Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 869 Battle of Leipzig (IV)
The French counterattack on the school also attracted the attention of the Austrian commander, Möhrfeldt, who was in charge of the Austrian 2nd Army.

It looked like the French offensive was going to drive back all the Austrian troops in the front.

The somewhat short-sighted general could not stand this bad situation. After listening to the report, he personally led the staff's entourage forward to investigate the situation ahead.

He also urged the retreating Austrian soldiers to return to the front.

After all, the Austrians' inability to defeat the French and repeated humiliation has become almost a daily occurrence since the French Revolution broke out.

Even some French generals whose combat effectiveness was not very strong might cause a lot of trouble to the Austrians when commanding their troops.

Of course, there are exceptions. Scherer, who was captured alive by Solovyov, appeared in Italy twice and performed very poorly, even ruining the situation in Italy.

It was difficult for the Austrian army to encounter such an opponent, and the French army was generally strong.

Now the general himself had to supervise the operation and mobilize four infantry regiments to attack together, drive the deserters back and regroup. Then a more intense exchange of fire broke out with the Poles.

The Poles now viewed running away as an act of cowardice, and even when they were on the hillside and vulnerable to artillery fire, the soldiers were unwilling to let their superiors retreat to their positions, probably because it was a sign of cowardice.

The battalion commander was unwilling to do so, and a lieutenant said so, and was mercilessly ridiculed in front of the soldiers of his regiment.

That's how they held off the Austrian counterattack on the hillside.

But there were Prussian troops on the other side, and von Kleist had to organize his troops for another attack.

Therefore, the Poles had to remain in their positions and continue to resist the enemy coming from the other side.

But the Austrians' attack around the French-controlled school in Augereau has not yet been interrupted.

Earlier, the French soldiers had broken down the gate and the infantry swarmed into the school.

This time it was the Austrians' turn. They used cannons to blow off the roof of the school, drove out the French soldiers who were firing there, and then launched a charge.

Soon, the school changed hands again.

When Murfeldt saw this situation, he was overjoyed and moved forward with his staff and guards. It seemed that today the Austrians had finally gained the upper hand on a certain battlefield with Napoleon nearby.

There was always some feudal superstition in the army at that time, and the Austrians thought this was a good sign.

But probably not today, because Napoleon is still preparing to slap them in the face with reality.

As long as the hundreds of thousands of coalition forces led by the three Russian generals Langeron, Bennigsen and Solovyov could not arrive at the battlefield in time, Napoleon still had a good chance of winning and could even replicate the miracles of the past.

He had already considered this aspect and had taken action with his guards.

Among the coalition forces opposite him, even now, during a break in the battle, he could already hear the thunderous cheers of the French army behind him.

These people once again shouted "Long live the emperor" and were still among the troops close to the front line.

"Damn it, this guy is here again."

Barclay muttered something without meaning to, and Alexander looked at him but said nothing.

But they just happened to be at Miloradovich's place. This general was always optimistic, and unlike Barclay who had a sullen face, or Bagration who had a stern face in the past, he was still in the mood to joke when he saw the Tsar.

"Your Majesty, you can also see that these French people are cheering for your arrival."

Alexander listened and just smiled without saying anything.

After all, I am an emperor, and Napoleon is also an emperor.

Although Miloradovich's joke was just a pun, it eased the tense atmosphere during the battle.

"Petya, is there any news from other directions now?"

"Your Majesty, not yet. We can only judge from the sound of the artillery that Solovyov met the French on the way. General Bennigsen is still on the way and is expected to arrive in two days. And Langeron..."

"It seems that Blücher has stopped there and blocked his route of movement."

Alexander knew Schwarzenberg's deployment, and even his words were intentionally or unintentionally mocking the current situation.

According to Schwarzenberg's formation, the Russian, Prussian and Austrian armies had already appeared on the battlefield, and there were many gaps in between each division, each brigade and even each regiment.

