I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 686 These Polish lunatics!

After the cavalryman who came to report explained the situation on Smirnov's side, Morkov's face instantly turned gloomy.

"This useless guy!"

He cursed fiercely, then raised his eyes and looked in the direction of Mozyr City.

According to the cavalry's report, the Polish army that attacked Smirnov had at least 1 people, while the defenders of Mozyr had a total of more than 5 people.

In other words, after deducting casualties, there were less than 3 Polish troops in Mozyr at this time.

He still has nearly 6 troops at his disposal. If he launches a fierce attack on Mozyr, he should be able to capture it quickly.

However, he hesitated again.

If that Polish army attacked Kyiv, Chaperov would probably not be able to hold out.

Kiev was the main logistical storage point for his army. Even if he lost it, he could still get supplies from Smolensk. However, if the Poles occupied this richest city in the western part of the empire, even for just one day, it would be a great humiliation for the empire!
The Tsar might have dismissed him from his post or even sent him to prison.

Thinking of this, Morkov angrily bent his whip and said to the staff officer:
"Send the order, have the Zaporoskii Corps stay here. The others take a break for half a day and head to Kiev tomorrow morning. Follow me to catch that rat!"

The next day.

Morkov personally led 3 troops to Kiev and sent someone to order Chaperov to cooperate from the south.

However, when he arrived in Kiev four days later, the Poles had disappeared.

After a large number of rangers scouted around Kiev, they finally learned from local farmers that the Polish army had "fled" to the northeast four days ago.

Morkov immediately chased after them, and then found traces of the Polish army at the Loyev Ferry, but they were just signs that they had already left.

The Polish army easily controlled the ferry which was guarded by only a few hundred people, and then the entire army crossed the Dnieper River and headed towards the heart of Russia.

The veins on Morkov's forehead were bulging. He threw the whip to the ground and roared:
"These damned Polish lunatics!"

Yes, the Poles are definitely crazy.

With the Dnieper River blocking their way, it was impossible for them to get any supplies.

In other words, these Polish soldiers would starve to death in half a month at most.

Even if they could grab food along the way, they wouldn't be able to get enough ammunition.

The local Russian garrison only needed to continue harassing and consuming their ammunition, and after more than a month, they could easily capture this army without any weapons.

However, the Poles chose to push deeper into Russia.

Morkov could imagine that they would first attack Chernigov, which was the closest place - there were only a small number of reserve troops there to replenish the ones consumed by Mozyr, and it was impossible to withstand the attack of tens of thousands of troops.

After looting, the Polish army would bypass the northern part of the Sura River, continue eastward along the southern side of Smolensk, and head straight for Kaluga.

Kaluga was the second richest province in the west-central part of the empire, after Moscow.

Yes, this damn place is right next to Moscow!
The most cunning thing about the Poles was that the attack route they chose cleverly avoided the Smolensk Fortress on the north and the Kursk Fortress on the south. When the empire arranged its defenses, it did not consider that the heartland would be attacked.

Normally the enemy would attack Russia from Minsk, where they would face a series of strong fortresses from Smolensk to Vyazma.

If they sent troops from Mozyr, they would be blocked by the river and unable to provide supplies to the army. But the Poles chose this dead end.

Morkov knew very well that 1 Polish troops would definitely not be able to capture Moscow - as the old capital of the empire and the economic center of central China, it was home to the Moscow Legion, which had more than 5 soldiers.

However, as long as the Polish army appeared outside Moscow, even without firing a shot, the losses caused by the fear of the people would amount to tens of millions of rubles.

This Polish army is determined to bite off a piece of the empire's flesh before it dies.

By then, even if I want to go to prison, I won’t be able to go there, and the death penalty will be my only outcome.

After much hesitation, Morkov first sent out two teams of signalmen, one team to warn Kaluga and Moscow and ask them to prepare defense in advance, and the other team to report the bad news to St. Petersburg.

He then sent all 3 cavalrymen he had with him across the Dnieper River to pursue the Poles.

During the half month when he led his troops to encircle and suppress Kościuszko's troops, Mozyr's Polish army got a rare chance to catch its breath.

Prince Poniatowski transferred thousands of new soldiers from the rear and, with the help of the people, re-reinforced the Mozyr Line.

What awaits him is a fierce battle. But there is still hope...

Paris.

Palace of Versailles.

On a morning that was no different from any other, a gentle voice called out to Joseph at his bedside:
"Your Highness, it's already 7 o'clock. You will also preside over the opening ceremony of the Paris Agricultural Futures Exchange today."

Joseph turned over, but fatigue had pulled tightly upon his eyelids because he had slept too late the previous night reviewing documents sent from the Caribbean.

Perna called him a few more times - Camelia had been running a fever recently because of the last time she fell into the water, and her body was very weak, so she was temporarily responsible for taking care of the Crown Prince's daily life - and seeing that His Highness did not respond, she turned around and glanced at the two maids holding shirts behind her. Seeing that they were not looking in her direction, she immediately bent down and quickly kissed him on the cheek.

"You really need to get up."

The soft touch helped Joseph dispel his tiredness. He opened his eyes and saw Perna's beautiful emerald eyes.

"Ha...you got up really early." He yawned and smiled.

Perna's cheeks suddenly turned red, and she quickly glanced at the maids behind her. Fortunately, they still didn't notice this side.

Well, as the Crown Prince's maid, being able to read people's minds is a basic quality.

After Joseph finished washing up, he let Perna do a series of examinations on his fundus, throat, pulse, etc., and then he took her to sit at the dining table.

While waiting for the food to be served, he habitually picked up the documents beside him and saw that the top one read: Poland's Minsk defense line suffered more than 4 casualties and had retreated to the suburbs of Minsk.

Colonel Kosinski led two infantry regiments and five cavalry squadrons northward.

The document did not specify Kosinski's destination, but Joseph knew clearly that he would go straight to Riga.

The latter document is about the situation on the Mozyr side.

The situation was much better than in Minsk - after all, with the two Polish war gods, Kościuszko and Poniatowski, in charge, the 7-strong Russian army didn't even see the city of Mozyr.

And Kosciuszko's dagger had already stabbed into Russia's weak belly.

(End of this chapter)