Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 337 039 Schmidt obviously regarded the French as pigs

"Lana, what did you get?"

"It's dog meat, Your Majesty."

Although Napoleon had no taboos, he was somewhat uncomfortable when talking about eating dogs.

"I don't mind eating dog meat. It's not far from Saxony, so it's not surprising that people eat this."

"Well, let the chef make a pot of soup, it's still okay."

As for a French marshal who ran all over the town where the Grand Army headquarters was located and got some vegetables and dog meat, it can indeed prove the efficiency of the French troops who opened the way in front. They had looted most of the edible things.

Although I don't want to say that the French army's military discipline is rotten, this is the case in Europe at this time. The banknotes for requisitioning materials are not strong enough, and the same value of paper money exchanged for precious metals is discounted.

When this mess was put into the pot, Lana also found that Napoleon was different today. He took the pamphlet seized from Mark and read it very attentively.

"Your Majesty, you have been reading this book for an entire afternoon."

But he was reading it on horseback. He had basically done everything that could be done on horseback, except being intimate with a woman, even sleeping.

I just don't know if the strange sight of a man sleeping with a horse is the same.

"Rana, this book is very interesting. It seems that the coalition forces are studying our combat methods and combining them with the ancient Chinese military theories."

"But it was published only a few months ago, that is..."

"When the British gathered Russia and Austria to oppose us, this book was just completed. It can be said that there are still some people in Russia and Austria who are very interested. It can even be said that Suvorov is not what I thought in the past. In addition to military strategy, he seems to have corresponding strategies and is even training the next generation of military talents for Russia."

"We should also train talents, Your Majesty."

"That's why we established the Saint-Cyr Military Academy on the basis of the past military academies, so that our officers can learn advanced theoretical knowledge. This book comments on many battles in the past 15 years, but it still seems a little immature, but the foundation is not bad. A Russian military attaché in Paris claimed to have captured Scherer alive. I believe this statement. The ambush battle described in it is indeed something that can only be done by eyewitnesses."

When Napoleon mentioned Scherer, he couldn't help but feel a little contemptuous. This person almost lost all the results of his first expedition to Italy.

But he was just interested. He would not pay too much attention to a rising young officer.

"Your Majesty, Rustam has prepared the soup and put it here."

After Rustam brought the soup, Napoleon called Lannes over.

"At this time, we should drink soup first. In November, the weather here will be worse, but it will be much better than when we crossed the Alps."

"Your Majesty, what should we do next?"

"Of course, we will pursue Kutuzov's troops and destroy them before they join the main force of the Russian army."

"However, we chased them for a few days and only captured some Austrians."

"The Russians will always show up. I don't think they will just run away. They also want to come back and bite us."

"If it was Kutuzov, would he do this?"

"The Russian army's rear guard is Bagration's column. In Switzerland, he fought and retreated to block Massena's pursuit. As for their negotiation, there is nothing to talk about here. This is the cunning old man who wants to delay time."

"Then why don't we take advantage of the Russians' claim to negotiate and take some action?"

"Lana, what are you going to do?"

Lana is of course going to fool the Austrians along the way so that they can relax their vigilance.

In addition to the field troops, the Austrian army also had some garrison troops near the bridges and main roads along the way, responsible for destroying the facilities along the way.

However, this is what will happen in the next few days.

The problem Napoleon considered was to catch up with the Russian army, and it would be best to destroy part of it.

Therefore, Lannes quickly left Napoleon's station and returned to the army he commanded.

After the Battle of Ulm, the coalition forces had been retreating, following the method negotiated by Kutuzov and Schmidt, that is, alternating cover, trying to preserve strength, and only launching a rearguard battle when necessary.

In the previous few days of fighting, the Russian army rarely encountered the French, and the French pursuit troops often encountered the Austrians. Davout's Third Army was attracted to Mariazell by the Austrian army.

Murat's cavalry army and Lannes's Fifth Army did encounter the Russian army several times, but there was no contact in the first few days.

Schmidt was already thinking about how to deal with the French army, but the coalition forces on the retreat had no good chance so far, and they had been retreating for several days.

"Sir, at this time, I think we should continue to retreat."

"If the French are chasing too closely, we can only continue to fight with them, and..."

Kutuzov and Schmidt both knew that Mark's failure would lead to more than 100,000 Frenchmen launching a large-scale pursuit of the 50,000 coalition forces, and if they were not careful, the troops might suffer heavy losses.

"If the French are chasing too closely, we will have to fight."

After Schmidt finished speaking, he looked at the Russian generals on the side. Many of them were still very young, and they were still eager to try under such difficult circumstances.

"Prince Bagration, you have always been at the rear of the entire marching column. This task is still very difficult."

"Yes, General Schmidt, but the current situation requires us to engage in close combat with the French when they catch up."

It is still far away from Shengraben Village, and an encounter must be inevitable before that battle.

Solovyov said, he was thinking that if he brought the Guards Chasseur Regiment, it might be of some use, but if a small group of less than a thousand people joined the battle, it would not change anything. Take more pain.

These soldiers of his are still not enough, and they should have just entered Austria now, but there is no need to apply for a visa.

After Bagration returned to the army, Solovyov raised this issue with Schmidt.

"If we want to fight against the enemy, this seems to be a very suitable place."

His hand pointed to Dürenstein on the Danube River. The terrain here happened to be a river valley, which was a good place to use it.

"But the French have to fall for this trap, and you can't expect them to fall for it."

"Okay, General, but it won't be easy if the French catch up."

At this time, Napoleon formed an Eighth Army in addition to the existing seven armies, the Guards and the Cavalry Army, and appointed Motier to command this army and join the battle.

