Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

After Solovyov sent the letter, Clausewitz returned to headquarters.

"There's nothing wrong with you doing this, Mick, but the commander-in-chief won't agree to it."

"why?"

"I know the commander-in-chief too well! You are a foreign soldier, and you are assigned to his command. He will require you to obey his orders."

"Ah, that's it, a familiar taste"

Solovyov was sitting at the table. He knew that Blucher's underestimation of the enemy would definitely lead to trouble, so he sent the letter.

Moreover, the Cossacks acted quickly. They had intercepted many letters on French soil, even letters between Marmont and Napoleon.

But considering his current status, it probably won't be of any use.

"Should we continue to follow the main force of the Legion and follow behind?"

"I'm afraid you will be given some orders to capture territory instead of fighting the French army."

"If the enemy wasn't here, it would be a good job. But there are enemies ahead."

"But this is an order, and we are at the back of the army, so it takes time to communicate with each other."

After Clausewitz explained the situation, Solovyov had no choice but to recognize the situation and march according to the original plan.

Then Blücher's order arrived, asking him to occupy the towns along the line and collect food and fodder.

Solovyov was actually much more gentle than others when collecting food and fodder. He even sent officers who knew French and German to accompany him and write checks to local farmers.

This check can eventually be cashed through some banks, provided that these farmers have the conditions and awareness to do so.

"If you want cash, sir, we soldiers still use rubles and thalers. As for the francs you want, we don't have them."

Moreover, according to the current situation in France, the florin and ecuèceu are probably no longer in circulation, and the main settlement currency is the franc.

Solovyov came here in order to find a place for himself to stay overnight in the village, to collect some food and to provide fodder for the horses of the commander's staff.

It seemed that life in the French village was acceptable, even better than the carefully managed estate of the Solovyov family.

A battle was taking place in nearby Metz, where only two infantry regiments were defending the city, but they held their ground, and the besieging Allied forces were helpless.

Solovyov's 30,000 men were definitely not joining in the siege, although he was also summarizing his troops, but fighting in these fortresses on the French border would definitely take a lot of time.

Now he had to lead his troops deeper into the enemy territory, and while sitting here, he was also thinking about the current situation.

"Sir, you have plenty of food, wine and meat, but no coffee."

"Sir, it is still difficult to find coffee. After all, our emperor has imposed a blockade on Britain."

"But France is also engaged in smuggling, and the nominal continental blockade doesn't seem to have any effect. Moreover, the emperor and I are somewhat related. My stepmother is the cousin of Queen Josephine. So don't worry, the troops I lead will be issued checks when they are requisitioned."

Hearing this, the farm owner felt relieved.

"But I heard that the Russians are very barbaric, especially the soldiers who came back from Russia, they all said how terrible Russia is."

"This is inevitable. There will be atrocities in war. Your ham and truffle sauce tastes really good. It's very good in France. When we were in Saxony, we couldn't even find dog meat. It was also very difficult to collect food. If we had to eat dry bread, the soldiers would have resentment. As a result, we officers also eat dry bread with bacon and water. When we arrived in Weimar and stayed in the palace of the principality, we had some good food, but we soon finished it all. Don't stand there, sit down and eat with us. I also brought some canned food here, which is pre-processed. I don't know if it tastes good."

"Sir, our revolution has only been going on for 25 years. In the past, when there was still a king (Roi), a big shot like you would not invite farmers like us to dinner, even though I am a farmer with some ability in the local area."

To be honest, he was probably a "rich peasant" and he was very friendly and supportive of the revolution.

"But most of your officials have run away. What are they doing?"

"The officials have made enough money, and they are afraid of you, especially the Russians who are here, they say you are barbaric."

“But what about when you actually see it?”

"Except for the cavalrymen in front, they are all good people, better than our own soldiers."

Ah, French soldiers, even in the homes of fellow villagers, were probably the same when they were conscripted... It’s hard to describe, but the situation is better in their own country.

"The cavalry in front are Cossacks. They are all conscripted, unlike the soldiers behind. And it depends on the people. Our Russian army, including the grenadiers and guards, are all under the control of the emperor and the commander, so it's naturally better. If it were the Germans, it would be different."

"That's right. The Prussians who passed by us just now confiscated all my horses without any explanation."

"No wonder there are no horses. What about other animals?"

"They only want horses, and they don't give any money."

"That's no wonder. They behave the same way in their own territory, or the soldiers now behave the same way. The better ones would even say hello, but the bad ones wouldn't even say hello and would just start robbing or setting fire. I've seen a lot of this kind of thing."

"But it's a little strange when you say it."

"Nothing, I'm just a little different from others."

Solovyov had almost finished his meal, so he read some documents for a while and then went to bed.

There is still a long way to go, as they have only just entered France.

A young general like him didn't like to ride in a carriage, but rather rode a horse with the troops.

After entering France, they did not encounter the expected resistance. Solovyov had chatted and eaten at the same table with the owner of the cottage the previous night. The discipline of the Russian army was much better than the French imagined, and they did not resist in the village like the Spanish did.

This probably had a lot to do with the fact that the coalition forces had not yet launched any large-scale violent actions at this time. The Spanish resistance to the French was not fierce at the beginning, but as the situation escalated, the French always added fuel to the fire, and finally there were flames of resistance everywhere in Spain.

