Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Outside the city of Thessaloniki, the Russian army not only camped on the mountain and observed the situation inside the city, but also stationed a large number of troops at the foot of the north slope.

This is also because the main road north of Thessaloniki is the main route for Turkish reinforcements to arrive, and only these towns on the peninsula can be reached from the south.

However, the Russian army must cut off roads in both the north and south directions, and Solovyov has limited troops. Before possible subsequent reinforcements arrive, he can only make the best use of the troops at his disposal. Initially, he needs to besiege the enemy in the city and cannot rush to attack.

Therefore, he decided to write a letter to Kamensky the Younger, hoping that he could allocate some troops, even if it was only a few regiments.

However, there was no reply from there. On the one hand, the shortest route to Sofia, the mountain road, was still controlled by the Turkish army, and it was always difficult to transmit messages.

In addition, Kamensky the Younger decided to besiege the Turkish fortresses in the Harmanli area at this time. He wanted to open the road to Adrianople. Solovyov's detachment had achieved great results, which somewhat ignited the coach's competitive spirit.

Therefore, the main force of the Russian army could hardly spare a single soldier.

He was a little uneasy at this time, but there was nothing he could do. If he ventured into the Greek region, he would face many problems. If the enemy mobilized a large army, he would have to find a way to stop the reinforcements.

The good news is that Larissa has now been captured. Kunev left an infantry regiment and the Greek militia to guard the city there, and then mobilized the Greeks in the nearby towns and villages, and brought back another six regiments and some Greek militia.

Solovyov felt somewhat worried after hearing what he said.

"You only have one regiment there. The Greek militia's combat effectiveness may not be reliable. If someone comes out from Lamia and enters Thessaly, it will be a great threat to us."

"I don't think so. The Turks are now overwhelmed by the militias in southern Greece, and they have limited troops. From Lamia all the way south, the number of troops they can mobilize will not exceed 10,000. The militias there and the spontaneous militias have this number."

"I know that if I can get reinforcements, there will be no problem with your deployment. But it has been almost half a month and there is still no movement. If no reinforcements come, I may have to borrow troops from the Serbs. Karageorge is now negotiating with Count Kutuzov to discuss the specific details of the assistance. I don't want to give him the bargaining chips he thinks he needs."

"Why are you still a little cautious?"

Kunev was a little confused. Solovyov had always been a very generous man. Although he lived frugally, he was never vague about where to spend money.

If he is petty, there must be something wrong.

In response to Kunev's doubts, Solovyov just sat in the recliner and said nothing.

He doesn't look like a 30-year-old young general at all, but rather has the shadow of an old fox.

"Why aren't you talking again?"

"I'm also considering it. If Karageorge wants to raise the price, it's not impossible. The 40,000 people under his command are really very good bargaining chips. I had this concern when I met him at the mineral spring before."

"Probably not?"

"I had already killed Stojkovic before, which was enough to deter the Serbs. The benefits promised afterwards were also drawn up by the Foreign Minister before the army set out. There was nothing out of the ordinary. This way, it went smoothly. What I worry about is that sometimes some people just overestimate their own capabilities."

"You think so much. What happens after the negotiation?"

"Yakov, I am different from you. You are a cavalry general. When you are in charge of the army, you are the commander of the cavalry who charge into battle. My situation is different. If you think about the situation at home, you will know that I am also forced to do things against my will."

That's right, he himself is the son-in-law of the Dolgorukov family, his military master is Suvorov, his sister is married to the prince of the Mecklenburg branch, and his stepsister is engaged to Secretary of State Speransky. Unlike in the past when he could command wars with his imaginative ideas, once he is involved in diplomatic negotiations and politics, he cannot take the initiative, which is a very troublesome thing.

At this point, he could more or less feel that he might be dragged into politics. Speransky and Balashov were becoming increasingly confrontational in St. Petersburg, and it was mainly Balashov who was looking for trouble with Speransky.

