Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Reliev said a lot, but to outsiders, it was unclear what he was trying to do.

But action must begin. The Janissaries themselves must swear allegiance in Senate Square, and Constantine must also procedurally renounce his allegiance to the court and the army, followed by his allegiance to the new Tsar Nicholas I.

Therefore, it's understandable that he wanted to carry out an assassination and have Kakhovsky eliminate the insects and shoot down the sun.

However, the arrangement to send Karkhovsky alone to the Winter Palace to carry out the assassination also had to take into account the Winter Palace security procedures set up by Solovyov twenty-five years ago.

In particular, the person on duty that morning was Lieutenant Pavel Solovyov, the eldest son of the very person who created the security system, and was naturally very familiar with it.

The only thing that could break through this defense was that after Solovyov was transferred away, when Mikhailovsky Castle had just been completed, the guards were distracted by a fire alarm, and then Bennigsen took advantage of the situation to seize power, which ultimately led to Palen and others assassinating the king.

Bennigson was lucky to escape being hanged. While he was out getting a candlestick, the Emperor had him killed. He didn't fight back, so he was demoted and sent away from St. Petersburg. Later, he had the opportunity to become a general.

He was also very lucky that time; the commander of the regiment, his adjutant, and some officers also joined the conspiracy.

This time, however, the Prussian Guards Regiment itself, as the Tsar's most trusted regiment, was not infiltrated. At most, the Moscow Guards Regiment was expanded from the rebel stronghold of the 2nd Battalion of the Prussian Guards Regiment, but there was no direct line of succession.

Ryliev remained optimistic about the Moscow Guards Regiment's trip to the square.

Early in the morning, all the soldiers got up and assembled to begin their daily activities. This day was especially important, as they gathered in the square to swear allegiance.

But the soldiers, who had just pledged allegiance to Tsar Constantine a few days ago, are now being replaced by his younger brother. There are rumors circulating that Constantine was forced to abdicate the throne by Nicholas.

"That's not true. The emperor has gone to God. Which emperor are we supposed to be loyal to? We just watch the lords lead us out of the military camp and line up there. Who are we supposed to be loyal to? Whether it's Grand Duke Constantine or Grand Duke Nicholas, there has to be an emperor."

"That makes sense, but we soldiers don't know who we should be loyal to."

"You are on duty, so please don't gossip."

Upon seeing Pasha, the veteran soldiers of the regiment dared not make a fuss. Like his father, the young man was very serious about his post, but the father and son were different.

Solovyov could easily get along with the soldiers; he was a minor nobleman from the countryside.

But this eldest son, since birth, had a father who was already a high-ranking military officer and a mother who came from a noble family, so there was always some distance between them and soldiers.

He's a decent person, willing to improve the treatment of soldiers, but there's always a gap between him and his ideals.

This is why his reputation is actually quite good.

In front of the Little Winter Palace stood a group of soldiers, clearly following procedure. In particular, Kakhovsky recognized Pasha, knowing he was Solovyov's son, and this guy was very strict with the checks in front of the Little Winter Palace, insisting on a body search, even if it was Grand Duke Mikhail.

To get past this barrier, a company of soldiers on duty at the Winter Palace would need to be present, along with some elite troops. Kakhovsky believed he couldn't do it himself.

So he wandered around Million Street for a while and then abandoned the assassination attempt, but the pistol was still in his pocket.

His pistol was originally intended to assassinate Nikolai, so that other unfortunate people would be shot on that day.

Reliev was unaware that Kakhovsky had returned halfway there, but he had little hope for the assassination. The arrest of Pestor the day before, coupled with the refusal of Lieutenant Pyotr Svistunov, the Southern Association's leader in St. Petersburg, to join, meant that the Southern Association's members in the Guards Cavalry were no longer a possibility.

He then changed his plans and decided to incite the army to join.

However, the slogans remained the same, and not a single person from the two core infantry regiments of the Guards had joined. Instead, a grenadier company from a regular regiment was on duty at the Little Winter Palace. Although there were no senior officers on duty, there was an adjutant and a second lieutenant. Apart from them, the soldiers of the regular regiment were all in the barracks, and some of the officers were at home or in their quarters, all on standby at this time.

"This is not good. The two battalion commanders of the Finnish regiment are unwilling to join the operation."

