Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

On the way back with the 3rd Division, Solovyov was a little nervous.

Since a squadron of cavalry could get close, even if he set up an ambush to eliminate them, it was inevitable that a few would escape.

Although the current cavalry squadrons were not strong enough, who knew whether the French would send troops to pursue them again, and the winter climate allowed the troops to pass through the edge of the frozen swamp. At this moment, the roads were relatively fixed.

That was it, he was even more worried, after all, the routes were relatively fixed, so he sent scouts in advance to inquire about the surrounding situation.

At this time, it was still necessary to fully grasp the battlefield situation.

As for the enemy he expected, the old soldier Massena who would chase him from near Pultusk, the other side cunningly withdrew from the front line after a cavalry squadron was eliminated and some scouts were lost.

At this time, he knew that the Russian army would definitely be on guard.

As for the friendly forces nearby, although there was some competition, Massena would not deliberately pit them.

Next, we need to take into account the armies of these vassal states, each of which has some in-law relationship with the emperor.

There is also a distinction between close and distant relationships. Jerome married a princess of Württemberg, Eugene's wife is from Bavaria, and as for Baden, since the emperor adopted the niece of the queen's ex-husband as an adopted daughter, this is naturally considered a son-in-law, and they cannot be easily pitted.

Now it seems that the Poles are more suitable to be cannon fodder, and we cannot pit people like Dombrovsky who fought side by side with the French army in the past or Poniatowski who led the way this time. If we must find cannon fodder, some small nobles who are not very clear are more suitable to pursue the Russian army.

For this reason, Massena also went to the Polish Army Headquarters between Pultusk and Warsaw to mobilize troops to pursue.

Soloviev could not have imagined such a tricky operation of his. While retreating, he also carefully paid attention to the surrounding situation.

"Bao Hong, I'm always worried, I don't know why."

"You are just too suspicious, always suspecting that the French are setting a trap for you. We jumped out of this circle before their reinforcements arrived, so nothing serious should happen. What's more, the terrain on both sides has been familiar to us after the previous battles, so there is nothing to worry about."

"Yes, there is nothing to worry about. But if the French pursue us, we have to move faster, and of course the rear guard troops must stay."

"Which regiment are you going to leave behind?" At this time, a staff officer asked.

"The Tafred Grenadiers Regiment, um. And, ask their commander to remove the bishop's hat from the top of the soldiers' heads, so that they can be seen as elite at a glance, and disguised as ordinary infantry. It just so happens that there are hats prepared for the 21st Chasseurs Regiment in the carriage, so let them all change into them."

After hearing this, Major General Titov was the first to speak.

"What are you doing?"

"If an enemy who doesn't understand the market chases us, he will definitely notice the hat first. Our grenadiers always wear bishop hats on their heads, which is too obvious and inconvenient when marching. This year, the grenadiers will almost have to change their hats when they go back."

Hearing this, everyone probably knows what Soloviev is thinking.

And Massena really persuaded some Poles. They each brought their cavalry and rushed along the Russian retreat route, trying to chase and intercept the Russian baggage.

Some Poles fought with the Russian army that came to help the Prussian army from 1794 to 1795. You should know that the only time Suvorov was forced to order the execution of many resistance personnel was in the Braga district east of Warsaw.

150 years later, the Braga district was fine, but the Germans carried out a more brutal massacre on the other side.

In comparison, the Russian army's execution of a few hard-line prisoners who resisted fiercely was not a big deal.

But it was this group of people who never showed mercy when killing the surrenderists and moderates in Poland.

You know, the Polish army has always had a bad style. I'm afraid that Dombrovski is now outside the city of Kolberg, letting Polish knights ride Prussian dragoons!

Compared with them, the French army that has always looted villages along the way and the Russian army that will kill people when they are forced to do so are already considered to have strict military discipline.

Speaking of which, these people killed many pro-Russian Polish nobles in Warsaw, and had a bad relationship with the nobles and civilians in eastern Poland.

This point was made very clear by Bao Hong when he talked about his ancestor, Colonel Bao Hong, one of the Cossack leaders.

". That's right. My ancestor's situation was good. His family had always lived near Zaporizhia, unlike the unfortunate Bogdan Hrymenitsky, whose wife and children were killed. But that's it. The Zaporizhia Cossacks and the Poles have been at war for a long time. And there is a strange rule in our family. Maybe you are so smart that you can guess it."

"I think, maybe they don't want you to marry a Polish woman? If the scope is narrower, maybe a village girl is okay, but those Polish ladies can't afford it."

"That's probably it. And those Cossack leaders who murdered my ancestors should have also gone to the Turks."

As they were talking, they heard the roar of guns and cannons.

"What's going on?"

"Sir, it's the Tafred Regiment. They exchanged fire with the pursuing enemy!"

"What? They came so fast. It looks like they are all cavalry. There are unlikely to be infantry."

Solovyov did not intend to continue retreating eastward. He did not want to deploy his troops in this unknown place. He just placed the infantry and artillery at the intersection, ready to support the grenadiers behind him at any time.

He himself rode back to the battlefield with his entourage, but halfway through, the battle was over.

Solovyov couldn't understand such a brief exchange of fire. After all, he had never understood the Polish brain circuit.

"See, chief, that's how it is, the Poles always show up when you least expect them."

"Bao Hong, we have to see if there are any survivors, and then ask carefully what is going on, and the Poles are chasing us here."

As for Bao Hong's method, it was the traditional Cossack method. After a while, several prisoners who were still alive were recruited.

"That's it. These people belong to the Polish Lancers recently recruited by the French, but they are not the main force. Those who can fight are under Prince Poniatowski."

