Chapter 84 Archduke Karl's Concerns, the Kingdom of Sardinia's Honor

Chapter 84 Archduke Karl's Concerns, the Kingdom of Sardinia's Honor

In Zurich, the Swiss coalition forces have been here for a long time. After the French were repelled by them, many Russian troops were stationed here, while the Austrian army was moving northward for the convenience of dispatch.

The military stations and transportation lines in the rear need to be adjusted. The Russian army suffered certain losses in previous battles, but this is still within an acceptable range, while leaving some Austrian troops stationed in Switzerland.

At least it can be guaranteed that before Suvorov's arrival, although the number of coalition forces remaining in Switzerland is limited, it is enough to deal with the French.

Archduke Charles was actually very reluctant to leave Switzerland. With the advantages he had gained now, if he continued to move westward, he would be able to defeat the French and open up a passage between Italy and southern Germany.

What he was more worried about was General Korsakov. To be honest, although his current method of dividing the troops reduced the pressure on the Russian army in supply, the distance between them was far and they were not in a plain area, so it was easy to be defeated one by one.

In this regard, before leaving on the orders of the Austrian Military Committee, he had to take special care of General Korsakov.

The meeting place was in Archduke Karl's camp.

General Korsakov was different from Suvorov in that he gained command of the corps not through seniority or ability, but through the trust of Tsar Paul himself.

So far, the Russian army's performance on the Swiss battlefield can be said to be very brave. These soldiers make Karl feel at ease. As for the officers, most of them have no problems either, except this commander.

After analyzing Korsakov's deployment, Massena on the other side commented: "This is a jester, not a general."

"General Korsakov, you must pay attention to the actions of the French. Also, concentrate our troops as much as possible so that they can communicate quickly with each other on the transportation lines to guard against French surprise attacks!"

"The French are losing on all fronts, Your Highness. Although you have defeated the French many times, you still overestimate them. The French will not launch an attack in the area around Zurich. If they take any action, they should block the mountain pass or hold their existing positions. Our great Russian Marshal Suvorov will be here soon!"

Karl felt that all his words were in vain. Korsakov just spoke like this and didn't listen to his advice at all. It was obvious that he didn't take the Austrians seriously.

It can even be said that this general has always been a gossipy jester. In this regard, the Austrian and French commanders in Switzerland are highly consistent in their opinions.

But Archduke Karl still wanted to struggle. He thought it would be faster to send letters from Zurich to Vienna. Even though the area was mountainous, he could still reach the destination quickly by riding on horseback along the mountain road.

When the Austrian commander's opinion reached Franz, he consulted the Military Committee, and these people also believed that everything would be fine if the British landed in the Netherlands.

So Franz ordered Archduke Karl to lead the main force of his troops to advance into southern Germany, towards the Rhine River, to support the British attack.

The operations that are being carried out simultaneously at this moment are of an extremely large scale.

Although it was correct from a strategic point of view, the coalition forces were advancing from several isolated battlefields, and they had to face the problem that even with the transmission of signal machines, communications could not guarantee fast and accurate delivery.

At the same time, Suvorov, who was heading north, was going to lead his troops to a camp at the foot of the Alps in Italy for rest. This short rest period was also used to reorganize the troops.

Several Allied battalions had suffered heavy casualties, having paid a heavy price in the Battle of Trebbia and the Battle of Novi, and therefore needed a temporary reorganization.

Solovyov's battalion has now been supplemented with a lot of jägers from the 8th Jäger Regiment, which was seriously understaffed. The regiment actually only maintained one complete battalion. Now this combined regiment has become a three-battalion system. However, with the presence of Captain Miller, their command structure is temporarily complete.

However, these companies will still have to be reorganized when they return to St. Petersburg.

The biggest difficulty facing the Russian army in overseas operations is that it cannot keep up with the replenishment of troops during long-term battles. If adjustments are made within the country or according to the military service system, replenishment can be carried out quickly.

Because of his injury, Solovyov was temporarily transferred from the regiment to Suvorov's headquarters.

The old marshal had consumed a lot of physical energy in the hot summer, and now he really couldn't bear it anymore.

"Your Excellency Marshal, you should rest now and let Uncle Prosha and Sergeyev do what you want."

"That won't do. When an old hunter goes hunting, he has to watch the road. Misha, how is your leg injury?"

"It just makes my leg limp a little bit now, but it will be fine soon."

"After all, you are still young and you recover quickly. I want you to come to the headquarters so that you can learn more. You are suitable for doing many jobs and will be a generalist in the future. You should learn as soon as possible."

"Yes, Your Excellency Marshal."

"Of course, there are also negotiations with the Kingdom of Sardinia. They said that because we liberated Piedmont, they would send a special consolation delegation, as well as representatives of their King."

"I think this is a friendly gesture. In addition, they will definitely give you some medals and propose a title for you. This has been confirmed in the imperial edict sent back by the emperor."

"Ah, I know that. Those Sardinian officials are going to perform here the farce that Petersburg learned from Constantinople."

Many generals came here to escape the summer heat, especially those who were wounded in battle.

But some people acted as if nothing had happened. Miloradovich didn't even have a scratch on his body, and he even had the heart to swim in the lake. On the other side, many of the officers were changing their bandages.

"Brothers, this time the Sardinia Kingdom's consolation delegation is coming to commend us, and we have to make some preparations. We can't let those islanders think that we are just country bumpkins from the east!"

Having said this, he even adjusted Bagration's collar.

