Chapter 57 007 During such a difficult march, riding in a car is not considered cool

Chapter 57 007 During such a difficult march, riding in a car is not considered cool
Solovyov's hunting company is better than ordinary infantry because they have been on guard along the line all the time, and when selecting soldiers and officers, the priority is archery and horsemanship. After all, the things in their hands are not the old-fashioned "Queen's fire sticks". They can shoot the enemy accurately when they are about to shoot.

However, before entering the battlefield, the horses they used had to be handed over. After all, it was a special treatment during the march.

Solovyov himself left Suvorov's temporary command post with a few jockeys and rushed forward to find General Rosenberg's Grenadiers Regiment, Prince Bagration's Jockey Regiment, and the "Father-in-law's Musketeers" - because the commander of the Butyrsky Musketeers was Karl Ludwig, the Prince of Baden and the father of the Crown Princess, and was given such a nickname in the army.

It is for this reason that the commander of this regiment is actually the regiment leader. The regiment commander, Major General Viletsky, is in charge of this unit alone. He is now riding a black horse on the high ground to observe the progress of the troops.

"General, this is an order from the Marshal!"

Solovyov carried the letter box on his back and took out the handwritten letter from Marshal Suvorov.

"I've read the contents. We're going to continue our forced march to Colignano and camp there tonight!"

"This is a long journey. We still have at least 10 miles to go, and the soldiers have no rest, but every minute gained is a victory!"

The general has a firm look in his eyes, and it can be seen that he is very strict in disciplining his troops. The only thing is, can his subordinates possibly joke around?
It is estimated that there is no such opportunity. Now during the march, they complain to each other and become "complaining soldiers" on the march.

Further ahead was the marching column of the Moscow Grenadiers. Solovyov could see their iconic bishop's hats from a distance, and some officers were marching with the soldiers.

"Look, our old commander's 'little adjutant' is back!"

"Wow! Riding a white horse, he looks even more handsome!"

Some people even whistled along. Although he had not been in the Moscow Grenadiers for a long time, he was still quite popular.

The Austrian white horse he was riding was the one that the Cossacks had captured yesterday when they were chasing the French army. It was a very docile horse, a common Austrian riding horse, the Noriker. There were tens of thousands of them raised around Vienna alone, so the population was quite large.

"Colonel, this is an order from the Marshal to march our regiment to Colignano, where we will camp tonight."

"I see. But the weather is not good. We are short of everything. We are short of food, boots, blankets, and everything except the bullets in our backpacks."

"We will be given three days' rations when we get to the camp."

"Ha, you still have to keep marching, old man? But by this time tomorrow, the stragglers will be able to catch up and get some rest!"

Unlike Kutuzov, Suvorov's marching speed was still very fast, which might be related to his body shape and personal habits. Solovyov had never seen Kutuzov in a hurry, but when he was next to Suvorov, he could deeply feel that although the old man was kind to everyone and took care of everyone from generals to soldiers, but when he used his troops, his intensity was also extraordinary.

In the marching column, some people have started to fall behind, which is inevitable. There are indeed only a handful of troops that can continue to advance. From the perspective of veterans who have served for more than ten or twenty years, this kind of march is sometimes a torture.

At the same time, the infantry that performed better during the march was Bagration's Chasseur Regiment. They walked at the front of all the teams, and not many soldiers fell behind.'

What Suvorov could see under his nose was that the Jager Company and the Combined Grenadiers Battalion had very high marching efficiency, with almost no one falling behind. After all, these were the troops carefully selected before the expedition.

"Your Excellency, this is an urgent message from Vienna."

An Austrian rider came quickly and handed the old marshal a letter.

"Alexander Vasilyevich, what's going on?"

"It's a letter from the Emperor. He is still sending us reinforcements. Now the Guards Chasseur Battalion has joined forces with Archduke Constantine's troops. His Highness will arrive in a few days, and these Guards will arrive on April 4. In order to replenish these reinforcements, the Emperor of Austria has also requisitioned a large number of livestock and vehicles to quickly deliver the troops. Werosser, your Emperor is still very attentive!"

"Since Your Majesty has invited the Marshal to command the coalition forces, our country's state machinery will naturally be put into full operation."

"Do you know anything about machines?"

"Learn something. After all, engineering is a subject that a general must know. Otherwise, how can you command a siege of a fortress?"

"Yes, I don't like engineering, but I still have to master it. Besieging a fortress is indeed a tough job."

At this point, Suvorov recalled the siege of the Izmail Fortress. Although it was just a few years ago, he suffered a lot at that time. He also fought with the Polish insurgents in the "Braga" district of Warsaw. Fighting in fortresses and cities has never been easy.

"But in military command, all skills must be used skillfully. Werosser, your plan is very good, but it depends on how well the commander, generals, general officers and soldiers can execute it."

"Your Excellency Marshal, the Russian soldiers have performed very well."

"Yes, they are all good. They can endure hunger and fight the enemy even if they run out of bullets. We Russian peasants prefer fighting to working."

"In Austria, too, being tied to a farm is a hard job, never mind whether the farmer is free or not. Besides, these young people are not left behind."

"That's because the hunters have been training for the past year, and these soldiers are very young. They are willing to do anything for the emperor, their commander and commander."

Some of the soldiers of the musketeers who fell behind had to make way for the following marching columns when they rested on the roadside. This kind of march was indeed very hard. The soldiers who fell behind would be followed by horse-drawn carriages and ox-drawn carts, and the artillery carts could help. If they changed to baggage carts, they could sit on them for a while to catch their breath. After all, it was just a little more weight for the ox-drawn carts.

After they have caught their breath, the soldiers will continue to move forward, and their target is the same place.

