Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 748 050 Borodino (Part )

When Tuchkov faced Bennigsen, he did not initially object to the Third Army being deployed on the high ground instead of lying in ambush in the woods.

After all, there is nothing wrong with this deployment from the perspective of the overall line arrangement. However, the original advantages of concealment and the suddenness of the action are lost.

At the beginning of the battle, he and Stroganov were both at the position of the 1st Grenadier Division. According to the previous agreement, the position of the Pavlovsk Grenadier Regiment was also the core part of the 3rd Army's position.

When the Poles attacked in the morning, Konovnitsyn had already led his troops to launch an attack. After all, the Salient Fort was the main battlefield.

But the appearance of the Poles in the forest also disrupted the Russian army's deployment.

The Polish soldiers here are habitual robbers on weekdays, but they are not cowards when it comes to fighting.

Compared with other countries, the Poles will probably be more respectable about their historical understanding of this period than other countries.

At least the Poles said that when we were working as lackeys for the French, we also robbed our Spanish fellows. When we returned to Poland, we fought with the Prussians and Russians, so we must have committed some robbery.

Especially the commander of the 17th Division in front, General Jan Dabrovsky, who was an old friend that Bagration and his men had met during the Battle of the Trebia River, and they might have met on the battlefield even earlier.

Bagration didn't know who the divisional generals under the Polish Army were. If he knew, he would probably sigh, "Enemies often meet on a narrow road."

After all, this old face is not a prince like Poniatowski, and his abilities beyond a certain range will probably be of little use.

The Polish army is not only organized in the 5th Army. There is a Vistula Corps in the Guards, and some Polish cavalry are also organized there. One of his brothers, Dombrovski, is still commanding a brigade of the 4th Division of the 15th Army. One of his brothers recently had to duel with someone in Valladolid, Spain, and then died on the spot.

They fought fiercely, but when they passed through the woods, they began to be attacked by the Russian skirmishers.

This is nothing. When Dombrovsky fought against the Russian army before, he encountered similar attacks by skirmishers. In a village, a large number of troops were driven out by a Russian hunting company, and then the Russian vanguard joined in.

The front position was definitely untenable, so Tuchkov had to withdraw all his troops to the Kurgannaya Heights near the village of Utica. This place was at least in the woods, which was conducive to the grenadiers' defense.

The Poles on the periphery seemed to have successfully "expelled" the Russian chasseurs on the periphery. These chasseurs were the guard troops left behind before Shakhovsky was transferred to the Salient Fort.

The Polish infantry also wore quadrangular hats similar to those of the Uhlans, which could be considered a Polish symbol. They encountered direct fire from the Russian artillery, but the grenadiers' field artillery happened to be using powerful new artillery with a long range.

Once the Poles came within range, the Russian artillery never stopped firing.

When they were not very close, the Polish infantry encountered a burst of very accurate shooting.

After seeing this, Colonel Richter, the current commander of the Pavlovsk Grenadiers, recalled some of the boasts often made by the veterans of the Italian expedition.

At that time, they followed Count Solovyov, who was still a small company commander, to fight the French. They captured many high-ranking officials, had good food and drink along the way, and the locals were also very welcoming to them.
Considering that Solovyov himself was quite open before the fighting in Shevardino, he revealed his relationships with some noble ladies.

What kind of officer you have will determine what kind of soldiers you lead. Richter didn't know what Solovyov said in Shevardino.

However, these veterans also mentioned those Italian country girls, who were warm and generous and not hostile, and had better figures than the Polish women and the women in their hometown.
"Now the Poles are here. That's great. When I first joined the army, I was in the Moscow Regiment. There was an old soldier named Semenov. We had a great fight with the Poles in the Braga district of Warsaw."

"Stop talking nonsense and get ready to fight."

"Captain, let me say one more thing."

The young company commander couldn't stand the nagging old soldier, but because the old man had saved his life in Poland when he was still a second lieutenant, and compared to other old guys, he was just a little talkative but never caused trouble, he was a little tolerant of him.

"Just keep talking!"

“要我说啊，这帮波兰人就是欠揍，他们爱抢劫和偷东西，要是落到他们手里可没有什么好下场。”

After saying this, the old man stopped talking.

However, for the grenadiers around him, if they encountered the Poles, they would naturally fight them to the death.

As for the unfortunate Dombrovsky, his subordinates were always taken care of by the veterans of the Pavlovsk Regiment first, and this time he also enjoyed the care of the sniper.

But he was lucky and the bullet only injured him, and he was carried out of the battle by his adjutant.

After encountering Russian firepower attacks, the Poles also discovered a strange phenomenon: the grenadiers in front of the 17th Division had extremely strong firepower.

It even gave them an illusion that the Russian army might really have placed its main force here.

That's right, after the Polish army stabilized its position, it launched the next phase of the offensive when the Russian army's firepower became sparse.

This time the Polish soldiers did not shoot, but instead learned from the Russian army to launch a bayonet charge.

There was an exchange of fire when the outer chasseurs were dispersed, and now they were attacked like this, causing the Taurida Grenadiers to be in a state of confusion for a while.

If it weren't for their commander, Colonel Sulima, urging the battle, this highly combat-effective grenadier regiment might have wavered.

As for why Sulima was so brave, it was because he was an excellent soldier and had experienced many battles.

Another thing he was unwilling to tell was that he was captured alive by the French at Austerlitz.

Naturally, the fighting was very fierce at this time. In addition, except for a few regiments left in the Caucasus, all the grenadiers were equipped with new rifles. Whether it was shooting or hand-to-hand combat, they still had some advantages.

