Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 544 056 Soloviev is a smart and wise Russian Baturu (Part 2)

In Uppsala, the Swedes now see the Russian army and are ready for battle.

They are also aware of their own situation. Baron Amfeltnan's troops were well prepared, but they were caught off guard by the Russian army and suffered heavy losses, especially the loss of all the cannons.

When defending the city, the large number of cavalry may not be of any practical use. What worries the defenders is that the city currently guarded by the Swedish army is still quite lacking in defensive facilities.

Previously, Sweden's battle direction was generally the Baltic coast, Finland, Denmark and Norway, but one problem must be considered, that is, the direction north of Stockholm has rarely been affected by the war.

Now the Russian army's bold surprise attack, on the one hand, has captured the entire Finland, and on the other hand, it has attacked from both sides in winter, threatening Stockholm and the northern gate Uppsala.

In this case, King Gustav IV of Sweden was not very smart and had a stubborn personality. If it were someone else, he might have chosen to run away long ago.

His stay in Stockholm at this moment had an unexpected effect, that is, the faction that had been plotting against him and wanted to support his uncle, Duke of Nanmanland, was not strong enough because the Guards were trapped in a part of Uppsala by the Russian army.

These troops coming from southern Sweden are now under the command of von Essen, defending around Stockholm, but they did not go north to support Uppsala.

This is probably the effect of the Russian army's strategy of blooming in multiple places and advancing in two directions.

But Uppsala is also a problem now. Although no pigs were sent there for defense, Amfeldt can only hide in the city now. With his limited troops and lack of field artillery, he will be passively beaten.

Then, the scene he saw outside the city may be even more terrifying.

This scene is that several cavalrymen dressed as Tatars are marching around the city, which looks like an armed demonstration.

His great-grandfather probably didn't see this kind of operation. Only in the era when the Zaporizhia Cossacks wrote back to the Ottoman Sultan could he barely see some shadows.

Probably the Cossacks and Tatars always rode horses and danced in front of the battle, showing their personal strength and contempt for death.

If someone who couldn't hold back came out to fight, it would be great.

But no one is so stupid now. Amfelt also saw these people picking up bows and arrows, and knew that they might be shooting at the city.

Now is not the era of armored cavalry. Not only can the clothes they wear not block bullets, but bows and arrows are also useless, so many people choose to find a place to hide.

But this round of archery is obviously not to kill anyone. Although some unlucky Swedish soldiers were shot and fell to the ground, they will find out later that they were not hurt.

Well, this is not surprising. This round of bows and arrows was not intended to kill the enemy.

It's just that Solovyov's method is a bit strange. He wrote a letter of persuasion.

"Sir, these Russians have found Tatars from nowhere. After firing a round of arrows, this is what is written on it."

After seeing it, Amfelt was almost furious. Solovyov told them at the beginning of this article, "You have reached the end of your rope."

At the end, it also said that if you want to fight, just come on, the Russian army will accompany you to the end.

And also put forward a naked threat, that is, the officers and soldiers of the Russian Finnish Division are strictly disciplined, I can restrain them, but the Tatars and Kalmyks who came to reinforce, they don't care about this.

Although they listen to me now, it is inevitable that something will happen after the city is broken.

"This is an ultimatum. What did His Majesty say?"

Uppsala was not surrounded, because Solovyov hated to spread his troops evenly like pepper, and now there is no absolute advantage in troops.

What he wanted to do was to surround the enemy and attack the reinforcements, or wait for the reinforcements from Stockholm to arrive and then fight outside Uppsala.

This was the worst case scenario after all. If he could spread panic and make the Swedes in the city feel shaken, and then give up voluntarily, or after negotiations, stop being enemies with the Russian army and keep it for at least half a year, it would be a victory.

However, Amfeldt was stubborn and did not make any response.

"Dear Count, it is better to shoot down a silent bird like this with one arrow."

These Tatars didn't care about this. They really wanted to fight a battle when they came here.

"Now, we only have more than 20,000 people. Although we have more than the enemies in the city, we need to prepare for the siege. Even if it is a city without outer defense, if you want to attack it, you have to endure the enemy shooting from the windows of the houses. In short, if we really want to fight, we have to wait until all preparations are completed."

"In this case, even if we are hunting rabbits, I am afraid they will all run away."

"Don't worry, you should have noticed that the Swedes have a thousand-man force stationed in a small fortress outside the city. We will use this as a starting point to intimidate the Swedes in the city."

"I didn't expect that I would still have to attack a fortress when I came to your place."

"There is nothing you can do about it. If you are at Prince Bagration's place, you will have to face the city of Stockholm now. Thanks to your efforts in crossing the sea, they have already started building fortifications."

"There is no way. I want you to know that the soldiers we recruited are also Battles on the grassland. We will build this fortress here for you to see."

"Don't worry yet. I brought artillery here, and it's not like I didn't add new weapons to you."

Solovyov then took out the Molotov cocktails and grenades.

"Monlik Battle, you have to be careful. This kind of grenade is very suitable for being thrown by cavalry. After pulling off this ring, this thing will explode in one to two breaths."

Solovyov found that he had pulled the ring, and the other party was not nervous.

"You have to throw it out quickly!"

Although the words were emphasized, their expressions remained unchanged, as did the two Tatar leaders.

Speaking of which, they are indeed qualified.

Solovyov threw the grenade, which soon exploded on the shooting range.

"The power has not reached the requirements, but the safety is enough. The cavalry can not only shoot arrows and muskets, but also use this thing. In addition, it is a Molotov cocktail, which can set fire to houses with enemies inside and drive them out."

