Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Explosive tubes had existed before. Although modern blasting tubes are derived from the "Bangalore Torpedo" of the British Indian Army, the structural principles are all there. It's just that Solovyov did not have enough time to perfect these structures, so he had to come up with the design himself.

Then, it depends on the creative ideas of Tula and other arsenal engineers and workers. It can even be said without hesitation that all the credit belongs to them.

Now Solovyov's art of blasting is also going to be upgraded. He is going to use blasting tubes as a means of detonation. When they are combined, he will ask the Turks to take a ride on the homemade plane.

It sounds corny, but it's effective.

Many of today’s regiment commanders had seen Solovyov’s blasting demonstration and naturally knew his method.

After all, it is still impressive that a pig can fly, and there are many coniferous forests in Sweden.

In Turkey, there is probably nothing so unhalal, but there are other things that can fly.

The plan has been made, all that remains is to prepare for the battle.

As for the Turkish army's firepower, if they didn't use artillery, Solovyov wanted to restore the tactics used by the old slave, pushing a cart in front, but it was covered with metal. Presumably, the Turkish artillery would not be able to do anything about this thing without solid bullets of sufficient power.

As for other methods, they are not impossible. If you think about movies in your mind, there are many kinds of weapons used in sieges, and you can even place small cannons in the siege tower.

However, this rich associative ability is probably only enough to remember the actions of a funny character in "Fire and Sword".

In order to finally destroy the siege tower, it is better to set the explosives first, wait for the opponent to arrive, and then use the fuse to delay the explosion.

While he was digging the trench, he was also paying attention to whether the Turks had set up tunnels in advance, even if they were just those that were hastily built in the past few days.

In short, he was also on guard against the enemy.

What I didn't expect was that these Turkish Baiyi masters were probably busy growing gold coins, buying shade trees, not shaving their beards and being misers, and using fairy rabbits to entertain Lord Burke.
In short, they did not do anything serious. Apart from a few counterattacks, they just hid in the city and shot at the Russian soldiers with cannons and various types of muskets. They were only able to harass them, but it was still quite difficult to stop the Russian army's advance.

Think about the power of lead bullets. The front row of Russian troops used a whole piece of iron plate armor on the breastplate. Although it was very heavy, it was also very useful and greatly reduced the lethality of the Turkish army's precision shooting.

The most impressive "combat engineers" are probably those in the Red Army who had whole steel breastplates. Sometimes they couldn't even penetrate the German officers' bullets when they encountered them at close range.

But this army was established during the reign of Peter the Great.

However, what Solovyov is doing now is a typical combat engineer tactic, and none of his subordinates have any objections.

The way to win on the battlefield is to consume more explosives, which is acceptable to everyone.

Moreover, the advance of the engineers and grenadiers was accompanied by covering fire. Every time a trench was dug, the Russian soldiers would send in the chasseurs to threaten the enemies in the city walls and fortifications within the effective range with their muskets.

Some officers and sergeants of the chasseurs, at their own expense or because of their excellent service, used rifled rifles or breech-loading rifles, which allowed them to shoot more accurately.

In every previous Russo-Turkish war, it was the Turkish army's stragglers who taught the Russian army a lesson on the battlefield, but this time, the situation was obviously different.

This kind of fire suppression, where anyone showing their head will be hit, has made the Turkish shooters dare not raise their heads all the time to accurately shoot at the Russian troops below.

In the skirmish, the Russian army was able to suppress the Turkish army in the early stages of the battle. This was the first time it had ever happened. In the past, it was just a stalemate.

As the Russians dug trenches further and approached the walls of Vidin, even the gunners would be in trouble.

"Well done, I didn't expect that we could suppress the Turks in a skirmish!"

At this time, Solovyov saw the battle situation in front of him through the telescope and could hardly suppress his excitement.

But at this moment, Mihrima came up with a steaming kettle.

"Sir, the hot water you requested, do you want coffee or tea?"

