Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

So far, the Russian army has not actually had a formal exchange of fire with the French army. The cavalry encountered on the road are only scouts and some stragglers. They have been marching all day. If it were not for the relatively easy access to supplies in Italy, they would probably complain.

"Your Excellency Marshal, I think it's time for me to go to the combat troops now, right?"

"Don't worry, Misha, where have we reached now? Although Italy is not as big as Russia, we still have a long way to go on the march. You can't let the eagle and the deer compete to see who is faster."

There is really no comparison, and Suvorov usually speaks in an abstract way, he is used to it.

If the Jaeger Company is assigned to the front troops, they have to wait for the follow-up troops to catch up, but taking a car to the Guards does save a lot of time on the road. In order to allow these Russian troops to arrive quickly, the Austrian emperor has suspended all transportation except military supplies along the way.

Franz II was very clear about his current situation. Although the domestic environment would not make Vienna an old district like Paris, if he lost in the current situation, he would have nothing.

It is a bit of black humor that if he won a few battles before losing, at least it would prove that Austria still had a certain strength. If he was defeated by a mediocre general on the Italian battlefield, the Habsburgs would have lost face.

There seems to be a strange understanding that it is not shameful to lose to General Bonaparte, after all, they have been defeated so many times.

But if someone else loses, the French army may shake Austria's determination before it reaches the door of Vienna.

The royal power of the Austrian Habsburgs has been maintained by the British capital input and the friendly forces brought in by the British more than once. If possible, they may even consider joining forces with Prussia, even though Prussia had taken a large piece of Silesia from them before.

It can be said that the strength of Prussia is the process of fighting a civil war to compete for territory from its Austrian cousins ​​and then kicking them out.

However, they have been "hiding" there for a long time, and now Paul needs to send a special envoy to Berlin to persuade Prussia to join the anti-French alliance.

Prussia's reputation was built by Frederick. In fact, in many places, they still have some advantages by taking advantage of geopolitics.

As for the person sent to Berlin, it was Kutuzov. In terms of social relations, he can be said to be a relatively different one among Suvorov's "disciples". Not only is he old and experienced, but he also has some strategic vision and patience.

The situation of Austria and Russia towards France on the battlefield can also be said to be the basis for Prussia to make a final decision on the two options of maintaining neutrality or picking peaches.

There is actually nothing to say to these guys who are strong on the outside but weak on the inside, and the main feature of the anti-French alliance is that they are strong on the outside but weak on the inside. They have always relied on Britain to pay money and Russia to provide people to stand firm.

During the march, the Russian and Austrian troops came to the Adda River where the French army had already arranged defenses and were setting up camp.

After passing Verona, the coalition forces slowed down their actions to take a breather, but there was also an important condition, which was to prepare to cross the river in this area.

"As for what to do, I think what should be done now is the following deployment. The Bagration column will advance to Brescia, capture the city, and eliminate the French there."

However, the French troops have all fled, and the current situation here is that there are still about 3,000 troops in the fortress and the city.

The temporarily reorganized Bagration column is mainly composed of his chariot regiment, and the supporting troops are part of the Austrian army and the combined grenadiers battalion.

The French also deployed artillery in the fortress. According to Scherer's deployment, even if the city is abandoned, these French troops behind should also hold on in the fortress.

Or simply abandon the city and retreat directly. However, the French commander, for some unknown purpose, their troops are still in the city of Brescia.

This gave Bagration the opportunity to launch a surprise attack. The French army was obviously not prepared, and they did not even consider that the Russian army would come so quickly.

Without too much fierce fighting, half of the French soldiers were disarmed, and the rest retreated to the fortress.

"This is really outrageous. Many French soldiers didn't even have weapons in their hands. How could there be black people?"

"It's not strange to have black people, General Melas. When I was a sergeant and had just joined the army, I accepted the advice of General Hannibal. He thought I was suitable to join the army as a commander, not the military engineer position arranged by my father."

Suvorov said this, and it was true that although he studied military engineering in his youth, he didn't like to go the engineering route. In the end, it was Peter the Great's adopted son from Africa who made this request to his father Vasily Suvorov.

Moreover, in Russia, it is not strange for a black person to be a general. After all, the descendants of General Hannibal and his brother Petrov are of black descent, and they are also considered high-ranking nobles in Russia. Pushkin has a blood relationship with General Hannibal.

On the French side, the same thing happened. The brave general Alexandre Dumas who led the expedition to Egypt came from the West Indies. Among the French troops stationed in Europe, there were many black people serving as officers and soldiers.

In addition to Dumas, who applied for service during the French Royal Army period, there were also some generals who were promoted to brigadier generals in the colonies of Haiti or in France after the capture of the Bastille in 1789.

These black soldiers who were killed were the most stubborn in the battlefield. When Bagration's hunters rushed up, they suffered certain losses even if they were in a dispersed formation.

However, half of the French army was annihilated. What should these French people in the fortress do was not a problem for Suvorov to take care of. He began to consider how to cross the river and continue to pursue Scherer's army.

But there is a fortress behind, and it is better to capture it without bloodshed than to besiege or directly attack.

The request made by the military envoys in the fortress to the French was also very simple, that is, to ask them to surrender.

Given their embarrassed appearance when they fled from the city of Brescia, it was impossible to retain the honor of the military flag. They also had to hand over their weapons and cannons, but their personal belongings could be guaranteed.

Even if they were released, these French soldiers had to ensure that they could not join the battle against the coalition forces within half a year. This was also a rule to be followed on the European battlefield.

