Chapter 46 Military mobilization has already begun

Chapter 46 Military mobilization has already begun

Chapter 46 Military mobilization has already begun
While Austria and Russia were conducting diplomatic communications, between July and August 1798, some Russian combat troops stationed inland had received orders from the Tsar himself to march towards the borders of the German states.

When fighting abroad, the Russians usually face a supply problem. This time, Francis II of Austria made a guarantee that once the two countries began joint military operations, they would fully cooperate within Austria, especially in providing the supplies needed by the Russian army.

However, when the war really breaks out, what can be achieved? After asking some veterans for their opinions, Paul also realized that although the Habsburg monarch talked well, he was not stable in doing things.

The Moscow Grenadiers, the first to set off, had already received the order to march while Napoleon's army was still marching towards Cairo. Among the troops expected to be mobilized were the 6th Chasseurs, the Arkhangelsk Musketeers and the Izmailov Guards.

The commanders of these three regiments were Prince Bagration, Count Kamensky the Younger and Grand Duke Constantine, who could be said to be representatives of the Russian royal family, the backbone of the Russian army and young commanders. Their troops were the first to go south, while the other regiments mobilized from the inland were preparing to go to Central Europe.

But strangely, Grand Duke Constantine did not leave with his Guards Regiment, but remained in St. Petersburg, with only the regiment commander leading the team, while the regiment's reserve troops took over the defense of the Guards Regiment in the suburbs of St. Petersburg.

The infantry corps that have already set out for joint operations can be deployed in more than one direction.

News came from Malta that General Bonaparte had established a foothold in Cairo, and his retreat was cut off: although some of Nelson's captains were not good at sailing, they were bold enough to sneak into the only defensive loophole left by the French at sea and eventually annihilated most of the French expeditionary fleet.

Although the officers commanding the French Navy fought hard, the fleet commander, Vice Admiral Brueys, still tied himself to a chair and commanded the battle after his legs were broken. Eventually, the Orient sank into the sea along with the explosion of its ammunition depot.

The only ones who were able to escape were General Villeneuve and his ship, who were at the end of the French fleet's anchored formation. The Battle of the Nile was a great victory, and Nelson reported the victory to British India and London from two directions.

As a result, the communication ship returning to Britain was intercepted by a French Navy frigate in the western Mediterranean, and India received the news faster than London. If Nelson had not received the news later, he might have enjoyed the embarrassing treatment of winning a glorious victory in a naval battle in London and then being dismissed from office. It would not be shameful for him, but for public opinion and the cabinet in London. This would be a shocking scandal.

The subsequent troop deployment has not yet been determined, and Paul has not made up his mind. Just having spent a "thrilling" morning outside his daughter-in-law's delivery room has made him worried about his daughter's marriage.

It was a pleasant afternoon. Several chattering archduchesses were lying beside the crib looking after their niece. Paul, on the other hand, was drinking tea and reading reports from various places. Although the new anti-French alliance had an outline, it had not yet taken shape. Among the news from all sides, it was relatively clear that Austria had agreed to the conditions put forward by the British in order to regain its lost territory in northern Italy. However, the time for sending troops would depend on the final attitude of the two old enemies, the Ottoman Empire and Russia.

Even if the decision is made to go to war, the speed of military assembly must be taken into consideration. Once Austria takes the lead in declaring war on France, there will probably be a stalemate in the early stages.

In 1798, the French were not idle either. They were preparing to establish a republic in southern Italy, but the army was not in place yet. It was just a plan.

The current situation in Europe was somewhat affected by the fact that France had thrown its best generals and well-prepared legions into Egypt, and the Mediterranean Fleet no longer existed, which led to the rekindling of anti-French enthusiasm in various countries.

"What do you know of General Bonaparte, except his wars?"

When Paul said this, there was a bit of sarcasm in his voice. After all, many of the Guards officers were idle in their daily lives and liked to participate in various social activities and drinking parties. This was actually also an intelligence exchange center. The Russian upper echelons were generally "savvy with France", and they reported back news from France very quickly. This was a deliberate test for these Guards officers.

Then, as for General Bonaparte, these officers mainly talked about his swift actions in Italy and how he quickly defeated the Austrian army.

"But, Your Majesty, I think that when General Bonaparte defeated the Austrian army, he must have exaggerated his victory, reducing the number of his own losses in the battle report and exaggerating the number of his opponents killed, so as to make the people of Paris believe that he had achieved a brilliant victory."

"Your reference to the French general does not seem to correspond to the facts we know, Captain."

Solovyov had no choice. He really wanted to tell a joke with Russian characteristics, but he was troubled by a problem: there was no Waterloo.

In fact, Napoleon did not need Pravda at all to turn the Trafalgar defeat into a rumor in France. It was not until he was completely defeated that the French people knew that the French navy had suffered such a disastrous defeat.

"But this is the fact. If we really go to Austria and ask the Austrian generals, we should know the situation. Bonaparte does not win every battle so easily. That is different from the Austrian army we know. The Austrian generals are still using the tactics of the past. They cannot concentrate their forces on the battlefield, wasting their troops and rich experience in battle."

In fact, Napoleon's on-the-spot performance was only slightly better than that of his contemporaries, but his real strength lay in his dispatches outside the battlefield.

His marching efficiency was so high that he could even gain an advantage in the battle by deploying troops when he was at a slight disadvantage.

There were some things that could not be said in front of Paul and in public. There was still a lot of arrogance among Russian soldiers that was passed down from the era of the Empress.

The other young men all sneered at his statement, but the older Komarovsky agreed with his opinion.

