Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 354 056 Austerlitz (5)

Napoleon's plan was to annihilate the left-wing coalition first, and then come back to outflank the Russian Guards formed on the front.

He could see that these Russian troops had formed a standstill formation, just to make the French army break their teeth.

Even during a break in the shooting of the chasseurs, when Bernadotte regrouped his troops and prepared to continue the attack, he would still encounter the Russian army's "curtain-picking tactics."

Solovyov really used the essence of the "Tubal Road", but when he explained it to the veterans of the Guards before the war, he unexpectedly discovered that this tactic was used in the Russo-Turkish War. , the Russian army often leaves gunpowder and projectiles in the barrel of the gun before hand-to-hand combat, and they are also experts.

According to the accounts of some veterans, the Turks quickly learned this trick. However, the Turkish army had a relatively small number of firearms, and most of the cavalry and infantry fought hand-to-hand. Therefore, in turn, the Russian army did not suffer much.

But later, when the Russian army became a "gray beast" during the reign of Nicholas I, this tradition was completely lost.

This time, you can see the French army approaching the Russian position in a skirmish line, and then being driven away by the Russian Guards Grenadiers in hand-to-hand combat, while enjoying the black guns of the Guards Jaegers.

At this point, a stalemate on the battlefield is inevitable.

However, Napoleon had already seen that this kind of combat of the Russian army was relatively dull, mainly because there was no cavalry, and the purpose of the combat was to rely on its own advantages of firepower range and hand-to-hand combat to kill the French army. After causing heavy losses to the French army, they would turn around and use artillery to bombard them. .

That is to say, the French army has an advantage in the number of artillery. When the two sides are separated, they can still make up for it.

However, as a result, many artillery units were placed forward on the Platzen Heights line to suppress the Russian Guards, resulting in the weakening of the firepower on this side of the Fourth Army.

However, Soult was not helpless. His three divisions were the main force in the middle of the French army. With the cooperation of Davout, they attacked from both sides and launched an attack on the three columns of the Russian army.

Langeron, who was aware of the disadvantages of this formation before the war, kept it to some extent. Kamensky's initiative to counterattack Plattenberg disrupted the French army's deployment. Although it had to retreat due to its inferior strength, it still This guy was quite particular. He gathered up the broken troops near the ice lake, which was regarded as a way of retreat for the three columns on the left.

In this case, Langeron contacted Bookholder, hoping that he could preside over the orderly retreat of the three columns and at least occupy this passage.

However, Bookholden, who had been drinking heavily the night before, was in disarray. He had abandoned his troops and started running away.

At this rate, it looks like it's going to be doomed.

Just when Langeron sent people to Buckholden, the French army had already rushed down from the Platzen Heights.

Even if it is an infantry attack, the Russian army will be attacked from both sides, making it difficult to resist.

The unlucky third column was directly attacked by the French army from three sides and was already in chaos. That is to say, the Russian officers and soldiers have always been tenacious. From the generals to the soldiers, even if they are fighting separately, as long as you don't disarm them, they will still be there. Resist desperately.

At this time, Langeron couldn't care less. He sent someone to contact Dokhturov, the only one on the entire battlefield whose attack had made some progress, hoping that the two columns would take advantage of the opportunity for the French army to encircle and annihilate the third column. , retreat quickly to open an escape route.

After Dokhturov waited for Langeron's messenger, he also knew that today's battle was definitely not going to work, so he ordered his headquarters to start retreating.

But at this time, even if they want to run away, they have to ask a guy with a flash of light.

Davout and Friant discovered that the Russian army wanted to flee, so they took the initiative to pursue it. Even if they ran out of bullets, they still had to use their bayonets as an atmosphere weapon, just to entangle the Russian army who was preparing to retreat, and try their best to to expand the results.

He was so proactive that after receiving the report, Napoleon even frowned.

Today, all the military commanders, except for the old guard who has been sightseeing in the back, all played very well, but Bernadotte was blocked there.

"Davout and Friant did a great job, so we can continue to encircle and annihilate the three columns of the Russian army!"