The French had set similar rules for their opponents before. When Solovyov saw this, he actually had to sigh that in the 21st century, when he came here, the performance of mercenaries in some countries should be on par with the Ottoman army in Syria and Palestine.

The news from the sea was still relatively fast. The British now caught Napoleon's practice of slaughtering prisoners on the beach and made a lot of publicity. This publicity was not wrong. At the same time, it should be taken into account that the Ottoman Empire had always done too many unethical things when facing European countries, including beheading military envoys and various barbaric behaviors. They were "really lined up and shot" on the beach by General Bonaparte. Except for a few soldiers of Egyptian origin who were released, there was nothing wrong with the treatment method in 1799.

It is necessary to sigh that the world is going downhill and people's hearts are not as good as before.

After seeing these French soldiers lay down their weapons, Solovyov had an idea.

The two old marshals Suvorov and Melas had already moved on, and only Bagration was here.

"Should we release all these French people to promote the coalition's preferential treatment of prisoners?"

"Misha, your idea is very good, but there is no guarantee that these French people will be like the Turks. And the scattered French soldiers will definitely be added to the army."

The prince was still quite polite, but he didn't know what was going on today, and he started looking in the mirror.

"Misha, what do you think of my image?"

"Your Highness, you have always been very military."

"But when I look at those Creole soldiers, I feel that my skin color is too dark?"

A Caucasian Georgian said that his face was dark, probably because he had been in the army for many years, and the result of wind and sun exposure showed a certain bronze color.

No wonder his popularity with women is completely opposite to that of General Miloradovich.

Before departure, Tsar Paul promised to find a good marriage for them after returning to encourage them. General Miloradovich was very interesting. He directly stated: "It is an honor to serve the emperor."

But Bagration, he is not young anymore, and now he starts to consider the issue of marriage.

He looked at Solovyov, who had a fair complexion. His complexion seemed to be more obvious when he stood next to him.

It would make Bagration look whiter if he was with those black guys, and he could find some psychological comfort.

At this time, the Austrian army should take out all the cannons. Some of these copper cannons, 8-pound or 12-pound cannons, can be pulled away as long as there is a suitable gun carriage and wheels are supported, and they can also supplement the Austrian artillery.

They did not feel embarrassed. These cannons were originally abandoned by the Austrian army to the French, and they were all used by them.

In the previous battle, many of the artillery used by the French were from Austrian arsenals. The quality of these artillery is indeed good, and they are very effective when firing grapeshot and solid bullets.

Now the coalition forces have to continue to advance, and the next step is to focus on breaking through the loose defense line of the French along the river.

At the same time, in nearby Vienna, the Austrian court has received news that the Austrian army has won in the front and will continue to pursue after the coalition forces meet.

Like what often happens in Petersburg, it must be said that the Austrians are also proficient in the core technology of chameleons. They used to criticize General Krei for only squatting on the position to fight a defensive battle, but now they have begun to brag about General Krei and belittle General Melas who failed to arrive in time.

As for Marshal Suvorov, he is now the commander-in-chief of the Russian-Austrian coalition forces and the field marshal of the two countries. After all, he is a Russian. As a guest, the Austrians did not dare to make any comments to him, especially the latest news that the Russian army drove the French army out of Brescia after a brief exchange of fire and wiped out 3,000 people.

This small victory was also the first battle of the Russian army in the Italian battlefield. The Austrians could not say anything. Apart from the slight losses caused by the desperate resistance of the black soldiers, it was difficult to find even injured Russian soldiers.

The captured French soldiers were not as lucky as the surrendered French soldiers. They had to work for the local citizens, repair the roads and bridges destroyed by the war, and remove the obstacles set up by General Scherer during the retreat.

Some unlucky ones sighed. When they followed General Bonaparte, they just charged forward with bayonets. There was no way they would fight such a cowardly battle. The money they made in Italy in the past two years, except for the money they brought home during the visits, became the spoils of the Russians!

This was indeed the case. Solovyov saw that some people in the Chasseurs had changed into new shirts.

"You have made a great harvest!"

"Yes, Captain, if you catch a French soldier, you can make a small fortune. If you catch an official, you may make a fortune! Don't you want to make money with us?"

"I don't want to make money. I am an officer, and you all know it."

"I know this. You are also a young master. You must have a master, a wife and a daughter at home. It's not like us farmers. There is nothing missing in the countryside!"

"Don't you lack everything? Where are you from?"

"I am from Smolensk, but I am different from my brothers. My master set my whole family free when I joined the army. People call me "Free Yartsev."

"Then you are from "Yartsev"? Your master is really a kind man! There are many soldiers, and their wives and children are still working in the fields."

This is a "veiled" statement, that is, the whole family is still serfs, which is different from this lucky old soldier.

"That's the name of our village. We are looking forward to winning more battles with our old marshal and His Royal Highness. We can get more good fabrics to buy new clothes for my wife. My son can't let her wear tattered clothes when she gets married, right, young master?"

"That's right, but you have to be careful not to get shot."

"Young master, I think you should be careful. You are only 18 years old at most. If you get shot before you get married, it will be a waste. Or you will be like our His Royal Highness, who is still single in his thirties. You are so handsome, girls will definitely like you. If you meet a young lady waiting to be married, you should hurry up!"

This "old hunter" is quite talkative, but it can be seen that Bagration is popular in the regiment. Even the soldiers are worried about when their prince will get married.