"Just ask for tea. It's dangerous during a war. Why are you here to serve me?"

"I don't think I can find any relatives. I can only serve you. Even the adults around you are not as gentle as you are."

"That's true, but I'm pretty scary when I lose my temper."

He also teased the little girl and pinched her cheeks.

"If it's coffee, it takes too much time to grind the beans."

When the child was using hot water to make tea, some shells actually fell nearby, but the range of the Turkish artillery was probably limited to this point.

Solovyov's approach was always more like a cat. He even drew a boundary, probably estimating the range of the Turkish artillery shells. In addition, their accuracy was really limited. In the main attack section of the city wall, the artillery shells were probably at the level of 6-pound and 9-pound guns, so the threat was always limited.

If Solovyov wanted to show his bravery, he could choose to kick the shells that had lost their kinetic energy a few times.

"Are you afraid?"

"I saw that Stojkovic carrying my father's head into the palace. I have also seen many corpses."

It seemed that although the child had a frightened expression, he was still numb.

In order to make her life normal, she should probably be sent back to St. Petersburg. After all, there is a warm living environment at home. Even if there were any political struggles, St. Petersburg was probably peaceful before bomb assassinations became popular.

"Such a lovely little girl, don't say those terrible things. Just stay by my side. The Turkish shells can't reach you here."

Come to think of it, this girl should be in cahoots with the people in the city?

But if she is a maid, she is still willing to serve a master who is good to her. There are emotional factors involved here.

It would be a blessing from God for a servant to meet such kind people as Count Stroganov's family.

It is even rarer to meet someone like Solovyov, who did not take servants as his own except for household services.

As he spoke, a grenade flew over the city wall and exploded in the city.

But this was unfortunate and the Turkish army's ammunition depot was blown up.

The distance was too far, otherwise it would have been a deafening explosion, accompanied by black smoke. "Ahaha, this explosion was quite powerful! Which artillery company's shell was it?"

"I don't know. All the artillery positions are cheering."

"Karl, we need to prepare some good food for the artillery brothers, but forget about this matter. You are the chief of staff, so I think you should find an adjutant to pass on the message."

My brother-in-law is with Kamensky, and his adjutants are often replaced. After all, for the young adjutants, it is a fast track to gain military merits.

Even if they didn't make any achievements, Solovyov was still very objective in evaluating his subordinates. He would even speak well of some promising and clever ones in their new units.

What he just did was because he was too familiar with Clausewitz, so he just said it casually.

But the artillery and hunters fought well, so it is indeed worth a bonus today.

As for the reward money?
There are always people who don't care about their lives. There has always been a rumor in the Russian army that the Turkish officers have a lot of treasures around them. The weapons they use are also inlaid with jewels. Many of them are also dressed gorgeously. Are there some old bachelors?
Seeing that his commander was accompanied by such a beautiful maid, he also developed a yearning for Turkish women.

In the Moscow Regiment, there are some old soldiers who are still single, such as Yegor who has been fighting all the time.

"How is it, Yegor, did you meet our commander?"

"I saw him from a distance. He was sitting there. Anyway, the shells couldn't fall on him. Although he was not an artilleryman, he was familiar with cannons."

"Hey, you know him, and it looks like he still remembers you, so why didn't you have a chance to get closer?"

"You don't know, when he was in our regiment, he was just a small adjutant. The old soldiers dared to call him that. No matter how familiar I am with him, he is still the master, and this distance cannot be changed. As for me, I just received an order to dig trenches and blast, and then we just threw grenades into them."

"No wonder every bomber is followed by a basket carrier. I think the basket weavers can make money."

"Who says it's not? There are tailors who sew backpacks and even make poles. I have seen people use this pole, but it's rare."

In fact, carrying poles are not uncommon in the Western world, but they are mostly carried by animals, and people generally prefer to carry them on shoulders or backs, or on the head. This thing is probably more often shown in Egyptian murals.

The reason is simple: ancient Egypt lacked livestock.