The Poles caught the Russian army off guard in the hand-to-hand combat at the beginning, but they just drove the Russian army to this small hill.

When Tuchkov saw this situation, he was not too worried.

At least the Kurganaya Heights were in their hands, and the Russian grenadiers became more and more courageous, knocking down many Poles in front of their front line. But Poniatowski was not without a solution. He sent people to ask Napoleon for reinforcements while mobilizing artillery.

After placing 40 cannons in front of the high ground, he began to mobilize infantry and artillery to attack Tuchkov's position.

This was a rather troublesome situation for Tuchkov. Although his soldiers were strong in combat, even if Konovnitsyn, who was sent to support Bagration, was included, his total strength was still less than that of the Poles.

This round of bombardment also made everyone have a deeper understanding that the caliber of heavy artillery and the weight of shells represent justice.

Stroganov's face was blackened by the gun smoke. Just now, a grenade hit the trench, but because they all ran fast and the fuse of the shell was too long, no one was hurt.

On this day, Andre probably had no chance of encountering such an outrageous shell.

"Look at you, Count. What would your wife think if she saw you?"

Tuchkov did not forget to joke with the emperor's confidant, the most handsome nobleman in Russia.

"Sonia will bring me water to wash my face. She never dislikes the soil and likes to plant flowers herself."

The count's mentality was better than Tuchkov's. Nikolai knew at this time that his younger brother had followed Konovnitsyn to join a fierce battle on the edge of the bastion, and he was worried about his captured brother Pavel and Sasha who was on the battlefield.

After the Polish artillery arrived, he saw that the situation was not right. If he continued to be bombarded by the Polish artillery, the Kurgannaya Heights would probably be lost.

At this time, he let Stroganov hold the line while he prepared to lead the Pavlovsk Grenadiers and the Yekaterinoslav Grenadiers to launch a counterattack.

"Nikola, let me go. You still have to command here."

Count Stroganov had accumulated some military experience after the war and when he was in Poland, and he felt that Tuchkov, as the army commander, should stay here to command the battle.

However, Tuchkov rejected his kindness at this time and said, "Pasha, thank you for your kindness. But I am the commander of the army, so I should set an example for my brothers. And Bagowut is right behind me. If I really have an accident, you can take command and hold on until the brothers of the 2nd Army arrive.

There is more to say. Tuchkov feels that he should not have lived so long. He was one of the conspirators in the previous regicide conspiracy. Although he did not participate in the final action, the Tsar still pardoned him.

Moreover, among the five brothers, four were active generals and led troops. It was obvious that they were specially valued by the Tsar.

At this time, he drew his sword and stood in front of the Pavlovsk Grenadiers.

"Brothers, let's show these Poles how powerful we are today and take their cannons away from us!"

The grenadiers who rushed out with him were all elite grenadiers wearing bishop's hats. In fact, they were now treated as Guards. Contrary to their usual practice, they were able to give a roll call to the Polish artillery before the bayonet charge. At least this allowed these guys who were mounting bayonets on their cannons and shooting at close range with shotgun shells to have a good look at how powerful Russia's strongest grenadiers were.

The Polish artillery was quickly and accurately targeted, and then the grenadiers charged and clashed with the Polish infantry again.

Originally the Poles put up a very tenacious resistance, but the old Russian soldiers were notoriously "unethical" and it was common for them to shoot them at close range.

With the rifles used by the Russian grenadiers, if they were lucky, they would have time to reload their ammunition.
The Polish soldiers were quickly driven out, and most of the cannons fell into the hands of the Russian army.

Seeing this, Stroganov also led the Guards Grenadiers to join the battle, while also protecting Tuchkov's flank from being attacked by annoying Polish skirmishers.

Of course, he fought few battles, but he was very cunning.

After capturing the Polish cannons, they looked at the condition of the cannons and wisely chose to remove the wheels and nail them down, so that at least the French would not be able to use them today.

Poniatowski was a little annoyed when he saw that the troops on the front line were so disappointing, so he personally ordered the Polish army to launch a full-scale counterattack.

With the arrival of two infantry divisions of Junod's Westphalian Army, the pressure on the Russian army here increased sharply.

Tuchkov also discovered that Stroganov had followed him, and was glad that he was more proactive, so that he would not be isolated by the enemy. When Sulyma could withdraw, he could still maintain the stability of the front line.

When Bagowut arrives, the pressure on his side will be less.

If possible, he even wanted to launch a counterattack with his elite grenadiers and drive the Poles out of the woods directly.

He had this idea, but he was still on the front line, commanding his troops to fight bravely. The grenadiers also used the Polish artillery as cover to continuously shoot at the enemies following behind.

It seems that everything is moving in a favorable direction.

But a bullet fired from the following Westphalian army hit him, and Tuchkov fell straight down after being shot.

Stroganov, who was looking for him, was horrified and quickly ordered his adjutants to carry Tuchkov down.

"Pasha, you shouldn't have left your position."

"Don't worry, the position is in our hands, and Bagvout has also come. You are seriously injured and need to find a doctor."

Stroganov was unharmed, but his cheek was stained with blood. One can imagine how seriously Tuchkov was injured. Fortunately, the bleeding was stopped in time, so he still had some consciousness. If he was sent to the doctor in time, he would not die immediately.

Whether he can survive it depends on himself.

In order to get him down, Stroganov found a Polish artillery carriage and put two large door panels under Tuchkov, so that two adjutants could accompany him and take care of him.

After Bagowut came up, the Kurgannaya Heights were in the hands of the Russian army, and the two sides were engaged in a fierce tug-of-war.

The Poles were still able to control the village of Utica, but they probably wouldn't make any progress there for the day.

(End of this chapter)