Now he was in trouble too. Any evidence of any disturbance might attract the attention of this lackey.

He does have someone to protect him, and he is also a good general. He probably won't go to Siberia to dig potatoes, but his future will definitely be affected.

His worries were not without reason. Bagration had previously felt that his hands were tied and finally applied for transfer.

I am now only a few key points away from victory in Greece. I only need to capture Thessaloniki and Lamia, and then reach Athens and Corinth, and I will probably be able to complete the mission.

In this way, Russia will be in a very advantageous position at the future negotiation table between Russia and Turkey. It can make any demands it wants. The Ottoman Empire will have no bargaining chips and will be a gambler who has lost everything.

Therefore, the final war is also very crucial, but at this critical juncture, there are always some worrying things.

If he had heard those rumors in St. Petersburg, Solovyov would have had the opportunity to verify them, but if something else happened, it would be beyond his ability to predict. This was probably the disadvantage of being away from St. Petersburg.

The reason why Balashov was entangled with him was probably because his circle was always linked with the liberals, and the Tsar himself was now obsessed with dictatorial power, instead of the declaration he made when he was the Grand Duke of the Imperial Palace during his middle school years.

Solovyov was still in Moscow at that time, but he must have heard of Alexander's middle school period. After all, the young ladies would sometimes "grab" him to serve as a foil at the "tea parties" before they got married.

Solovyov was also able to learn some information from Katya's letters in St. Petersburg.

Although Katya is not very sensitive politically, she and her mother-in-law are both court ladies, so they are well-informed about what is happening in the Winter Palace.

The intelligence came, and Solovyov only had to analyze it himself.

Serbia's price cannot be too high, otherwise Balashov will definitely make trouble. Russia's finances have been strained because of the war with Napoleon for a long time.

If I don't perform well on the battlefield, I will probably be picked on. Fortunately, my performance on the battlefield can always make up for some shortcomings.

Therefore, it seems that maintaining the current status quo has increased the difficulty artificially.

But the Turkish army he was waiting for had been slowly gathering. He only knew that Aziz Ahmed Pasha would lead his army here, but there were still some days, so he certainly had plenty of time to prepare. The biggest problem of the Turkish army was probably that nearly 200,000 troops were crowded in the eastern part of Rumelia. This pig-like tactic gave Kamensky the younger a headache, but their own consumption was also amazing.

If there are 200,000 pigs, that means they are always being eaten.

Therefore, the Turkish army was actually anxious to fight. It would be best if they could drive the Russian army out of the mountains, but these two groups of troops were difficult to deal with.

At this time, since Thessaloniki was no longer the terrain where Solovyov had twice preset battlefields to calculate the Turkish army's situation, Aziz Ahmed Pasha felt that he could do it.

Therefore, Solovyov probably was not worried that the Turkish army would come because his own forces were weak.

He surrounded 20,000 Turkish troops with 40,000 men, and what if 100,000 men came to besiege him?

Maybe he will have to get the Caesar experience ticket again. The Battle of Alesia is obviously a very famous battle and can be said to be Caesar's masterpiece.

Although Solovyov has his own fighting style, he behaves more like Caesar, whether he is hiding his troops to attack the enemy's flanks or in an outdoor battlefield environment.

Even lust has a little connection
The difference is probably that he has no political ambitions and knows that with his background he can only climb up step by step by relying on military merits.

If he had a better background, he might have been able to accomplish something, or even have some ambitions.

What he is facing now is a situation where the enemy may come back at any time.

However, three weeks had passed since he besieged Thessaloniki, and he had not received any reinforcements, nor had the enemy arrived. The enemies in the city were just squatting there, not struggling at all.

At times like this, it makes people feel very uncomfortable.

Therefore, he decided to ride north to see the road and consider how to conduct the battle.

Unlike previous battles where they could show off their skills, this time the Russian army can only fight the Turkish army on a fixed battlefield.

