Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 39 03Marshal Vasilyevich Suvorov

Solovyov was given a holiday. He looked like this and had to take a shower first. Tsar Paul thought that he could not come to participate in the review with his dirty look. Only one battalion of the Grenadier Regiment came to join the review. , the Jaegers are still in the military camp at No. 2 Million Street.

He changed into clean clothes, just like those officers in Paris taverns. If he wore a white shirt, it would be easier for him to draw his gun or sword during a fight. It would not be good for the Czar to see him like this.

At this moment, you should quickly get clean uniforms and put them on.

However, it was a little unexpected. On the way to the locker room, he saw a little ugly old man, who looked like he was dressed as a servant. He was almost sixty years old.

"Who are you?"

"You ask me who I am? I want to ask you who you are! You look like this, and you have a sword on your waist. You should be an officer, right? However, you are quite 'handsome', and you are younger than our master. , much stronger.”

I don’t know why, whether they are French or Russian, they all pay attention to his appearance first, which seems to give people a good impression.

"Then who is your master? Listening to this tone, it seems that he has a good background!"

"I won't tell you."

The little old man is quite strange. Looking at the things hanging around his waist, he seems to be an old orderly.

For such a weird little old man, his master should be no good either.

Gatchina is not far from Novgorod, and Solovyov would not have thought of who this man's master was.

Of course, he had always respected the old and loved the young, and had no intention of arguing with him.

In Europe, the only ones who completely abide by personal morality are probably the legendary Spartan tough men, who would give up their seats to the elderly.

"You don't want to tell me, and I don't want to ask. Go back to your master, but be careful. The steps here are newly replaced and are polished too smooth, so you can easily fall!"

That is to say, and it is indeed the case. I don’t know who came up with such an idea and bought so much marble to pave the floor here.

After saying this, the little old man was a little cautious, but before he walked out, a lean, thin and withered little old man turned around behind him. This man was thinner than in the portrait.

But it can be seen from his clothes that his status in the army is not low. Solovyov had only met Field Marshal Old Kamensky before.

Then this one is probably Marshal Suvorov.

"Proshka, you are so old that your grandson will be a soldier in a few years, and you still like to joke with children so much!"

This is not a typical Suvorov sentence pattern. He always likes to use a bunch of strange abstract metaphors with people, but that was when he was around people who knew him well. Now it is a way of speaking that everyone can understand.

"Sir, this young officer reminded me just now! He is a nice guy and he doesn't care about me."

"When you are in the forest, don't tease the bear if you have nothing to do. Proshka, how many years have you been following me?"

"Sir, it has been 35 years. From the time you became the leader of the Suzdal regiment, I have followed you."

"I still don't have a long memory." This little old man is the orderly Prokhor Dubasov who is inseparable from Suvorov. He even has a place in the biography of the generalissimo.

Suvorov then turned to Solovyov with a kind expression on his face, as if he was looking at his grandson, but his son was 3 years younger than this young man.

"Which army are you from, young man?"

"Your Excellency, Marshal, I am Captain Mikhail Solovyov, commander of the Chasseur Company of the Pavlovsky Grenadier Regiment!"

"Misha, when you talk like this, you sound like a soldier brought by my 'old friend'." His voice was loud, which satisfied the old marshal.

However, he sometimes likes to act crazy when speaking, or he speaks very abstractly. You have to take a guess at this. It can be said that there are enemies on a narrow road. There are not many people who are close to Suvorov in the army, but it is Marshal Kamensky who has strict military discipline and whips soldiers at every turn. This is the report in his army. Long-winded. Although Kamensky is also semi-retired, he has not been targeted by Paul and still has some say.

"Marshal, if you say that, it is not completely correct. When I was 13 years old, I joined the Suzdal Regiment and served there for two years, then went to the Moscow Grenadier Regiment, and then came to Petersburg. "

Hearing this, Suvorov was quite surprised. This kid was actually a young officer from his old regiment!

"Son, when you were in the regiment, the leader was that Obukhov, right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty Marshal."

"Then how did you change two groups in a row?"

Solovyov then gave a detailed report, and his mind was very clear. In fact, although Suvorov himself spoke abstractly, he particularly liked young people who had quick brain reactions, clear speech, and were brave and fearless. At least You have to choose two out of three to get his special attention.

But no matter how you look at it, among the officers he mentored, some of the more famous ones seemed like a learning team.

After all, Bagration's face looks a bit like Brother Monkey no matter how you look at it. General Kutuzov was a fat man, and as for Miloradovich, he didn't care what the order was, he just said "the commander is right", and then he led his people out to fight.

Solovyov's brain circuit was relatively abstract. He accompanied the old marshal to the lawn. The old man ignored his image, holding his stomach and laughing, and kept rolling on the ground.

"Uncle Prosha, Marshal, what's going on?"

"That's what the master is like, he can do whatever he wants, just like our Russian hare!"

"Why not an eagle?"

"That's because the eagle is hovering in the sky, and the hare always sees danger and changes its position at any time. My child, do you want to learn some skills from the old man?"

I don’t know what’s going on, but the old marshal’s thinking is so out-of-the-box that even Solovyov can’t keep up.

But this is a great good thing. After all, it is unexpected that such a "military god" old man is willing to teach him things.

But he still liked to ask questions, and then asked: "Alexander Vasilyevich, distinguished marshal, why do you want to teach me some skills? This is the first time I have seen you in person!"

"But I am at home and I know what you have done."

He is really the predecessor of Kutuzov. The fat old man is blind in one eye, but he can even "see clearly" the foot bindings of soldiers. And this old marshal who has become "kind-faced" in his later years, just sitting at home, may also Just by communicating with my daughter and a few cronies, I knew what was going on outside.

