Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

The full name of Eylau is Prichtsch-Eylau, which is south of Königsberg. If you look at it on a modern map, you will definitely not find it.

Because this place was called Bagrationovsk after 1946. The German name for East Prussia was completely de-Prussianized, but many places on the Polish side also contained a lot of Polish territory, so the changes That is, from the German word "Dolf" to the Slavic word "Novo".

In this case, when others see it, they can probably know the situation.

It's just that Solovyov burned down Jeziorany, a "Jewish town" in order to lure the enemy. It can be said to be a joke from hell.

Now, the main commanders of the Russian army have met in the church in Eylau to discuss future action plans.

Only at the beginning, Langeron had just proposed whether to fight or leave. Except for him, the commander-in-chief, Chief of Staff Solovyov, and Bagration, who had always taken the lead in battles but was more cautious at this time, no one was interested. Willing to go.

Even Lieutenant General Count Osterman-Tolstoy, who was somewhat artistic and came from a well-bred family, advocated this.

Moreover, he was the first to speak as a division commander.

The 2nd Division itself is ranked first in the entire army, and it is also at the front if it wants to speak. Langeron originally asked him to speak because he wanted to be on the safe side. He would have some time to sort out his thoughts before those German guys spoke.

"We have now retreated to East Prussia, which is getting closer and closer to the national border. In the past few days, the brothers have set out from the winter camp to attack the French at the mouth of the Vistula River. However, they were discovered on the way, and Bonaparte used His army has been chasing us. There have only been a few small-scale battles. If it continues like this, it will obviously not be successful. And the important point is that our army has now gathered, and the French are scattered on both sides of the forest. We have limited options to attack one enemies in the direction.”

When he said this, little Kamensky also stood up and expressed his opinion.

"We really shouldn't run like this anymore. In Yankovo ​​we blew up the bridge over the Aare River, making it difficult for the enemy to supply supplies. How can we collect supplies along the way? The French always only carry 3 to 7 days of rations. After running around for a few days, I think they are almost exhausted and should fight here. "

Langeron looked at them and felt that it was very outrageous.

People who are usually more stable now have to fight hard, but little Kamensky, who is more brave, is now talking sense.

He looked at Solovyov. This kid had just come up from the "children's table". He was not the commander of the army, but just the chief of staff of the army. It was obviously not easy for him to express any opinions. If he wanted to speak, he would leave it behind.

As for the gathering situation of the Russian army, even except for the friendly army Lestock who is on the way, all 9 divisions of the entire army have arrived here. After several battles, the total strength of the Russian army was over 100,000 when it set off. There are still more than 80,000 people, and 70,000 can join the fight.

It happened that several division commanders were unwilling to leave. Langeron now also thought that if old Kamensky was still there, he might be able to suppress them, but that would be very bad.

Baron Saken and Baron Essen also agreed, but they did not express their opinions, but nodded frequently when little Kamensky spoke.

It was more troublesome at this time. The Russian officer and the German officer usually had some minor conflicts, but today the two sides had similar views. As the commander-in-chief, he obviously couldn't suppress it.

The only ones who have not expressed their opinions are Dokhturov, Tuchkov and Prince Golitsyn.

Although the three of them are all "Russian", they also focus on fighting. The only difference is that they have to defend on the spot.

Langeron looked at this scene and really wanted to complain.

According to his idea, the Russian army burned Eylau and then retreated behind the national border. If the French army dared to pursue it in depth, then he could drag the French army to death in the ice and snow of Lithuania.

If the French army chooses not to pursue, they can only bet on whether they are going to Königsberg.

This political problem was too serious. When Langeron was in Austerlitz, he and Kutuzov got into trouble for admonishing Alexander and were sent to Odessa.

In fact, fighting a battle here, except for the Russian generals, does not want to continue to move, it is also a political battle.

If you fight this kind of battle, it is most likely to be thankless, and the gain outweighs the loss.

As for Napoleon, although he has the desire to fight, Eylau is completely in the hands of the Russian army, and it is not easy to win here.

Just seeing the determination of these Russian generals, it is obvious that in military meetings, the minority obeys the majority. Although Russia has an emperor, in general, since Rurik, this military capability has been questioned.

Therefore, these generals on the front line will also hold meetings and discuss when the monarch is away. In the end, there will be a voting result, and few people will act arbitrarily.

At this time, even those who advocated the transfer are unlikely to give up the geographical advantage that Eylau has, although it is not very good, and move towards a flatter place along the coast.

"Count, I think everyone's opinion is that we should not give up Eylau and fight the French army here. After all, the town is in our hands, and the French are currently scattered on both sides."

"But this is not a suitable place to build a position, Michel, you can see that the terrain is so flat and open, and there is no way to hide our troops. The enemy can see it clearly."

"Then we can only trouble the brothers to build a snow fortress before the French arrive. You know what I mean, an ice city, and it is not friendly to heavy cavalry."

Soloviev has always been a little clever, and now he is holding back a smirk. Everyone knows that he probably has some ideas.

It just requires the generals and colonels to restrain their troops and quickly use the relatively soft snowfall in the past few days and the hard or soft soil dug from below to build an ice city first.

In addition, the construction of artillery positions does require more consideration. The Russian army itself has a considerable number of artillery. At most, a division can prepare 72 guns in the marching column.

So Langgeron ordered the artillery to be concentrated and used, and the main frontal artillery group was deployed in a slightly higher place behind the infantry position.

In addition, the positions responsible for each division on the front line were also equipped with artillery companies. Since the Russian horse policy has always been very efficient, the number of artillery carried by the Russian army is indeed considerable, but when placed together with the cavalry, the consumption of people and horses is also there.

