Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Solovyov hoped to have a Serbian adjutant to facilitate communication with Karageorge, Dobnyak, Stojkovic and others, in addition to them, there were also various Serbian heroes.

He had this need, but before the operation began, he was in Odessa most of the time and had no chance to recruit such an adjutant himself.

Clausewitz arrived in Craiova first, but gained nothing in this regard. What he had to do was to establish a stable Russian camp as a strategic center.

In addition, the Russian troops that arrived here one after another also needed to make preparations.

Unlike Solovyov's past battles where he often led elite troops, this time many of the troops were conventional forces and their combat effectiveness was not that strong. Even the Selenge Regiment that had followed Solovyov to fight in Poland and Sweden did not have much experience.

Now, it’s Poland, Sweden and Türkiye that are really singing along to the group’s anthem.

When Solovyov thought of this, his hands felt a little sore.

But there was also good news. He rode a horse to Craiova at full speed, and before he could even sit down, Karageorge's secretary Duric arrived.

When he arrived at Marshal Prozorovsky's camp for negotiations last year, he already knew the content of the agreement between Russia and France.

Russia only guaranteed Serbia's autonomy, but Karageorge wanted to guarantee independence from the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, although the two sides reached a partial consensus and decided to cooperate with each other, the most critical issue was that Russia was unable to satisfy Serbia's demands.

Now that Solovyov has arrived, Durich has no hope, because although this man is a famous general among the young Russian generals who is quite good at fighting, he is a relative of Napoleon.

Because the Serbs live in the mountains, problems with village internet access often occur, and such jokes are unavoidable.

They didn't know Solovyov's position, but they made an assumption first.

But Duric will soon find out that this is not a 360° difference, but a 180° difference, and his worries are completely unnecessary.

Solovyov was holding a meeting here with Clausewitz and some division commanders and regiment commanders who had arrived earlier.

"Our goal is also very simple, which is to cross the Danube. However, we have to face the enemy in Vidin first. As long as we capture this place, we can cooperate with the Serbian uprising army later. Their weapons and equipment are very inferior. If we can arm them, it will be an army of 50,000 people. It may even be more than our army. Serbian soldiers should also be good soldiers, right?"

"If only they were all like General Miloradovich, sir."

Someone actually agreed, and Solovyov nodded.

"It's just that we also need to keep in touch with the Serbs. Although we are all Slavs, they can understand some of what we say, and of course we can understand some of what they say, but after all, we are far apart. In fact, we are two ethnic groups under the broad definition of Slavs."

"But you are also a Slav brother, Mishka."

Arkady was lucky enough to have arrived at the Danube front a year earlier, at least he did not drown in the river like Remnik, where his father became famous.

Now that he was here, he was ahead of his troops.

"Yes, but we also have to consider that we need a liaison officer. Now that we are talking behind closed doors, we naturally have to make them listen to us, at least on the battlefield."

"But politically, you can't expect our friends to listen to us completely. Russia can be the big brother, but if it comes to being a father, no one wants to have a stepfather who orders things about. My stepmother was very nice to me. When I was unmarried, everyone in St. Petersburg was looking for a girl for me to marry."

Then everyone laughed. If there is a stepmother, she may be more caring towards her husband's previous children, but the stepfather may not be the same.

At least it is still like this in Russia, but now, although there are many people borrowing salt, there is still some care for the daughters-in-law who come in with their children. However, it is still relatively rare among aristocratic families.

Just as Solovyov was about to speak, an adjutant came in and saluted.

"Your Excellency, General, there is a man who claims to be the secretary of Karageorge Petrovich, named Yanicie Duric, who wants to see you."

"That's pretty quick, Mick."

While Clausewitz was speaking, Solovyov had already gestured to the adjutant at the door to invite Durich in.

"Your Excellency, I am Janice Duric, secretary to Karageorge Petrovich."

"How is your commander recently? Although we have only established preliminary contact through letters, I believe that there will be an unbreakable friendship between Russia and Serbia in the future. We have the same beliefs, and we also have common interests in many areas."

"I would like to thank you on behalf of the commander of the Serbian army. However, I don't know what your attitude is now, and how the Serbians will cooperate with the Russian army in the future."

"We can only talk about the joint operation after we set out from Craiova. Only the vanguard of our army has arrived here. Let me introduce it to you."

Afterwards, Solovyov was very formal and took Durich to meet the division commanders.

"This is the commander of the Grenadiers Division, Lieutenant General Prince Christian of Mecklenburg, who is also my brother-in-law and recently married to my sister. This is my chief of staff, Colonel Karl Clausewitz, who was once the military tutor of the Crown Prince of Prussia and an outstanding military author. This is Major General Count Yegor Zukato, the local garrison commander, who was recently promoted to division commander. This is Lieutenant General Prince Arkady Suvorov."

"With this surname and title, he must be the son of Field Marshal Suvorov."

"Yes, it is my mentor's son. Although he is young, he is also a brave general. Don't underestimate his ability."

Arkady was, indeed, very brave, sometimes even too brave.

Finally, Solovyov introduced Lieutenant General Uvarov to Durich.

It seems that Solovyov's military rank and title are not advantageous. In other words, two of the four division commanders who have arrived here have nepotism relations with him. Uvarov is his old colleague in the position of aide-de-camp general, so it is very convenient to cooperate with them.

