Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 635 067 A large-scale annihilation battle on the banks of the Danube (Siege Part )
Solovyov is not like Kutuzov, nor is he like some Europeans. Although, in fact, Europeans generally get married very early nowadays, the age when Katya got engaged to him was probably the lowest age he could accept.

When Mihrima saw her master like this, she covered his eyes with the scarf with her slender hands and tied a loose knot.

"How about this?"

"Hmm, it has a light fragrance. I heard that tulips were very popular during the time of a certain sultan. This should be the smell of tulips."

“Those are the spices I use.”

In fact, although she thought she was of low status, in Stojkovic's eyes, she was a beauty with great potential, so the money Stojkovic gave her was not bad.

When she came to Solovyov, although she was still a maid, she had a free status and the salary was not low. If she didn't want to follow this master, she could find someone else to serve her if she wanted.

Therefore, she was always able to use tulip-scented spices, and even when she washed Solovyov's clothes, she did not forget to add spices.

Clausewitz also felt strange, but he did not ask any questions.

Our own commander just likes cleanliness, but he is not as clean as others would say, "Brother, you smell so good." He usually doesn't use perfume or incense.

And since Mihrima recently started washing his clothes, he smelled better, even a little strange.

However, when Solovyov was on the battlefield, his body could not always be kept clean, as there was still some smoke of gunpowder.

"You girl, no wonder my subordinates saw me recently. It was fine when I was here, but not when I was in Vidin."

Solovyov sat up, seized her by the wrist, and drew her to him.

This obviously still maintains the master-servant relationship, if you are at home with those difficult cats.
But Mihrima blushed a little. After all, it was true that her master was kind to her. However, she was the daughter of a Turkish officer's concubine and might not be favored at home.

Leaning on Solovyov like this gave her a lot of sense of security. She was so pitiful that she didn't even have any relatives. Even if she did have any, they were probably in the enemy camp.

"Rima, you are still a Turk after all. It would be fine if there were someone at home. Where can you go now?"

"If there is, I"

"You are young, but you are precocious. I treat you as a bud, but you think you are a blooming tulip. If you were a girl, you might be able to go back to your family. Although it's not so good here. My wife is of noble birth, but it's different for the servants and the citizens."

"I am willing to serve you forever. I understand everything you say."

This girl is still a little reserved. If it were St. Petersburg and Paris, it would be too straightforward. This situation is more like when he and Louisa first met, but because this child is a little maid, she obviously only has a talent for languages ​​and has never been seen reading any books.

However, due to his young age, he is still very malleable.

"You're such a good kid, just don't get into my arms all the time, it's not like you're particularly scared."

What she was thinking, this precocious child
In short, Solovyov still felt that if he were to deal with some children, they would probably be Nikolai, who was showing off his steamboat to his friends but ended up capsizing in the pond, and shy Charlotte.

After all, one is stupid enough and the other is obedient enough.

I don’t even dare to imagine what Mihlima will do. If I move into a city in the future, I’ll probably need my female relatives to come over.

But that would be later. Right now, what he wanted to see was the enemies trapped inside.

While he was unable to sleep, Uvarov and Clausewitz were on duty and interrogating prisoners all night.

During the battle, several Turkish officers were captured, and even some Europeans who served the Sultan.

"your name?"

"General, you can call me Murad. I am an artillery officer of the new army."

"But you speak with a Flemish accent, sir, and that beard."

"Hell, I'm from Flanders, but my last name sounds like a fish."

"So you are a European serving the Turks? We still give preferential treatment to officers from European countries. As for you, don't say anything strange."

"Okay, can you give me a glass of whiskey? If you don't have whiskey, rum will do!"

"We'll give you some wine, sir. But we always carry vodka here."

"Damn it, as long as it's wine, we'll be fine with these Turks. Although they'll supply us with some wine, the quality isn't very good, and it's not even strong enough. These Carpathian caterpillars, Pandur bandits, Barbary pirates, Circassian slave traders..."

Wow, he's been cursing all the time, but he never uses any vulgar words, and they're never repeated, and some of his words are even advanced.

Anyone who knows this curse probably also knows that there is a Belgian captain.
"Sir, please don't be in a hurry to scold those Turks. They are indeed bandits, but we also need to find out how many of them there are."

"That Mustafa Bey is also a baboon who just came down from a tree, a stupid dodo. He set out with 65,000 people. The one who gave him direct instructions was Ahmed Pasha. In addition, there was a Pasha from somewhere in Greece who was the commander of the follow-up troops. There were about 80,000 people there."

“Wow, there are so many people!”

"There have always been a lot of Turks, gentlemen, but they are only capable of fighting to a limited extent. Otherwise, they would not have allowed the recruited naval officers to come ashore. It's also because their navy is too vulnerable to fighting. I have been here for several years, and sometimes my salary depends on my mood. If it weren't for the damn British... Oh, by the way, you can call me Adrian Haddock. I used to be an officer in the French Navy. The British destroyed my ship and home, the revolution destroyed my job, and the Turks are destroying my stomach, this group of Turkish irregulars!"

"It will be interesting to talk to you. Maybe our commander will be more interested in you. He is familiar with the French."

Solovyov didn't need to sleep. He had just felt a little sleepy when he was disturbed by Clausewitz.

