Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

But if he does this, he also has to consider the opinions of the various heroes in Serbia.

Karageorge was a veteran who had participated in the war between Austria and the Ottoman Empire. At that time, the "Free Serbia" Legion had nearly 10,000 people at its peak, but because of Austria's great shortage of virtue, they finally began to seek help from Russia.

Fortunately, Duric told him that the two very independent warlords in the east mainly rely on violence to control their subordinates.

But there was no time to deal with them first. If we dealt with these two warlords first, the more important stronghold of Vidin would be left unattended.

Moreover, the strategic focus is to establish contact with the Serbs.

These warlords, after all, are cuckoos who never get enough food. Only the Tsarist Russia is an eagle, otherwise it will even kick the eggs in your nest.

The Russian army moved very quickly. It was only 80 versts from Craiova to Vidin, which usually took the Russian army four days to reach. It would take even longer to reach the ferry he had planned.

But Solovyov acted too quickly. This time he asked the troops to march lightly, with the infantry only carrying ammunition and rations. Considering that it was already spring, the Danube front was usually relatively warm. The rest of the personal belongings were only a rice bowl, a water cup and a coat draped over the body like a sling.

Moreover, the drum beats were uninterrupted during the march, and Solovyov also strictly ordered all division commanders and regiment commanders to ride horses and follow the troops.

There is one advantage at this time, that is, the oldest one, Uvarov, is only in his early forties, and everyone is energetic and willing to cooperate with the action.

If the command structure was dominated by old men, they might not be so active. After all, old men like Suvorov and Rosenberg are a minority.

Kutuzov was a little lazy, but he was also quick in action.

But most people were not like that. Although the Russian troops now had complaints that the marching speed had suddenly increased, the generals and officers, these gentlemen, although they were all riding horses, also followed them.

This reminds some veterans of the battles of past years.

The veterans of the Moscow Grenadiers also thought of Solovyov, who was still a young captain at the time and whose "milk smell was still fresh", and now, ten years later, has become the commander-in-chief of this unit. Naturally, they felt a little emotional.

"We were still new soldiers at the time, and our master, who was then the adjutant of the Grand Marshal, rode past us on horseback. He used to be an adjutant to our master in our regiment. He was our superior, that's for sure, but it was also like watching our own child grow up."

Some of the new recruits were still confused after hearing this. These old guys had been soldiers for more than ten years and had a friendship with the army commander in the past.

"Yegor, you can't lie."

"Who lied to you? I didn't know him well at that time, but we old guys who had retired and returned home all treated him as a treasure. If you want to know, I joined our regiment with him."

Then, he heard a voice coming from behind.

"Yegor, how come after all these years, you are still a soldier?"

"Oh! You are the commander, but I have participated in every battle! When you rode past in front of us, you just talked to those old soldiers. I walked behind you and watched you quarreling."

"Really? People from our troupe are talkative to put it nicely, and they are also chatterboxes to put it bluntly. If you go home now, will you still be able to set up a street stall and perform crosstalk while getting married?"

"Look at what you said. Since I joined the Moscow Grenadiers, I've been on the Ghost Bridge and fought against the French in Poland. When I went to Sweden, I was unlucky and was hit by a Swedish shotgun shell. But it doesn't matter. The parts are all intact. The doctor said it was just a flesh wound."

"No wonder I didn't look at you when I was reviewing the troops in Sweden."

"We can't die so easily. If we go home and find a wife, and if we have a boy, we have to send him to our regiment to serve as a soldier."

"You still have to serve in the army, can't you think of something else? If you fight well in this battle, you should be promoted to sergeant by the time you have enough experience."

At this moment, an old soldier nearby came to interrupt.

"Sir, it's good enough for us old guys to be able to recognize all the letters. Just don't give us a bunch of complicated instructions that we can't understand."

"But your leader is from Mecklenburg, you should know that."

"Your sister is married to him, so she is not an outsider. Fortunately, although he is a German, he usually gives orders by shouting, which is much better than a bunch of incomprehensible words."

"Okay, you don't have to complain. Once we cross the Danube and grab the Turks by the neck, we can beat them up! The reward will be huge. If you capture the tent of a Pasha or a Bayi, there might be treasures waiting for you!"

Having said that, even some new recruits who have just joined the Corps are eager to try.

That amount of military pay is indeed a little too little, but the soldiers' salaries and pensions were all implemented during Paul's time, so it's better than having nothing at all.

Solovyov had no psychological burden at all about robbing the Beys, or Bayi masters, who exploited his territory. Although he was a big landowner, when you think about what he did, it had nothing to do with being a landlord.

In this way, the Russian army quickly reached the Danube River. Even when the cavalry arrived here, the carts used by the engineers following behind had already begun to build pontoon bridges in several narrow sections.

Solovyov was certainly concerned about the construction of the pontoon bridge, but he was also paying attention to the situation on the front side in Vidin.

The Ottoman Empire's defenders now discovered a terrible thing: there were Russian Cossacks everywhere in front of them, as well as some hussars, and even some cavalry cannons.

There are a large number of people here, but if their cavalry is asked to cross the river and fight against the Russian army, the Russians may be less martial.

But if left alone, who knows whether they will start building a bridge on a sandbar near Vidin, and whether there will be a large force to follow.

As for the scene with billowing smoke, there was no Turkish version of the Three Kingdoms translated by Solovyov. Even in the Ottoman court, French was not very popular, so it did not spread.

If you don’t know the current situation of billowing smoke and dust, you might think it is the same scale as Subutai’s Mongolian army back then, or even larger.

