Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 68 018 The French almost succeeded in their plan

When the Russian army first crossed the river, they were not on guard. The vanguard crossed the river from the island in the middle of the Po River. The large ferry could carry disassembled light artillery across, but it had to be assembled on the other side.

This gave the French army sufficient preparation time. Just as the Russian army was loading the boats one after another and traveling back and forth on the 300-meter-wide river in groups of dozens of people, they had already entered the ambush area.

If you see the battle sequence of the French army, you may think that their organization is scary. There are four infantry half-brigades and four cavalry regiments. There are Swiss battalions and two Italian battalions in the reserve. In addition, there are artillery companies. The firepower is very strong and it forms a flank attack on the Russian army.

After the French artillery opened fire on his marching column, Chubarov also set up defenses on the spot in the village of Brazilnana.

But he soon discovered that most of the French grenades fired today were duds and eventually became solid bullets.

With such an angle of fire, the lethality is definitely not guaranteed. He ordered to hold on for a while, waiting for the follow-up grenadiers and Austrian dragoons to come up, and then launch a counterattack.

On the French side, there were more and more people. When the smoke was blown away by the breeze, Chubarov realized that he had encountered a French horizontal column that was larger than his troops.

Since it was a horizontal column, it was necessary to develop firepower, rather than the impact of infantry columns. The French were obviously trying to play a temporary advantage in firepower here.

Chubarov ordered the 1,200 people who had entered the village to join the battle, and at the same time asked Major General Mikhail Zhukov behind him for help. With his two battalions and cavalry to meet the troops, at least one passage should be opened while fighting and retreating.

Because it was really difficult to carry heavy artillery when crossing the river, Chubarov mainly brought a batch of light artillery across the river. The heavy artillery was either on the island or on the north bank of the Po River, and did not arrive with the front-line troops.

In this way, the Russian army suffered a great disadvantage in firepower during the battle. When they used grapeshot and solid bullets to attack the French cavalry and infantry, it was difficult to hit the French artillery outside their range, so they were suppressed by firepower for a time.

The crossing troops were hit by the enemy's superior forces during the battle, which made Grand Duke Constantine more impatient. He could no longer accept the fact that the French army was attacking from multiple sides. He first issued an order to ask the Cossack cavalry to cross the river from the shallower waters to support the Russian army on the south bank, and issued an order for Miloradovich's troops, who had not yet crossed the river, to provide support to Chubarov and Zhukov.

The Russian army had a total of 7,500 people on the north and south banks of the river. No matter how you look at it, they were at a disadvantage in terms of strength. Even if all of them went to the south bank, the French army had a reserve nearby. They had 12,000 people, and 5,000 had been put into battle. How many troops would follow up, Grand Duke Constantine and General Rosenberg, who had not crossed the river, did not know. Maybe Moreau's main force was there.

This is about one-third of the troops that Moreau currently controls. He handed the front line to Grenier and Victor. At present, Grenier's attack is relatively smooth, but the stubborn resistance of the Russian army makes it difficult for his troops to repel the opponent, and he has to send the cavalry into the battlefield.

Three under-staffed French hunting cavalry regiments and one hussar regiment joined the battle, but it was difficult for them to attack the Russian phalanx. Even the Russian hunting soldiers outside were very courageous. When they encountered scattered cavalry rushing over, they dared to raise their bayonets in groups of three or several people to fight back. Many French soldiers were killed with their horses.

This also made the French see the bravery of the Russian soldiers. The French soldiers were already reckless enough, and these Russian infantrymen could not retreat in the face of the French cavalry.

The battle lasted until noon, and the two Russian support troops, namely Miloradovich's troops that had crossed the river and Major General Zhukov's detachment, arrived at the battlefield.

Miloradovich had five battalions, but he didn't organize his troops. After the five battalions were in position, he launched a counterattack and rushed forward with bayonets in a horizontal formation.

This is no wonder. When some soldiers crossed the river, their gunpowder was soaked, so the volleys could not fire. However, if they charged with bayonets, the French army might retreat on their own initiative.

When Grenier saw this situation, he chose to retreat after a round of shooting, wanting to consume the physical strength of Miloradovich's infantry.

