Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

The Moscow Grenadier Regiment and the Yerevan Grenadier Regiment in the Caucasus are the two oldest grenadier regiments in the Russian Army.

It's just that the latter were unlucky. After the outbreak of the war in the Caucasus, they became the permanent residents there. Even the grenadiers' regiment was stationed and had troops there, and they became the core force of the Caucasian Grenadiers Division.

The Moscow Grenadiers, except for a brief disbandment during the reorganization in 1792, were subsequently reorganized on the basis of the original team. In fact, it was the core combat force of the Grenadiers. In addition, a number of troops were divided out on the basis of this regiment. The most famous one was the Pavlovsk Grenadiers, which was treated as a Guards.

Speaking of performance on the battlefield, it is true that the old Moscow regiment did not want to fall behind others, and according to the old rules of the Russian army, no matter whether the superiors were boyars or the current counts, soldiers would be rewarded when fighting.

Although it seems that this is no different from the past, if the commander is capable of supporting the soldiers, he can still gain a lot of support.

Solovyov was in the trench like this, and it was indeed because he was no longer just a regimental commander or a division commander as he was in the past. Now he was farther away from the soldiers and always had to come down to close the distance with them.

Of course, there will be people who complain.

"Igor, what did you say?"

"Nothing, it's just that the way you walk does look very impressive, but it doesn't match your figure. And why are you wearing this hat?"

Kutuzov had recently started wearing a white brimless hat, and Solovyov had also seen this kind of hat, but he wore it on his head, obviously to suit the weather at this time.

"Ah, nothing. This wide-brimmed hat is fine, but you won't need it at the front. I would like to get a helmet, but it's not strong enough, and every piece of iron is precious now."

"Then if you encounter an enemy, be careful with your hat."

"Why, there are Turkish scimitars flying over my head? It doesn't matter, I still need you to protect my neck! If you are gone, I will be nothing."

These words made some veterans with longer service terms shed tears.

"Why, Semyonov, are you crying again?"

"You sound very much like Alexander Vasilyevich. When he was still alive, he always used strange ways to inspire us."

"I remember that when we were at the Gotthard Pass, he wanted to jump into a pit himself, saying that the battle was lost and he was going to be buried."

The Moscow Grenadiers are still an old regiment, and naturally because of past battles, the veterans will be united and have strong cohesion.

"Since you asked us to protect your neck, how can we not fight to the death?"

"Don't be too reckless. We all need to survive. When fighting the Turks, patience is important. Don't rush for success. Judging from the current situation, they are likely to make mistakes first."

“Will you make a mistake first?”

"Did you notice the enemy's counterattack fire when our regiment attacked during the day?"

"Being suppressed by the hunters is rare."

The Russian military's service period is 25 years, and soldiers will not extend their service, but some of the oldest veterans in the Russian army have experienced the last Russo-Turkish war and naturally understand this situation.

"Yes, Semenov, how many years have you served?"

"It's been 24 years, sir. After this battle, I should retire and go home. Speaking of which, I'm still a little reluctant! I have a wife and children at home, and I have won the St. George Medal twice. For a soldier, it's enough. It's better to have the current emperor and Emperor Paul. At least we soldiers have the same face as the officers."

"Hahaha, what are you saying? Old man, you have done enough, but you are not allowed to die here."

Solovyov was still in a relaxed state of mind, after all, he was only fighting the Turks, but the problem was that this was an offensive battle.

The old soldier Semenov had served much longer than Igor Nikitin, but he rarely heard the general say, "No more deaths."

"If you say so, I will live well too. I was already in my twenties when I joined the army, and now my old bones are old enough. If you don't want me to die, then I will live well."

"Fight well, old man. And, brothers, you all have to fight well. We are fighting the Turks this time, and everyone has to do their best, including me."

After that, he continued to listen to officers and soldiers' reports on the status of the Turkish army during the exchange of fire.

Combined with his observations, he finally made up his mind to use blasting to blow up the city wall.

Except for the Theodosian Walls left in places like Constantinople, the cities controlled by the Ottoman Empire, although they had fortresses and walls, were generally no different from those in Europe, and some were even older versions.

If the Russian army finds an opportunity, they will naturally take the homemade planes.

After returning to his tent, Clausewitz asked him: "Why didn't you choose to negotiate?"

"I wouldn't joke with my adjutant's head!"

Speaking of which, when Napoleon was in Paris and at the Palace of Versailles, he told him about the Egyptian expedition.

In short, in everyone's opinion, the Turks were indeed untrustworthy and often killed envoys and negotiators. Another even worse person was the border guard of the Persian Empire, who killed the Russian general who came to accept surrender, using such despicable and barbaric means to achieve victory.

Even though Solovyov was well versed in military tactics, he had never seen anyone so immoral.

After listening to this, Clausewitz also understood what was going on.

Seeing him nod, Solovyov also said: "But if we fight hard enough, they will surrender soon. We need them to send representatives, otherwise we will never accept any form of surrender. Only when I see the Turks lay down their arms will I accept their surrender."

Of course, if the main members of the Turkish army are bandits, I am afraid that these heads will be chopped off.

Solovyov probably became more energetic after arriving on the Balkan stage.

However, his approach obviously does not tolerate bandits or the like.

But they cannot be as brutal as their opponents. The Serbs have done enough of this kind of thing, and it is indeed very troublesome on the big stage of the Balkans.

At least because of their beliefs, the Serbs are still able to listen to the Russians and are relatively civilized. However, in this environment, they are not friendly to the surrounding ethnic groups. Except for the brothers in the mountains of Montenegro, they have big and small grudges with almost all the surrounding ethnic groups.