After Solovyov ran all the way to Bagration's Jager Regiment and completed all the messenger tasks, he rode back to Suvorov.

"Your Excellency, Marshal, all the regiments in General Rosenberg's marching column have received orders."

"Very good, now we need to see the situation of Miloradovich's column."

Suvorov paused for a while here, and he did not forget to encourage the soldiers to continue moving forward. "Children, we can rest for a day when we reach Colignano, and then continue moving forward. Ahead is the rich Italian plains, where the people will warmly welcome us. We have to endure these three days, just three days, children!"

"Father, it's all right! We've been through harder marches than this when we were fighting the Turks. I hope you'll be kind enough to give us enough to eat when we get to Italy!"

Everyone knows Marshal Suvorov’s famous saying, and he also laughed at this moment.

"You are a soldier of the Tula Regiment, right? You have been living on bread crumbs and cold water for the past few days, which is hard enough. Don't hold on when the time comes, you will be provided with two good meals over there!"

After hearing this, the soldiers in the passing Tula regiment's marching column also laughed. Besides, the old marshal himself, except for a glass of sweet wine in the evening, didn't eat much better than them.

Everyone knew that this old man's stomach was not in good condition when he was young, but he was very mobile. Wherever he went, the morale of the Russian soldiers was high, even in arduous marches and dangerous battles.

This old marshal was different from other veterans who had become famous during the Queen's era. He was with these soldiers even in the most difficult times.

When his nephew Andrei came over from the Smolensk Regiment, he learned about the marching situation of the Miloradovich column. There were also soldiers falling behind. Although the road between the two armies was full of gravel, for the soldiers, it was even worse than walking on the muddy roads in their hometown.

"It's time to sing a song, Misha. Can you think of any suitable song?"

If it is a time like this, a song like "Departure" would be perfect! But if he sings too much, he might not be needed as an officer in the future, but instead work as an accompanist for the Grand Duchesses in the Little Winter Palace.

"King Frederick the Great said he would fight for him all over the world, but in the end he was never able to truly defeat the Russian and Austrian armies. As for us, we can only fight for 'half the world'!" It was true that when General Melas followed Field Marshal Daun, he did not let "Old Fritz" of Prussia gain too many advantages. He once forced him to commit suicide, and the son of the old man from Dessau, Field Marshal Prince Moritz, was captured.

"We have a long way to go."

This song was indeed very appropriate for the occasion, but when the Russian soldiers below started singing it, they started to play a chain game and eventually ended up singing the Putin regiment's march.

However, Suvorov, like Frederick the Great, held a cane, so his hands would not feel sore, after all, times had changed.

After the remaining 10 versts of forced march the day's forced march was finally over.

Even the toughest Russian soldiers could not help but complain during such a forced march.

Many people, after arriving at a place and seeing a clean spot, would lie down on the side of the road and not move.

"Damn it, I just want to follow our old marshal out here, otherwise I won't take this path!"

"Yes, the big leather boots given by the emperor were fine for walking on the muddy ground in my hometown, but they are useless here!"

When they get together, they start to complain. To be honest, no matter which country the soldiers are from, if they start to complain, they are indeed "complaining soldiers."

The Cossack cavalry who arrived here on horseback were quite particular. After completing their reconnaissance work, they rode back, got some dry firewood in the open space and lit a bonfire. Although they had to keep their rations warm in their arms, it was still good to be able to warm themselves by the fire when they arrived at the assembly point.

What’s worse is that some people didn’t even have blankets except for their military coats, and many of them were just huddled together while warming themselves by the fire.

"Your Excellency Marshal, would you like to prepare some hot water for the soldiers? If possible, set up the marching pot."

"That's the way it should be. At least it should keep the stomach warm!"

Then, they added some salt and whatever food they could find, whether it was meat or pickled cabbage, all poured in. This was to ensure that the soldiers stationed in the city had hot soup to drink, and if they were lucky, they could even fish out meat from the soup.

Suvorov himself was just taking a temporary rest in a farmer's house.

"My Lord, everything is ready for you. The only thing you can use is the hay, but I have made it clean."

"That's enough, Proshka. Thank you for your hard work."

Suvorov is old now, and he has lived in places where it was impossible to set up a tent before.

"This farmhouse is OK. The owner keeps it very clean."

While several adjutants were discussing the camping site tonight, Suvorov called Verosa and Solovyov over. He also wanted to provide Verosa with some guidance, especially in joint operations with the Russian army.

"Your orders should be concise. Although there are Russian-speaking messengers moving between the regiments, Russian officers and soldiers are still used to simple orders. Don't pay attention to those military terms. Tell them where we are going and who we are going to fight. Also, don't make it so precise about the formation. That is what is taught to students in military academies."

Obviously Suvorov also found some problems. The orders given by Werosser were actually relatively concise among Austrian officers, but in his opinion, there were still some shortcomings.

The advantage is very clear, that is, the orders he compiled can be conveyed very quickly.

"Tonight, everyone should have a good sleep. If it is sunny tomorrow and the ground is dry, we will continue on our journey. When the road is dry, the brothers will have nothing to complain about and can travel in the big leather boots given by the emperor."

In fact, the old marshal knew everything. When he rode past those old soldiers just now, he actually heard what they were saying.

As for the officers on duty tonight, Solovyov was on duty in the second half of the night, and an Austrian dragoon was on duty in the first half. Both were young men who took over the shift.

In any case, this forced march really requires a day of rest, after all, there are too many people who fall behind.

What about the French soldiers? This kind of thing is so annoying that even if you stomp on them, you will still feel numb. If the French army marched at this speed, they would still fall behind.

(End of this chapter)