Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 82 032 Return to your hometown first to get married and you can catch a hot lunch

When Archduke Karl saw this arrangement, he almost had an epileptic seizure and convulsed on the spot.

That is to say, there are always well-trained doctors around him, who did not let him whimper and roll on the ground. Now he is sent to the back to rest.

However, this micro-management order has not yet been sent to Suvorov. The current situation of the two French armies is not optimistic. However, after the arrival of Joubert, the Italian army was still able to survive despite its great loss in strength. Be prepared to resist with all your strength.

As for the Rhine Army, except for General Massena, there was no intention to fight anymore.

Of course, Archduke Karl cannot withdraw from the battlefield yet. He has to take into account the trends on the battlefield in Switzerland, not to mention the fact that General Korsakov's 24,000 troops are here and must make arrangements.

He didn't want to say anything about the Russian general's generals. The reliable generals of the Russian army had not yet appeared in Switzerland.

"We should at least get in touch with Marshal Suvorov. Thank you, doctor. I have had this problem for many years. It seems that it cannot be cured and will be with me for the rest of my life. But my royal brother, what is he? When can he change his habit of trusting others? This disease of his, ha, cannot be cured! My brothers, why can’t you persuade him to change his mind and not risk changing the entire battlefield situation? What the hell!”

Archduke Karl slumped down in the recliner. After recovering from the epileptic convulsions, he kept chattering like this, as if the goddess of victory no longer favored him.

"Your Highness, you still need to calm down. The army in Switzerland still needs you to command it."

"I know this. Fortunately, there are still a few weeks left. I want to take a good rest here. Wait until the marshal receives the order from the emperor to change the march direction, and then prepare to move."

Archduke Karl was very helpless. He knew very well what was happening in the court in Vienna. Some people would be jealous of his achievements as a member of the Habsburg royal family. As the emperor's younger brother, he could not avoid being favored by his favored ministers. Criticize.

He then asked for water, apples and bread, and ate in the Roman style on the couch.

"Bah, these apples are so sour, even more sour than those in my manor."

"Yes, Your Highness, this is indeed a local sour apple."

"Hell, I might as well eat the same thing as the soldiers. If it weren't for my poor health, I should be sharing the joys and sorrows with the soldiers."

"But Your Highness, before that, you have to read two letters, one from Princess Amalia of Baden, and the other from Her Royal Highness Marie-Therese."

Princess Amalia really has no feminine charm at all. She has short hair and a lifeless face. She seems to have moved a fat German lady from the 21st century to Baden. No wonder she is lustful. The King of Prussia saw this and established a marriage relationship with Mecklenburg.

And her younger sisters all married well, and the feudal lord of Baden did have some skills in marrying his daughter.

Archduke Karl thought about this Amalia, and then thought about the lady's sister he had met in Vienna and Munich, and smiled helplessly. Anyway, women would only affect the speed of drawing his sword.

But when he saw the letter from the French exiled princess, he had a different attitude.

He himself is the third son of Leopold II. This one is the only living descendant of his aunt. It is a cousin relationship. Even though he has always buried himself in the dispatch and construction of the army, Karl also It will not be forgotten that the poor cousin appeared in mourning in Vienna.

Well, even if he is as cold as he is now, he will still like it.

"Where did Teresa's letter come from?"

"From Dresden, Your Highness, she recently stayed at the home of Prince Vasily Dolgorukov of Russia, not in Russia. It is said that this prince was given to the whole family by the Russian Emperor Paul because of his Catholic faith. Deportation.”

Karl felt that this matter was strange, and there was something wrong with it, but after reading the letter from her French cousin, the girl was eager for revenge and hoped that her cousin could help her reach Paris, and at least give the French "mobs" some profound thoughts. lesson.

This poor princess has become very paranoid after losing her parents, brother and aunt. It seems that in the Habsburg court, only his cousin can help.

But the emperor's magical warrant is there, and even if he wants to, he can't do it.

But his cousin begged to hold his hand several times, and he could never forget those words she said at Schonbrunn Palace.

Moreover, it is difficult for a calm person like Karl to refuse the request of relatives. The original style of their family should be the same, but now the palace is full of sycophants and forces from all sides, and it is no longer so pure. This has already appeared during the queen's period. situation.

Karl himself couldn't tell whether he liked his French cousin or not.

This kind of communication with relatives sometimes requires replying to letters, and the girl does not understand military secrets. If she knows what Franz did, she may be disappointed in the Austrian court.

Her letters also showed some political qualities, although they were more womanly.

With the strength of this anti-French alliance, we should continue to advance according to the existing front and advance into France.

But among the allied countries with ulterior motives, it seems that only Russia is contributing to Paul's pursuit of chivalry and personal character, while the Russian commanders and generals are not only building merits, but also fulfilling the mission given by their emperor.

As for the soldiers, they are fighting for various reasons now.

Archduke Karl's concerns cannot be written in the letter, but he can only say that he will lead the Austrian Corps under his command and do his best.

When the reply letter reached the French princess, Karl did not know that his vague words and his best efforts made the other party recognize him, thus opening a rarely seen road.

It is probably the story of the knight cousin and the princess cousin. Although one of them has a neurological disease and the other is mentally unstable, the communication began like this.

After replying the letter, Karl was also looking at the map. What he is paying attention to now is the actions of the Russian-Austrian coalition in Italy. If they lose there, this stupid dispatch will not appear.

If they win, this kind of transfer will inevitably appear.

The Russian army itself is now moving westward. After several fortresses surrendered one after another, the coalition forces have nothing to do for the time being.

There is only one fortress near Tortona, which is still in the hands of the French army.

