Chapter 67 017 Today's young people have no moral principles
Chapter 67 017 Today's young people have no moral principles
The speed at which the war in Italy was transmitted to St. Petersburg was still very slow. When Tsar Paul received the news of the Russian army's small victory in Brescia, Suvorov received a message that the French army under MacDonald's Southern Italian Corps was moving north quickly and had reached a ferry on the Po River.
As the distance was relatively close, the actions of Scherer or Moreau could be accurately judged, but MacDonald was in the "fog of war" of the coalition forces, and all his movements were closely watched by these adjutants and staff.
After hearing the news, Suvorov did not return to Milan, but led his troops directly to the Po River ferry and sent light cavalry across the river.
At this point it can be proved that McDonald, a Scotsman, could not run as fast as the reporters and did not make a big news here.
"The intelligence must be accurate. If there is false intelligence, our command will be seriously disrupted."
Suvorov looked at the situation at the Po River ferry, and based on the new information from Ancona and Florence, he confirmed that McDonald would not be seen in April, but perhaps he would be seen in May.
"What you need to know now is that your Highness, you arrived at the perfect time."
The impatient Grand Duke Constantine became more and more impatient after hunting for a few days on the outskirts of Milan. He was not like Solovyov who had been having fun with a girl for a few days. The Grand Duke was not very interested in women now and came to Italy just to fight.
Therefore, after he made an emergency landing at Séruriers in Suvorov, he came to the banks of the Po River. Constantine could not bear to come to Italy and have nothing to do.
Then he ordered the Guards to go out with him, and the Joint Hunter Corps, mainly composed of the Guards Hunter Battalion, all came here under his orders.
"Marshal, first of all, congratulations on your successive victories in the Italian campaign. Many enemies have been defeated in strategic maneuvers. However, I came here to serve in the front line, not to hunt deer in Milan."
"Your Highness, you don't need to worry. Our army has the upper hand now. When the time is right, the Royal Guards will also be deployed to the battlefield."
Suvorov knew that the Grand Duke was young and energetic. If he were an ordinary general, he would have adopted the method that Austrian Marshal Daun used to suppress the impulsive cavalry general Laudon. However, this Grand Duke was a prince and he also controlled the two most elite Guards regiments on paper among the Russian troops entering Italy. In fact, they had formed an independent column.
"I know this very well, Your Excellency Marshal, but you can't just stand here and do nothing!"
He has this kind of temper, and only an old general like Suvorov is here, otherwise he would start scolding directly. His temper is really very impatient.
We need to dampen his fighting spirit, and I'm afraid he can only calm down after losing the battle.
From this perspective, Paul's sons were really brothers. The two tsars and Constantine all had an innate arrogance of the royal family.
Solovyov came here as an attendant officer. He looked at Grand Duke Konstantin and then thought about the five grand duchesses in the palace. They were all very cute, humble and polite. They had the pride of princesses and were very polite to people of lower status than them. Are they really your sisters, Your Highness?
Even Alexander would pretend to be arrogant, but this guy just doesn't pretend.
Now he strongly demanded to go into battle, and he wanted to mobilize General Rosenberg's column and the Guards column to join the battle.
"Your Highness, now is not the right time, although there are reports that the French have abandoned Valenza. Our army should not rush into battle. The Rosenberg Column can act together with the Guards, but we still need to be cautious. Moreau's French army has two divisions on the south bank of the Po River whose whereabouts are unknown!"
Konstantin actually heard Suvorov say this and even thought he had heard it wrongly.
He had heard rumors about Suvorov in the court, but had never carefully observed this on the battlefield. It seemed that the old marshal, who was 70 years old this year, or 69 years old according to his registered age, no longer had the bravery he had in the past.
After all, Suvorov had been through many battles and had seen a lot. What army of a European country had he not seen? Spain and Portugal were too remote, and they really had nothing to do with him.
Constantine wanted to fight, and he couldn't just refuse, so he told General Rosenberg: "Your column will move to the Po River. We are going to occupy Valenza!"
However, he also asked Werother to write a written order to inform Rosenberg of the difficulties he might encounter, especially in finding a boat on the Po River.
Everyone knows this, and this problem was also taken into consideration when troops were assigned to Grand Duke Constantine. The troops of Major General Chubarov and Prince Bagration were transferred over, and the reorganization of the temporary column was completed. Together with the Guards column led by Constantine, these troops were about to advance towards the Po River.
Solovyov felt that Constantine was too impatient. Although the French army in Valenza showed signs of abandoning, it was not the first time that the French army had cheated. If this was just a phenomenon caused by incomplete reconnaissance, it would be very troublesome for the Russian army.
During this battle, most of the ferries on the Po River were burned. Only after Major General Chubarov repeatedly sent people to search did they find a ferry of medium size.
