Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

A few days ago, the French army had just defeated the Allied forces, and even the monarchs were in a very bad mood. They saw an unprecedented defeat outside the city of Dresden. The Allied forces with superior forces were actually defeated by the French. Although only the Austrians were severely damaged, the French still seemed very strong.

If the news of the French defeat at Katzbach had not been known soon, the Austrian emperor would probably have said to the two younger monarchs: "Brother, surrender."

Then he became the big brother of the investment. Although the successive good news did not change the situation on the battlefield, it changed their determination to a certain extent.

Even the Austrian noblewomen in Bohemia raised funds to create a silver trophy for Count Ostermann-Tolstoy in recognition of his heroic performance at Kulm.

Because this battle took place in front of the monarchs, the generals who actively participated in the battlefield received a lot of rewards.

At the Battle of Luban in Solovyov, he was obviously a bit sloppy in this battle. He seized a large amount of supplies, but did not take many French prisoners.

On his side, after hearing that the French army intended to return and that Napoleon wanted to find revenge on MacDonald who had retreated to Bautzen, he pulled his troops out of Luban.

Because of this, it was already very good that he was able to get the bonus this time.

After all, Luban's position is still very important, but with the small army under his command, it is not so easy to deal with the French. Turning around and leaving is still in line with the overall strategy.

As for Kulm, it was indeed unexpected that he captured the first senior French general in 1813.

In the end, Vandamme was dragged out from among the French officers by the Cossacks in a dejected manner, and was now taken to see the Tsar.

After seeing Vandamme, Alexander did not say much. He just entertained the captured French generals and officers, exchanged brief greetings, and then sent them to the prisoner-of-war camp in the rear.

However, this rear area may be quite far away, and some high-level prisoners of war may even be held within Russian territory.

"Your Majesty, what should we do now?"

At this time, Nesselrode took the opportunity to remind everyone that a decision must always be made in diplomacy.

"To hold on to the Austrians, we must issue another declaration. Use Metternich's method to tie them down and prevent them from withdrawing easily. Afterwards, since our French friends have always used military means to solve problems, we still have to find a way to defeat them before we can put forward our demands."

After hearing this, Nesselrode also understood what was going on.

Moreover, he would not show too much admiration for Metternich in front of the Tsar.

What's more, the Tsar had always been resentful of Metternich for getting his cousin pregnant.

The generals and diplomats of this era all had some romantic affairs, and the Tsar himself was no exception. He probably succeeded in having a child with the famous French actress Miss George. Considering that he was also good at diplomacy, this was not surprising.

"In addition, the situation on all fronts must be reported to me in a timely manner. We must now take the initiative in diplomacy. As for Mikhail Bogdanovich on the battlefield, what do you think?"

Barclay had been fighting on the battlefield for several consecutive days and looked a little tired, but his mental state was still good.

"Your Majesty, we will stick to the previous strategy, but we need to reorganize the Bohemian Army. During this period, we need to let the Silesian Army and the Northern Army take action to attract the attention of the French. Once our army is reorganized, if we can continue to weaken the French according to the previous strategy, victory will come sooner or later."

“But Dresden”

"Your Majesty, this is no longer the situation in 1805 or 1807, but in 1813. Napoleon is unable to realize the grand vision in his mind. Solovyov once told me that Napoleon's ideas are ahead of the times and he looks more like an arrogant madman."

"Ok?"

Now, all the senior generals in Russia know about the relationship between Solovyov and Napoleon, not just from his stepmother. If it was before 1812, this guy's pressing Polina on the bed would have been the greatest victory for France.
"He did say that, but he just said it casually."

"Well, you should rest now. Now is not the right time to discuss what will happen next on the battlefield. Well, there is one more thing."

Alexander looked back at the palace attendants and asked his question as well.

"If we arrange meetings with the monarchs of various European countries in the next period of time, we can consider discussing some marriage issues. But..."

Alexander wanted to mention that Austria should not be included, as his daughter should not be sent to this country to suffer. Instead, it would be more appropriate to send her to a duchy with a moderate territory, or to a branch of the royal family of a certain country.

But there are probably not so many suitable ones to find now, not to mention that in the same age group, there are Queen Louise's children and the Bavarian royal family who are more competitive.

"Your Majesty, but that will have to wait until the declaration with Austria is made."

Nesselrode seized the opportunity to advise the Tsar at this time, and Alexander also understood his meaning.

Besides, the eldest daughter in the family has reached the age of menstruation and is suitable for marriage, and there is also the younger sister Anna's marriage to worry about.

Things are always troublesome, and now, because the war is not over, it is not time for Russia and the victorious countries to sit down and divide the territory.

After Alexander's experience at Austerlitz, he rarely opened champagne at halftime.

He was also considering the changes in the European situation and what benefits Russia would gain from intervening in European affairs.

Moreover, we cannot mistreat our own relatives, nor can we weaken France too much.

Unfortunately, because Napoleon married Catherine, France was affected by both problems.

But Napoleon was a man who would certainly cause trouble as long as he remained as monarch.

In order to get him off the throne, it may be necessary to consult Mr. Talleyrand in the future.

However, there are some people who also support the Bourbon Restoration, especially the British, who may take advantage of the fact that Louis XVIII and the Count of Artois are in England to take some measures.

As for Spain, it was obvious that the Spanish caretaker government and the British could not accept the blank check written by Napoleon.

Wellington might be easy to talk to, but the new British cabinet that came to power after the assassination of Prime Minister Percival was not so easy to deal with.

