Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 539 051 Soloviev's application of concealment (Part 2)

"Bao Hong, how is the situation?"

"The commander-in-chief has approved the operation. You will set off tonight, but the direction of the operation must be concealed. Do you understand this?"

"Of course I understand. I just want you to go to the headquarters. I am still short of adjutants here. Maybe you can be a cavalry commander in the future."

"Forget it. It's better for me to stay in the Cossack Regiment."

"You guy, maybe one day I will need your help. It has always been the case."

"The order is here, Misha, and you should take action."

Bao Hong handed over Bennigsen's envelope. After opening the seal of the fire seal, Solovyov also understood the other party's intention.

In short, it is to sneak and sneak, and the march must bypass the front of the Aland Islands. One to two days after they set off, they will launch attacks in several directions.

The only problem is that it is currently more than ten degrees below zero, and it is difficult to march. The ice surface is relatively difficult to walk.

But the previous preparations were still useful. In addition to Kunev's detachment covering the left wing of the Finnish Division, Bagration attacked from the front to contain it. The horseshoes used by the Russian army in winter were specially made, just like snow tires on the car.

In addition to these horses, he also prepared a large number of sled dogs. Although they were a bit stupid in some places, they were just right for use now.

According to the marching plan, the overall action of the Russian army and the entire marching plan of the Finnish Division would exceed 200 kilometers. The general marching speed would probably take ten days, which would definitely not work.

He prepared sled dogs and horses to transport supplies, which could indeed reduce the burden on the soldiers. The marching plan of the grenadier brigade of the vanguard, according to the training of the two elite regiments in recent years, could exceed 30 kilometers per day.

The more troublesome thing is that they are on the ice on the way, which is actually very dangerous.

However, according to intelligence and the exploration of scouts, the thickness of the ice surface in these places along the way is still sufficient.

As for the situation along the way, the navy and engineers have surveyed the route these days and established some supply stations along the way.

With the Gulf of Bothnia covered, it is unlikely that the Swedes can understand the situation and cover all aspects, so they can only focus on a few places.

However, the Russian army came on the ice in large numbers, and the Swedes were not too prepared. If a Cossack or Hussar detachment came, they might be able to deal with it.

Solovyov's marching route was also arranged quite cleverly. Although he did not go to the scene, during the two receptions and Bagration's previous actions here, he always had to survey the hydrology and geography.

As a general, it is not good to not know astronomy, geography and meteorology.

It's just that in the Gulf of Bothnia, it is necessary to pay attention to the meteorological conditions in the west. Communication with the French is not enough without telegraphs or signal machines.

What's more, the optical signals and "Morse code" of the Russian army are exclusive secret communication technologies so far, and they are also "mobile communications" between regiments. They are not fixed and are not used in this occasion.

In addition, there is some information about weather when communicating with the French, which cannot be disclosed to the other party at least before 1815, even if the other party knows:

Oh my, the weather in Moscow is terrible!

Now, we can only find the weather data of Sweden in winter to judge. Fortunately, the Swedes' own records were still very complete more than ten years ago, and they can still be found after entering various cities.

Therefore, Solovyov can probably know when it is more appropriate to march in January.

Since his 20,000 people stepped on the ice, it has been very smooth. Although the temperature makes the ice thicker and thicker, it has not dropped much. At night, it is generally not lower than minus 15 degrees. It can barely maintain a high-speed march. After five days, the Grenadiers Brigade will probably arrive first.

Now his concern is still the ammunition supply of the Pavlovsk Grenadiers Regiment. After all, this regiment is the core of the entire division's combat power, and the weapons used are different from those of the other five regiments.

Therefore, the most important thing for this regiment is the ammunition truck, which is always guarded by the Alexander Nevsky Hussar Regiment. There are also several cavalry regiments in front, two infantry brigades in the back, as well as logistics troops and artillery.

After they left, Kunev's cavalry team took action.

This time, the news reported by the King of Sweden was that the Russian army sent a cavalry team to harass the South Manland Regiment and local militia stationed in the Aland Islands, but they knew nothing about the situation on the ice in the north.

The Finnish division itself was indeed lucky. They walked for a few days, and there was no news from the Swedish side. Instead, Kunev's harassment attracted special attention.

Bagration let the Moscow Grenadiers and Cossack Cavalry take a roundabout action, and the Swedes knew nothing about it.

It was under such circumstances that it was more conducive for him to launch a sneak attack.

On the fifth day of Solovyov's march, he was at the forefront of the entire division's infantry team. Now he was more worried about the deviation of longitude and latitude. If the road was off, even if he saw land, there might be problems in the march.

In order to conceal the entire operation, the engineers did not open any markings or roads on the last third of the road.

But it is not without benefits. Because it snowed some time ago, there was snow on the ice surface. Only after it was stepped on, there was a road to walk on.

Russian soldiers always go to places without roads, and on the last day, the Russian army threw some unnecessary supplies on the carriages and sleds, so they advanced quickly and naturally had to hurry up.

That's how the Grenadiers Brigade and the two Hussar Regiments of Elizabethgrad and Izyum quickly approached the land.

"To be honest, this is sailing on the ice, and our actions always have to rely on the navy to direct them."

"Mick, we should also reach the land today, right?"

"Of course, I am more worried about how the enemy is deployed on the Swedish coastline."

"Probably a mixture of militia and infantry regiments left behind?"

He talked about this with Clausewitz, but he was actually unsure. After all, the landing area was not far from Stockholm. According to intelligence analysis, it was sandwiched between several Swedish troops. The risk factor of this operation was actually very high.

If they go astray, it will naturally be a problem.