These gaps, that is, the coalition forces have tens of thousands of cavalry alone. Although they are deployed in a dispersed manner, it must be considered that they can quickly fill the battlefield in front of them, so it is not a fatal problem.

But Napoleon had a lot of room to exploit. Both the Russian and Prussian armies adjusted this deployment, and even the Austrian army did the same.

The short-sighted Merfeldt adjusted the deployment of the four Arrow Infantry Regiments, and the effect seemed to be good. At least after crossing the river, they repeatedly fought for positions with the French army near the school.

Augereau also had to mobilize the reserve troops of his 9th Army to stabilize the position and then wait for an opportunity to counterattack.

"Your Majesty, if we don't adjust our deployment in Wachau, the situation will get worse. If things go wrong, each of our isolated infantry divisions will be bombarded back and forth by the artillery set up by the French on the high ground!"

Volkonsky pointed out the current problem to the Tsar himself. If the French deployed artillery on the Gallows Hill and continuously attacked the Allied forces, coupled with the cooperation of infantry and cavalry, the situation would be quite bad.

"In that case, we should be prepared for defense. What do you think, Mikhail Bogdanovich?"

"That's right, we should strengthen our defense, but..."

He saw through the telescope that a Russian division, which had attacked the Poles in vain and was advancing towards the Wachau, was suffering heavy losses from the crossfire of the French in front.

At this moment, he could no longer restrain himself, and regardless of the fact that he was in front of the Tsar, he muttered, "It's a meaningless loss. Moving troops in the enemy's line of fire like this is just giving the French a bunch of targets to shoot at."

Alexander heard what he said, but in his current state, he was still in the coalition forces.

Perhaps the Prussians could make adjustments because of their personal relationship with the Prussian king, but the Austrians could not.

What he didn't know was that the Prussians were even more dissatisfied with Austria.

Some officers even said: "If this deployment is effective, then we might as well go home and sleep."

The Tsar also knew the situation, so after looking at the situation at the front line, he came to ask Barclay again.

"Is it possible to use some of the reserve troops now?"

"Your Majesty, if possible, the Guards in the reserve should be mobilized, but which troops to send depends on the situation on the battlefield. Yermolov and Laevsky should stay behind at this time." Alexander nodded in agreement and turned to the King of Prussia beside him.

"Your Majesty, can your guards join the battle?"

King FW also knew that he was not capable in this area. He looked at the advisors behind him and saw Scharnhorst nod, and he gained some confidence.

"Your Majesty, I can send the Prussian Guards up here to at least protect the safety of the front line."

In fact, it was because they all knew that Napoleon was coming, but what they said still sounded high-sounding.

Napoleon himself got off the carriage and accepted the cheers of the soldiers. He also stood on a hillside and watched the battle situation ahead through a telescope.

"The Young Guards should be deployed, but we have to wait. As long as the enemy in Wachau relaxes a little, we can also send follow-up troops into battle."

Some marshals and generals were waiting for orders beside him, but Napoleon's condition was a little out of place today.

He was touching his pocket as if he had an itchy skin, as if he couldn't find something.

"Your Majesty, you need."

"Mr. Constant, can you please see if my snuff-box has fallen into the carriage?"

Napoleon was sometimes forgetful, but his white trousers probably wouldn't have had so many ink stains on them on the battlefield.

But some things cannot be changed, that is, the snuff bottle was really in the carriage. When Constant brought the snuff bottle, Napoleon calmed down a lot.

"Your snuff-box, sire."

"Thank you. I don't think I'll need it now, but please put it in my coat pocket."

Napoleon's posture was awkward, but he needed time.

After seeing the movements of the coalition forces, he also knew that if he wanted to fight back, he had to take advantage of today.

If we could defeat the coalition forces, there wouldn't be so many problems.

It's just that he needs an opportunity and is still waiting for Drouot's action.

