Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 456 033 Danzig and the new war

The new round of war has not started yet, but when the thaw began in Eastern Europe and the roads were generally muddy, the French had already begun to prepare.

"According to the report from Danzig, the French have begun to prepare to blockade the city outside the city, so they will start a siege."

"Are there any hydrological data there?"

"No, Michel, you can still find it if you want, but I don't know if the nautical chart is accurate, it was made by the British."

When Langgeron said this, it really proved that the French would blacken the British when they got the chance, and they could hit the point.

"Well, if there are unmarked reefs, that's a big problem."

And this happened more than once.

If you ask the Prussians, I'm afraid they don't even have a proper navy anymore, or this country with an army has no naval tradition.

As powerful countries in Central Europe, Prussia and Austria can be said to have navies that are better than nothing.

Soloviev would not expect to get any sea charts from here, but he read a lot of books and could still remember what Courland had done.

That's right, when the Principality of Courland was still independent, this country once had Gambia and Tobago as colonies, and there must be some skills in navigation.

If you don't know that there was such a small country in America that had colonized, the Knights Hospitaller also had a piece of land in the Caribbean Sea.

As for why Courland had no colonies after that, one reason was that the national strength was too weak, and the other was that Gambia was robbed by the British, and Tobago failed to colonize.

This is also a small country in the Baltic Sea. Colonies across three continents are naturally counted, but it is really unethical for Britain to rob Gambia.

Therefore, Soloviev still wanted to get some information from the Principality of Courland, but unfortunately, there was none.

These were all past events in the 17th century, and the Principality of Courland changed owners several times, and the archives were also severely missing.

After finding nothing, Solovyov still looked at the military map provided by the Prussians and fell into deep thought.

If he wanted to act now, even if he sent reinforcements, it would be very troublesome.

The port of Danzig itself is located at the mouth of the river. If the French blocked the delta, even if the British were willing to help, it would be difficult for their warships to enter the port of Danzig.

And although the French have always been lame in naval battles, their coastal defense artillery tactics are very good. In terms of the real quality of seamen, they are actually better than the British.

As for the British, who relied on the traitors like the Duke of Orleans, France no longer developed the navy, leading to the British monopoly, it is easy to have various ugly phenomena.

Nelson was brought back to Britain in a barrel of rum, but his confidant secretary died in the naval battle and was thrown directly into the sea. After all, he was just an insignificant little person, even Nelson's friends were treated the same way.

The deck stained red with Nelson's "blood" was actually left when he was torn to pieces by a shell.

Monopoly things, in fact, have no good results.

As for those who work behind closed doors, it may be more funny, and they always make a fool of themselves. These naval talents in Russia only developed a relatively stable naval talent system when Admiral Ushakov came to power.

Many naval generals during the Empress's period were even foreigners, or they switched from the army and military engineers.

If you want to defend Danzig, you need to ensure that the estuary is in the hands of the local Prussian army or reinforcements.

After careful consideration, Solovyov decided to submit his plan to Grand Duke Constantine and then to the Ministry of War.

If the Minister of War doesn't understand, it will be in vain.

If Sergei Kuzmich is concerned, he will probably submit it directly.

According to Solovyov's estimate, the French army should launch an attack on Danzig between March and April, and the main direction of the siege is to cut off the supply line.

He had conceived of this matter before the Russian army started the war in Eylau. Before recuperating in the Jelgava Palace, he had also raised this issue to Langeron and Lestock.

At that time, Lestock managed to pass the information to the Prussian army in Danzig, but there was a small problem.

That was the intervention of the King of Prussia.

In addition to Danzig, Kolberg in Pomerania was also in the hands of the Prussian army. Frederick William III sent Gneisenau to preside over the defense there and replace the command of the local garrison commander.

The King of Prussia attached great importance to both places and did not want to give up either of them.

According to Solovyov's idea, Kolberg could not be taken. The Russian and Prussian armies, as well as some Swedish troops transferred from Pomerania, must be concentrated in Danzig, temporary fortifications must be built at the estuary, and the deployment of the army here must be strengthened. At least 8,000 Russian troops and 3,000 Swedish troops must build fortifications here.

Although this is the easiest horn to break in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it can ensure the supply of Danzig Port and Fortress, and there is a greater possibility of defending the city.

As for the Russian troops in other directions, they should actually move, so that the French army will be exhausted in several directions.

However, Solovyov's home-changing tactic was to use an empty city of Königsberg to attract the French army to settle in, and then attack the French army's transportation lines. The Prussian king firmly disagreed, and Alexander was soft-hearted. He saw that this tactic might threaten the French flank, but he remained indifferent.

Then, he could only follow a more eloquent approach and fight the French in East Prussia.

After returning to the headquarters, Solovyov still raised this issue with Langeron and Bagration alone.

"There is still some time. If we can send two regiments of hunters to Danzig in advance, build fortifications at the estuary, and rely on this place for defense, we can at least ensure that the French army cannot capture this place now. If we want to defend Danzig, it is best to hold on until after July so that the French army cannot use this place as a rear transit station. At the same time, we can use the Baltic Fleet to threaten the enemy from behind."

"That makes sense, but it's too late. There is also a Kutuzov in the Navy Department, but that one is not pretending to be confused, I'm afraid he is really confused."

Langeron said this, and Bagration was also hinting at Solovyov. With a glance, he understood.

This can be regarded as a brother who has worked together for eleven years, and there is still a tacit understanding.

Even according to Solovyov's idea, the Baltic Fleet's movable battleships were formed into a squadron to cover the transport ships, and even the British did not need to support here.

However, the East Prussian Corps had no ability to mobilize the navy, and the navy's ships were always in poor condition. Those battleships were in the port at this time. Except for Seniavin's fleet operating in the Atlantic Ocean at this time, no large-scale fleet could operate here.

