Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 67 017 Today’s young people do not respect martial ethics

The war in Italy was still very slow to reach Petersburg. When Czar Paul received news of the Russian army's small victory in Brescia, Suvorov received news that Macdonald's French Army of South Italy We were heading north quickly and arrived at a crossing on the Po River.

Regarding the actions of Scherer or Moreau, due to the close distance, they can still make accurate judgments, but MacDonald was in the "fog of war" of the coalition forces, and all his movements were closely followed by these adjutants and staff officers.

After hearing the news, Suvorov did not return to Milan. Instead, he led his troops directly to the Po River crossing and sent light cavalry across the river.

At this time, it can be proved that MacDonald, a Scotsman, cannot run as fast as the reporters and did not make a big news here.

"Intelligence must be accurate. With false intelligence, our command will be seriously disrupted."

Suvorov looked at the situation at the Po River crossing, and based on the new information from Ancona and Florence, he confirmed that Macdonald would not be seen in April, and maybe he could be seen in May. meet him.

"What you need to know now is that Your Highness, you arrived at the right time."

The impatient Grand Duke Constantine, after hunting in the suburbs of Milan for a few days, became more and more impatient. It was not like Solovyov who had been having fun with a girl for a few days. This Grand Duke was now interested in women. I don't have much interest. I came to Italy just because I wanted to fight.

Therefore, after Suvorov made an emergency landing at Serurier, he came to the bank of the Po River. Constantine could not bear to come to Italy and have nothing to do.

Then he asked the Guards to go out with him, and the United Chasseur Regiment, which was dominated by the Guards Chasseur Battalion, all followed his orders and came here.

"Your Excellency, Marshal, first of all, congratulations on your continuous victory in the Italian campaign, and on defeating many enemies during strategic maneuvers. However, I came here to serve in front of the army, not to hunt in Milan. deer."

"Your Highness, you don't need to worry. Now our army has the advantage. When the time is favorable, the Guards will also join the battlefield."

Suvorov knew that the Grand Duke was young and energetic. If he were an ordinary general, he would have adopted the method used by Marshal Daun of Austria to suppress the impulsive cavalry general Laudon. But this was a prince, and he also controlled the Russian army. Entering the Italian army, the two regiments of the Guards, which were the most elite on paper, actually became an independent column on their own.

"I know this very well, Your Majesty Marshal, but I can't just stand here and ignore everything!"

His temper means that if a coach like Suvorov is here, otherwise he will directly scold him, his temper is really very irritable.

His energy needs to be dampened, and he may only be able to calm down after losing the battle.

Looking at it this way, Paul's sons are really brothers. The two czars and Constantine have the arrogance inherent in the royal family.

Solovyov came here as an accompanying officer. He looked at Grand Duke Constantine, and then thought about the five female grand duchess in the palace. They were all quite cute, and they were humble and polite. They had the arrogance of princesses and were in line with their status. People below them are very polite. Are they really your sisters?

Even Alexander had to pretend when he was arrogant, but this one just stopped pretending.

Now he strongly demanded to go to war, and he still wanted to mobilize General Rosenberg's column and the Guards column to join the battle.

"Your Highness, this time is not suitable. Although there are reports that the French army has abandoned Valenza. Our army should not rush to fight. Rosenberg's column can act together with the Guards, but it still needs to be cautious. Moreau’s French army still has two divisions on the south bank of the Po River whose whereabouts are unknown!”

Constantine actually heard Suvorov speak like this, and even felt that he heard wrongly.

He heard rumors about Suvorov in the court, but he never carefully observed this on the battlefield. It seemed that the old marshal was 70 years old this year, even according to the registered age, he was 69 years old, and no longer had the past. That kind of bravery.

After all, Suvorov has experienced hundreds of battles and has seen a lot. Which army in Europe has he not seen? That is to say, Spain and Portugal are too remote, and he really has nothing to do with them there.