"As you can see, the generals here have higher ranks than the average army. They are more than qualified to command a direction alone. This also means that we are going to do something big."

"But what are your plans now?"

"I can only tell you the action plan before we reach Vidin. Only after we take Vidin will we have a chance to cooperate with the Serbian army."

"That being said, you should also know something about our situation. I have read your letter and I know the situation in Serbia very well. These people in the east may not listen to you." "Are you talking about Stojkovic and Dobnyak?"

"Yes, sir, they have never been submissive to Karageorge and in fact rarely cooperate with us in our operations."

"Disunity is the root of failure. How do they control their subordinates?"

"You could say they used whips, although we are not that good either. At the end of last year, Jokic was shot with a pistol by our commander-in-chief because of his mistakes on the battlefield that led to the failure of the campaign."

"It's a good thing that he wasn't shot. But it's not right either, Mr. Duric. Can you provide me with a liaison adjutant?"

"That's fine. If you want to attack, that's fine. But what about the agreement with the French?"

"If we abide by the agreement with the French, even if the French emperor used to be my uncle, wouldn't that tie our hands and feet to work? If the French attack tomorrow, we don't have to abide by this treaty. Or when facing the obvious threat of the French army, we don't have to think so much."

When Solovyov said this, Durich's eyes lit up.

He had come here twice before, once to meet Marshal Prozorovsky. The old marshal only agreed to help the Serbs, but then mentioned the treaty with the French and finally provided all support except help.

Later, he met Bagration again. Although Bagration's attitude was much better, because the Russian army's strategic focus at that time was on the coastline, there was little cooperation between the two sides.

When Count Kamensky the Younger arrived, Duric felt that finally a reliable general had been assigned to the front line near Serbia.

Moreover, literally speaking, Solovyov should be a "pro-French" person, but he publicly expressed his concerns about the relationship between France and Russia. Even speaking like this is already a great support to the Serbian side. Even from a political point of view, such remarks are more useful than 100,000 Russian troops.

"Well, I can go back and tell our commander-in-chief, Karadzic Petrovich, that the Russian generals are willing to support our cause. As for your need for a liaison adjutant, I can also provide you with help. Karadzic!"

But the two Karadzic he called together had only three legs.

The reason is that one of them, Vuko Karadzic, had to have his left leg amputated due to severe rheumatism and gunshot wounds during last year's fighting.

He came here on crutches, another young man.
"Vuko Karadzic, don't look at him like this, but he is very smart, good at poetry and writing, and he knows several languages."

This poet is not famous now, but he will become very famous in the future, and even the year 1787 will be named after him.

Moreover, this person also played a major role in the standardization of the Serbian language.

He is not famous now, but he will be praised by Goethe in the future, and even Pushkin is willing to make friends with him.

As for the other Karadzic, he said he was a doctor and Vukko's cousin.

But after seeing his nose and hair of this color at such a young age, Solovyov asked this question.

"Radovan, would you like some water?"

"Thank you, sir."

There was no way. When Solovyov heard the last name Karadzic, he instinctively thought of removing kebab.

Well, these two cousins ​​are professionally matched, but Vuko Karadzic, who is in poor health and has lost a leg, is destined to only be able to do secretarial work by his side and cannot even go to the battlefield.

If it comes to running errands, Radovan Karadzic is more suitable.

This is probably the worst joke from hell.

But their work may also make Serbia stronger.

"Mr. Duric, please go back to Karageorge Petrovich and hand this letter to him personally. I have thought of some ways. If we can invite Stojkovic and Dobnyak to come to me and clear up some misunderstandings, we can naturally solve some problems."

"You mean?"

"If they also use violence to maintain their army, I think you should be able to disarm them quickly and reintegrate the Serbian army into one."

Duric was a smart man. In fact, he understood what Solovyov meant, but he did not point it out. After all, the situation within the Serbs was always complicated and it had to be kept secret.

If among the people he brought were Stojkovic's men, the situation would not be good.

Solovyov's idea was that he planned to attack Vidin first, but considering the Danube River in between, it would not be resolved in a short time.

Action must be quick, even the existing troops must cross the river quickly, and a pontoon bridge must be built on the Danube to ensure the passage of subsequent troops on the river.

After this operation was completed, he planned to temporarily hand over the command to Christian, and he himself would take some cavalry units to meet Stojkovic and Dobnyak.

Was it just this meeting? Although it was held under the banner of providing weapons to the insurgents in eastern Serbia, they were a batch of British goods that the Russian army had replaced and captured, plus a small amount of artillery below 6 pounds.

But in fact, Solovyov's idea was to remove these two people's control over the rebel forces in eastern Serbia.

If these two people don't listen to advice, then there might be some explanation.

Therefore, Solovyov also decided to use a more violent method, and planned to equip all the dragoons with revolvers and carbines.

It happened to be the Kazan Dragoons, the same regiment Maria had sponsored, except that she had returned to Weimar.

If he invited guests to his place to hold a Hongmen Banquet, it would be a simple and effective way.

But considering the Serbs of this era, they might still be more particular about appearances.
It was probably a more brutal revenge than when Xin Qiji avenged his boss, killing the Serbian leader directly in the camp. (End of this chapter)