Moreau waited for a long time in the coastal area of ​​Liguria, and finally waited for the support of Joubert.

"You are finally here, General Joubert. I will now officially hand over the command of the Italian Corps to you."

"Dear Jean, don't rush back to Paris."

Joubert's meaning is also very clear: "You have been fighting with Suvorov for some time, and you are more familiar with the situation of the Italian Corps. When I left Paris, I reported to the Directory that you will assist me in commanding the Italian Corps."

He also has concerns. The coalition forces are now at the door of Liguria. If the French army continues its current decline, it will soon lose control of this area of ​​Italy, and even be invaded by the coalition forces from the south into the French mainland!

In southern France, although there is a place like Marseille, the royalists in many places are still rampant, that is, they are not as lively as the Vendée region.

In this case, if the French Directory had not been defeated quickly, the entire southern France would have been ruined.

After such a mess, it might need a Prince of Condé to fight the Spaniards, and the Republic needed a new commander to join the battlefield.

It was under such circumstances that Jubert came to Liguria, which was almost the area where General Bonaparte set out that year, and the situation of the coalition forces was that they were now quite scattered.

The French army itself was relatively concentrated, but lacked logistical supplies, which the Directory could not solve now.

"But the situation you are going to face, Bartemi, is worse than that of our old friend General Bonaparte."

"Yes, the Italian Legion was not driven back from the gate of Venice to the starting point. General Scherer was just running around in Liguria, and his morale was not so low."

"If no more supplies come, our soldiers can only kill horses to fill their stomachs."

"I also saw on the way here that some soldiers were eating leaves, which would only upset their stomachs. It is indeed time for our Directory to change. When I have a full understanding of the situation of the Legion and win one or two more battles, you can go back and tell Mr. Sieyès that the time he needs, the time to save the Republic, is ripe."

Moreau knew that Jubert was always passionate and impulsive, and was very brave in battle. General Bonaparte was also brave, but compared with him, he was more intelligent.

Although everyone knew that at this time, the Directory, except Mr. Carnot, was a group of insects, and they were not good at politics, especially that Barras, whose deeds were really disgusting.

The same is true for these French bankers. They all hope to have a regime that is beneficial to them. The internal struggle for power is very fierce. Compared with them, Tsar Paul is an advanced government and very efficient.

At least now Paul is a ruthless writing machine. In addition to writing by himself, he also needs several secretaries and adjutants to write with him and issue orders from St. Petersburg to the outside.

Moreau agreed with the changes in the Directory, and he knew that the situation there was mature from the letters sent by Jubert and Sieyès, inviting him to join the coup d’Eta. He just needed to join in the follow-up actions.

However, no one knew that the changes were great, and Jubert, who was relaxed, was still looking at the photo of his newlywed wife. His wife was the sister of Count Montholon and was only 19 years old this year.

For a veteran who has served for more than ten years, it is time to get married.

Moreover, he got married in 1798 when the battlefield was relatively calm, without delaying official business, and he had already contacted some citizens in Paris who were preparing for a coup.

This time he came to Genoa with the mission of saving the Republic.

After carefully analyzing the war situation, he and Moreau also believed that they should not take the initiative to engage in battle, but take advantage of the current scattered forces of the coalition forces to choose a weaker Russian or Austrian army to launch an attack.

This would also replicate the success of General Bonaparte in 1796, when Moreau was still in the Rhine Army and was finally defeated by Archduke Karl.

But Jubert was different from Bonaparte in that he was a little reckless and sent out his army without doing sufficient reconnaissance.

Adequate reconnaissance included finding out the location of the coalition forces, what Suvorov was doing, and whether the Tortona fortress under his control had any recent communications.

The only thing he did was to make full preparations along the march to ensure the safety of his troops.

After the remaining fortresses along the Po River surrendered, Suvorov had already assembled his troops in Alexandria. When Jubert took action, he had already heard about it.

At this time, it was necessary to concentrate the main force of the coalition forces and give the French a decisive blow, and a battle had to be fought.

Suvorov also advocated strategic maneuvers to actively seek opportunities to fight in the south, but Melas was still very cautious about this.

The two elderly commanders, they add up to 140, and Jubert is not yet 30 years old. If they had children early, they could both be grandfathers of young French generals.

After the two veterans argued, they decided to move their troops southward, and the intelligence they received was that the French army was already active in the Novi area.

On August 12, the coalition forces engaged in a firefight with General Cray, who came from Mantua, and General Perignon of the French army in the southwest of Alexandria, but no major battle occurred.

The subsequent coalition forces moved very quickly, and they quickly pursued Perignon. On August 14, Jubert originally planned to engage in battle, but Cray's Austrian troops were already equal to the troops he had at the time.

At this time, Saint-Cyr suggested retreating, and Perignon, who was in contact with the Austrian army, also thought so.

But Jubert was ready to make a decision the next day, which did not take into account Suvorov's speed of advance, and also underestimated the total strength of the coalition forces.

This decision should be fine if the opponent is not considered. They have done it many times before, but the current coalition veterans are obviously higher than Alvinzi and other veterans.

By the next day, the allied forces had gathered 60,000 troops, but many troops were still on the road and had not reached the designated area north of Novi.

But the French army had not fled yet. At this time, they occupied an advantageous terrain and could fight or leave.

Jubel had seen the white clothes of the Austrian army through the telescope. Since many Russian troops were still outside the battlefield, he thought that this battle could be fought and he would join the battle.

Before the battle began, he was still looking at the small portrait of his wife he carried with him.

There is a saying that he said to his wife before going to the battle: "Tu me reverras mort ou victorieux"

You will see whether I am dead or victorious.

Although he is courageous, there are some things that are not easy to say.