"What are they going to do?"

When Reliev heard the news, he was somewhat stunned.

"Turubiev sent a message yesterday, but we haven't been able to get in touch with him today. That guy, Moller, probably can't be trusted."

“They swore an oath; every one of us who joins the association has to take an oath.”

But the oath was useless, and the plan might not succeed. The Finnish Guards Regiment lost two battalions at once, and Möller was of a higher rank. Among the Northern Association’s personnel who could mobilize troops, he was the highest-ranking Guards Colonel.

"Swearing won't work."

Ryliev's plan was for the nearly one hundred Guards officers of various ranks who had already joined the operation to split up and operate within the Guards cavalry, Guards artillery, and various Guards regiments, inciting soldiers and officers to join the rebellion.

Pasha was unaware that an assassin was passing through Million Street, attempting to assassinate the new Tsar in the Little Winter Palace. Before his morning shift was even over, he saw two officers from his regiment approaching.

"Pasha, you guys need to stay on duty and be on high alert."

"What happened, sir?"

"You were with His Highness at the Marble Palace last night, unaware of what happened in the barracks, did you?"

"Sir, what if there's a fight?"

"There was indeed a fight, but a few officers from other regiments, who were blind to the situation, insisted on talking about constitutional monarchy, the emancipation of serfs, and the need to defend the constitution, opposing the oath to the new emperor."

"what?"

Unlike his father, who frequently handled various matters before serving at the palace, Pasha simply stood guard at the Little Winter Palace, sometimes responsible for protecting the battalion or regimental flags, and didn't have much experience.

He listened, and of course, he was completely bewildered.

"A drunken, idiotic lieutenant from the Imperial Guards Cavalry regiment came to our battalion's barracks and has been detained. Also... um... has the new emperor arrived at his office yet?"

"Uh, His Highness's suite and office are empty right now."

The battalion commander glanced at Pasha. This kid was really stubborn; did he really have to swear an oath to the Emperor before he could pledge allegiance? His father was utterly loyal to the old Emperor Paul; on the day of the assassination attempt, as the battalion commander, he immediately pledged allegiance to the new Emperor and even helped quell the rebellion. "Come with me. At times like these, a reliable officer is always needed to go to His Majesty."

In short, the battalion commander already considered Nicholas to be the Tsar and was simply going to complete the process of pledging allegiance.

Moreover, the 1st Battalion of the Prussian Regiment has always been the most loyal unit, but only to the bloodline of Peter the Great. This time, that unfortunate Lieutenant Chevkin, no matter which unit he instigated, should not have targeted the 1st Battalion.

Not only did he get beaten up and end up with black eyes, but he was also locked up in the Semyonovsky Regiment's solitary confinement cell. Soldiers from both regiments who made mistakes were usually sent there, and the memory restoration technique used there was always a powerful version.

I'm reporting this to remind Nikolai to be careful.

The First Battalion was not only brave in battle, but also served as the Tsar's personal guard for more time than the other three battalions and the rest of the Guards regiments.

In other words, they might not be at the Winter Palace when they go to war.

It is perfectly appropriate for me to come and report now.

Nikolai learned about the secret group two days ago. At first, he wasn't surprised, because there were quite a few such small groups, secret societies, and more sophisticated conspiracy groups in the Russian army, but none of them had ever succeeded in causing trouble. The last troublesome incident was the Semyonovsky Regiment mutiny five years ago, but the problem with that group was the regimental commander.

In the end, the solution was to punish both sides equally. Nikolai clearly remembered that what was originally just a punishment for the soldiers caused a mutiny in the entire regiment. The officers below the regimental commander were transferred or dismissed, and the soldiers were sent to Yermolov in the Caucasus to deal with the mountain people of the Caucasus.

But when Solovyov heard about it, he wrote a letter to St. Petersburg, insisting on the removal of Fyodor Schwartz, the head of the Semyonovsky regiment.

Alexander was also very dissatisfied. After seeing the problem, he was already prepared to send Schwartz to a military court, so both the officer and the soldier were punished.

However, Solovyov's decision to strip Schwartz of his military rank and noble status was rather harsh. In Crimea, he could easily resolve the issue of lazy civil servants and soldiers by organizing his own courts and governing the country according to law, but in St. Petersburg, it was clearly too ruthless.

