not too bad. Sister, I always choose the one I want, unlike you."

"But no one should be happier than Elena. She has such a good husband. Even if she chooses it by herself, it may not be better than our brother-in-law."

"That's true, but Martha, I just hope that nothing will happen to Mishka. I will marry him and give him some lovely children. After all, I like him and he also likes me, even if it's not like Brother-in-law treats Sister Lena like that"

Maria saw that she started to have wild thoughts, but she couldn't say anything. After all, her mother favored her the most. If she wasn't her elder sister, she would hardly get so much care.

Maria and Ekaterina were probably the children raised by Paul and his wife who could feel the most love from their father and mother. Since Russian grand duchesses were always "raised" with girls of similar age, they were favored by their parents, so they received the most love.

I hope nothing will happen, which is also their wish.

Speaking of which, Maria didn't dare to go to Solovyov by herself, and she always took her sisters to give her courage.

This was to avoid gossip. After all, the impact of such rumors was uncertain.

Moreover, Katya was the matchmaker for her sister-in-law, and she didn't know about the close relationship between her sister-in-law and Solovyov in the past. This matter was indeed more hidden.

On Maria's side, she left Catherine's room, settled her children, and after letting them sleep, she walked around in the corridor of the Winter Palace in her coat.

Now the war reports from the front line are not transmitted quickly from Finland. Even though the Finnish guerrillas have been almost eliminated, the rear of the Russian army often has poor communication due to road problems.

At this time, Maria was also thinking about how to calm her sister's restless emotions.

And it's still raining outside. In this kind of weather, except for the fresh air, it's hard for people to feel refreshed.

As for her chest tightness, it's very similar to Queen Louise's recent feeling. After all, she also gave birth to a daughter some time ago, and the child still needs to be breastfed.

In order to avoid embarrassment, she always wears loose clothes, always afraid of some external stimulation.

Thinking of this, she blushed a little.

When she got to the window, when she opened the window, she saw a familiar figure riding a horse.

In the past few years, when Solovyov was near St. Petersburg, he always rode the Orlov trotter horse that Paul gave him, and he always took it with him when he went to war.

Now he came here from Vyborg on horseback, there must be something going on, and he came back when it was raining.

However, there were very few people who were close to Maria in Finland, that is, her husband who went to Helsingfors recently, and her cousin's husband.

But they would be fine. She didn't dare to think what could have made Solovyov rush back to St. Petersburg, not to Alexander's office in the Little Winter Palace.