This is not entirely a problem for Serbia alone, but also involves the serious shortcomings of the two feudal regimes of Austria and the Ottoman Empire.

The Serbs were warlike and somewhat barbaric by nature, and these conflicts were exacerbated by the Austrians, who always wanted to change their beliefs and make them slaves, and the Turks, who routinely cleansed and massacred the local Balkan people.

In addition, the Turks in this era like to use Albanians as their lackeys, and later they also have Kurds as their thugs, which can be said to be a great lack of morality. If we look for the root cause of many problems in the Middle East and the Balkans, I am afraid that we can find some answers here.

By the next morning, the Russian artillery fire was even more intense than the first day.

It was a very bad day for the Turks.

They had indeed been dazed by the fierce artillery fire. Although there were a large number of defenders in the city, most of them were a mob, unlike the front-line troops or the new army who still had some combat effectiveness.

Therefore, many people also wanted to surrender.

However, the Russian army never sent any envoys to persuade them to surrender, and even kept firing cannons. This was indeed different from the usual situation.

The siege trenches were dug for five or six days, and the Turkish artillery fire was suppressed the entire time. Since the Turkish army was unable to raise their heads due to the artillery fire, the Russian army's tunnel digging operation went smoothly.

The Russian army can also continue to dig the communication trenches forward. Even if the skirmishers and small artillery on the Turkish side can cause certain casualties, the Russian army insists on doing so.

After all, the artillery behind was still very efficient, especially the one-Pute Unicorn cannon brought out this time. Although the shells always fell inside the city, they had a great deterrent effect on the Turkish army.

But because Solovyov didn't play by the rules, they kept getting beaten.

Moreover, even if someone shows up now, they will often be hunted as prey by the hunters.

In this situation, there is no possibility of surrendering during the day, and you can only be beaten.

Now, according to engineers' calculations, the Russian army's tunnels have approached the base of Vidin's city walls.

"The artillery performed well today. If we continue like this, we can tear down half of Vidin's wall."

"It's just that your style of fighting consumes too much gunpowder, Mick. Even if we take Vidin, we have to consider that not only do we need ammunition, but also the Serbs. They have 50,000 soldiers who can fight. Even if you streamline them, there will still be 30,000 to 40,000 people. In this case, our supply will be very tight."

“But we also need to let the Turks know that resistance will not lead to good results.”

"Are you going to use this as a model?"

"I just want to break into the city. I'm not like the Turks who won't stop their weapons after entering the city."

In short, resistance will not lead to any good outcome, but if you surrender, you may still be able to get a good result.

Under this guiding ideology, there is only one route we can continue to attack fiercely.

However, the Russian army was not without casualties. When the Kiev Grenadiers Regiment, which was responsible for the main attack, approached the city wall, they were the first to be counterattacked by some fearless Turkish troops who shot bullets from the city walls and bunkers.

As a result, the Kiev Regiment had to send personnel to clean up that small area.

The Moscow Regiment next to them was the first to pile up the explosives and then left.

"Igor, has the fuse been pulled?"

"It's a little shorter, but with the blasting tube, it should be no problem for the engineers to detonate it."

As he spoke, the engineers who had entered the trench with him retreated to carry out the first explosion in this battle.

The fuse ignited too smoothly, and when it first exploded with the blasting tube, it even gave the grenadiers in the trenches an illusion.

"Is the charge too small?"

Before the engineer next to him could answer, a violent explosion occurred.

However, at this distance, although the sound was deafening, at least most people were on guard, and the position itself was at a safe distance from the enemy's stronghold, so few unlucky people were deafened.

But the explosion did send the Turks in the fortress outside the city into the sky, and even one of their legs flew into the trench.

"Look, Nikitin. We've used this method of blasting in Sweden."

"I was in the hospital at the time, bitten by a Swedish bullet."

"It's just the amount of powder. It's even bigger than when we were in Sweden. Now it's up to your superiors."

As he spoke, the grenadiers also heard the whistle.

The Kiev Grenadiers wanted to blow up the city walls, so the outer fortress was attacked with a combination of infantry and artillery, which was quite effective. Most of the Turkish troops inside were eliminated with bayonets.

Up to now, the Russian army still rarely captured prisoners, because the battle situation was urgent and they had to act quickly. Most of the Turks they met, even the wounded, were stabbed with bayonets.

After the several targets on the periphery that could harass the Russian army were dealt with, the Russian army pushed its artillery forward again, apparently intending to "put bayonets on cannons" and fire at the enemy at a very close distance on the battlefield. As long as they couldn't hit their own people, there would be no problem.

Even with this style of shooting, you don't have to bother aiming and just focus on loading the ammunition.

This is a good thing for muzzle-loading guns.

However, the one-pound Unicorn was indeed too heavy. The guns that were fired close to the target were mainly 12-pound guns and half-pound Unicorns. The Russian army also left space for artillery to pass through above the communication trenches, the temporary bridges they built, and the simple roads on the sides of the communication trenches, which always allowed the Russian artillery to pass quickly.

When these cannons were pushed over, there was another series of artillery fire, and a big hole was blown in the front wall of the Moscow Regiment.

But now was not the time for the grenadiers to launch an attack. Solovyov saw this from the rear and gave the grenadiers in the front instructions through flag signals.

"Mick, are you waiting for the explosion from the Tafred Regiment?"

"That's right. Then there's the Kiev Regiment. The attack directions of these two regiments are both to use explosives to blow down the city walls. If there are enough gaps, the enemy defenders will also be dispersed."

"It will also help us to divide the enemy, and your move will not change."

"The Turks have never fought me before, so this is a good opportunity to give me a greeting."

After saying that, he was also waiting for a larger explosion from the grenadiers. (End of this chapter)