"Speaking of which, I once heard this from a Cossack who had been to Italy. He saw a strange infantry company, standing in a loose formation, setting fire to houses with igniting cans and driving the Poles from the houses. Come out."

"That was me. I was still a company commander and an adjutant to the generalissimo."

"You are a general now, and you have this method."

"I believe that you can get things done. And speaking of it, the great Genghis Khan also used bombs from Khitan when he conquered the Sultan of Khwarezm in the west, but mine is simpler and more reliable. That’s all.”

"Okay then, I'll let the bravest Battle use this thing to show off the Swedes in the city."

The two Tatar leaders felt that this general had too good a relationship with the Kalmyks, who were obviously a complete pagan.

They themselves don't think about themselves, and what they believe is actually different.

Solovyov was willing to win over Monlik because in contrast, although these Kalmyks often rebelled due to government oppression, they also really worked hard in fighting.

What's more, he thought about the Kalmyks who went back, which was half of the Turgut tribe who returned eastward. The remaining half still had to be properly utilized.

At the same time, he indeed thinks about more things than the average person.

At this time, if the Kalmyk cavalry can perform well, he will naturally be willing to report a meritorious service or something.

Although Monlik seems to be the simple and loyal person characteristic of the Wala Mongols, he actually has a calculation in his heart.

Solovyov is a relatively capable young general. He has a close relationship with Bagration, and from the way he speaks, we can also know that although this man's status is not high, speaking of it, he is very important to the Tsar. I can also say a few words.

If the Kalmyks perform well in the expedition this time, there may be some opportunities to improve the embarrassing living conditions of the herdsmen tribe, and the other party is indeed closer to their side, and the relationship with the Tatars does not seem to be that close.

As for these Battles who handed over all new weapons to their subordinates, naturally they also wanted to fight a good fight.

However, it is impossible for Solovyov to only benefit his family. The Tatars in Astrakhan will also participate in the siege. The Crimean Cavalry Regiment is staring at Uppsala. See if there are any reinforcements coming here.

As for the siege of this small fortress, Solovyov also used a 12-pounder cannon, but the cannon was captured from the Swedes.

If a fight really breaks out, this small number of Swedish defenders will indeed be vulnerable.

After being bombarded with artillery, harassed with grenades, and then set on fire, the small number of defenders in the fort surrendered within a few hours.

It even went too smoothly, but Solovyov realized that after upgrading the weapons of these Mongols, the nomads were still very useful cavalry and warriors before the emergence of machine guns.

If machine guns appeared, they would not withdraw from the battlefield immediately. After all, the grasslands of Eastern Europe are so vast that it would be too late to dig trenches.

Even speaking of it, on the European battlefield, if you fight as a guerrilla, your efficiency is no worse than that of Cossacks and Hussars. If you go to the Caucasus and other places, it will have some other effects.

In addition, Tatars and Kazakhs are also included.

After the victory, these Swedish soldiers were tied to a rope and paraded outside the city by the Kalmyks.

"Abominable, these Tartars!"

"Your Excellency, it can be seen that the commander of the other side is indeed a civilized man as he claims to be. At least he did not let the Tatars massacre the surrendered soldiers in the fortress. Moreover, this is a demonstration and still urges us to surrender."

"It seems that we can only hope for reinforcements from Stockholm."

"I hope so, but there is a good thing, sir."

Amfeldt listened to what the adjutant said and nodded for him to continue.

"That is because the Russians are short of troops. This way, we are free to act and can join forces with reinforcements. We still have some advantages in this kind of siege."

"Well, it seems that now we have no choice but to continue to write to His Majesty and ask him to send reinforcements."

However, even if Gustav IV sent reinforcements, the situation would not be too optimistic.

Bennigsen replaced Norlin as the commander-in-chief of the Finnish garrison. Perhaps the biggest advantage is that he is not as cowardly as Norlin, who negotiates with the Swedes after getting some benefits.

After all, he still bears the title of regicide. He was recommended by Gudovich to lead the troops after winning the war with Persia.

Therefore, his attitude towards this war is to make as many merits as possible, so as to change his embarrassing situation in the court.

For this reason, he even said that the Russian army should not occupy the whole of Sweden until the end of the war can be determined.

Gustav IV sent people to negotiate, and naturally he would be frustrated, and the current strength of the Russian army is still increasing.

Under the double attack, Gustav IV did not listen to von Essen's advice, but stubbornly sent reinforcements to Uppsala. At this time, he did not want the British army to come to Stockholm to help, but only let Sir Moore continue to be stationed at the naval base.

If the reinforcements sent to Uppsala are added together with the nearly 10,000 troops already there, the strength is also greater than Soloviev's side.

Speaking of which, there is indeed a little advantage at this time.

The problem for Amfelt this time is that the king finally gave him reinforcements and asked him to "hold on firmly", but because of the previous failure, he urgently wanted to wash away the humiliation, otherwise it would be difficult to mix with the royal party in the future.

This change in mentality is indeed unnecessary.

But he did it, and he was ready to go out of the city for a battle.

It seems that Soloviev is also a little confused.

"What are you doing?"

"Count, you are not only wise, but also a battler. You should know our enemy. We are going to fight you."

"Yes, we attacked such a small fortress before, but we didn't scare them. We should cut off their heads with sabers and irrigate the land with blood."

Seeing these Tatar cavalry leaders talking like this, even the Finnish division was not ambiguous, especially the cavalry officers.

"Don't be anxious. Wait until Amfelt sends an envoy again, and then we will make the final decision."