In fact, Solovyov only placed some hussars and Cossacks here. The size of the cavalry may be several thousand, accompanied by a group of infantry guarding the rear from Craiova. In fact, the main force chose to cross the river west of Orekhovo, which is far away from Vidin. The construction of the sandbar pontoon bridge here is easier, and it is far away from Vidin. Even if the Turkish commander wanted to, it is unlikely that he would send scouts so far.

Not to mention that because of the tyranny of the Ottoman Empire in Thrace and Serbia for more than a decade, a large number of towns and villages were destroyed and looted. As long as you believe in the cross, no matter if you are a heretic or not, as long as you believe in God and Jesus, they are the king's army. Not to mention that Russia is the strongest among the countries with the Orthodox faith.

When Solovyov was riding on horseback on the shore and personally supervising the engineers to build a bridge on the sandbar, someone from the other side really came over in a small boat.

However, he was instinctively cautious about this, as Grand Duke Constantine's distress was related to what the Italians had done.

After confirmation from the guide, it was confirmed that these people came to report the news.

"Which one of you is the boyar master here?"

"Speaking of the master, our commander-in-chief is here, old man, if you have anything to say, just tell him directly."

It was just that the old man from the other side mistook the older Uvarov for the commander-in-chief.
"Old man, I am only the deputy commander, and this one is our commander-in-chief."

"It doesn't look like it. Too young."

Solovyov is 29 years old this year and looks younger. Even though he has the most medals, the old man couldn't confirm him immediately.

"Life is unpredictable, old man. We are all very young here. In terms of seniority, General Uvarov is indeed my senior in the aide-de-camp, but I am the commander. What's the matter that you are rowing the boat over here in a hurry when you see us preparing to cross the river?"

"Now that you are here, whether you can stay here or not, you must teach these Turkish villains a lesson! They collected grain from us some time ago and burned down the village. I live in the mountains, so nothing happened to me. But the folks living down the mountain are in trouble."

Then, the old man told Solovyov everything about the Turkish army's activities on the other side of the river in recent times.

"Where are they now?"

"This section of the river is unguarded now. The nearest fortress is in Montana, and there are only a few Sipahi cavalrymen in Hayreddin."

"Sipahi?"

The first thing that came to Solovyov's mind was the Guards or something like that, but he had to take into account that the Sipahi cavalry included heavy cavalry and light cavalry.

If we follow the illustrated guide to Napoleon's Total War, there would probably also be the Deli Light Cavalry and the like.

"Yes, sir, but there are not many of them, just over a hundred."

"Is this true?"

"That's all. There won't be more. But unlike the ones coming from Constantinople, these are locally organized cavalry."

"Ah, thank you, old man, I think I have an idea now."

What Solovyov was thinking at this time was to cross the river quickly, then seize the riverside area in a lightning speed, and then Hayreddin and Montana.

Since there are not many defenders here, he always has a way.

The pontoon bridge was built quickly, and then the Kiev Grenadier Regiment and the Moscow Grenadier Regiment crossed the river. These two regiments were often organized into one brigade.

Solovyov looked at the situation and gave orders to Christian, asking the two regiments to bring artillery and move quickly to surround Montana and not let the Turks react.

As for Hayreddin's Turkish army, since there were only more than a hundred people, he thought of the Belarusian Hussar Regiment and sent this regiment to quickly capture the point.
Then, with the help of local villagers, the Russian army surrounded Montana and wiped out some Turkish cavalry who might have tipped off the enemy, along with their strongholds.

But even so, we cannot set a FLAG in advance.

But Solovyov still wanted to make something happen. He accepted an interview from a local newspaper in Odessa at an intersection near Montana.

"Everyone, what does this mean? We have cut off one of the Turks' main arteries. If they want to ensure transportation, they can either come to fight us, or they can only transport supplies through Sofia and Nis to southern Serbia, which is full of guerrillas. They will have a hard time then."

After all, he knew well that there was no commander in the Ottoman Empire who could deal with him.

Even if there were, they would have to deal with Kamensky the Younger first. He was leading his elder brother and the elite of the Russian Army on the Danube Front, with a force of 80,000, crossing the river from Slobodchia and preparing to besiege the fortress of Rushchuk.

What's more, the Ottoman army was not yet prepared for war, and many of its troops were suppressing the Serbian uprising and possible Bulgarian rural rebellion.

With so many Russian troops coming head-on, the imperial court in Constantinople naturally suffered a heavy blow.

They were too busy dealing with the main force of the Russian army to take care of the Russian detachment that suddenly took action at this time.

The Turkish troops in Montana soon chose to surrender under the threat of the Russian "Unicorn Cannon" crossing the river.

However, Solovyov played another trick. He deliberately deployed the "Unicorn Cannon" by the river. In fact, these treasures were still at the end of the marching column. The artillery vehicles crossing the river were indeed real things, but they were wooden cannons painted with a layer of paint, and no one could see them in the dark.

When defending a city, the Turkish army would usually kill envoys who came to persuade the Russians to surrender or simply to negotiate in a very unethical manner. But this time, seeing the Russian army suddenly appearing under their noses, they were unable to resist, and the most important thing at this time was to save their lives.

How many prisoners were captured?
After reading Christian's report, Solovyov just smiled.

Although the two grenadier regiments, together with some attached cavalry and artillery, only had 4,000 people, they also captured 4,000 prisoners.

However, there are not many people here who are truly capable of fighting. There are only a few thousand combat soldiers, which is far less than the more than one hundred cavalrymen who were annihilated in Hayreddin, all of whom were combat soldiers.

At this time, he was preparing to continue his march and besiege Vidin when he met the messenger from Stojkovic.

"Want to invite me to meet you?" (End of this chapter)