Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

When October of 1813 arrived, the weather was worse than in previous years, which was extremely difficult for both armies.

Solovyov was lucky because he was urgently recalled by Blücher and even asked to deploy defenses on the other side of the Neisse River.

During this month, he probably spent his time training his troops to replenish the shortfall in manpower under his command.

The "Black Duke"'s family originally had several fiefs in Silesia passed down to him by his uncle. From these fiefs, he could spend money to recruit some farmers from the territories to supplement the Brunswick Free Corps and provide supplies.

At least his family's stored food and the supplies collected from farms in Silesia were enough for the team to use.

But even if we took a large amount of French supplies, there would still be shortages.

Although Solovyov had fewer soldiers, he still had to fight them for more than a month.

Therefore, the soldiers still had to make do with those dry bread, and the officers’ rations were not very good either.

But because Napoleon had been trying to make a big news for Blücher and Langeron recently, he had been rather neglecting this part of the process.

Solovyov was also on this side of the river, and besides sending von Tillman's cavalry to attack the French flank and rear, he had been gathering strength.

To be honest, he also knew that if they could win this war, there would be no major wars in Europe for about ten years.

The next time there is some big news, I am afraid that Russia will take the initiative to cause trouble for the Ottoman Empire.

Judging from the news sent to him by the Serbs, because the Russian army had previously crossed the entire Balkans and fought all the way to Greece, the Ottoman Sultan had to recognize the Treaty of Bucharest.

However, the Ottoman Empire was still unwilling to give up its evil intentions. It still had troops stationed in Rumelia and was even preparing to take advantage of the fact that the main Russian army was fighting Napoleon to attack Greece, Serbia and Albania.

For this reason, although these volunteers came to repay the kindness of the Russian emperor and the count, they were always worried about their families.

Just because they had lost too many, the Ottoman army was mainly stationed in the border areas of Thrace and Macedonia, and had not taken any action at this time.

If Solovyov had not been able to play freely and fight all the way to the gate of the Isthmus of Corinth, the Turks might have been able to quickly control Greece and secretly absorb Serbia, causing Karageorge's Serbia to fail and finally have to restore its vassal status to the Ottoman Empire.

This is still of some use. At least the soldiers of the Balkan Division can now settle down.

The fate of Europe will always depend on the next decisive battle.

When the war reached this point, Napoleon sought a decisive battle several times but failed, and his diplomatic situation subsequently worsened.

Although Bavaria was previously a long-term loyal ally of France, it is essentially the fence-sitter in southern Germany. The most likely to be swayed is the weaker Württemberg and Baden, and their speed of defection is probably even slower.

Moreover, Bavaria had previously been an ally of Austria and had joined the war in the First Coalition against France.

It was during the Napoleonic era that Bavaria became a relatively stable ally of France through marriage between the royal family of Bavaria and the Napoleonic family. Although his son-in-law was Napoleon's stepson Eugene, he was also the Governor-General of Italy and Prince of the French Empire, and his status was not low. What's more, his biological father came from an ancient French aristocratic family, which made him much more "noble" than the wild aristocrats of Corsica.

As for this son-in-law, he also brought a lot of benefits to Bavaria.

If he had not returned to Italy to stop the Austrian army and had stayed with Napoleon, it might not have been so easy for him to defect.

After learning the news, Napoleon did not continue to pursue the Allied Forces, but began to gather his troops, preparing to choose a time for a final battle with the Allied Forces.

Of the allied forces on the front line, only the bellicosity General Blücher seemed to have noticed this trend.
Before the news reached Solovyov's base, it was the commander of the Russian 2nd Army, Wittgenstein, who was defeated in an encounter with Murat.

Facts have proved that he was able to defeat the French army in Riga because of the city defense of Riga and the lack of supplies of the French army, not because of his personal bravery and fighting skills.

This battle gave Napoleon the confidence to defeat the Allied forces in a major battle.

"Karl, if Napoleon were to choose a place for a battle, where would it be?"

"I think it should be near a transportation hub, so that he can transfer supplies from Dresden easily and will not be overly harassed by our cavalry."

"But because he was clinging to Saxony, and because there were no further decisive victories after the Battle of Dresden, the advantage was already huge for us."

"But we are only a supporting corps, and during this period, apart from sending cavalry to attack the French army's transportation lines and several operations to support the Silesian Corps, we have been resting here most of the time."

"It's actually better this way. We don't have to run around like Bennigsen's Warsaw Corps. Now they have to change the direction of their deployment. They are obviously a second-line corps, but they always take the long way around."

Solovyov was also looking at the recent movements of all parties on the map. He was not far from the front line, and if he adopted a forced march, he would join the battlefield within a few days.

If Blücher wanted to confront Napoleon head-on, he would probably call on himself and Langeron.

At this time, the French army's northern corps had suffered another defeat in September, and MacDonald and Lauriston's troops had also suffered heavy casualties. At this time, there were only more than 9 troops, which was a significant reduction compared to their previous strength.

It can also be seen how much losses the French side suffered after several battles.

Moreover, it is not just Bavaria that has recently become loose and its army has defected. The soldiers from Saxony and Württemberg have also begun to flee.

Probably the only one who could stand firmly on the side of France was the Polish army led by Prince Poniatowski.

For this reason, Napoleon had already thought of making him the Marshal of France, but it had not been implemented yet.

This is used to commend the loyalty of the Poles. Apart from this, the Poles really have no one to rely on. Only if the French win, there will probably be an independent Poland.

But now, they just have better utilization value.

The final question of the Poles' affiliation will depend on the diplomatic situation and the outcome of this war.

