Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 295 062 A wonder that can only appear in winter

The weather on this day in 1804 can only be said to be a relatively normal climate phenomenon that can be seen in previous years. Winter even came a little earlier than usual, accompanied by heavy snow for several consecutive days.

As a result, the Selenge Regiment’s camp was also covered with thick snow.

Before the start of winter training, this amount of snowfall was enough to do something.

"Stachenko, is there any wine in the warehouse?"

"Captain, you don’t drink either, why do you ask about this?"

"You frozen fish! What I want to ask is how much wine there is, not why you ask such a question!"

"Yes!"

Soloviev thought of Stachenko, the frozen fish.

As for why these wines are needed, it is obvious that drinking a little can still warm the body when doing outdoor activities.

When he asked the soldiers to line up and assemble, there were still some shortages in this infantry regiment of more than a thousand people.

In the Russian army, a fully equipped regiment is rarely seen even in peacetime. Training losses, diseases and desertion often make a regiment understaffed.

"That's not bad. At least our regiment's shortage is within 100 people."

"Sir, that's because our regiment is often supplemented."

"At least we don't have to find people from Siberia. Okay, everyone must listen to my instructions!"

In fact, the strength of his regiment is equivalent to three Roman legion infantry battalions, or one first battalion plus one ordinary battalion, which means that the shortage is relatively small, otherwise he would have a headache.

"Brothers, everyone was given wine and extra meals today. Why is this? Actually, it's nothing. This is just the first project of our winter training. We have to use snow to build a fortification."

Hearing this, the old soldiers were excited. When they were in the countryside, they did this a lot.

And this kind of thing is not only for Russians. Wherever it snows, the army and civilians of many countries will do this. It is a common tradition.

However, he wanted to build this thing, and it had to be beautiful to a certain extent, and it had to meet the needs of military science in terms of appearance.

"Our young commander is really interesting, he is not training!"

"It's hard to say, who knows what he has thought of."

Although these veterans like to complain about him, they think he is a good commander.

Now they do it as soon as they say it, and these soldiers have begun to join the construction work, which is hard not to attract the attention of nearby residents.

Who knows what they are going to do, since the new commander of the Selenge Regiment came, what he does is very different from the previous one.

Maintaining the physical fitness of soldiers is also a practice since ancient times. In the military books that can be passed down in Europe, it is mentioned that when training soldiers, it is still necessary to ensure the marching ability of soldiers. This is also a relatively basic content of any army. Among the various daily trainings, it is considered the most basic project.

The Russian soldiers were able to win the previous wars, probably more because they ran, just like Napoleon's Italian campaign, under the command of an outstanding commander, they played the greatest results of daily training.

Solovyov did this mainly to change the minds of these line infantrymen. Although they were just soldiers in the queue and there was no promotion channel for officers, the performance of each soldier in the battle was still very important.

In this regard, he did a good job. This time, the "ice and snow fortifications" also attracted the attention of the officers of the Smolensk Regiment passing by.

According to the Russian tradition in winter, snowball fights are a must, but their way of playing is more or less a "war" on the snow.

This is also one of the two routine group fights of the Russians every year. The other one is during Carnival, but it will take another year to wait for this festival.

The commander of the Smolensk Regiment is a German, but his officers saw that the Selenge Regiment was using ice and snow to build a big project. They said that they could apply to the military governor General Apraksin for a snow war between the Smolensk Regiment and the Selenge Regiment.

Then, General Apraksin agreed, and he also called Solovyov to discuss.

"When you were training in the regiment, you played with the soldiers. Now the Smolensk Regiment is a little dissatisfied. They want to attack your fortress."

"This is a good thing. I was worried that no one would come to fight!"

Apraksin laughed after hearing what he said.

"Ha! Ha! You have planned it in advance, so we can let go and do it well."

Then, it was Solovyov who took the initiative to send a letter of challenge to the Smolensk Regiment and asked them to find a way to deal with it.

However, this is definitely not a time for me to just talk. This will be useful.

For this reason, the people of the Smolensk Regiment also went to scout the fortifications of the Selenge Regiment.

"This little white face from Petersburg is really capable. He made such a snow fortress, which looks like a real castle!"

However, there are some things that the officers of the Smolensk Regiment did not notice. It is true that it was made in imitation of a real fortress. There are even trenches dug on the periphery, and a certain degree of concealment has been done.

Therefore, even the commander of the Smolensk Regiment, Major General Peter Kolyubakin, could not see clearly after looking through a monocular telescope.

After all, they are all white, which is much more concealed than ordinary field fortifications, and even the trenches on the snow have been compacted.

It can also be seen that the continuous snowfall for several days has provided great convenience for the construction of the Selenge Regiment.

They even piled up some fortresses with ice blocks, which are the most solid permanent fortifications in winter, and those on the snow are field fortifications.

At the same time, Solovyov is also training his soldiers against cold. Most of his soldiers come from Siberia and the Ural Mountains with harsh climates, and they are obviously more adaptable.

When it comes to the real snow war, Solovyov knows that he has helpers this time, that is, the Smolensk Ulan Lancers Regiment stationed in Crimea, but the number belongs to Smolensk.

Although General Apraksin regarded this as a traditional Russian activity, he still took it seriously and sent out the cavalry. Although this is not a real sword and gun, it is also a winter military exercise.

In addition, the local garrison troops and some scattered hunters will join in, which makes the atmosphere more lively.

Originally, Solovyov wanted to interact more with the local residents, but Apraksin, the leader, gave him a problem.