However, when Clausewitz entered his tent and saw Mihlima curled up on the carpet like a kitten, and Solovyov tossing and turning on the camp bed with his eyes covered with a scarf, he found it somewhat funny.

"Mick, you're still awake?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I think you should stay up late tonight. We have captured a French officer serving the Turks. Let's call him a French officer. He seems to be very familiar with these people."

"what?"

At this point, he was no longer sleepy, and then he sat up from the cot, so that Clausewitz could not see his movements clearly.

But this time, he almost stepped on Mihrima's foot while she was taking a nap on the carpet.

"Ah, this girl is always like this."

The child fell asleep first, and Solovyov took her to the cot and covered her with a blanket.

"Do you have a sister or daughter here? The maids you bring with you are never in a master-servant relationship."

"It's none of your business. Let's get down to business."

Solovyov also needed to get to the point quickly; there was no time to delay.

"He should know a lot of information. What he is telling us now is that Mustafa Bey, this incompetent guy, has 65,000 people under his command, and there are also large-scale enemies behind him. But it seems that they are not coming completely against us. These 150,000 enemies are all from the Asian part of Turkey."

"anything else?"

"The enemy's artillery was short of manpower, so they recruited some foreign officers who were familiar with artillery from among the naval officers, but the treatment was not very good."

"Interesting, is there anything else?"

"I think you should meet this interesting ex-Navy officer, Adrian Haddock or something."

When Solovyov heard this name, he was stunned for a moment.

"Hadock?"

"Yes, although this person is a little, as you said, a bit of a nerd, he is still very talkative. As a former French naval officer, he can always start a conversation."

"Okay then. I can go, but I have to change my clothes. I can't go in wearing this."

Then Mihrima fell asleep, so he had to put on his coat by himself, but since he usually did it by himself, it didn't have much of a impact.

As for meeting the captain, Solovyov was also a little surprised.

He knew that there was an admiral in the UK with this last name, and he was also a loyal reader of the Tintin series, but he could only remember the general idea of ​​these books and was unlikely to take them out again.

"Somewhat, very much so. Who is Francois Haddock to you?"

"It's my ancestor, who used to be the captain of the Navy's 'Unicorn'."

"What the hell!"

When Solovyov blurted out this sentence, Haddock was a little confused.

This Adrian was probably a descendant of de Haddock, but this was not the way to have fun.

"Sir, your men said you have relatives in France?"

"Ah, she's from the Caribbean, but she's the former Queen of France, she's my stepmother's cousin, and the current Queen is a Grand Duchess of Russia, and I'm the one escorting her. It's really weird, damn it!"

"Haha, I think it would be nice to get along with you, but do you drink whiskey?"

"No, I just drink some liqueur occasionally. If you want whiskey, it may be hard to find now. If you look for it in a general's wine cabinet, there may be some chance. Unfortunately, I am not a general who often carries a wine cabinet."

"It doesn't matter. Your hospitality is good, much better than those Turks."

"Of course. After all, Russians cannot live without alcohol. Soldiers cannot live without vodka, and generals cannot live without champagne and various fine wines. Even I try it occasionally. Also, I heard that you used to be a naval officer?"

"Yes, but I was unlucky. There were no ships when I arrived here. The ship that was originally scheduled for me to command was sunk by your navy."

"We can't help it. The people in the Black Sea Fleet were too ruthless. What level of ship did you command in the past? Although I am a lieutenant general of infantry, I have also sailed on the sea."

"I was commanding a frigate, but it was burned down. You know, in the Caribbean, this kind of thing always happens. I couldn't go back to France."

"Because there are British everywhere, you might as well go to Russia. We have a lot of French people there. The Duke of Richelieu is the governor of Odessa, and my friend the Count of Langgeron is also a general of infantry here. Even our Minister of the Navy is French."

"Yes, but I'm not a royalist. I'm only a naval officer. Damn it, if our ship hadn't been broken down in Algiers, I'd have applied for a naval commission somewhere else."

"It's your misfortune to come to Turkey, but it's your good fortune to meet us. Russia is short of manpower right now, mainly in the navy. There are few experienced captains. If you talk to our Minister of the Navy or the Duke of Richelieu, you may be able to become a captain here. Russia welcomes any guest who comes here, especially those who come to find a job, like Crown, who is now an admiral. When he came to Russia, he was still commanding a British frigate, the Mercury."

"Is that the Kron?"

"Why? You are younger than him. Do you know each other?"

"Nothing. I was just unlucky. I was surrounded and beaten by the British frigates. I met him during the prisoner exchange. Although he is British, he is different from those pirates."

"Yes, I admire him too. Even if you have only met him but are not acquainted with him, I can write you a letter of introduction."

By the way, letters of introduction are still very popular in Russia, especially the nepotism of generals recommending each other, and they are always useful for discovering some capable subordinates or talents.

Although Solovyov did not need a letter of introduction in the army, someone had praised him in correspondence before.

He then chatted with the captain again and felt that they had some affinity.

".But according to you, the Turks should not have brought too many supplies?"

"Yes, after all, they were anxious to get to Vidin, and you blew up the bridge in Lom. I must say, you did a very good job."

"That's good. I know what to do. You can go and rest. And, Carl, get this gentleman some more whiskey to satisfy his request."

(End of this chapter)