As long as the army maintains discipline, the Allied forces will be able to move forward unhindered on French soil.

However, the armies of the German princes would soon be exposed, and there was no guarantee that any acts of resistance would occur.

It seems that Blücher is only responsible for marching now, and he is also commanding his troops to speed up the march, so the Prussian army's performance is also good.

If there had been no war, the French would probably have quickly started to resist after seeing what the Prussians did, just like the Spanish did.

Now Blücher let Sacken lead the troops to attack the front. Fortunately, because the Russian army always restrained its troops under the order of the emperor, no problems occurred along the way.

The anti-French coalition forces that marched in various directions were not like the critical moment for France in 1793, when the French military and civilians rose up in resistance. The older farmers also remembered the performance of the anti-French coalition forces at that time.

But it has been a long time since then. The children at that time may have never seen these German devils after growing up. In addition, many years of war have conscripted a large number of young and middle-aged people, and France itself has suffered great manpower losses. Many people are unwilling to fight anymore.

France has to face one enemy after another, and it is obvious that they are a little tired.

However, the resistance the coalition forces encountered in the early days was minimal, and it did not even cause a ripple in the villages and towns.

The coalition forces did have a large number of troops, and there was no resistance in some important locations where large numbers of troops were stationed. It was natural that the coalition forces had so many troops.

However, several allied forces encountered strange phenomena. Solovyov sent a messenger passing through a town. He originally sent someone to look for Arkady who was walking in front.

As it turned out, the messenger came back with a French gentleman in a carriage.

"How is this going?"

"Sir, I passed by a town by a short cut. What was it called? French names are hard to pronounce with a river in them. Their mayor waved a white flag and wanted to surrender to me. He also heard that I was a messenger from the headquarters, so he asked me to take him here."

"Well, this is the only way to deal with this kind of thing. Fortunately, this is just daily communication and it doesn't get in the way, but when the military situation is critical, you can't do this."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

The hussar, after making a graceful salute, rode up behind Solovyov.

"Your Excellency, I come to present to you the keys of Ville en Vermois."

"It would be nice to have bread and salt, but that's generally a Russian custom, and this is France."

"Yes, sir. Welcome to France as well. I am the local mayor, Joseph Remi. I have only been in office for a short time. The previous mayor has already fled to Paris."

"To Paris?"

"Yes, sir. We are just a small place here. We don't even have a bishop. We only have country priests and scattered militias. But please don't be like those Germans."

"We Russians are different from the Alemanni. They have been stealing here since the Roman emperor ruled Gaul. The Russians have this idea, but we are too far away to do it. What's more, France and Russia should be friends. The father of my friend Count Stroganov was a friend of your king and queen who were beheaded. Our late emperor was a good friend of your emperor. The emperor is even our emperor's brother-in-law and my uncle. In this way, we are all family."

"That's fine, that's fine."

After Solovyov showed his cards, the mayor breathed a sigh of relief, as his place was just a small city.

"But can you provide some supplies for our army? Of course, we will pay for it. We will pay through banks in London or Berlin, or even Brussels and Paris. Checks can always be issued. Residents who provide us with housing and supplies can get checks, but the payment may be slow."

For the French, these were probably the royal army. After all, they would not necessarily be paid for being recruited within France, and it might even be an obligation.

As for the Russians being willing to pay the bill, the other party was a relative of the emperor, and a small mayor like himself probably couldn't afford to offend them.

If we do as he says, maybe there will be some benefits in the future.

Even for the mayor, no matter what he does, the road will probably be wider.

For example, Louis XVIII would reward anyone who helped him restore the throne, and the same would be true for Bonaparte's people. After all, Solovyov was a relative, and he wouldn't cause much trouble.

It can also ensure the safety of the city, which is good compared to the Germans before.

In fact, it was no big deal for his small town to surrender to a messenger from the headquarters.

Because all the Cossacks were scattered, Platov was probably even more confused than Solovyov during this journey.

The cavalry he sent out for reconnaissance often only needed a dozen men to make a town surrender. It was even possible that the place was just sending scouts to find out the situation, and some places deep inland would soon surrender.

At times like this, the breast method can be said to be very convenient. After all, there really was a lost Cossack who walked into a town, and the people there surrendered to him directly, kneeling so smoothly.

And this is just the beginning. In the subsequent cities, many places have not yet been fortified. Even if the National Self-Defense Force is organized, many people will not take action.

However, Le Courbe in Besançon was probably an exception. After being sent back to his original place of house arrest, he used his past prestige and even his connections when he was the commander of the National Guard in Jura to quickly organize a volunteer army to defend the local area.

It's just that he was far away from the front line, and the Austrians were slow to move, so no one caught up with him.

But in France, the veterans probably still wanted to continue resisting, but the new recruits were almost done.

The situation of the villagers was even more strange. Although they were afraid, they did not fight. At least the coalition forces were not in any danger yet.

As for Napoleon's rule, although he had always been popular when he won battles, when he was about to fail.

The French are worthy of being the neighbors of the Italians, and they quickly made their own choice. (End of this chapter)