In this case, the Russian artillery can bring their own snacks on the car, which is indeed envied by the infantry.

It’s just that because the Russian army began to build canning factories in Ryazan and Moscow in 1805, and the glass cans made by Russian soldiers themselves, now the soldiers on the front line, as long as they don’t consume their reserves in advance, they can still carry more rations, even pickles and canned meat that are in short supply on the front line.

As for the French army, obviously everyone knows that their rations have been consumed.

In this case, if they want to fight a battle, it can barely be regarded as waiting for the fatigue.

You know, the consumption of the Russian army is actually very serious.

When the battle line was arranged in Eylau, these places in the north, if the history is restored, are where the battle took place.

It was just because the Russian army moved in advance, and most of the troops gathered here when the French army was still trying to catch the Russian rear guard on the Frankovo ​​line, so there was enough time to build positions.

In addition to the artillery, the cavalry under each division is in good condition.

However, in the infantry phalanx, if a regiment adopts a configuration of 6 or 8 companies, it is obvious that more consideration should be given when arranging the hollow phalanx.

If it is to be arranged on the battlefield, the 2×2 phalanx arrangement is a convention, but Solovyov is somewhat dissatisfied when looking at this phalanx.

The same 8 companies can be arranged in a 1×3 formation. If there are three companies on the front, it is also conducive to the development of firepower.

When he thought of this problem, it was actually somewhat similar to the "Egyptian phalanx" used by the French army after 1808, but that was the battalion phalanx constructed after the French army was reduced to a 6-company system.

And there is another situation, that is, he estimated that if the French army could not open the situation, they might use heavy cavalry to attack.

If the current Russian army has a thick lineup, this phalanx that occupies less space is obviously more advantageous, and even two companies can be placed as reserves in the 8-company army.

This is even a solid one. Whether it is the "Egyptian phalanx", the "elongated phalanx" that Solovyov himself thought of, or the solid phalanx, more infantry can be placed in a smaller area to increase the density of troops to resist the impact of the French cavalry. And the French artillery is not like the Russian army, where a division comes out with dozens of guns, so there is no need to worry too much about artillery.

If it is some poorly trained troops, this method can be used to deal with them, so that a batch of mass-produced cannon fodder can be quickly produced.

However, among the Russian army, the regiments formed before 1804 usually do not have to worry about this problem. What needs to be considered are usually the new infantry regiments that will appear later. But the Russian army is not the Prussian army. Even if they are all serfs, they will not do the Prussians.

After inspecting the front-line positions, he quickly returned to the headquarters. In Langgeron, there were still several division commanders who had not returned.

He also happened to continue discussing the problem with these division commanders.

"How is it, Misha, have you chosen the artillery positions?"

"I'm afraid that the French will have a headache when they see us building positions now. In addition to placing our artillery in the open and accompanying the heavy artillery of each division, we also have a direct reserve artillery group, and we must give full play to the power of these artillery. Therefore, our artillery positions must also be carefully arranged, and in some places we can even do better. But this is not the point. What I am thinking now is that since we are going to fight, can we change the shape of the battalion phalanx on the battlefield? Just like this, we are not arranged in a square, but a rectangle. When our officers give orders, they mention that the 'phalanx' is a square arrangement, and the 'new phalanx' is this kind of rectangle. If it appears diagonally on the battlefield, it can also strengthen our firepower."

"Your idea is not bad, but we don't have time to rehearse and deploy every regiment now."

"Frederick the Great's oblique tactics were also conceived before the battle began. Although I do not support the Prussian approach, the revival of tactics such as oblique tactics is always accompanied by changes in infantry formations. Moreover, this is not the stupid "innovation" of the Prussians, which is simply the unreasonable behavior of a group of arrogant people."

"It has some practical value, but cross-fire is still troublesome. When you use firepower like this, it is easier to cause accidental injuries on the battlefield. In the square formation, when shooting in units of five, it is also difficult to control, and not everyone can shoot freely and accurately."

"If I were not worried about the impact of the French cavalry, Kolya, I would adopt a two-row horizontal formation. That would even give the French an illusion that our troops are unexpectedly more within the allowed battlefield width."

"Next time, if you encounter an opponent other than the French, you can try it."

When little Kamensky said this, Langeron knew what he was talking about.

If the Russian army did not fight the French army, it would be fighting the Turks on the Danube.

The Caucasus battlefield is not suitable for these practices. It is often the Cossacks and scattered Russian troops against the Chechens or Turks and Persians.

Other places are in the Age of Empires 3, the Age of Emperors, but they are still in the Age of Empires 2, or even the Castle Age.

At this time, the only new tactic that can be used immediately is probably the "stretched square formation", and the command adjustment only requires the company commanders to bring the people to the position.

Even for the company commanders of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th, 6th, and 7th companies in the front, such a square formation is very comfortable. Even if they want to move forward, they just move forward a little distance. Only the 1st or 8th company is injured. This is probably the case.

They need to walk a longer way to reach the designated position, and they may even need to walk faster than the fast pace to get there.

But there is no way. If the disadvantage of the new formation is that it is indeed more leg-consuming at short distances.

However, considering the benefits that this tactic can bring, some losses are still worth it.

As for the larger regimental square formation, Solovyov has no idea of ​​adjusting it. After all, there is no tactical demand now.

The French on the other side were indeed a real threat.

But Napoleon was really overwhelmed when he saw the orderly deployment of the Russian army.

Of course, he was not a small person to begin with.