"Ah, the nephew of the last king of Poland, and his uncle is also an old friend of Her Majesty the Queen. But why aren't the prince's cavalry pursuing them, instead of these miscellaneous people?"

"This is quite interesting, do you want to hear it?"

Seeing that Bao Hong was trying to trick him, Solovyov also knew that there must be something interesting going on.

"You tell me."

"When we were fighting the Germans in Puutusk, Marshal Masséna went to their headquarters and asked the lancers to cross the river to pursue us, but no French troops were used to pursue us."

"The reason is not clear, is it?"

"Indeed! Those Poles just knew that the French Marshal came to them and said that a Russian army that had been severely damaged by Bavarian grenadiers was retreating, and asked them to come over to pursue and capture prisoners."

"So, it became like this. When we were in Switzerland, this veteran ruffian blocked our way to Zurich and made us suffer a lot. This time, he probably knew that we were on guard, so he didn't send any troops. The French army is here to die, and they just want some newly recruited Poles to come over. I already have an idea."

When Bao Hong saw him like this, he naturally knew that he was going to give him a beating.

In this kind of ambush battle, the terrain needs to be taken into consideration.

Solovyov knew that being a division commander requires understanding the intentions of his superiors and then implementing them.

However, this time he led the troops independently, replacing Baron Saken, who had not recovered, and it was also the first time he acted as a division commander.

When he was chief of staff, he was already very familiar with the work process, especially mastering the terrain of the war zone.

The place he walked to now was a terrain that he had never been to before but was suitable for an ambush.

When Schmidt was the director of munitions, he demonstrated it once in Dürenstein.

It is a pity that the chief of staff was killed in the battle just after meeting him.

But it is indeed enough to learn something.

Solovyov retreated along the river to Ostrolenka. The area along the river here seemed relatively flat, but the roads along the river and the forest side were very suitable for hiding light cavalry and horse artillery. As for the front, infantry can move there.

According to the prisoners' confessions, the number of Poles pursuing them should be equal to theirs, but most of them were newly recruited troops.

There are 3,000 cavalry and 8,000 infantry among them, but taking into account the organization of the troops, these Poles should be far inferior to the French army and its German servants, not to mention the Polish legions that have been fighting with the French army.

To catch them by surprise, it was necessary to hide the force and put the baggage train and part of the infantry on the road.

But Solovyov has a bad habit of being careful with calculations. He can't spend a lot of supplies just to annihilate a Polish army, but he can't let it go.

This reminded him of how little Count Palen and Mikhail Dolgorukov attacked Bernadotte's column before and actually captured a lot of money, including many personal belongings.

So, he still thought of giving a speech to the soldiers.

"Brothers, you also know that we failed to capture the pontoon bridge in Puutusk this time. But the French did not give up. They sent out the newly recruited Polish Legion to pursue us, because in the battle report, Marshal Masséna of France claimed that our 3rd Division had suffered heavy losses, but in fact, we only lost those at the bridge. There are soldiers lying on stretchers and carriages. The remaining wounded are in the rear hospitals, and the number is not as high as they said. We have to let this talkative veteran know that we still have soldiers in the Russian army. These Poles are fighting men, but they have to use their blood to water this land and lubricate our bayonets!”

Anyway, what he said was impassioned. Listen to the veterans, no matter what the content is, he is still very passionate.

This is also a very important point. The commander's style also determines the combat effectiveness of the unit.

Since Solovyov was determined to fight, he also wanted to see the attitude of the soldiers.

"I said, Master General, tell me what to do!"

A veteran who was nearby said this. As for the "young master", that's right. Solovyov is young and still looks tender. Naturally, in the eyes of some veterans who have served for more than ten years, he is still a young master. , not the master in some cases.

"Veteran, what's your name?"

"I didn't have a last name before I joined the army. Since I came from Chernovo, the conscription officer gave me the last name Chernov. Ivan Ivanovich, that's my first name."

"Fortunately, the conscription officer didn't write Ivanov for you, old soldier!"

Then the old soldiers who were close to me also started to make a fuss. It took a while for them to calm down. It seemed that the atmosphere was quite lively.

"That's good. We had some spoils of war and our personal belongings in the previous battles. Although they are not necessarily valuable, they can all be loaded on the carts. We can't use all our baggage and ammunition as bait. Now we need brothers to work harder, like when we work in the fields for the landlords, we need to carry more things and move them to the woods."

"That's no problem. Since we are not in a hurry, we are just carrying heavy work. We old guys are farmers and can still do it!"

"That's good. We put our personal belongings on the cart. When the Poles come, they will definitely rob our baggage carts. At this time, we will take advantage of their chaos and encircle their rear from the woods. It will be a great military achievement to annihilate the enemy!"

Hearing this, the Russian soldiers also understood that this young general was even more cunning than the cunning peddler in the countryside! This is to lure the enemy into the trap. Anyway, these captured items are not valuable. Except for the poultry and livestock caught along the way, the needles, thread, mahogany combs and copper belt buckles, they are just that.

Therefore, these veterans still contributed their backpacks.

Seeing the stage of boosting morale, it has been done almost. Soloviev began to pay attention to the terrain, mobilize troops, and select some cavalry and cavalry artillery to play the role of feigning defeat and luring the enemy.

After all, the Poles... They were in a hurry to chase, and they rashly chased without understanding the situation ahead.

This time, they were going to fall into Soloviev's trap.

Moreover, because the Poles did not know the situation of the vanguard, and did not communicate and reconnaissance carefully, they did not know what happened ahead, and even thought that it was the situation that Massena said, and the Russian army retreated due to heavy losses.

In this way, if they let them pass Ostrolenka, there would be Russian troops to support them, and there would be no military merit this time!