Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 422 064 Solovyov Shows Off His Skills in Pultusk (Part )
As the French attacked, Langgeron, after assessing the enemy situation, realized that the enemy was not easy to deal with.

From the position of the Ostermann-Tolstoy Division, he saw the French offensive on both sides, but at this moment, he was unwilling to deploy all the ambush troops concentrated on the right wing.

Although it may seem like adding fuel to the fire when the fight breaks out, one still has to be on guard.

The false commander will frame a wave of soldiers and attack them all at once.

A true commander should always have troops on hand, have sufficient reserves, pay attention to changes on the battlefield, and deploy troops at the appropriate time.

In this respect, Langgeron was at least relatively cautious. He did not deploy all the ambush troops of the reserve brigade and the Sacken Division. Moreover, Barclay's performance on the right wing was also quite good. At least he regained the position.

"It looks like we can have another fight, but it's very complicated emotionally."

Langgeron said this strangely at this time, and Solovyov could understand him.

Although he is a royalist and a fan of France who left before Louis XVI, he has complicated feelings towards France.

When he was in Odessa, he was quite close to the Duke of Richelieu and others. However, unlike some royalists who wanted to return to France as part of the Homecoming Corps, he was actually divorced from his beautiful first wife and had settled down in Russia. He did not have much hatred towards the new French government.

Therefore, he has let it go, unlike the others.

At Austerlitz, perhaps he still had the idea of ​​giving Napoleon a try, but it would not work at this time, because Kamensky suddenly left like the Irish old man Deng and went into the hospital, which turned him into the head coach.

As a Frenchman, commanding foreign troops to fight against the French army, Langgeron was on the same level as the Prince of Condé.

Of course, in the Russian army, he is still relatively cautious.

Therefore, in actual implementation, it still looks more like the Russian "green-eyed devil" is commanding the battle.

As for Solovyov, his appearance is very Russian, but he is not affected by a lot of roundabout relatives. When he was in Paris, he slept with Napoleon's sister and let Polina give birth to a big fat boy for him. There is no need to say more about this!

But his state when he is working is always rather strange. Sometimes he is a humble social tool, but now he needs to express his own thoughts more.

Langgeron just had to make a decision at this time. Although he could do it himself, he delegated more power to the chief of staff and division commanders.

As for Wittgenstein, this tough guy was prepared to personally command the cavalry to fight against the French cavalry, and he was quite proactive in becoming the cavalry commander.

Under such circumstances, Solovyov became the actual infantry commander. Fortunately, he had a good relationship with the division commanders of Wittgenstein's army. He was going to marry the queen's maid as his wife next year. He was also Constantine's confidant and the teacher of the two grand dukes.

Given his status, although the current ticket price is not high, his potential is huge.

Therefore, there is no such thing as being unable to command generals whose ranks are one or two levels higher than his.

In Russia, everyone is a chameleon. This is almost becoming an intangible cultural heritage and will be promoted in the future.

Also, we must make good use of artillery.

On the French side, Lannes used Suchet's division to attack Barclay's position, but lost it again. He also expected that the size of the Russian army would be at least the same level as his own troops, or even larger.

Therefore, he urged the Gazan Division to advance quickly. At this time, it had entered the battlefield. The vanguard was entangled with Bagowut, and the main force was entering the area west of Pultusk.

Of course, in winter, the weather is always on the Russian side, which is a bit strange, but considering that the climate always benefits the more adaptable party, but both sides suffer, this is not too surprising.

But at this time there was a sudden snowfall, accompanied by strong winds, which did help the Russian cavalry to launch a counterattack.

But this also affected Solovyov's communication system. His trick relied too much on sunlight. If the sky was blocked and the sun was not visible, that would not be good.

"Sukka, sending out the cavalry at this time will definitely not help with the artillery support, but we have to do it."

While Solovyov was cursing, he did not forget to remind Langgeron.

Langgeron understood what he meant. The Chief of Staff is now the temporary commander-in-chief, and the Chief of Operations is the acting chief of staff. They work together quite well and also like to complain together.

At this time, it was indeed not appropriate to use artillery, but the French army did not have many guns. There were only a few 4-pound and 6-pound guns towed up to provide weak fire support.

"What can we do about it? Michel, no need for cannons, let the cavalry attack!"

For this matter, Solovyov had to fire a red flare. Otherwise, with the unstable visibility, Bagowut would not be able to see clearly, and he could not let the cavalry gathered by Wittgenstein die here!

They are here to win this battle, not two undercover French connections.

After receiving the order, Wittgenstein also sent seven squadrons of cavalry to support Bagwut.

Among these seven squadrons, the main ones were hussars and lancers, while the Cossacks and dragoons were still in Wittgenstein's hands.

You know, even though the visibility is reduced now, the Russian cavalry can clearly see that the French army is coming from the southwest while charging in the wind and snow.

Although the French had no artillery, after fighting with the French many times, they found that these people were like drinking a magic potion.
Of course, this was Solovyov's own complaint. After all, he was the only one in St. Petersburg who knew this joke.

With such high morale, even the usually tenacious Russian army could not guarantee that they could stop them.

The impact of these seven squadrons has only been eased temporarily, because there is still a French division behind them that is about to enter the battlefield.

The French army was caught off guard at this time. After all, due to the bad weather, some infantry battalions were slow to form their formations and were soon to be overwhelmed.

As for the French army that formed a hollow square formation, the current situation is not very good.

The Russian Lancers and Hussars were quick in nature, and from the French army's current front to the north, it was always relatively convenient for the cavalry to maneuver because the Russian command had carefully selected the battlefield before the war.

However, in the muddy area in the south, the French cavalry was somewhat affected.

