Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Now that interest has been aroused, it will naturally not end easily.

Alexander would soon call someone in to discuss the strategy Solovyov was going to propose.

The people he called for this purpose were Grand Duke Konstantin, Prince Peter Volkonsky, and General Arakcheev.

He still didn't like Kutuzov very much, and even because Solovyov supported the commander-in-chief's opinion, he had originally planned to send him to Prussia as a general-level liaison officer.

Well, he always does this thing of putting Jerry next to the cheese and having Tom watch the fridge and Spike guard the steak.

But the new strategy can arouse his interest to some extent.

Because Nikolai is now Solovyov's adjutant, he can also come in and listen.

In fact, Alexander knew in his heart that if he could not give birth to a son with Louisa before she was 40 years old, Constantine would not be willing to inherit the throne, and he could only choose one of his two younger brothers.

Although Nikolai is rather stubborn, he has performed well under the study plan formulated by Solovyov in recent years, and even has some knowledge. At least he is not a silly boy who only knows how to train soldiers.

Although his younger brother Mikhail was smarter and good at pleasing people, Alexander knew that among the four brothers, Constantine had the toughest character, followed by Nicholas, and Nicholas had some patience.

If he wanted to do something, no matter whether he had a son and let Nicholas be regent, or Nicholas directly succeeded him as tsar, he would probably be able to do his best to complete the things that he, his father, and his grandmother had not done.

The idea was good, so he wanted his third brother to join in, or at least listen in.

Solovyov was his master. Although his teaching was interrupted or handed over to teachers at the Tsarskoye Selo High School due to his frequent military service, Nicholas admired him very much. After all, among the young generals, he had the highest military merit, even surpassing many veteran generals.

This kind of strategic planning can be very helpful to sit in on it.

Nikolai was waiting at the door, chatting with Balashov.

Although Balashov was a bit of a "bug", he was not strong enough to influence Nikolai and make him learn bad things.

Among the four brothers, Nicholas is the most like Paul, and he is like him spontaneously. The only difference is that he is not a commoner like his grandfather, nor a Frenchman like his father. Instead, he is based in his own country.

Although it sounds a bit strange, it is true.

Balashov's bad habits were probably framing others and amassing wealth, but Nikolai disdained to take the initiative to frame anyone, and he would be very happy if the wealth he made could be put into the national treasury.

If Sima Yan heard this, he would probably feel even more ashamed, because the money he earned from selling official positions went into the emperor's treasury.

When Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling sold official positions, the money was in the national treasury, and a famous scholar like Cui Lie could be offered a preferential price when he was the prime minister!

But it is somewhat irrelevant for the two of them to be chatting here.

Now he saw his second brother and Peter Volkonsky coming, and he knew that there was something important to discuss.

But he didn't expect that he still had his own things to do.

Arakcheev is out on patrol and will arrive later.

But when it comes to the entire strategy, it doesn't matter if one person is missing, because Arakcheev is mainly responsible for tightening the screws and mobilizing troops from the rear to supplement the situation.

"Your Highness, the Emperor wants you to come in as well."

"But I am the Earl's aide-de-camp. Do you want me to go too?"

Because Nicholas is now an adult and can be involved in state affairs, he becomes serious and not as casual as he is in private.

When Constantine saw this, he also smiled, although his smile was really ugly.

The third brother has finally grown up, but he still has a long way to go.

Even Nicholas didn't know that he had already been written into the first decree of succession and was the heir to the country.

In Alexander's temporary meeting room, several adjutants were rushing to put up the maps. Solovyov's request was to take out the large spliced ​​map brought with the army and directly splice it on the wall.

Because it is in a nobleman's manor, the conditions are much more convenient than in a farmhouse, and the lighting effect is very good, and everything can be seen clearly when the light comes in.

"Your Majesty, are you still waiting for Count Arakcheev?"

Solovyov knew that some people were actually difficult to deal with, but Alexander was the Tsar, and when it came to his salary and the allocation of housing and land, the emperor had the final say.

"It doesn't matter. We are fine. Count Arakcheev is only responsible for mobilizing troops and supplies, as well as paying for our banquet."

The Tsar was still in the mood to compare this to a banquet, but Solovyov felt that he wanted to bring the dining table to the French door.

"Very well, your majesty."

Solovyov pointed at the map with his whip, and he looked at the locations on the map and went over his thoughts.

"From the current situation, we will enter East Prussia and Poland in the next war. The French defeat at the Berezina River is actually like Scheerer's defeat in Italy in 1799. Because of the huge loss of troops, a huge gap will be opened in the defense line. I think if Napoleon has a choice now, he will choose to return to Paris, control the situation first, and avoid any changes in the country. Because in France now, as long as there is a military failure, under the intervention of external forces or internal factors, the regime may soon change its flag."

"Soloviev, can you confirm this?"

In fact, Alexander probably knew that the coups that had taken place in France in the past, from the French Revolution to the Committee of Public Safety, from Thermidor to Brumaire, and even after Napoleon came to power, would never stop happening, even within families.

It’s written in Talleyrand’s secret letter!
"I can confirm that he used to be my uncle. As for..." "Some things should not be said too much."

Alexander stopped Solovyov's usual "dirty jokes". Although Nikolai admired his master, he was not proud of his success with women.
Then Solovyov began to talk about the serious content: "The political situation in France means that it has suffered a setback or a major defeat. Paris must be stabilized, so Napoleon will go back."