But the coalition forces don't know much yet, and the French army is still pressing forward step by step.

The Russian army was overtaken by the French near Amstetten.

Bagration had not fought the French before, and he still wanted to keep his distance.

But the French were still in pursuit, and at this time they tried to get closer and attack.

Under this situation, Bagration felt that he could no longer be pursued passively. If he could not turn around and fight, he would obviously be defeated by his opponent in the pursuit.

So he summoned the commanders of each regiment under his command and prepared to launch a counterattack.

"Brothers, it seems we can't let these French friends continue to pursue us. We need to give them a break at this time to let them know that we are not easy to mess with."

As for the order he issued, it also required line infantry and chasseurs to line up and place cannons on the road. This was also obvious, and the cannons were used to surprise the French cavalry.

The French cavalry was here, and they happened to be led by a world-class guy from the neck down, who personally launched the charge.

If Solovyov were here, I'm afraid he would have to activate the "preparation for that person". After all, it is indeed difficult to find a cavalry commander like Murat who is exaggeratedly dressed, conspicuous and arrogant.

Unless you want to compare his lifespan with him. This guy is definitely very conspicuous, but he rarely gets hit.

But the French cavalry only defeated two Austrian cavalry regiments, and then came the "friendly greetings" of the Russian artillery.

This was enough for them, and the Russian artillerymen cheered when they saw that the "cocktail" worked.

Murat's attack, after the Austrian cavalry was defeated, was repelled with considerable losses.

Lannes, who followed later, sent Oudinot's grenadier division after learning that Murat's cavalry was frustrated.

These grenadiers were all selected. They formed a horizontal line and pushed over, supported by artillery from the grenadier division.

Seeing this situation, Bagration also knew that the other party was serious about it.

At this time, a turn-based system was achieved. After Murat was frustrated, he waved in Oudinot's grenadiers.

Bagration's old friend at this time was Miloradovich. His troops were nearby, and the two columns were to join forces to launch a counterattack against Oudinot's division.

The exchange of fire between the two sides continues to escalate, but it is always the Austrian army that is unlucky.

Some Austrian border guards became the key targets of the French army, but they were not lucky today. Miloradovich brought four infantry regiments to provide effective support.

Only in this way can they not be completely wiped out. At this time, the coalition forces can still reluctantly withdraw from the battlefield with the help of night.

Winters are getting longer and longer now, which is always more friendly to those who want to run away.

At this time, General Schmidt led several officers to march along the Danube River in order to find a suitable battlefield for an ambush.

"If the French want to pursue, or if they want to launch any operation, they will get into trouble here."

"It's just that on this battlefield, it's not enough to deal with a division of enemies, so it's difficult for us to spread out."

"But this is enough, colonel. After our rearguard troops arrive here, they can rely on the favorable terrain on one side to operate and suppress it from this angle with artillery from the heights of the valley."

Speaking of this style of play, Solovyov remembered that the French used this trick at the Gotthard Pass.

The methods learned from the enemy are still somewhat useful, at least this time they can retaliate against the French.

"but."

Solovyov wanted to explain the problem, but Schmidt was still observing the situation below with a telescope, and first chatted with several Austrian officers who were familiar with the terrain here.

"General, the current environment here is just right for the French to encounter a lot of trouble when they are chasing along the river bank. The only way to escape is for reinforcements to come here."

"That's what I'm worried about, General Schmidt. We can stop an enemy division here. If another French division comes later, it will inevitably lead to a series of melees."

"Yeah, it seems that we need to think of something."

While Schmidt was thinking about it, Solovyov's mind was going through a movie quickly. He thought that the Bagration column and part of the Austrian army could cut off the French army's retreat here, and at the same time, Miloradovich or von Kimmel's Austrian army would block the French reinforcements that might sneak into the valley from the front. That would be enough.

But there is another premise, that is, the coalition forces should not suffer too much loss during the retreat, and the French army should not chase too closely.

Only in this case can it be possible to win, and it can also be used to boost morale.

But Solovyov didn't know that his routines were almost analyzed by Napoleon now.

It's just because there was only one copy of the booklet given to Mark, and Napoleon only mentioned a small part to Lannes, so his routines would not be exposed.

Of course, the French troops that were going to arrive here were not necessarily Lannes' troops. The French army was now advancing towards Vienna while pursuing the retreating coalition forces, trying to destroy them on the way.

However, the battles between the two sides were very short. After a period of exchange of fire, the Russian army always fled under the cover of night, or fought and retreated when the French army was not strong enough, so that the French army chased for several days but failed to catch this slippery loach.

On the contrary, Mark put himself in a "dead place" like Ulm, shrinking in the turtle shell and being beaten. Not to mention the French, generals of any country like this kind of opponent who shrinks and does not know how to be beaten.

Under this premise, the efficiency of the French pursuit was greatly reduced, and Murat claimed after returning that he encountered the enemy's superior forces in Amstetten, so he failed to pursue successfully.

And Bagration said the same thing after returning.

In fact, the two sides had similar forces. During the brief exchange of fire, the French cavalry and the Russian infantry fought fiercely, which led to misjudgment on both sides.

Under this kind of mistaken entry and exit, and the French army was going to Vienna, Lannes and Murat were going to the capital of Austria.

As for the fact that the two of them fooled the Austrian army at the bridgehead, allowing Oudinot's grenadier division to touch the bridge and finally dismantling the explosives, it really sounds very legendary.

But there were also French troops in pursuit, and they were getting into the pocket set by Schmidt.

Solovyov himself wanted to complain that Schmidt looked at the French as if he was catching pigs with a pocket.