But on the same plot of land, it was more fair for both sides. The hussars of both sides did not collide with each other, but there were quite a few encounters of horse fighting.

At this time, two squadrons of Polish Lancers in the Russian army joined the battlefield after five squadrons of Hussars.

In fact, Lancers are a jack of all trades. The training to deal with cavalry and infantry is relatively complicated, but they can be used in either direction.

Therefore, under the impact of these two squadrons of Lancers, the French cavalry had to retreat and reorganize. Of course, as long as the Russian cavalry commander is not too hot-headed, he can also find the problem.

So, after repelling the French cavalry, these seven squadrons of cavalry broke through the phalanxes of two or three French battalions, and then moved closer to their own positions under the cover of Bagvout's light infantry.

The situation on Bagovut's side improved, but it could also be seen that a large French group had appeared on the battlefield.

For Solovyov, he had captured Marshal Mortier and General Gazan a year ago, so he had some "friendship" with them, and the other party was one of the few who knew his "background".

Although you can't just pit one person, but on the battlefield, you have to fight if you meet someone.

Langgeron's headquarters was also relatively forward, with dozens of artillery pieces deployed here, ready to give the French army a huge "surprise" when they came up.

Then, several Russian brigades that had been hiding launched the attack.

Fortunately, Barclay regained his original position in the woods at this time, otherwise there would be no such opportunity.

Since there was no need to worry about the flanks, Langgelon was ready to take action at this time.

"Count, wait a moment, and let us bring them closer."

The Russian army's unique Unicorn cannon still has its power, and the Russian army also has a number of 12-pound cannons on the front. This combination of grenades and shotguns also affected the French on the front line.

The Gazan Division was thrown into the battlefield while the fierce fighting was still going on in the front.

As the French army got closer, the Russian artillery became somewhat nervous.

After all, they placed the French too close, and even though this round of artillery fire caused considerable casualties, the distance was so close that if the enemy rushed up, their artillery position would be in trouble.

However, what Solovyov wanted was this kind of killing on encounter, and then the 2nd Division would launch a counterattack.

A Russian division, if fully equipped and staffed, would still be much larger than a French division.

If we fight in this way, as long as we coordinate properly, we may be able to defeat the French attack in a short period of time and then turn the offensive.

Although Solovyov's idea was a bit cunning, it was still very positive.

If it were Bennigsen, he would have been hiding in the desert with superior forces. Not only did he suffer greater losses than the French, but he was also beaten unilaterally in the first half. It was only in the second half that he found an opportunity to force Lannes to retreat, allowing him to retreat safely.

As for the unlucky guy Gazan, he was simply Solovyov's special experience package. Last time he was forced to surrender in Dürenstein, and this time in Pultusk, he was hit by another barrage of artillery fire.

This means that all the Russian divisional artillery on the front line has been pulled out.

Is it effective?
The shells pierced through the crowd, causing blood and flesh to fly everywhere. Now this kind of shotgun rain plus grenades exploding on the top of people's heads, as well as some shells with failed fuses turning into solid bullets, caused blood and flesh to fly everywhere in the French column.

Although the effect looked horrific, the actual number of casualties was not that high, but the morale of the French army was indeed shaken.

Gazan himself was hit by a shotgun during the march, but it was not serious.

He was thinking that from last year to now, this bad luck had come back to him again.

Of course, he had no chance of being captured today, nor was he cornered by the Allied Forces like they did in Austria in the "North".

There was no encirclement today. After this barrage of artillery fire, he also saw the hidden Russian troops, who had raised their flags and lined up in three horizontal rows, attacking from the front and back with some depth.

As for the Russian army, their traditional skill is to start shouting "Ura" when they rush to about ten steps. At this time, the French army will retreat as usual.

This is even more true today. After the Gazan Division was hit by artillery fire, the Russian infantry came out.

Except for the Pavlovsk Grenadiers Regiment which was placed at the back as a reserve, the other regiments of Ostermann-Tolstoy lined up in a row and launched an attack on the French formation.

Although the power of this impact was reduced due to the muddy ground, the sight of the Russian army marching quickly over and shouting "Ura" was still quite horrifying.

If the French army had not been hit by artillery, they could still hold out for a while, and might even have fought back.

Given the current situation, there probably won’t be such an opportunity anymore.

Following the bayonet charge launched by the Russian army, the French army had no choice but to retreat, and not to reorganize and launch a counterattack, but to reorganize and fight while retreating.

Solovyov was still standing on the artillery position at the Russian starting line, watching the orderly retreat of the French army through a telescope.

"What a pity! If it were the Germans, they would have collapsed after all this artillery fire!"

The reason why he spoke so unscrupulously was that there was no traitor here. In fact, his ideas were no different from those of the Russian generals of his time.

This mentality was probably an intentional mockery from Caesar after he saw that Pompey had won the victory by defeating such a group of Eastern countries.

If we really want to win on the battlefield and deal with the French, we also have to look at the British wallets and the Russian bayonets.

This is what the parties involved think now, but in a monarchy, we also have to look at the attitude of the monarch.

Emperor Alexander had his own ideas, but his will was not firm, nor was he an iron-fisted person.

There is a sentence that might be more appropriate for him to say himself: I am just an actor.

Now the Russian counterattack seems to be effective, and it even leaves the flank of the Suchet Division that launched the attack earlier somewhat empty.

However, at this moment, the French Third Army, which was specialized in rescue, appeared on the Russian flank in the direction of Golimin.

Although Solovyov's formation was mainly intended to defend against the main French attack in this direction, there would still be some reserve troops available if someone attacked this flank.

The appearance of French reinforcements at this time will also cause considerable trouble to the Russian army, and the fighting in Pultusk will continue.

(End of this chapter)