Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

The Russian army in Turin is now living a very happy life. It can be said that they have never had such an experience since they left their hometown.

When the coalition forces arrived, the French army did not surrender completely. More than 5,000 people retreated to the fortress. Suvorov only sent a small number of troops to build positions on the periphery, and let most of the soldiers take turns to rest in the city or the countryside.

The good food that can be eaten on the streets of Italy is enough for the peasants among the Russian soldiers to brag about it when they return home.

Solovyov is still a captain now, but he is actually the battalion commander of the Joint Chasseur Battalion. He led his brothers to guard in front and replace the Guards. He will be on guard here for two days.

The French did not intend to break out, and they were not even willing to fire a few shells to harass the Russian troops who were too far away. What both sides did was to squat in their positions.

Over time, it was actually disadvantageous to the French. The Mantua Fortress could not be defended, not because the Austrian army itself was not strong enough, but because the castle was too crowded, and the epidemic caused by the deterioration of sanitary conditions and malnutrition made the Austrian army in the fortress lose its combat effectiveness.

Now the French are also facing this problem. They have a very poor environment in the castle, and they can't even go to the toilet in peace.

I don't know which guy said that the toilet pit of this fortress is facing the edge of the Russian position below, and the position is not very high. If someone stabs the pit from below with a long gun, the anus will be exploded on the spot, and the life will be over.

Even this kind of stone toilet with almost all-round protection is no longer safe, which also makes the French soldiers in the fortress panic.

It is not surprising that this rumor can appear, because there are many double-faced people in Italy, especially Turin is the capital of Piedmont, and it was also an important town and even the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia in the past. There are also many people who oppose the French.

There were spies who sneaked into the fortress and used such a psychological tactic directly on the French, making them feel uncomfortable even when they went to the toilet.

It can be said that "military warfare is inferior to psychological warfare", and the French inside felt that something was going to happen.

They also had wild ideas, thinking that the Russian army would blow up the toilet at night and then set up a ladder to attack from this position.

But Solovyov, who had a mysophobia, kept covering his nose after hearing the local guide propose this method outside the city.

The breeze like grapeshot brought the smell of that place over, and it also made him choke. He began to miss those girls who took at least two baths every day and dressed themselves up fragrantly.

This smelly siege method is better than just putting up the cannon and bombarding the city wall with solid bullets!

Now Suvorov's order is to surround but not fight, and give the coalition soldiers enough rest time.

At the same time, they are also waiting for the follow-up troops and the supplies brought by the Austrian emperor.

Around 1800, some progress had begun to be made in logistics. The British were about to produce tinplate, and at the same time, it was not surprising to see some glass cans or storable military rations on the European continent.

However, Suvorov was very worried about the Austrians' transportation. He even decided to use the military funds allocated to him by Franz II and the Russian soldiers' own salaries to buy supplies from the local area so that the soldiers could eat fresh food.

This was also to ensure the health of the soldiers. Now Russian soldiers can get everything in Italy, but they think the prices are very high.

The locals thought that the price they gave was still very reasonable.

Later, the Combined Chasseur Battalion and the Combined Grenadiers Battalion, which exchanged guards with the Guards, also noticed this problem when they came down to rest.

Solovyov met Captain Gryazev, who was fighting and serving as a war correspondent.

"What do you think is going on?"

"I think it's a price issue, Misha, how was the surveillance these two days?"

"The French are hiding inside and won't come out. I want the chasseurs to snipe a few French soldiers to create panic, but it's hard to have a chance. They are all hiding behind the shooting holes and can't be hit at all!"

This cowardly defense is indeed uncomfortable when neither side has started the artillery battle.

At the same time, Gryazev was also very kind. He helped the chasseurs to purchase a batch of sausages, cabbages, and wine.

It's enough to eat these. You have to know that Tsar Paul himself, as the head of all the serf owners and capitalists in Russia, eats this, and also requires the queen and two sons to eat this. Only the two daughters-in-law, five daughters, and two young sons can be treated better.

This kind of frugality can save the royal budget. In the eyes of Paul, who is proficient in law, and the queen, who is proficient in auditing, it can save the food expenses of the guards and pay pensions to retired veterans of the Russian army.

You two are not talented enough to be the Tsar and the Empress. You should be lawyers, process artworks and set up accounting firms.

It is just around the corner to form a multinational company. Unfortunately, Paul's friend Louis XVI, a top engineer and craftsman, has lost his head. His wife is also suitable for publicity and public relations.

However, they all sneered at the supplies transported from the rear.

"Do you know why Alexander Vasilyevich wants to buy supplies on the spot?"

"Why? You have worked in the headquarters. If it weren't for the fact that your soldiers are carrying new weapons and need to test their performance, would you come and meet me in the marching column?"

"You are so long-winded! There is only one reason. Those Austrian quartermasters have been reselling supplies. Also, the red wine and sausages that should have been distributed to us were sold to who knows who on the road by those Venetian dealers. Maybe the things we should get are in the mouths of those Italian prostitutes!"

"What did you say?"

Anyway, it's not chewing gum. This thing doesn't exist now. It is something that Emperor Franz distributed to Russian soldiers.

The Austrian quartermaster's play is actually a European feature. Quartermasters of any country can do such things. The Russian army is not so rampant now because the emperor himself is strict. Austria is different. Although there is Archduke Karl who can lead troops and fight, he can't manage so many Austrian military leaders. These old men have made a lot of money and said bad things about Archduke Karl and Archduke John who want to investigate them in front of Franz.