He was now sitting on the ground, leaning on his cane, and motioned to Solovyov and the loyal Proshka to sit on the lawn.

"Kid, did you invent a new gun?"

"Yes, but because copper bullet cases are too difficult to use, they were changed to paper bullets. The bottom of the bullet is a copper primer, and then the trigger is pulled, the firing pin fires, and the bullet is ejected. Such a rifle has a very high rate of fire. quick."

"It's a good idea, but it's like a premature baby. Your invention is very good, but if it appears too early, it is very weak and needs constant improvement. It's like letting a child grow up slowly, that's it."

He really likes to use metaphors. If he were more concise, he might have a metaphorical contest with the Tatars of Kazan or the Kalmyks of the southern Russian grasslands.

Moreover, this little old man was just an old naughty boy. As he spoke, he hit Solovyov's boots with his cane.

"You have to use your brain more and consider the situation in Russia!"

"Yes, Alexander Vasilyevich."

"It can be seen that you have a good tutor and are very polite. It would be great if I could not be like you."

In fact, he was talking about Bagration. The prince was a very good person, but he had two problems. One was a bad temper, and the other was a gambling habit. Suvorov could not do anything about this. He always educated his younger generations. Teaching students in accordance with their aptitude. There was nothing he could do about the problems brought about by his family. He could only cook whatever ingredients were available.

It has always been a serious issue for the old marshal to bring out the children's true abilities.

However, none of the apprentices and subordinates he had led before were full of question marks like this kid.

It was a good weather to sit and chat like this on the lawn, and the old marshal was in a very good mood today. He was chatting all the time, and metaphorical sentences came out in endless streams. If you don't have enough brains, you really can't keep up with him.

However, at this time Solovyov raised a question: "You have come to Gatchina today, and the emperor is also conducting a review. I followed His Royal Highness the Crown Prince on horseback. I heard an order during the process, which was an invitation." All the old generals who came to Gatchina will come to see the military parade!”

"Who wants to see a bunch of cabbage lined up by a vegetable vendor in the market?"

Speaking of which, when the Prussian army formed three lines, they put the big ones in the front, the small ones in the second row, and the rest in the back. Speaking like this really hit the nail on the head.

"Then you should take a look. The Emperor has this problem. If you make him unhappy, Alexander Vasilyevich, he will still let you stay at home."

The old orderly Prosha followed the conversation and said, "Our emperor, sir, haven't you praised him before?"

Good guy, it turns out that the old man is a tsundere! Although he kept complaining on his lips, he still cared about Paul in his heart.

However, according to the old marshal's opinion, in fact, it is not enough to imitate Frederick's style, but it must have the characteristics of the Russians themselves.

Because he defeated the Prussians on the battlefield, the old marshal was unwilling to introduce the Prussian military system, but he still admired Paul's new weapons, improved soldiers' treatment, and strictly standardized military training.

At the same time, there is a small problem, that is, those generals who were driven home because they opposed Paul actually have the opportunity to be re-appointed. However, those who are not competent in the military reform and are dismissed from their posts want to come back. It's too difficult.

In fact, Prince Gorchakov, the nephew of the old marshal, came to his estate in Novgorod in February. The tsar himself said "generously" that as long as the marshal himself stopped speaking publicly about military reforms, even if the old marshal Still doing what he did, he also allowed the veteran commander with outstanding military exploits to return to Petersburg, hoping that he could serve as the dean of the new military academy.

Then, when the arrogant old man saw the Tsar's attitude softening, he refused to give in and said some very rude words to his nephew.

This left the prince with no good solution. He downgraded what his uncle said before he dared to relay it to the Tsar himself.

Paul had a low tolerance for others, but he was relatively polite to the old marshal. It was not because of anything else. Before, Marshal Rumyantsev's son reported the old marshal's "rebellion" to him. After arresting his adjutant and attendants for interrogation, even the great memory recovery technique could not bring any evidence.

Since then, at least Paul knew that the two old marshals Suvorov and Kamensky, who had led troops, were still loyal to him. They were enemies of each other, and they did not add insult to injury on this issue. Once they quarreled, it was still within the military field.

Now, the Tsar, who was good at saving face, needed these old marshals to make gestures. However, with the old marshal's arrogant temper, even though he praised Paul in many aspects and heard many benefits from the emperor from the serfs on his own estate, he would not give in at all on the issue of Prussian military reform.

Then, although his house arrest order was lifted, he was still unemployed at home. This time when he came to Gatchina, he finally chose not to go to the parade ground, which was also a statement.

But Paul didn't care about him. If you don't show up, it's considered as attendance. The seat in the first row was left vacant.

This pair of monarchs and ministers began to compete with each other. Anyway, his name will appear in the newspapers in Petersburg. It can be regarded as giving each other half of the face, but not the other half.

The reason for their competition is that Russia currently has no external crisis. It seems that Paul has not done too badly in the past year or so. At least it is stable and there is no big chaos.

If someone outside makes trouble, Paul will definitely give in, but time is not forgiving. The old marshal is already 69 years old. He is not afraid of young people who don't have martial ethics, but he is afraid of old men.

Because of this, when he was at home, the loyal old servant often heard his master say: "I am useless before I get old."

The reason why the old marshal was very happy today was that Solovyov could still keep up with him, even if he asked questions quickly, he could answer them fluently.

It was a pity that he was very old now and the child was too young, so there was not enough time.

When they parted, he asked the old servant to take out a book "The Science of Victory" published two years ago and gave it to Solovyov.

"You have to take good care of this, but you can't stick to the textbooks, otherwise you can only be a tutor for the nobles."

This old man is really a bit "divine".

Suvorov's "madness" is really a bit difficult to write