He couldn't give any instructions to Bernadotte. The First Army came from Hanover and spent most of the time fishing, but now they encountered such a porcupine during the pursuit.

That's right, Solovyov's tactics can be said to be a pig's tactics, and they also have elastic defense, which made Bernadotte miserable.

Napoleon didn't care about the losses of the First Army. Now he was going to target the three columns of the Russian army and put in the Grenadier Division.

"Ask Duroc to pass between the 2nd and 3rd divisions of the Fourth Army and attack the Russian army's retreat!"

After the grenadiers joined, the Russian army's originally orderly retreating column began to fall into chaos.

Langeron's troops were the first to bear the brunt. He only had three infantry regiments of Olsufiev in his hands, and suffered heavy losses. They could not withstand the French attack. If it were not for Dokhturov during the retreat, The Moscow Infantry Regiment was dispatched to provide support, and I am afraid that all three regiments will be handed over here.

However, the unlucky one now is the Moscow Regiment. They formed a hollow square formation to resist the French cavalry, and they also had to deal with the French grenadiers pushing forward. They could not hold on for half an hour. .

The commander of the Moscow Infantry Regiment was captured and the flag was taken away, but fortunately they were not completely wiped out. After being severely damaged, the three infantry battalions fled to the vicinity of the Ice Lake under the cover of the Kiev Grenadiers.

As for the Ice Lake, although it was hit by Napoleon's artillery fire, the losses in this small pond were mainly artillery vehicles and baggage.

Most of the Russian soldiers who really fell into the water swam ashore in winter, which actually did not play much of a role.

Under such circumstances, Soult and Davout could only be satisfied with making dumplings of most of the Austrians, and there were also many captured Russian officers.

Moreover, among the captured officers, there were even sons of Cossack Hetman and many noble children, and these people had to be fed and well fed.

As for Andrei and Tickenhausen on the Pratzen Heights, they did not die on the spot, but Tickenhausen's injuries were very serious, and Andrei's condition was better, and they were all sent to a nearby hotel.

Now Napoleon was on the Pratzen Heights and had a clear view of the entire battlefield. Only the Russian Guards were still fighting for honor and the retreat of their allies. The rest of the coalition forces, including the troops led by Bagration and Grand Duke Liechtenstein, retreated in an orderly manner. Miloradovich still had three regiments with serious losses, and the rest of the troops were in retreat.

However, when Napoleon was about to order a strike against the Russian Guards, he saw that the Russian army had abandoned the cannons and a large amount of baggage and was retreating.

"What are they going to do?"

This time it was not a trick played by Solovyov, but Grand Duke Constantine saw that the situation was almost over and asked the troops to evacuate quickly.

As for the remaining cannons, the shells had almost been fired, and now they had to be destroyed. When retreating, the artillerymen could still ride away on horses, and the things on the baggage carts were abandoned, and they could also pull the injured brothers to move together.

But Solovyov in front was not willing to give up. He even wondered if he could counterattack if the French came to seize the baggage.

But when he wanted to do this, he needed at least a few cavalry squadrons.

However, the Russian cavalry losses in this battle were too great. When he formed a formation here, he could not find a few cavalry nearby to launch a tactical counterattack.

Therefore, he had no choice but to obey the order of Grand Duke Constantine and retreat to the Guards Camp, where the Guards dug out a position overnight. He could rely on it to fight a battle and hold on until night before withdrawing from the battlefield.

Napoleon saw through these tricks and ordered the First Army not to rush to pursue.

However, Bernadotte was a little bit overwhelmed. Although not many people died on the spot after being beaten by the Russian army, many wounded soldiers were left behind, and several officers were captured. The Russian army would not have retreated so easily if it had not been for the threat from Murat's heavy cavalry and the Guards cavalry from the flanks, having lost the eagle flags of the 54th and 95th Line Infantry Regiments.

After noticing that the Russian army had retreated to the high ground north of Austerlitz, he ordered his troops to pursue directly.

Solovyov's plan to disrupt the formation by relying on the "bandit characteristics" of the French army also failed because of Bernadotte's order.

However, he hoped that the First Army would be able to cross the abandoned positions of the Russian army and attack the high ground directly.