Archduke John is so young, but he is also gossiped by these old ministers. He is really bad at fighting, but he is still very efficient in checking accounts.

Emperor Franz is not clear about the use of people. These brothers who can still work, Joseph is in logistics, Karl is fighting on the front line, and the other brothers can also be assigned positions. He arranged them all in inappropriate positions. Even Karl, who is very suitable for leading troops in terms of ability, is not very comfortable in the army.

In addition, he also likes micro-management. Now, Switzerland, a small mountainous country that has always made the Habsburg family uncomfortable, has separated the two battlefields. Otherwise, he will have to micro-manage Archduke Karl and Suvorov.

At that time, we will know what a rookie emperor is that two top commanders cannot lead.

After delivering all the supplies, Gryazev took his grenadiers to the battlefield.

Austrian engineers are also calculating how to attack these fortresses. The French garrisons left in Piedmont in northwestern Italy are all hiding inside. Although their morale is not high, they cannot be taken down in a short time.

If they consume here for a long time, it will also give the French time to suppress the anti-French uprising in Genoa. On the other hand, Moreau repeatedly asked for help and mobilized troops from France. There is also MacDonald who came from southern Italy. If these two corps are combined to form a new Italian corps, it will not be a good thing for the coalition.

General Krei had not returned from besieging the fortress in Mantua, and the main forces of the Russian and Austrian armies were also dispersed. Only the troops led by Suvorov and the guards of Grand Duke Constantine were relatively intact.

Even now, the guards had only fought one encounter in Marengo, with minimal losses, and were still a fresh force that could be used and deployed on any battlefield where needed.

The location of Turin was not necessary for a large-scale garrison, but it would affect the mobility along the coastline.

In the end, Suvorov made up his mind to ask the Austrian army to stay and surround the fortress, since they were trapped in the mountains and couldn't get out anyway.

After Melas left these troops, he also gave instructions.

The coalition still had to take action. This time, Suvorov's marching target was Alexandria.

There were too many places with this name on the Eurasian continent. It was also when Alexander the Great of Macedonia went on an expedition that he built a lot of settlements according to his own name along the way after crossing the strait, which made it possible to do this.

The crown prince was also named after this. It was probably because the queen had read too many Greek stories and had a heroic complex. The names of her two grandsons and second granddaughter were all very "Roman" and "Greek".

After they came down, the Austrian engineers investigated and attracted the French artillery fire.

However, the artillery in these fortresses fired more than 150 shells, including grenades and solid bullets, but they didn't hit anything. Some shells were even picked up by Russian soldiers for their own use.

After all, the solid bullets that had just been fired could be used by cannons of the same level.

The Guards marched behind the Rosenberg column. The scenery the Russians saw along the way was very beautiful, and the local people were also very enthusiastic. Because it was the core area of ​​Piedmont, they didn't like the French, especially after the taxation and grain collection here, which led to a significant decline in the quality of life of the locals.

Not only in Italy, but even in Corfu, which welcomed the liberation of the French, the local Greeks now even welcomed the Turkish fleet that had always been against them to enter the port.

There is no other reason. The Directory is so good at squeezing people out of their bones that it is no wonder that it faces so many problems.

Even Soloviev felt that General Bonaparte conquered Italy by means of plunder, and these things were later learned by a group of people who lived a good life over the sea.

They learned from Prussia and France, and then took the dregs and discarded the essence. That's the best way!

In the next few days, the Russian army was on the march. Many of the soldiers and officers under Suvorov did not know what he was going to do. Was he going to seek to attack Moreau directly, or to make a strategic maneuver, or to detour to a new battlefield from which direction?

He did not issue such orders, but paid attention to the movements of the two French corps.

The coalition forces must strike one of the French armies before they join forces.

If MacDonald's corps appears in the Po River Basin, then along the Po River, except for the Austrian army in the area of ​​the Mantua Fortress, they must be responsible for containment.

Suvorov didn't know if he could wait for this opportunity. After all, if Moreau and MacDonald chose a more cautious strategy and joined forces in the south of the pass under the cover of the mountains, although the operation would take a long time, the coalition forces would have no way to deal with this action.

But if there was another strategy, MacDonald would appear on the south bank of the Po River and form an east-west confrontation with Moreau's corps

It sounds a bit familiar. I always feel that a bald man wants to do this, and MacDonald's hair volume doesn't look very good.

After he defeated Mark in the south, he had to withdraw all his troops because the war situation in northern Italy worsened.

In this way, the royal army of Naples and the British army joined forces to recapture Naples and establish a republic in southern Italy. In this case, the plan failed.

Suvorov, who was on the march, encountered artillery fire from the French troops stationed there when he passed Alexandria.

However, the Russian army did not stay here for long. Suvorov ordered a group of Austrian troops to follow up and cut off the connection between the fortress and the outside world, and not to rush to besiege.

The French used these strongholds under their control to begin to hinder the Russian army's progress, but they also underestimated Suvorov's marching speed.

One thing that needs special attention is that because the old marshal had been fighting the Turks for too long, the French did not study him too much, and the information they had was all the information provided by Suvorov's defeated general Dabrovsky during the Warsaw Uprising.

And Suvorov himself, even when he was in seclusion in the manor, had been studying the movements of the French, and he was well aware of the various strategies and tactics of the French.

The 70-year-old marshal always joked that it might not be a joke to "defeat the French with the French method" on the battlefield.

He really had this plan, and now he had received intelligence that MacDonald's army had finally entered the battlefield in northern Italy.