Komarovsky was the adjutant of Grand Duke Constantine and one of the officers who was promoted quickly. Because he was older, he thought that there was some truth in it after thinking about it. After all, the report sent by Austria and the previous analysis of the St. Petersburg Military Committee could lead to a conclusion.

If you believed the battle reports completely and ignored the battle lines, then General Bonaparte could have sped up the battle by at least one third.

It was a win, but we also need to look at the battlefield situation. It is true that Austria suffered a humiliating defeat, but the functional departments have been changing the soup but not the substance. Archduke Karl led the army well, why did you put him in the north? An old man like Beaulieu is the commander-in-chief. What can he do? He can't do it!

Even if he wanted to complain, Solovyov couldn't say it too harshly. If he did, it would easily scare some war advocates and make them think twice. He had to help Austria fight France. Otherwise, the Directory would be so rampant. It could be said that it would start a war on all fronts and plunder everywhere, which would indeed destroy the current balance of power on the European continent.

Therefore, Britain and Russia had to send troops to achieve their respective goals. Lord Whitworth's previous tactics actually had no effect, but it did not prevent him from reporting to the British Cabinet that he had achieved significant results in diplomacy with Russia.

This kind of boasting, when published in the London tabloids, does have some effect, but it is limited.

Paul had summoned several ministers to his office in the morning. While watching his daughter playing with his granddaughter, he was also listening to the opinions of the young people. After all, it was not easy to make a decision. He was also considering whether going to war would be beneficial to Russia.

The Dolgorukov brothers were Alexander's confidants, and being friends with Solovyov was a very minor point. They also believed that a war should be fought.

Maybe the young people nowadays are all like this, bragging about the enemy while going to the battlefield to see who is stronger, making themselves like fortune tellers. If they are right, it means they are strong, but if they are not right, the consequence is that the enemy is too cunning.

"You have already said it. I think the final decision on France this time should wait until Vienna makes the final decision. In the final analysis, they all took money from the British to fight against France, and then they want to reap the benefits themselves."

Afterwards, he no longer asked about the war issues today, but signaled his entourage to come over.

"We have written to several of our major military governors and the chairmen of the military councils to ask for their opinions on the matter."

"Your Majesty, are you talking about joining forces with Austria to fight against France?"

"Yes, let the British act at sea. They can only play a small role there. The future joint action plan, the plan to attack the lowlands together with the British army, and the plan to protect Hanover need to be discussed later. What we are mainly discussing now is the issue with Austria."

He waved his hand again, and only the Dolgorukov brothers remained by his side. They had to go and inform Crown Prince Alexander of a series of decisions made by Tsar, so they stayed here.

"Vienna and Naples have signed a secret treaty. If there is any action to be taken, they will take the lead in southern Italy."

This point has been confirmed, but the Austrian general invited by Naples is "Mark who will be unlucky in the future". What kind of ability does this guy have?
The subsequent actions of the Russian army would also depend on whether Austria formally declared war on France. By October 1798, with the troops that Korsakov had already reached the border, the Russian army had assembled between 10 and 60000 troops in the area, and they entered the designated war zone through Austrian territory.

Before that, the Black Sea Fleet was the first to be dispatched. Because the Ottoman Empire declared war on France, the "Third Rome" and Rome, which had fought to the death before, became friendly forces this time. The Ottoman Empire's fleet would be deployed in the battle against Corfu under the command of Admiral Ushakov.

Interestingly, the islands in this region have been the site of many wars, including the famous Peloponnesian War, the war between the Antigonid dynasty and Epirus after the fallout between Demetrius and Pyrrhus, and now it is one of the initial locations where the Second Coalition War was to begin.

At the same time, General Bonaparte in Egypt was in a different situation. It was unknown what his current mentality was, but after Egypt was winning in Cairo, he was consolidating France's rule in Egypt. As a senior Roman enthusiast and admirer of Alexander the Great, his approach in Egypt was obviously a bit of copying from the book, and it seemed to be of some use.

After listening to opinions and making deployments, Paul sent his confidant to write to Marshal Suvorov in Novgorod, asking for his opinion on future wars.

Before this, he had received a supplement to the will from the marshal himself, in which he hoped to pass all his property to his son Arkady, although he had not recognized this son for a long time. However, after his son-in-law embezzled some of his property without authorization, he drafted a revision of the will and presented it to the Tsar in St. Petersburg.

Paul would definitely approve it, and promoting 14-year-old Arkady to the position of eunuch was a special care for him. His two nephews were promoted to major general and colonel at a young age.

In Suvorov's reply, he gave Paul nine suggestions and a corresponding petition.

Paul also understood that he later approved the new will and crossed out the 12 rubles and some debts that were unclear during Suvorov's tenure as commander of several garrisons. Now he still needed the old marshal's wisdom.

However, considering the old marshal's physical condition, his health has deteriorated a lot since he went to Gatchina in the spring and met with the Tsar himself in St. Petersburg. He was in good spirits in August, but started to get sick in September and even felt some numbness on one side of his body. These were all precursors to various diseases in old age. Suvorov even once had the idea of ​​living in a monastery in Novgorod, but it did not come true in the end.

He had already smelled the scent from the letters Paul wrote to him, and even wrote to his cousin in his ancestral home in Tver, asking the noble children of their branch to respond to the Tsar's call and join the army.

He couldn't go to the monastery.

"Master, the letter to Kaczynski's hometown has been sent."

"I know, Prosha, you go and have a rest, there is nothing to do today. If I don't get up on time when the cock crows tomorrow morning, you must pull me up, while my old bones can still move, I must meet those Frenchmen."

He was mentally prepared.

(End of this chapter)