But now, when Nikolai recalls this incident, he is grateful that the Semyonovsky brothers were quite reasonable. They left their weapons in the barracks and lined up to protest Colonel Schwarz's brutality, without taking any action.

The report from the Prussian regiment stated that this morning, Lieutenant Ivan Konovnitsen instigated a mutiny in the Guards cavalry artillery company. He was initially imprisoned by the Guards artillery commander, Sukhozatny, but these men escaped and continued to incite unrest within the cavalry artillery unit.

Upon hearing this news, Nikolai also became somewhat nervous.

He had initially thought they were all minor skirmishes, but now it seemed that what General Dubich mentioned was probably just a part of the conspiracy.

The officer who came to report brought two second lieutenants, one of whom was the "boss's" son. This guy was always on duty in the morning or at the parade ground, so it wasn't surprising that he came here.

Another lieutenant, Rostovtsev, who had close ties with the Northern Association, came here to issue a warning.

"Your Majesty, it should be said that there is a secret group in our country, existing in the Guards, St. Petersburg, Moscow, the 1st and 2nd Armies, and other places. Their aim is to change the nature of our regime, to seek a constitutional monarchy, or even to overthrow the Emperor's rule."

Nikolai was still somewhat shocked when he heard this.

After all, the secret societies of the past, as General Miloradovich often joked, were free-spirited and unrestrained in Freemasonry. Their activities included throwing policemen and bears into the river in St. Petersburg, fighting everywhere, and harassing actresses. Scoundrels can be found everywhere, but this was the first time he had ever heard of a rebellion.

Moreover, the scale was not small. Apart from the 200,000 troops under the "leader" and the naval crew, it can be said that secret societies were active in all major regions of Russia.

Even within the 3rd Army, some disgruntled officers had joined. Solovyov's letter was still en route, and things had even been settled on the other side, with those who needed to be arrested being imprisoned in the coastal artillery batteries.

"How dare anyone do this?"

“Your Majesty, these are minor matters. What’s more troublesome is that the small disturbance at the Imperial Guards artillery unit is only part of the problem. Last night, Lieutenant Chevkin of the Imperial Guards Cavalry Regiment also came to the gate of the First Battalion. The brothers beat him up and then put him in solitary confinement.”

After everything was explained, some officers sent their adjutants or messengers to the Winter Palace, so Nicholas found out quite quickly.

Madame Soloveo was not in St. Petersburg, but she was very strict about the army's communication regulations, requiring that anything happen immediately even in peacetime.

So the two battalion commanders of the Finnish Guards Regiment, after standing up their teammates, also called Nikolai to report the incident.

As for the even more outrageous things, they had not yet reached Nikolai.

For example, at the garrison of the Guards Engineers and the Ismailov Regiment, Captain Mikhail Pushkin, who had participated in the earlier planning, refused to take action and instead led his men to pledge allegiance to Nikolai in the barracks.

The Ismailov Regiment, which was supposed to be the main force in this uprising, didn't move an inch.

What's even more outrageous is that Nikolai himself was the leader of this regiment.

Finally, none of the four core infantry regiments of the Imperial Guard joined the rebellion.

Nikolai was also somewhat shocked, but the news that came through was that the loyal and reliable officers in the Guards had led the soldiers to complete the oath.

There has been no news from Guards Moscow Regiment or Guards Grenadier Regiment.

The judgment he could make at this moment was the same as it was twenty-four years ago, when the spring chill was still in the air: it was a coup.

In French, it's called coup d'Etat. Although it's not surprising that such a thing happens, his elder brother faced it once when he ascended the throne, and then again after his death. It's a kind of cycle.

The fact that the two infantry regiments hadn't made a move meant that there was a problem in the barracks.

In particular, the Guards Moscow Regiment, with 1800 soldiers, is one of the newly formed Guards regiments, but it has good daily training and its combat effectiveness is still considerable.

At least in the past, their performance on the training grounds has been praised.

But no one from the group conveyed any message today?

Nikolai couldn't help but consider the worst-case scenario, and he decided to set off.

However, when he went out, he only took a few attendants with him, and did not lead a large army.

If Solovyov knew, he'd probably be both amused and exasperated. Nikolai is now the Emperor, no longer the kid he used to reprimand with homework. (End of Chapter)