However, in order to increase transportation capacity, some people on the Russian side did start using "poles", which are wooden shoulder poles. This was not entirely Solovyov's idea, but was seen by a naval officer who had been to Guangzhou. There were so many porters in East Asia and Southeast Asia, and after returning, he reminded some people who were more familiar with the East.

On the contrary, Solovyov noticed that it was when they arrived in Odessa.

This time, it was not surprising that someone entered the trench carrying a shoulder pole with various supplies in front and behind.

While neither side was planning to fight at night, the Russian army was also rushing to replenish supplies into the trenches.

Especially for the grenades that are carried over, if they are carried in a basket, it is just one person, but if they are carried on a shoulder pole, a strong soldier can improve the efficiency of transporting supplies.

Now the four grenadier regiments in front have a large number of grenades in their hands, waiting to give the Turks a good beating the next day.

The previous shooting and fire suppression had already caused great losses to the Turks.

Solovyov was not in a hurry to attack the city, and was also worried about heavy casualties. He used grenadiers here because their grenadiers technology was indeed strong. He was unwilling to split the grenadiers in the ordinary infantry regiment to form a combined grenadier battalion, so he concentrated on using several elite grenadier regiments.

In addition to the bombs they were asked to drop, there were also blasting tubes and a large number of explosive packs carried by the combat engineers behind them.

Speaking of which, this is also a period when God is very kind. When the Russian army was attacking, the climate was very dry. As long as the gunpowder was not damp, it could still exert great power.

We also need to pay attention to the climate. The Danube River Basin is not far from the Mediterranean climate, and the vegetation level in these areas in the lower reaches of the Danube has always been outrageous.

The area around Vidin is relatively good. In some places, the mountains are bare and there is only a patch of grassland suitable for grazing sheep.

"Well, this time we are real 'grenadiers'. In the past, we used bayonets to solve problems."

"But it's not that simple. In my opinion, after we have thrown all the grenades, we may have to charge upwards."

"Igor, it's the same as always. Let's teach them a lesson. Isn't Napoleon powerful? In the future, our regiment will have to face them. The Pavlovsk Regiment was separated from us, and they can still use their original hats and look very proud! It was when Emperor Paul was still around that we gave them new weapons and they fought some brilliant battles."

Speaking of which, the veterans of the Moscow Grenadiers were still somewhat unwilling to accept the defeat, and even intended to make merit in this war and meet the French in the future.

Even Napoleon was not afraid of such grenadiers. They were no longer ordinary grenadiers.

"Yes, that's it. But I also saw that our military commander had a pretty girl beside him!"

"Ah, a woman again. He is quite proud of this."

"But he's just a tea server. I think there was someone like this before, right?"

"Igor, we were far away during the wedding, so you didn't see it clearly. But I saw it clearly. There was a maid following behind his sister. Although she was not very old, she looked like a great beauty."

"That's true. Our Lord Count has an adopted sister."

"His stepmother was a French woman, his stepsister was also a French woman, and the woman he brought to Odessa was also from France, a wealthy young widow."

"Hey guys, you guys are still chewing my tongue here?"

Solovyov actually appeared in the trench at this moment. He came to take a look at the trenches of several grenadier regiments and choose the areas and breakthrough points for blasting.

As a result, when he entered the position of his old unit of the Moscow Regiment, he heard a group of old soldiers gossiping about how proud they were of women.

"Master, I didn't expect you to come."

"If you want women, the women here are very beautiful. If you are single, you can find a submissive local woman to live with. But Mihrima is still a child. I am already proud enough. Don't use her to gossip. We should talk about serious things here!"

"Sir, just tell me what we should do!"

"Tomorrow you will have to fight hard! You must provide cover fire from behind, and if anyone shows up on top of the city wall, hit them hard! We need a commando team, that is, to pile up explosive packs and send the two fortresses outside into the sky first! I came from this regiment, and I also hope that you can fight well!" (End of this chapter)