He had already started to think about it. Giving up Thessaloniki and letting the two enemies join together while retreating to Vergina was definitely not an option worth considering.

Unfortunately, he really did not have enough manpower, otherwise he could have directly cut off the route from Sofia to Thessaloniki, and then meet the Turkish reinforcements in Aphipolis or Philippi, or even continue to advance eastward.

There is no way. This is a problem with Russia's system. Alexander is no longer willing to send more troops to Kamensky the Younger, while Kamensky the Younger, as the commander-in-chief, is currently trying to advance towards Adrianople.

He, Solovyov, cannot count on Karageorge, who is negotiating with Kutuzov and has indeed entered a bottleneck period.

It was impossible to wait for the Turks, but he was not without gain.

To encircle Thessaloniki, if we don't consider deploying troops on the mountains, we only need to control the main roads on both sides.

There are mountains to the north of Thessaloniki, so he could deploy his troops between the narrow passes on both sides. With this formation, the Turkish army could not take advantage of their numbers, and even the more capable generals would not be able to perform any operations on the narrow front.

"There seems to be a road at the mountain pass over there that goes around behind us. This is a bit dangerous."

"It's okay, sir. There is a road that can reach the back of Fanarion Town, but it is also difficult to travel. The road is narrow. If we attack us from behind, we may not have enough manpower."

"But it always feels dangerous. How about deploying a regiment and an artillery battery there? That would almost be enough to block the road."

"This is a gourd mouth. It's easy to get in but hard to get out. This ball is placed there."

"Okay, no need to say more. You adjutants, take a closer look at the battlefield. We will have a good discussion with the chief of staff when we return. If possible, we can deploy positions in Manderai and Galikos where we are now. The Turkish army's marching speed has always been slow. As long as they leave Thrace and enter Macedonia, we will probably know the news. What's more, having a large number of people is very disadvantageous for concealing your whereabouts."

"So what are you going to do?"

"This Pantalaimon can deploy an outpost. We need to find a way to disrupt the enemy's deployment and make their battle line chaotic. Then we can launch a flanking attack and focus on their weak flanks."

"The enemy hasn't arrived yet, how can you confirm it?"

"They will definitely come, they will definitely come, but I certainly don't know whether the Turks will send a pasha to defeat us directly, drive us out, or simply lift the siege of Thessaloniki."

"Who knows? Your Excellency, we have more troops to fight against the Turks than we have in Sweden."

"But at that time, we had Grand Duke Constantine. If His Royal Highness was here, he could give us some troops, so we actually had more people than expected every time we fought, and we also had troops to protect our flanks. However, now, the only people we can count on may still be the Greeks, but they are just militias who have not received formal training. They are good enough to be used for waving flags and shouting, but we cannot rely on them for real actions."

In short, he was still a little nervous. Solovyov had no idea how many Turks were coming this time. If they were sent in hundreds of thousands, Sultan Mahmoud might as well call himself the "Sultan of the Hundred Thousand".

This kind of waiting is indeed very troublesome. From the time Sultan Mahmud held a meeting with the Grand Vizier and Pashas in Constantinople until now, this army has not appeared.

However, the Ottoman Empire's "Yamen" in charge of diplomacy has not agreed to negotiate with Russia now, whether it is an order from His Majesty the Sultan himself or the "Yamen"'s own judgment.

That's how it is. The Turkish army had assembled at least 60,000 troops on the outskirts of Thrace.

Because Kamensky the Younger's main force had been busy gnawing on a bunch of hard nuts on the front, the Turkish army did not advance westward for a while, but waited in Adrianople for a long time before taking any action.

Neither side had a "God's perspective". When Solovyov was hesitant in negotiations with the Serbs, the Turkish army only knew that his troops were short of manpower, but knew nothing else.

Soon after the negotiations ended, Kutuzov had already reached an agreement with Karageorge, and the Turkish army decided to set out, which was not too late. (End of this chapter)