"Your Highness, it seems that we can still fight another battle relying on this position."

Grand Duke Constantine nodded in agreement, and also ordered the deployment of the Guards Cossacks to ensure the retreat of the army and keep in touch with Bagration in the north.

As long as he could confirm that his brother had safely withdrawn from the battlefield, Grand Duke Constantine believed that the mission was accomplished.

In Russia, if the Tsar lost a battle, it was actually nothing. The saying that he would die if he lost a battle did not exist. It was a rumor.

Moreover, when leaving St. Petersburg, domestic affairs had been arranged. With Sergei Kuzmich guarding St. Petersburg and Prince Saltykov as regent, nothing would happen.

Bernadotte, who had been repelled once before, chased the Russian army as soon as it returned to the camp, so that a fierce battle broke out on the hillside between the two sides, and there was even a bit of chaos.

Hand-to-hand combat broke out in many areas. When the opponent launched a bayonet attack, the Russian army would not necessarily choose to retreat.

There was a case in the past where the small French vaulters tried to attack the Russian grenadiers, but they didn't even use bayonets and were beaten back by the butts of the guns.

At this time, the Russian army fought back with bayonets, which was beyond the expectations of the French.

Solovyov himself also joined the hand-to-hand combat in the Guards Chasseurs, but his point of view was that within seven steps, the gun was faster.

In addition, he was only at a passing level in using a knife, and he couldn't show off the knife flowers like the Cossacks, so it was more reliable to use a gun.

The Russian counterattack repelled the French army, and cheers broke out all over the mountains, and everyone shouted "Ura".

The French would not attack here for a while. After this wave of bayonet charge was repelled, Bernadotte could only stare at the Russian army on the high ground.

When night fell, the French army had no intention of pursuing, and Constantine also issued the final order for the Guards to withdraw from the battlefield.

For Napoleon, this victory can still be said to be brilliant. Although the First Army suffered a series of setbacks, which made the entire campaign somewhat flawed, his victory on the battlefield could be well publicized in the "Grand Army Bulletin".

Of course, the First Army, like Trafalgar, does not exist in France.

The victors should enjoy their honor, while the losers are in a very bad situation at present.

The Tsar himself withdrew safely from the battlefield after the Guards fought desperately.

When Constantine led his entourage to catch up with the Tsar's entourage, he saw his elder brother's current embarrassment and hid under an old oak tree to wipe his tears.

The losses were indeed huge. The 90,000 troops of the coalition forces deployed on the battlefield suffered a battlefield loss of 40,000, so that the two emperors of the coalition forces lost their determination to fight on.

But there are also some places where funerals can be celebrated. Although 50 flags and 200 cannons were lost, Bagration's continuous rearguard battles never let the French army gain an advantage, and the Guards successively captured 7 flags and retreated roughly intact.

Especially the 4th Line Infantry Regiment defeated by Grand Duke Constantine's personal command of the Guards Cavalry, whose honorary commander was still Napoleon's elder brother Joseph Bonaparte, this matter also looks a bit funny.

It's like: Although I can't beat you, my brother can beat your brother

But Constantine's praise of Solovyov was suppressed by Alexander.

The reason is simple. After all, Solovyov expressed his opinions on behalf of Kutuzov before the war, and Langeron and Bagration also opposed such fighting, so they were all recorded.

The only difference is that Bagration is still a Georgian prince, and because he married Alexander's cousin, he is considered a family member. He fought very well along the way, so Alexander would not "miss" him.

But Kutuzov and Langeron, they will definitely fall out of favor after the war.

As for Solovyov, it was purely because his output was really off the charts, and both Dyrenstein and Austerlitz performed well, so he did not encounter any trouble.

But there was really no chance for promotion. Constantine treated Solovyov as his own, promoted him to general, and commanded the Semenovsky Regiment.

Of course, the medal was still approved. Alexander's pettiness and scapegoating were not aimed at a young colonel, and a third-level Order of St. George could still be obtained.

But in this way, Solovyov should not have the opportunity to get a full set of St. George medals, because the officers' St. George medals cannot be calculated for the next level if they are obtained by skipping levels.