Drouot, the artilleryman, was an excellent professional. He quickly designed an action plan for Gallows Hill, which required gathering hundreds of cannons and bombarding the Allied positions.

He always placed his artillery closer to the enemy and then fired deadly shells.

There is one thing that makes him different from others, that is, he has served as a gunner in the navy.

Therefore, he was bolder in deploying his artillery. After all, he had seen bigger ones and had even been to this unlucky place, Trafalgar.

Berthier was also waiting for Napoleon to give orders, but Napoleon was still observing the battlefield and spent a lot of time.

But it’s not a good idea to remind him, after all, he is currently observing the enemy situation.

"Berthier!"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"We want Victor's three divisions, Oudinot's division of the Young Guards, and the Hussars to line up behind the Wachau and prepare for action. What's that place over there?"

"Your Majesty, it's Libert Korvovitz."

"The tongue-twisting German name, the 16th Division, the dragoons, the reserves of the 5th Cavalry Corps, and especially the chasseurs, are ready to go into battle behind Mortier's Young Guards. In the middle, we have four cavalry divisions ready to join the battle."

As he spoke, he saw the Polish "dwarf cavalry", those riding on ponies were chasing a retreating Prussian skirmishers, and it seemed that they had captured a number of prisoners.

"These 'dwarves' are really good!"

Now it was Berthier's turn to repeat his deployment.

"Berthier, that's enough. Tell Drouot to get those 100 cannons ready on the Gallows Hill. We're going to show these guys how artillery should be used!"

While the French army was being deployed, the Prussian Guards had already arrived. However, as the battle progressed, the commanders of the Russian and Prussian armies realized that Napoleon might make a big move, so they also transferred the elite Russian troops upwards.

Looking at the Austrian deployment at that time, Schwarzenberg dispersed the Austrian army on both wings, and the connection between each division was also very weak. If Napoleon wanted, he could probably send those cavalry over and march back and forth here a few times, and it would be difficult for anyone to stop them, after all, the gap in the defense was too big.

If necessary, because there is a river between the Austrian side of Murfeld and the main attack direction of the Allied forces, the heavy cavalry in the Austrian reserve should also join the battle.

However, unlike the Prussian king who could entrust all his troops to the Russian army, the Austrians still had to wait for the consent of the Austrian army before they could take action.

This makes it seem as if the coalition forces are at least two armies on the battlefield, and coordination between them is always difficult.

But this kind of thing is happening now, and the Austrians have no intention of sending cuirassiers over yet.

But the French will not wait for you to be ready. Napoleon's order has been passed down, and the troops he deployed must begin to act. They must use a fierce attack directly in the center to defeat the main force of the coalition forces and then drive them out.

The remaining thing was to deal with Blücher, who could move as fast as the wind and would run away if he encountered Napoleon's main force.

But this is how things are thought of, but the battle situation is not like this.

Napoleon even wanted to continue paying attention to the situation on various battlefields, but after waiting for a while, Ney still did not move.

However, judging from the battle situation at that time, the Allied forces had suffered heavy losses after the first-line attack, so Napoleon could finally make a big move.

So he gave orders to the artillery, and the artillery on Drouot's side fired from the Gallows Hill.

The French counterattack began, targeting the villages of Wachau and
"Libert Korvovitz, what a tongue-twisting name, and it doesn't make sense."

"Your Majesty, if we take this village and drive out the enemy, victory will beckon us."

"But it's not that simple, Berthier. We have been together for a long time. In the past, when we faced united enemies, we always had to frighten their monarchs and shake their armies before victory could come."

Obviously, Napoleon also knew that his troops were always insufficient. If he could not defeat the enemy in time this time, the situation would probably be the same as after Dresden.

The only difference is that, except for Saint-Cyr in Dresden, all the French troops that can be mobilized are here.

There would probably not be a battle to restore the enemy's confidence afterwards, but this was in Leipzig
(End of this chapter)