However, some French soldiers ran slowly and were killed by the Russian bayonets, which opened a way for the Russian army to retreat.

However, Chubarov in the village of Brazilnana was not in a good situation facing the French army. When he was commanding his troops to fight, he was hit in the leg by the French scattered soldiers and had to be withdrawn for treatment.

But it was unlikely that he wanted to replace officers to command the battle. More than a dozen officers had been killed or wounded on this battlefield alone. He still had to consider the situation on the battlefield and ordered a retreat, organizing a breakout with a selected team of chasseurs and Austrian cavalry.

The situation was already very critical. If Chubarov was eliminated by Grenier at this time, the French army would be able to free up their hands and press all their forces to Miloradovich. The column that was originally intended to rescue the friendly forces would also face the French army's multi-faceted attack.

Under the heavy crisis, Miloradovich simply threw away the two-cornered hat that represented his officer status, drew his sword and personally led the Russian army to charge, attacking a French battalion protruding outside.

If the French infantry battalion is not destroyed or driven away, the Russian troops on the south bank may be completely annihilated.

In the end, the desperate fighting of the Russian army opened a passage, allowing the trapped Russian troops to return to the ferry on the south bank of the Po River to regroup.

At the same time, Archduke Constantine ordered a group of Austrian cavalry to cross the river to support, and gathered the artillery to bombard the area where the French army appeared.

He himself had already arrived on the ferry at this time, and Solovyov jumped on board. However, he always felt that there was something wrong with the Italian boatman's eyesight. After all, the ship's cable seemed to have been tampered with.

"Your Highness, be more careful. There is something wrong with these people!"

When he finished saying this, a boatman pulled out a machete and slashed at the cable.

It wasn't because he saw through the relationship, but when these Italians saw the medals and gorgeous clothes worn by Constantine, they knew that this was a high-ranking Russian official, and they were going to treat him to "ravioli". If they could get it, they could bring him to Constantine. Go to the south bank of the Po River and find those French officers to receive the reward.

However, these Cossacks who served as guards were not vegetarians. They started fighting with the boatmen.

Solovyov took out his pistol and shot a boatman twice in front of his face at a very close range, directly beating his head into pieces.

Even these cunning guys are good players even if they count Russian military officers. It is unlikely that they would consider that there is another guy carrying such a rare revolver that can shoot continuously.

However, Grand Duke Constantine also started fighting with the two guys at this time. Taking advantage of his tallness, the Grand Duke flew up and kicked one of them into the water. However, he also lost his balance and followed the other one. One person got into a fight and the other fell into the Po River.

When the escorting Cossacks saw this situation, they wanted to prevent the boat from capsizing and went into the water to rescue the Grand Duke.

But Constantine was too big, and the guy who was fighting him was worried that he would let such a big guy be dragged to the bottom of the river to die together, so he made a big move. But his bad luck was that he was dragged into the river. Entering the whirlpool, he disappeared.

As the Grand Duke himself was now in danger, Solovyov did not care about the difference in body size between him and him. He jumped into the water and stretched out his hand to grab Konstantin's belt.

His own water quality was average, and he was afraid that if Constantine was to drag him to the bottom of the Po River, the Teutonic Knights would issue them an "honorary drowned ghost".

That is to say, there was a Cossack who was skilled in lassoing and shouted a lot from above.

"Hold the rope!"

Solovyov managed to grab the rope with his other hand, and was dragged aboard by several Cossacks. However, he was far away from the battlefield and drifted to a shoal before stopping.

"What a risk!"

I don’t know how big Constantine’s heart is, and there is still something unfinished in his tone.

"Your Highness, you are so big that you almost took me to the bottom of the river!"

Solovyov was on both sides, like a hook, grabbing the rope and the Grand Duke's belt with both hands, but he almost collapsed from exhaustion.

"I really didn't expect that I would have to rely on you. I thought you could tinker with new guns and be smart in doing things."

"Your Highness, let's not talk about that for now. We have to find a way to escape from danger outside the battlefield!"