"Your Highness, there is only this one ferry. I am always worried that the French are cunning and they are setting a trap."
Solovyov returned from the river, and as Grand Duke Constantine's attaché, he quickly reported the truth.
General Rosenberg agreed with this and said, "Your Highness, if we only have one ferry to send the troops to the other side, the troops will be attacked before they are fully assembled. The situation is extremely bad."
"Especially the east-west rivers, which always have fast currents. 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 orders that the four following battalions should prepare to go to the banks of the Po River for support, and the artillery carrying the Unicorn cannon 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 towards Valenza!"
He was still too impatient and didn't realize that Moreau was playing a trick.
The French had a division under the command of General Paul Grenier near the crossing point at Chubarov.
When Moro deployed the mobile mission on the south bank of the Po River, he took into account the Basignano ferry, where there is a village of Basignano on the way to Valenza.
It was a little distance away 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 Basinana. There was only one ferry, and the boatman had been bribed. He just had to wait for the Russian army to be fooled and come in.
He could catch the Russians in the trap and teach them a good 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 having fun with Sylvia two days ago, he also knew how he was detained. After all, this way out was blocked, and the door to go 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 of them to win the battle, but after the operation of Grand Duke Constantine, they did rely on many of them 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 was actually joking when he said this. After all, with the arrival of a big shot, many things here are not so convenient.
They could relax a little when they were with General Rosenberg or Prince Bagration. This was the front line. But when Grand Duke Constantine came, he began to emphasize discipline, as if
"Don't do that. It's not appropriate to call it a title. And you may not know that although there are records of the title awarded to my family in Petersburg, there is no certificate. According to the Heraldry Society, once it is carefully verified, one will be issued."
"Misha, please 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 more like it. Please speak more simply."
"Yes, there are no outsiders here. However, you must be more careful when crossing the river. In every aspect, the Po River is too wide. Phaethon fell from the golden chariot of the sun god and drowned in the Po River."
Also take into account the fast-flowing river and the whirlpools that can be seen in many places.
"Yes, Your Highness is really impatient. He insisted on crossing the river at this time and did not do a good job of reconnaissance in advance."
"I heard an order from His Excellency the Marshal that we must be cautious when crossing the river and deploy scouts even if there are no French on the other side."
"So what? We will cross the river tomorrow morning. You and the Guards will be at the rear, and we Grenadiers will be at the front!"
"I know that, but I don't want to be at the back. Chasseurs are more useful when they are deployed 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 down cavalry, artillery and officers."
But Constantine put the Combined Grenadiers Battalion and the Moscow Grenadiers Regiment in the front, and the follow-up troops were still advancing towards the ferry. His impatience was not a good thing at this time.
The French army on the other side of the river did not place any 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 the city of 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 reconnaissance scouts, and then a battalion under Chubarov, who were all about to cross the river.
The French scouts hidden near the ferry had seen the Russian army crossing the river, so they used cover to find General Grenier.
The division commander quickly issued an order for the troops to hide and not be noticed by the Russian scouts crossing the river.
As for the city of Valenza, the garrison there returned to the city after withdrawing the day before. Moro acted very cunningly and ordered the defending troops to go out and then come back to the city. Although there were only a few hundred people, it was enough to deal with the Russian scouts and vanguards.
The outcome of a battle depends on how the French divisions work together, rather than on tactics.
Even when Grenier wrote to Victor, he specifically emphasized that they could not rely on the "tricks" of the "treacherous Italians" to cut off the Russian army's retreat, and that the Russians would definitely find a way to solve the problem.
After the reinforcement, his division suffered little losses and had 5,000 men that could be mobilized. There were also 8,000 men led by Victor and others nearby, but because of the layout of the battlefield, they were all far away from 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, Austrian scouts from upstream found signs of activity of the French Victor Division on the south bank of the Po River.
"The message was delivered a little late, but the Marshal's idea was not wrong."
"General, His Royal Highness is still here. He wants us to go from Mugarone Island to the south bank of the Po! 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 your highness is a prince, so both of them are very important. Give this order to your highness and see what he has to say!"
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. As for the follow-up musketeers and guards, they would have to wait until the Grand Duke arrived before making a decision.
Many of these young Russian officers were eager to make achievements. In previous battles, the Russian army's small victories in Brescia and Bergamo had obviously irritated some people.
Therefore, after they reached the other side, they performed very bravely in the battle at the small artillery position near the French ferry. After a brief exchange of fire, they charged with bayonets and seized the position.
However, these were also expected by the French.
General Grenier was not very prominent in the French army. Few people would mention him in the future, and his abilities 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 took advantage of 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 river, he could tell from the flags that they were the vanguard of the main force of the Russian army.
His only problem was that Granier's Division was far away and Victor's Division was hungry because it had not had breakfast. Neither division was able to move immediately and was left behind.
(End of this chapter)