"If Napoleon's vassal states wanted to defect, France would probably only be able to rely on the strength of the French army itself, and some Poles. Napoleon dispersed his army on three battlefields that could not support each other, and was blocked by mountains and oceans. This was worse than the situation of Frederick the Great."

However, considering that his old friend and old partner was from Prussia, he did not add any spicy elements to his evaluation of Frederick.

Clausewitz also knew Frederick's problem. He took a risky action for a goal and almost destroyed Prussia.
Having said that, the actual strength of the French army at that time was not enough for the French alone to face the enemy on several sides on such a long front.

The reason why Louis XIV accepted the Bourbon separation of France and Spain in the past was that during the War of the Spanish Succession, although he conquered the local areas, he failed on the battlefield, and France's strength was exhausted, so he had to choose this treaty that France and Spain could not merge.

But at least the direction of Spain could be guaranteed to be safe. During the Great Revolution, Spain did not cause any major trouble, and even became a humble younger brother after being defeated by France.

Then, under Napoleon's manipulation, this dishonest younger brother was gone, and in the end he even tied up many elite troops of the French army.

Looking at the battlefield in Saxony, the corps numbers of these French troops are obviously a bit large. In addition, many of them were reorganized domestically, so their combat effectiveness is obviously far behind.

The French army has many veterans who have experienced many battles. Now, as long as they are physically intact and can carry a gun and go into battle, they have returned to the team. This is also a manifestation of France's lack of manpower.

If the fighting continued like this, no matter how high-sounding Napoleon's words were, he would have to kill the hen that laid the golden eggs.

The reason why some people are famous in history is more or less related to the nice words they said.

When Napoleon was conquering Russia, he had already mobilized many college graduates of that year into the army.

He probably never thought that he would fail, but by October 1813, he was already in such a predicament.

"He will probably be in Leipzig?"

"It's possible. Mick, you've been watching that place for a long time. The only problem here is probably that it's backed by a river. If the French army is attacked from both sides, even a small number of troops can intercept the French on their transportation line, which will cause a lot of trouble."

"It's a pity that our army cannot go to the battlefield that threatens the French. I would not take such a risk. Napoleon would probably run back to Paris."

"That's the ideal, Mick."

"If he wants to continue fighting, the current diplomatic environment will not be good for Napoleon. Even if he wins a victory in Leipzig or somewhere else, he will still face hundreds of thousands of troops. If this endless war continues, the French will not be able to bear it. The previous wars have consumed too much of their strength. It's time for us to fight back!"

Solovyov is very confident, not because of historical factors, but because he can now make a judgment based on the battlefield environment.

Even at Leipzig, Napoleon won once more, since the Allies had found a way to defeat him, but there would probably always be a time for him to fail.

Alexander did not bring his wife and children to the front line, leaving them behind. He would not be like Liu Bang.

But Napoleon is now waiting in Leipzig, trying to fight the coalition forces. He is not like the King of Western Chu. Although it seems that he is about to be surrounded, he is trapped here. Solovyov will think of Chongzhen.
But if Chongzhen was as good at fighting as he was, he probably wouldn't have much of a fight, and even all the ministers in the court would have to kneel down and sing his praises.

While they were discussing this, Petya was standing guard at the gate as adjutant on duty, with Grand Duke Nicholas on his shift.

The two little guys, Petya and Nikolay, were still discussing how to pursue girls.

Nicholas was close to being engaged; he was a royal after all.

Petya's situation is rather special. His family's current financial situation is not very good, and there is some gap between the family backgrounds of the two families. After all, Sofia is a girl from the famous Prince Krimsky family, and she is also the sister-in-law of their corps commander-in-chief.

"If you ask me, you can just go find the boss for this kind of thing. Didn't he promise to help you?"

"But I am his adjutant now. If he is sent to the south to be the governor, or to a foreign country to be an ambassador, or to travel abroad..."

Petya was also confused at this time, but Nikolay still encouraged him.

"You are usually very courageous, aren't you? If it were me, I would definitely take Sonya to play on the lake."

Petya didn't quite understand the details, but Nikolai, in order to show his masculinity, told the story of how he fished Charlotte out of the pond.

".Since then, we have had a very good relationship. No wonder Her Majesty the Queen of Prussia chose me and arranged a marriage for me, but it will be announced later. I know you are an honest man and will not tell anyone about this."

"Yes, but"

While they were arguing at the door, a Prussian hussar came down from the building.

"Excuse me, is Count Soloviev here?"

Seeing this, Petya also came up and responded: "Your Excellency is currently studying the battle plan. Do you want me to inform you?"

"I am General Blücher's adjutant, and I have brought you the order for the operation."

When this important matter came to light, Petya had no time to discuss with Grand Duke Nicholas how to really get Sonya. Instead, he knocked on the door to inform Solovyov of the latest military intelligence.

Clausewitz was analyzing at this time, but when he received an important order, he stopped his work.

"You want us to go to Leipzig?"

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Although the distance is farther than to Dresden, but considering the distance between the Silesian Army and the Oder Army, it would be good enough to reach Torgau on October 10th with this marching distance.

It is still several dozen kilometers to Leipzig.

If it were a normal march, it might take two days.

There may be other situations, that is, the coalition forces are moving in the north and south directions, and they may engage in battle with a French army on the way and finally fail to catch up with the main battlefield.

Solovyov had one thing in common with Suvorov: when friendly forces sought support, he would choose to speed up the march and share the honor of victory with them.

When there is any danger, he will not choose to stand still like a mountain while his allies are in trouble.

Therefore, the Oder River Corps will set out from its garrison. (End of this chapter)