Constantine asked for war, but he could not directly refuse, so he told General Rosenberg: "Your column is moving towards the Po River, and we are going to capture Valenza!"

However, he also asked Verother to write a written order to inform Rosenberg of the difficulties he might encounter, especially in finding ships on the Po River.

Everyone knows this, and they also noticed this problem when assigning troops to Grand Duke Constantine. They mobilized the troops of Major General Chubarov and Prince Bagration, and the reorganization of the temporary column was completed. The Guards column led by Constantine, these troops were about to move towards the Po River.

And Solovyov felt that Constantine was too impatient. Although the French army in Valenza showed signs of abandoning the defense, it was not the first time that the French army had cheated. If this was just a symptom caused by incomplete reconnaissance, for It's very troublesome for the Russian army.

In this battle, most of the ferries on the Po River were burned down. Only after Major General Chubarov repeatedly sent out personnel to search, a small ferry boat was found.

"Your Highness, there is only one ferry. I am always worried that the French are very cunning and they are designing a trap."

Soloviev returned from the river, and as an attendant of Grand Duke Constantine, he quickly reported the truth.

General Rosenberg also agreed with this, saying: "Your Highness, if we only have one ferry to send the troops to the other side, the troops will be hit before they are fully assembled, and the situation is extremely bad."

"Especially the east-west rivers, which always have turbulent waters. The Po River is also the widest river in northern Italy. We must be prepared!"

Constantine was a little impatient with what they said, but he still gave an order that the four battalions that followed up should prepare to go to the banks of the Po River for support, and the artillery carrying the Unicorn guns should also accompany the action.

"But there can be no delay in crossing the river. I don't care how many boats Chubarov can find. Before nightfall today, our advance troops must cross the Po River and continue to advance to Valenza!"

He was still too impatient and didn't know that Moreau had played a trick.

The French army had a division near Chubarov's crossing point, which was commanded by General Paul Grenier.

When Moro deployed the mobile mission on the south bank of the Po River, he considered the Basigiano ferry, where there was a village called Basignana, on the way to Valenza.

It was a little far from the ferry, and it was also clear that the Austrian army was confronting the French army at the Tortona Fortress. Grenier only needed to take care of the ferry and the village of Basignana. There was only one ferry, and the boatman had been bribed, just waiting for the Russian army to be fooled and come in.

He could catch the turtle in the jar and teach the Russians a lesson.

Solovyov had already felt something was wrong with this routine when he was on the north bank. It was not for any other reason, but an instinctive reaction.

When he was happy with Sylvia two days ago, he also knew how he was detained. After all, this road was blocked, and the door out was locked by the girl's housekeeper.

As for the elements of military strategy, the Russian army on the north bank of the Po River did not rely on many points to win the battle, but the Grand Duke Constantine's operation did not rely on many points to lose the battle.

"Gryazev, what do you think will happen if we go to the other side?"

"You are not going to read, Baron?"

Gryazev said this to make a joke. After all, after the arrival of the big shots, it is not so convenient to do many things here.

They could relax a little when they were with General Rosenberg or Prince Bagration. This was the front line. When Grand Duke Constantine came, he began to emphasize discipline, as if

"Don't do that. It's not appropriate to call me a noble title. And you may not know that although there are archives in Petersburg for the title granted to my family, there is no certificate. According to the Heraldry Society, once it is carefully argued, a certificate will be issued."

"Misha, stop chanting. My brain can't handle such a long sentence!"

"Even if the emperor issues an edict, it may be certified as 'invalid'."

"That's about right. You should speak more simply."

"Yes, there are no outsiders here. However, you must be more careful when crossing the river. In all aspects, the Po River is too wide. Phaethon fell from the golden chariot of the sun god and drowned in the Po River."

You must also consider the turbulent river water and the whirlpools that can be seen in many places.

"Yes, Your Highness is really impatient. He has to cross the river at this time, and the advance reconnaissance has not been done well."

"I heard the order from His Excellency the Marshal that we must be cautious when crossing the river, and we must deploy scouts even if there are no French on the other side."