At the same time, Napoleon was also angry about the defeat at Kulm. However, considering that he had made the mistake himself, if he had left Marmont and part of the Guards to pursue the Allied forces, perhaps Kleist would not have cut off the French army's retreat at Kulm.

He had no intention of criticizing Vandamme, he was just considering the next stage of the battle.

Now he wanted to attack Blücher again, but at this time, his marshals raised objections.

"If we pursue the Prussian army, the previous situation will probably happen again. The same is true for attacking the Northern Army. Your Majesty, if the Bohemian Army itself was not slow in action, we would probably have a hard time finding such a good opportunity to defeat the Austrians."

Berthier's courage to actively express his opinions always proves that he has some foresight.

Napoleon himself was aware of this, but there was also a problem. In the past ten years, he had defeated the larger force with a smaller one more than once, and in the end, the Allied forces were defeated by him. This path dependence had become addictive and difficult to quit.

Even this time, he was so confident. The previous defeat of the Allied forces in Dresden made him more determined.

However, the subsequent developments were not necessarily what he expected.

At the same time, the Silesian Corps was also taking action. After Solovyov evacuated Luban, he received instructions from Blücher's headquarters.

"Shall we retreat to the other side of the Ness?"

"Yes, sir. This is the instruction. Your troops are relatively isolated compared to the main force, although they have caused a lot of trouble to the French before. This is what General Gneisenau asked me to convey to you."

Solovyov also knew that if he retreated to one side, Napoleon would probably just hold an armed parade in the direction of Silesia to show off his military power, and when problems arose in the direction of Dresden and Berlin, he would still turn there.

Then it was all in vain. When the French also felt tired, he would probably be waiting somewhere for a decisive battle with the Allied forces.

If the troops were deployed properly, there would probably be two legions on the battlefield, and by then the advantage in military strength would not be something that Napoleon's command ability could eliminate.

If Solovyov's idea had been followed, there would have been such an opportunity during the Fourth Anti-French Alliance, but the Prussian army had surrendered at that time. In the past, these monarchs also lacked determination, and only Tsarist Russia contributed manpower and the British paid, but it was obviously not enough.

As long as the stupid teammates don't give up, the chances of winning are actually quite good.

However, given his status, it was unlikely that he would discuss any important military intelligence, unless he was willing to be an attendant general who did not lead any troops and could express his opinions beside the Tsar.

But because of the complicated relationships in the palace, he was subjectively unwilling to go there.

And in the current battle situation, the Oder River Corps under his command has achieved fruitful results with very few losses, especially the seizure of a large amount of supplies, which is still worth being satisfied with.

It’s probably a good thing not to be too conspicuous at this time.

Napoleon then tried to pursue and sent Ney to replace Oudinot to attempt action in the direction of Berlin, but to no avail.

At this time, it was obvious that Napoleon's vassal states, the German countries, began to waver, and Bavaria began to contact Austria privately, hoping to withdraw from the war in a dignified manner.

In addition, Saxon soldiers began to flee in the north, and Westphalia began to become less stable.

The fact that there have been no problems in the Hamburg area so far is also the result of Davout leading the joint French and Danish forces to suppress the rebellion there.

But this also tied down tens of thousands of French troops, and the veterans drawn from Spain probably only had time to reach France, or were sent there because of the war situation in Austria, in order to hold northern Italy, and to reinforce Eugene.

After he returned to Milan, he found that the situation was very bad. After abandoning Illyria, the Austrian army began to attack northeastern Italy.

Just like the Austrian army more than a decade ago, the Austrians were still powerless when the French did not choose to take the initiative to attack.

Eugene even made the Austrians suffer several times in the exchange of fire, so the Italian side might be relatively stable.

As long as the Senate of Milan does not defect, Eugene will probably still be able to control this place when Napoleon loses the whole of France, but it is hard to say what the situation will be like in the future.

This is probably the situation in Europe now, and Napoleon is still trying to take some proactive actions.

However, apart from Ney's failed offensive in September, no large-scale fighting occurred on the battlefields around Saxony.

Napoleon would still be angry that the Allied forces were unwilling to choose a decisive battle with him, but now he had no choice and there was no way to attract a single corps of the Allied forces.

So he made arrangements, deployed troops in Dresden, and set up some obstacles for the Bohemian Corps in this direction so that they could not easily communicate with the other two armies.

His final choice was to join the battle with the other two legions, so he had to choose a suitable location.

As for the place where he wanted to fight, he finally chose the Leipzig area.

But this was something that would not happen until October 1813. The problem Napoleon now had to deal with was the disease caused by poor supply in the army and the large number of deserters that had appeared by this stage in September.

Although supplies can still be maintained, given France’s current situation, although it cannot be said to be at the end of its rope, it is quite close to this state.

If we were to start mobilizing the young men enlisted in the 1814 conscription now, it would probably be too late to arm them.

Napoleon had lost a large number of young people in previous wars. Although the new recruits in 1813 were in high spirits on the battlefield and willing to do anything, they lacked training and exposed many problems on the battlefield.

At the same time, the same thing happened on the Allied side. Because the Russian troops were too far away from home and many people did not speak the language, the phenomenon of desertion was not that serious.

As for the Prussians, just like the French, after the initial enthusiasm cooled, not everyone could stay at their posts.

There were a lot of deserters on both sides, even more on the Prussian and Austrian sides. However, due to the huge size of the coalition forces and the latest diplomatic negotiations, which stipulated the size of the troops that each party should maintain on the front line and the obligations they should fulfill, there were no problems.

After resolving several strongholds in Poland, the reserve army also moved from Warsaw to the front line. For the French army, there was no way to make up for the disadvantage in personnel numbers at this time. (End of this chapter)