Fortunately, after a few Cossacks inspected the boat, they thought they could find a way to get it back. Although the boat was a bit bigger, it was leaning on a shoal outside the battlefield. They could find a way to get one back from the north shore. New cable, bring it over, and come ashore somewhere on the lower north shore.

That's the only way to do it. The Po River in this section is more than 600 meters wide, and the narrow section is about 200 meters. The shoal that trapped the ship is more than 100 meters away from the north bank.

We can only let people come back first, leaving a few people to guard the boat on the south bank. In any case, for the battle that happened here, it is impossible to move on both sides of the Po River without the boat.

But the fact that the noble Grand Duke of Russia turned into a drowned rat still makes people feel a little funny, especially those Austrian cavalry officers.

While they wanted to admire the bravery of the Russian soldiers, they also saw what Grand Duke Constantine was like now, and it was impossible not to find it funny.

But they are also professionals and do not laugh. This is in sharp contrast to some unprofessional Russian military staff officers and adjutants.

Solovyov also went to change his clothes, but there was nothing he could do about it. If this lasted for a long time, it would still be very dangerous to catch a cold or contract any other disease in this era.

During the more than an hour they left the battlefield, General Rosenberg commanded troops on the island to support the Chubarov troops who broke out, and evacuated most of the wounded soldiers to the island.

Now that the French army saw that there was no chance of annihilating the Russian army crossing the river, it began to use artillery to bombard the Russian army across the Po River.

Suvorov's latest order could only end with Grand Duke Constantine's anticlimactic crossing of the river.

When the artillery of both sides was firing at each other on both sides of the Po River, which was several hundred meters wide, the hunters had no good opportunity to shoot the other side's artillery from a long distance. It was difficult for anyone to shoot accurately at this distance.

The artillery battle continued until late at night. The Unicorn Cannon pulled up by the Russian Guards temporarily suppressed the French army's actions.

And the officers in Constantine's tent on the north bank were staring at each other, and there was also an injured Major General Chubarov. They all knew that this crossing operation was a complete failure.

The army was not completely wiped out, but the troops were gathered to Mugarone Island in the middle of the river at night. This was a blessing in disguise. Only more than 200 Russian soldiers were captured, but the overall loss was huge.

After counting the troops, the Russian army lost more than 1,500 people in the battle, while the French lost only a few hundred people. It can be said that it was a complete failure of the Russian army.

However, there was also a problem at this time. General Rosenberg knew that he did not follow Suvorov's order, and the choice of the crossing location was not carried out according to the general's order.

However, it is unthinkable to put all the blame on Grand Duke Constantine. The second heir to the throne cannot be allowed to admit this mistake, although he has the biggest problem. When Rosenberg decided to gather his troops, Constantine forced Chubarov's troops to cross the river and launch an attack, which resulted in a defeat. Although it was not serious enough, the French were able to realize that the Russian army was not invincible.

Suvorov, who was in the Austrian headquarters, also realized the seriousness of the problem after receiving the news.

However, his way of handling it was very clever. After ordering the troops to retreat, he asked Grand Duke Constantine and General Rosenberg to come to his tent to summarize the gains and losses of this battle.

In this way, it is difficult for outsiders to know where the final responsibility lies.

But the generals, officers and soldiers present all knew the reason for the Russian army's failure this time.

Solovyov touched his pocket and found that the snuff bottle that Sylvia gave him was not lost, so he put the little thing in the pocket of the military uniform he changed into.

Then he wrote a letter to Sylvia under the dim light of the oil lamp.

To my good friend Sylvia:

We had a fierce battle with the French on the bank of the Po River. In this attack on the south bank of the Po River, everyone fought very bravely, from our commander, Grand Duke Constantine, to the ordinary soldiers in the ranks. But we failed to establish a bridgehead, and we had to face the cunning locals on both sides of the Po River and the French army. The villagers here, like the citizens of Milan, are Italians. When the Russian army entered the village, they shouted that they were liberators. When we were defeated by the French, they came to laugh at us. Perhaps in Italy, any party, any army that is not Italian, will encounter this kind of welcome and ridicule.

I miss you a little now. Although I can't stay by your side in the army, I think our hearts are connected. It just depends on who steals the other's heart first.

Your Michele, sent from Mugarone