"Especially you, Bagration, you are a Georgian prince, and you have the title. Show your Italian cousins ​​what a warrior you are, who has repeatedly broken through the French squares."

"Alexander Vasilyevich, they also call you 'Prince', a title that has been approved by the Emperor. Actually, it's still 'Prince of Italy', which we haven't even had yet!"

Solovyov muttered, "It's better to use a Latin title like 'Italian Nicos'." Others didn't pay attention to his complaint. There are still some Russians who don't know Latin. They are more familiar with Greek. The difference is that Greek is still used by some people, while Latin is basically in a box and can only be used as the language of the church and academia, or as an official note to indicate titles.

Later, he was given the title of Grand Marshal of Piedmont, which was recognized earlier than Paul. Upon hearing this, even Grand Duke Constantine cheered.

"Your Highness agrees with this, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, they are a little slow. They should have sent the title and medal two months ago!"

At this time, Werother submitted a list of honors.

Suvorov knew that such a list could only be written in French, but he was a little confused as his servants were also on the list.

"Come and see, Prosa, you are on it too!"

When these "imperial envoys" of the Kingdom of Sardinia were awarded medals, one was given to the loyal old servant of Suvorov. There were two medals, one was a commemorative medal with the portrait of Tsar Paul, and the other was from the King of Sardinia.

"Proshka, dear Proshka, I give you an order. You must stay awake until you are awarded the medal."

"Master, does that include sleeping time?"

"Yes, when the Russian bear sleeps, one ear is erected and one eye is open."

"Yes, sir. I don't drink. I wait on you all day. Wherever you go, Prosha will follow you."

"Also, there's nothing we can do about your beard, but change your clothes and dress nicer tomorrow. Let Andre find you something nice."

"Do you still need to trouble Master Andre for this?"

"He made a small fortune and asked you to look after him. Shouldn't you ask for some compensation? Especially since he only got some clothes and gold coins. It's not like this little fox from Liangzan, who only got some valuable things."

By the way, during the Battle of Trebia, Solovyov seized a cart of treasures from a French officer, which included artworks and jewelry.

"Uncle Prosa, I will sponsor you another necklace to make you look more respectable."

"Thank you, little baron. Let alone in front of others, only the master and the young master treat me as a family member. You treat everyone equally."

"He looks like a French guy from our area, and he's taking advantage of the situation, right?"

When Miloradovich came back from swimming, he saw the laughter here, and since Solovyov was mentioned, he also came in to add a sentence.

"Yes, he is your 'kindred spirit,' but he speaks French better than you."

"Well, if I go to France, some girls will like this kind of handsome guy. If anyone says that I, Miloradovich, am the most popular with women, I have to say that there are always people who are more suitable to be a 'friend of women'."

"Let's not talk about this for now. We are going to hold an awarding ceremony for Proshka here tomorrow morning. Let's get those Sardinians ready."

Then, when he woke up the next morning, Suvorov gave Proshka a day off. He was a decent man today, but he looked a little funny in his velvet robe, and there was a purse hanging around his waist. This was a large reward from his master for his decades of service.

He looked much more respectable than the servant who came from the Middle Ages to the modern times. Although he was a little funny, Suvorov had been well educated. The servant straightened his chest and let the imperial envoy from the Kingdom of Sardinia pin the medal on him.

You know, this loyal servant Dubasov only received praise from the rulers twice in his life: this time the King of Sardinia awarded him a medal and a bonus, and the next time was after Alexander became the Tsar. In order to commend his loyalty to Field Marshal Prince Suvorov, he was promoted to a senior officer, his whole family was freed, and he was also given an annual pension of 1200 rubles - this was more than double the pension some officers could receive when they returned to their hometowns.

After he was given a day off today, he actually did not go far, but stayed beside the old marshal, verbally reminding Sergeyev what to do. However, Suvorov said: "Proshka, you are free today, you should enjoy yourself instead of serving me here!"

If the relationship between masters and servants in Russia was like this, the conflicts between nobles, commoners and serfs might be reduced a lot.

Solovyov also knew that when he became an officer of the Pavlovsky Grenadiers and reached the rank of captain, he would be able to obtain the serfs of a small village. There were many officers in the Guards who received such rewards, and many of them came from large serf owners, so this reward was nothing.

He had also arranged the disposal of property in such villages in Ryazan for his father's old superior. Thinking of this, everything that happened in Russia was so abstract.

Solovyov thought about it and realized that the village he was led to was finally located near the Pavlovsk Palace. After the expedition was over, he could go and take a look and arrange things in the village.

The reason for preparing this is Suvorov’s expedition, which is actually quite famous.

"Russian soldiers can walk where there is no road."

The background of this sentence is in Switzerland, and a bearded man holding a pipe said: "This is not the Ghost Gate Bridge, this is a modern war." Before Solovyov came, he was really impressed by this movie clip.

This was probably the final outcome of the Swiss campaign, and the Russians had made considerable contributions to the anti-French alliance war, which was now drawing to a close.

No one can waste his energy trying to gain benefits for a group of scheming guys all day long.

Of course, at this moment, many people still cannot see this point. A huge alliance will always have cracks because of the "genius" ideas of the politicians who command on the map, which will eventually lead to failure.

If we really want to be serious, the British love to bring their own opinions. This is also often not ruled out in scientific research, which is also very funny.

But now that we are here and have made strategic arrangements, we have to carry them out.

For this reason, Suvorov, like Grand Duke Karl who had expressed concerns before, also wrote a letter to Korsakov, but he didn't know whether the other party could understand it.

(End of this chapter)