"That's it, anything else?"

"If that's the case, the commander of the French army at the front will change. If we go back to the war in 1809, there was a period of time when the French army's deployment was very strange. I saw this in Archduke Karl's letter, and it's also in the military notes to His Royal Highness Nicholas."

"Kolya, do you have this?"

"Brother, yes. I remember talking about some strange French movements in Regensburg. But we can't figure out why this happened, unless we catch a French general and ask him."

"Your Majesty, Napoleon was not at the front during that time and seemed to be in the rear."

Peter Volkonsky promptly added that after all, he was now the Chief of the General Staff.

"Well, that's interesting. That is to say, the commander of the French troops in Poland and East Prussia is not him."

"Yes, so the efficiency of the operation will probably decrease. The French army was built with him as the commander, so when parts are missing, it will always cause some trouble. Especially now that the brain is missing."

Berthier's staff was like the nervous system, and the legions were the moving limbs and well-functioning organs.

"That makes sense. So what should we do now?"

"Just like Alexander Vasilyevich did in 1799, enter Italy, quickly cross the Vistula River, occupy Poland, end French rule over Poland, and thus destroy his strategic center against our country."

"Well, very good. Brother, I think if we advance quickly like this, we can at least resolve the situation east of the Vistula River."

Constantine told Alexander this, and the Tsar himself was also very satisfied.

So the Tsar asked at this time: "Do you know the situation in Poland?"

"When I returned to China from Weimar, I passed through Warsaw and had some estimates of the route. Moreover, when I was in the East Prussian Army, I served as the chief of staff for General Langeron in the General Staff, so I know the situation in Poland. As for some Polish officers captured before, from the information they provided, the Poles still have the potential to mobilize more than 10 soldiers, and we need to destroy this forward base first."

"And then there's Prussia?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. We have controlled the Vistula River from the front, with Warsaw as the focus. It will be very convenient to advance in all directions and mobilize supplies from here. And I think with the temper of the French emperor, he will probably be overconfident and unrealistically optimistic about the situation on the front line. Therefore, he will still leave troops in some of the strongholds we want to occupy."

"Then what's the reason?"

"For example, Danzig has always had French troops stationed here. After Tilsit, it also existed independently as a free city. Napoleon would definitely not give up here, and there will even be troops stationed here. As for the front, we need reconnaissance to know the specific deployment of the French army. However, judging from the losses they have suffered in our country over the past six months, it is difficult to make up for such a large gap in a short period of time."

"That makes sense. What about here in Warsaw?"

"If we are fast enough, the five columns planned by the General Staff, especially the second column composed mainly of cavalry, will soon be able to open up the front. If the French choose to hold on in a certain city, they will probably be surrounded, and if the situation is unfavorable, they will be annihilated. Therefore, they should adopt a strategy similar to the one discussed by the Prussians back then, relying on rivers to deploy one by one and retreat step by step. We only need to mobilize 150,000 troops and move quickly. I personally remain optimistic about the strategy east of the Vistula River."

"What about westward?"

"These strongholds will affect our transportation lines. It can only be said that these strongholds will waste the manpower of both sides. If the enemy chooses to retreat and take these veterans with them, it may be even more troublesome for us. If they stay here, although we will transfer some troops to the rear, considering the overall strategy, the enemy's new troops will probably have many new recruits, which is beneficial to us."

When he said this, he had already considered the actions until the spring of 1813, as for the future confrontation with Napoleon.

I'm not a prophet, so don't say anything nonsense now.

What's more, if there are changes at the strategic level, the so-called "direction" may be completely overturned.

If Prussia had backed down, or Austria had chosen to side with France, it might have been a different story.

What is more taboo at this moment is to take things for granted, even though the French army's disastrous defeat this time has shaken its rule in Europe.

"And what shall we do when Napoleon himself comes?"

"Our plan is also based on the rivers westward from the Neman and Bug rivers. When it comes to the Oder River and westward, it is probably impossible to conceive a better plan."

"But when Napoleon comes, there must be a way to deal with it."

Alexander emphasized it again, and seeing this situation, Solovyov had to use his ultimate move.

"Your Majesty, if that is the case, no matter how many French troops there are, they will definitely not join the field army under Napoleon alone. Napoleon's character and his personal way of doing things determine that the army he leads is more efficient than others in action. Moreover, he is better at commanding corps-level battles. The only French generals with this ability are probably Marshal Massena and General Moreau."

"But General Moreau is in America."

"Besides that, there is Marshal Soult. We did not see him in Russia this time. If the French withdraw a group of troops from Spain and form a new army around the Rhine, then the French army will still have between 25 and 40 troops in the future. The specific number depends on their exploitation of the Rhine Federation and the final mobilization. With an army of this size, there must be some corps on secondary battlefields that have to act independently. In addition, even the army directly commanded by Napoleon himself will be limited, and he will divide his troops. We will adopt the strategy we used against Hannibal."

"Fabian Strategy, Misha, you are not an old man anymore."

Peter Volkonsky's uncle was Solovyov's old superior, and they could address each other more casually, even in front of the Tsar.

This also shows that Solovyov is actually one of the Tsar's "own men".

Alexander naturally would not have any objection, and he could even let Volkonsky speak like this to show his trust in his subordinates.

"But Napoleon was like this. To win against him, just like in the Punic Wars, we must first weaken his power and mobilize it. Otherwise, the final victory will be difficult." (End of this chapter)