As for transport ships. Solovyov knew from his acquaintances that the transport capacity was sufficient.

However, his plan was still under discussion at this time, and the French army had already begun to mobilize troops in February.

By March, the coalition forces were still arguing, and Marshal Lefebvre had led the newly formed Tenth Army to appear outside the city of Danzig.

By the time the Prussians discovered this problem, there was still time.

After all, the terrain in West Prussia has always been the worst, and the surrounding swamps and woodlands are natural defense measures. However, the French army has now taken advantage of the transportation lines and has already stood on the periphery.

At this time, it is the Prussians who should feel the crisis.

Frederick William III was originally short of military talents, and the more capable ones in the Prussian army were all sent away in last year's battle.

Clausewitz's words, he thought that although this person was loyal, he talked too much, so he just started to serve as a teacher for the crown prince in the palace.

Although this is to make the best use of his resources, Crown Prince Frederick William is the kind of monarch and man who can't be tough, it's better to rely on Prince William and Prince Frederick Karl.

This is probably the few places where the King of Prussia has not had a negative effect so far.

As for his response to the proposal to strengthen the defense of Danzig and increase the defense of the Vistula estuary, it seems too late now.

However, in April, taking advantage of the window period of thawing in the southern and western Baltic Sea, Britain and Sweden will send out navies to support. Sweden is still defending Stralsund, which they control, and it is difficult to mobilize a fleet for a while.

As for the British, although they can be arrogant in the sea outside Copenhagen, the number of fleets that can come here is limited.

The maintenance of the Royal Navy has always been a problem, and how much support can be provided in Prussia is indeed a problem.

Just dealing with the French privateers is already a great distraction.

Now, it is not a good idea for Prussia to do it on its own.

Moreover, the French army is already at the gates of the city. At this time, it is advancing westward from East Prussia and Brest. Because the Russian army has suffered heavy losses and is being replenished, only a few reinforcements can be dispatched at the moment.

However, the mobilization of ships is also a big problem. This is not a game report of Europa Universalis and Victoria. Dozens of troop transports alone need to be requisitioned, and even some of the Swedish Navy's warships cannot travel at this time because of the freezing of the northern Baltic Sea.

In addition, the mobilization of the Russian army also faces considerable difficulties.

But in this case, now they can only grit their teeth.

However, the terrain has strict requirements for both sides. Langgeron ordered Baron Sacken to let the 3rd Division take the lead in feinting to attract the attention of the French army so that the main force of the large army cannot be easily mobilized.

Next, it is to mobilize transport ships from the Gulf of Riga and ask the Kamensky Division to reach Danzig.

However, the order to mobilise the ships was issued, and problems arose again in Sweden.

Kolberg and Stralsund were also fighting, and four warships of the Swedish Navy had already set out to support them.

The three battleships that could reach Danzig still needed to mobilize sailors at this time.

Although the naval system of the British was very bad, Solovyov sometimes wanted to say something.

For the price of 20 shillings for the gangsters to catch a sailor, if they could catch people from the streets of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö now, they would have to put together a fleet.

But Gustav IV did not have this ability, and if the warships of the Swedish Navy faced the temporary artillery of the French Army, as well as the 12-pound guns and naval guns on them, I am afraid there would be no good way.

Time was passing, and at the same time, the French Ninth Army was still besieging some cities in Silesia that had not surrendered.

Although Marshal Lefebvre has the advantage in terms of troops, the battle in Silesia has been going on for a winter, and heavy siege artillery is also occupied there.

If the war in Silesia ends, the French army will soon be able to mobilize artillery to Danzig. Whether it can hold it is also a question.

In addition, the French can also seize these strongholds that Prussia has not yet surrendered one by one. In addition to opening up communication lines, they can also control the supplies that Prussia still retains in these cities.

The most important of them is probably the ammunition and food in Danzig.

The Prussian transport brigade captains did a good job. Even in 1807, the French army began to use a large number of captured Prussian equipment, and some were captured from Austria.

So much so that during the Battle of Eylau, the Russian army had noticed that the uniforms of some French infantry regiments at this time looked more like their friendly troops.

If it weren't for the different logo on the hat on his head and the murmuring French in his mouth, I'd probably think he was a German with a bad reputation.

As for the grain seized from Prussia, as well as the stored gunpowder, this was even more of a truck load.

It can be said that these bullets that hit the Russian army were probably inseparable from the strong support of Prussia.

As for what will happen in the future, it is indeed embarrassing now.

Solovyov was more worried about how to transport people up.

So, he boarded the "Neva" and prepared to go to Danzig to observe the transportation of the first batch of supplies.

Moreover, we must also pay attention to the current attack posture of the French army and how Lefebvre plans to conduct this siege.

To this end, he also went to meet Kamensky.

It's just that little Count Kamensky is now angry. When he arrived, he said: "You have also seen that I started the rearguard battle in January and did not make up for it in time."

"But after the battle in Eylau, everyone is like this. But I can't blame anything. If the situation goes bad in Danzig, try to preserve our existing troops as much as possible. Wait until the summer, and the battle with the French will probably be Decisive.”

"Okay, I will try my best to get as many brothers back from Danzig, but you have to arrange the ships when the time comes."

"If the ship does not arrive in time, you should pay attention to the ground east of Danzig. I have seen the Prussian map. In addition to the port of Pillau, there are several places along the coast where our army can launch retreat operations. I said from the headquarters We will send two liaison officers who are proficient in signals to go with you."

"Thank you, Mishka, you are interesting enough."

Young Kamensky was about to lead his division to Danzig, where there was also a new war.

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