As they were talking, some cavalry had already returned. If they were to move on the ice, the Russians' own special horseshoes would be more useful.

"Sir, we have seen land ahead!"

"How far is it?"

"It's still 4 versts away from us, which is very close."

"What about the enemy's deployment on the shore?"

"Sir, the enemy is not well prepared. There are only a few militiamen guarding the towns we saw. It shouldn't be a problem to take them down."

"Mick, what are you going to do?"

"That's easy, Karl"

His idea was to let the hussars take the lead in the attack. These cavalrymen carried their own muskets, and the Swedish militia must be vulnerable.

Even if there was resistance, the Tafred Grenadiers were sent to reinforce quickly, and the battle should end soon. As long as they didn't encounter the Swedish regular army, they would still be able to fight the militia with only hussars.

This has another advantage, that is, when the Russian army launches an attack, if the enemy reports the situation, the initial reinforcements will not be too large.

In this environment, the exchange of fire due to information asymmetry is best to turn the Swedish army into a refueling tactic.

As for the subsequent actions of the Finnish Division, it is necessary to gain a foothold in Sweden, and when the enemy comes up, it cannot rush too much.

In short, the battlefield fog is still very important.

Even now, the Pavlovsk Grenadiers wear sheepskin warm wool on their heads, not the bishop's hat with greater wind resistance, not to mention that this thing is not warm.

No matter how you look at it, he wants to create information asymmetry, and even the elite troops crossing the sea still have to maintain mystery.

However, what he didn't expect was that the Izyum Hussar Regiment just appeared on the edge of the town of Gavle, and the local militia surrendered, and even the local mayor directly offered the key.

In short, they didn't intend to resist, because the Russian Hussars had too many people.

However, the towns close to Gävle had also noticed the movements of the Russian army, and they had an early warning.

But at that time, only the Izyum Hussar Regiment came ashore, so the Swedish coastal defense alarm was mainly aimed at the Russian cavalry harassment, rather than the actions of the large army.

In this way, when the news reached Stockholm, it would not provide any effective intelligence to Gustav IV and his generals.

In order to expel the Russian army, Gustav IV also ordered the Kalmar Infantry Regiment and a few light dragoons in the country to prepare to expel the Russian army.

"Your Majesty, the Russian Hussars came from the sea, and it is not certain how many people are behind them. It is not wise to send troops to expel the enemy so hastily now."

After all, the Amfelt family has served the Swedish royal family for generations, from Karl XII to the present. Out of caution, he still gave advice to the stupid donkey king.

"It doesn't matter. The Russians attacked by surprise several times before. This time they just went a little further. Didn't the report from the Aland Islands also say that Kunev's cavalry was repelled by us?"

"But someone appeared in Gävle, which is very abnormal. Maybe we should prepare more. We can gather several other regiments in the mainland and organize a force to go from Uppsala."

"Your Majesty, Baron Amfeldt has some truth in what he said." Count von Fersen agreed with Amfeldt's opinion at this time. Because he was a staunch absolutist and royalist, Gustav IV still trusted him to some extent.

"Well, the Kalmar Regiment and the cavalry will go first. As for the other troops, it always takes time to mobilize them. If we want to send a second army to garrison in Uppsala, we will need at least six infantry regiments and three cavalry regiments."

"Your Majesty, I think it is safer to assemble a large army."

"Amfelt, since you are so worried about what happened in Gävle, you will be the general in command."

After the previous attack on Denmark failed, Baron Amfelt lost his command. Now that he has the opportunity to lead the troops, he is also ready to go north to deal with the Russian army in Gävle first.

He felt that the Russian army's appearance in the north of Stockholm must have a bigger conspiracy. A hussar unit crossed the ice and even went in the opposite direction of Kunev's detachment's actions and appeared in two different areas. This should also be a precursor to the Russian army's large-scale offensive.

When he selected the troops and mobilized four infantry regiments of the local army to arrive in Uppsala, and joined the local garrison and the cavalry that had arrived here long ago, he received new instructions from Stockholm.

The Russian army launched an attack on the Aland Islands and quickly captured the barracks of the local garrison. The Southmanland Regiment was forced to surrender after only symbolic resistance. The local population and materials that were not moved eventually fell into the hands of the Russian army.

And it was still commanded by Prince Bagration himself, but Amfelt did not intend to return to the army and went directly north from Uppsala.

By the way, the private letter that Count von Fersen wrote to him was also worried about the situation in Gävle.

This court steward, a friend of the French queen, was a court nobleman, and his participation in wars dates back to the American War of Independence, so he might have fallen behind. However, he also gave his own opinion, that is, on this issue, don't do what the king wants.

They belonged to the royal party, and von Fersen had a relatively high status and a certain social prestige. He had fought in North America more than 20 years ago and participated in the Battle of Yorktown.

This old minister was relatively cautious in character. He believed that the Russian army had always been cunning, and the entire conspiracy could not be judged based on the current Russian cavalry activities in several directions.

Therefore, he still had to lead these troops, and after gathering in Uppsala, he continued to move north and did not obey Gustav IV's transfer order.

At the same time, Count von Fersen himself would persuade the king to give Amfelt more full command, and was ready to mobilize General von Essen to the front line to lead the Guards to join him.

After reading the letter, Baron Amfeldt at least knew that he could do it his own way, so he ordered the Kalmar Regiment to monitor near Gävle.

So, the ambush that the Russian army had originally designed was useless because of Amfeldt's new order.

But Solovyov was not worried. After all, during the two days when the Swedish army assembled, the Russian army had already arrived in Gävle and used it to establish a rear base.

After the Finnish division assembled, it was finally time to take action.