"So what? We will cross the river tomorrow morning. At that time, you and the Guards may be behind, and our grenadiers must rush forward!"

"I know this, but I don't want to be behind. The hunters are more useful when fighting at the front. At least when the enemy's scattered soldiers come out, we can find a way to deal with them, and we can also hunt cavalry, artillery and officers."

But Constantine put the Combined Grenadier Battalion and the Moscow Grenadier Regiment in the front, and the subsequent troops were still advancing to the ferry. His impatience and irritability were not a good thing at this time.

The French army on the other side did not place troops at the ferry or in the village, but waited for a good opportunity to "attack halfway across the river", and then pulled out the troops to launch operations against the Russian army on the traffic line.

At this time, Grand Duke Constantine did not understand the situation. He was eager to gain glory on the battlefield, so he quickly occupied the ferry and the village and then went to Valenza.

Then, the next morning, after the cable of the ferry was set up, the ferry began to send troops to the other side, first the scouts, and then a battalion under Chubarov, who were about to cross the river one after another.

The French scouts hiding near the ferry had seen the Russian army crossing the river, so they took cover to find General Grenier.

The division commander quickly issued an order to hide the troops and not to be noticed by the Russian scouts crossing the river.

As for Valenza, the garrison there returned to the city after withdrawing the day before. Moreau was very cunning and ordered the defending troops to go out and then return to the city. Although there were only a few hundred people, it was enough to deal with the Russian scouts and vanguards.

The victory or defeat on the battlefield still depends on the cooperation of the French divisions, rather than using strategies to solve the problem.

Even when Grenier wrote to Victor, he also emphasized that the Russian army’s retreat route could not be cut off by the “tricks” of the “treacherous Italians”, and the Russians would definitely find a way to solve the problem.

After the replenishment, his division itself suffered little loss, and there were 5,000 people who could be mobilized. There were also 8,000 people led by Victor and others nearby, but because of the battlefield layout, they were far away from the place where the battle took place.

At this time, General Rosenberg, who was on the north bank, received an order that the Russian army should not cross the Po River. According to the latest intelligence, the Austrian scouts coming from upstream found signs of activity by the French Victor Division on the south bank of the Po River.

"The message was still a little late, but the Marshal's idea was right."

"General, His Highness is still here. He asked us to go from Mugarone Island to the south bank of the Po River! And Chubarov has already started to move, so that the troops can be placed on the other side."

"I know very well that the order came from Alexander Vasilyevich, and His Highness is a prince. Both sides are very important. Give this order to His Highness and see what he says!"

However, the order that General Rosenberg received from Grand Duke Constantine was that Chubarov's vanguard should continue to cross the river.

Rosenberg received the Grand Duke's reply and decided to continue crossing the river, at least to send all the Russian troops that had assembled on the north bank. The subsequent musket regiment and the guards will have to wait until the Grand Duke arrives before making a decision.

There are also many young officers of the Russian army who are eager to make meritorious deeds. In the previous battles, the Russian army's small victories in Brescia and Bergamo obviously also stimulated some people's nerves.

Therefore, after they arrived at the other side, they performed very bravely in the battle of the small artillery near the French crossing. After a brief exchange of fire, they used bayonets to charge and seize this position.

However, these were also expected by the French.

General Grenier was not very prominent in the French army, and few people would mention this general in the future. His ability could not be said to be top-notch.

But in this place, he cleverly used a strategy. After Moreau used the garrison of Valenza to make a feint, he used the time difference to "attack halfway across the river" and launched an attack when the main force of the Russian army had not yet crossed the river. Originally, Moreau only asked him to monitor, but he did not expect that among the troops assembled on the other side of the Russian army, it could be seen from the flag that this was the vanguard of the main force of the Russian army.

His only problem was that the Grenier Division was far away, and the Victor Division had not eaten breakfast and was hungry. Neither of these two divisions was able to move in the first time and was left behind.