This led to Major General Kolyubakin discovering during the reconnaissance that the Selenge Regiment was still continuously strengthening their existing ice and snow fortresses.

Therefore, when he discussed the plan with the commanders of the Kharkov Ulan Lancers Regiment and the Belarusian Hussars Regiment, he also felt a headache.

"That's great. Marshal Suvorov's last disciple, we didn't see him being good at attacking, but he showed us how to build fortifications."

"Since the governor wants us to follow the 'state of war', we really have to compete with him. Brothers, the problem is that his 'bastion' with its back against the forest has trenches on three sides. Even if we want to get close, we need to cross his two lines of defense, but we don't know what is inside."

"Peter Mihajlovich, although this is the case, the brothers are still very excited."

"Of course, in order to carry out this 'military exercise', we have equipped the brothers with much better food than usual!"

This is like the Carnival, after all, it is a legal group fight.

This time, they can even bring rifles without bayonets and bullets, and line up in front of the Selenge Regiment's fortress.

Of course, Solovyov wanted to use cavalry to conduct penetration and impact training, but the actual environment in Smolensk did not allow him to do so, so only the cavalry on both sides were circling.

This is the same as the situation on the battlefield. The phenomenon of cavalry charging is very rare. The same is true for infantry. When it comes to bayonet charging, one side will always take the initiative to retreat.

But it is better than nothing. The closer the exercise is to the real situation, the lower the possibility of making mistakes on the battlefield.

He is also eager to fight. With the improvement of soldiers' food for many consecutive days, these soldiers are also working harder in training.

After all, this is a confrontation with the Smolensk Regiment. The history of the opponent's corps can be traced back to 1700. It participated in the Great Northern War and performed well in the Battle of Caondorf in the Seven Years' War, the Battle of Remnik in the Russo-Turkish War, and the Second Anti-French Coalition War.

When the Smolensk Regiment attacked the St. Gotthard Pass, Solovyov brought the Jagers to support this unit. The other side had been awarded the Order of St. George and the Honorary Grenadiers, and was an infantry regiment with a glorious tradition.

As for the Selenge Regiment itself, even if they counted the combat performance of the old Selenge Regiment, it was difficult to compare with such a regiment.

Solovyov's own idea was that this kind of "snow war" defense was always more beneficial to the Selenge Regiment.

If his ideas on building the army were known by some military historians, they would find that what this guy did was more like the ancient Roman legion.

Every time he arrived at a place, he had to build a large camp, basic defensive fortifications on the periphery, pave a complete road between the two places, consolidate the transportation line to enhance the supply, and have extremely strong resilience.

He did this to strengthen his ability in earthwork, after all, digging trenches and building fortifications on the battlefield were inevitable.

Unlike other elite Luo, he implemented the Romans' set down to earth, especially when building a large camp.

Obviously, he didn't like to let the soldiers sleep in the open air, especially in the icy and snowy environment of Russia. Anyone who wants to start a war in Russia without making relevant preparations must be crazy.

Except for the Mongols who have accomplished this achievement, no one has been able to fully succeed. At most, they can enter Moscow. The last player to complete this task was a Polish player, but now there is no Poland.

After nearly a month of work, Solovyov was looking at the fortress. It was indeed very beautiful. Some soldiers who had some skills before joining the army even made ice and snow sculptures.

There is even a small chapel here where soldiers can pray.

In addition, even if they are dressed neatly, these ice and snow buildings are not as cold as imagined.

It seems that people in Siberia are indeed more active in a more "colder" environment.

Soloviev was very satisfied with their performance and even paid for meat and hot soup for them out of his own pocket. The morale of the soldiers was high and they were ready to teach the Smolensk Regiment a lesson in this exercise.

As for their helpers, the Smolensk Lancers Regiment, they also arrived at the Selenge Regiment's base two days before the exercise.

The uniforms of the cavalry regiments have always been very gorgeous. The most beautiful uniforms are of course those of the Guards Cavalry and Hussars. As for these Ulan Lancers, when Solovyov saw the hats on their heads, he would think of the Poles.

The award speech for his medal also included the words "outstanding performance against the Polish Corps at the Trebia River".

But Lancers are indeed very useful on the battlefield. They receive the most complex training and have the strongest impact, and they always have to bear a lot of casualties.

When dealing with hollow or solid squares of infantry, if the accidental phenomenon of breaking through the enemy squares, such as the "crazy horse effect", is not taken into account, the lances in the hands of the Lancers are obviously more threatening to the infantry.

Solovyov saw them and thought that the training next spring should include infantry squares to deal with cavalry.

But if he continued to train like this, the Selenge Regiment would sooner or later become the "Blue Army" of "Zhuzhheski" and would surprise the opponent on the exercise field.

He did have this idea and even mentioned it before, but no one cared.

He couldn't even do the "penetrating impact" training advocated by Suvorov. He wanted to create such an imaginary enemy force on the exercise field, which was a bit too advanced.

Of course, the cooperation of the soldiers was also needed. Although the veterans of the Selenge Regiment were a little disrespectful to him, they also respected and admired him.

After all, this guy who liked food and didn't eat with the soldiers would take the initiative to help some veterans write letters home. Compared with the same treatment, these Russian soldiers cared more about whether the superiors really cared about them.

And the day of the exercise was two days later.

General Apraksin took this matter very seriously and even invited several military governors and infantry inspectors to come to the scene to observe.

Among them was General Langgeron, who was very good at complaining and was also an old acquaintance of Solovyov. He had to come from Brest at this time.