Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 350 052 Austerlitz (I)

On December 2, 1805, just after 0:00, the plan was unlikely to change.

Andrei was there to hear what Kutuzov said, and the old general was the kind of defeatist counselor.

He said this with a completely pessimistic attitude, while the optimistic Soloviev was still making the final arrangements for the Guards troops at this time, and was even building positions to protect the southern road for the retreat of the various coalition forces.

As for the north, Bagration was on the right wing, and he could control the retreat there.

But the center and the left wing were more troublesome.

Also facing the view of the Battle of Austerlitz, Soloviev, an optimist, chose some nearby manors. Although there was no dangerous terrain like Dürenstein, it could block the main road.

From the outer stone wall fence to the manor building inside, Solovyov was actually a little worried. After all, it was hard to say whether the wall of this small place could block the direct shooting of the 6-pound cannon.

However, there was still time, so he asked the troops to deploy well in this area, build fortifications, and even brought a few 6-pound cannons here. These cannons and artillery were left here to strengthen the camp because the Russian army's war horses were in good order, but some draft horses were lost, and all the cannons could not be used.

Grand Duke Constantine was also surprised by the construction of his camp. Although there were people around Kutuzov spreading defeatist remarks all day long, this guy was working steadily and digging holes in the second half of the night, which was still very personal.

As for Solovyov, he actually learned the artillery's set, and was confirming the firing range of each cannon, and he also put on tools and talked with the artillery.

Of course, if he couldn't get a reliable artillery commander like Tushin, he could only make do with the artillery commander of the Guards.

And he also had to consider each artillery position.

"Colonel, you want me to deploy artillery in this place. What if the cannon is lost?"

"Don't worry about that, Captain. We have left these cannons here because of the lack of horses. Your goal is to protect our camp. Although there is no camp, we must also consider that the French are across a mountain. They are burning things over there. God knows what they are going to do. Maybe they want to attack or run away?"

Soloviev's attitude is very clear.

Now he is deploying here because the Guards are placed in the back and not on the front line.

Konstantin felt a little embarrassed when he did this.

His method is very retro no matter how you look at it, making it seem like the Roman camp in the past.

But who cares, this position deployment makes some sense, but whether this battle can be won or lost is still undecided.

Constantine himself was confident of victory, unlike Soloviev, an optimistic defeatist counselor.

If he was pessimistic, we would know what he was going to say by the afternoon of December 2.

At this time, many people had to go back to sleep, but the French were particularly excited.

After all, their emperor was active in the military camp at this time, and the French shouted "Long live the emperor" over there, which could be heard across the Pratzen Heights to Austerlitz where the Guards were stationed.

Although this battle would be called the Battle of Austerlitz, it was mainly about the battle east of Brno and west of Austerlitz, around the Olmutz Road and the Pratzen Heights, and the battle was not necessarily named on the battlefield.

As for Soloviev, who went back to sleep, he was a little uneasy now, after all, this was a very fierce battle.

Even if he was not in the Guards who were immediately thrown into the battlefield, he knew very well that in this battle, there were more than 100,000 troops from both sides here, and no one would have expected what would happen in the daytime.

On the battlefield, with so many people here, even the commander is in great danger.

However, there is no way to control such things. Although fate is in everyone's own hands, it also depends on the course of history and the development of any place.

After pulling out the cannons that lack horses to build a position facing the Pratzen Heights, the deployment of the Guards was completed, and they had to wait for the daytime battle to officially begin.

However, after the day, the fog on the Pratzen Heights always hides some things, and if there is any cheering on the French side, in addition to "Long live the emperor", it has a lot to do with the sun.

This battle is what Napoleon has always wanted to do. A few days ago, he was still worried and even wanted Talleyrand to explain to Queen Josephine to avoid the impact of defeat.

But now, according to strategic deployment and troop mobilization, although he is at a disadvantage in terms of manpower, he is confident.

When the sun rises, the battlefield is still foggy, and the armies on both sides are also deploying at this time. Both sides are gathering in the drums and military music.

The soldiers came out from the campfire and the tents and began to line up neatly.

For the junior officers and soldiers, they still had to do their best on the battlefield and establish merit.

On the Russian army's side, there is no problem with the arrangement of several columns. However, the fifth column among the coalition forces, which belongs to the cavalry column commanded by the Grand Duke of Liechtenstein, is not currently deployed as they expected.

Blocking them on the road like this obviously went against Verother's original arrangement, and even in terms of formation, it destroyed the overall deployment. However, several infantry columns and reserve units acted strictly in accordance with the deployment.

As for Kutuzov, who was on top of Platzen Heights, he was in no hurry to start. In fact, his attitude was quite negative and he was unwilling to come down from Platzen Heights.

In his opinion, this highland is still very critical and will determine the success or failure of the entire campaign.

He knew that during Suvorov's expedition, when the Russian and Austrian armies were united, Melas often violated Suvorov's orders and left the Austrian troops where they were.

Now he had the same idea, so he stood still.

However, sometimes, you can't expect to be able to control the army by yourself.

In fact, Kutuzov is now only the nominal commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, and the real "commander" is Alexander himself.

Young people are inevitably young and energetic, and a young monarch like Alexander cannot avoid such a temper.

As some soldiers shouted "Ula", Kutuzov knew that someone was coming.

Alexander himself came here, and his problem was that now at the critical moment, he had to intervene in the command.

After meeting Kutuzov, his problem was.

"Why haven't you started yet, my general?"

Kutuzov's answer was rather simple.

"We are waiting, Your Majesty."

And I have to repeat it, you must know that Alexander himself was also an artilleryman. He used to shoot too much artillery, and it was not because of poor kidneys that he became deaf in one ear, so his hearing was incomplete.

Kutuzov was in such an open place, and there were soldiers around him. The cheering "Ula" sounded when it was going away, and naturally it had to be repeated.

"Some of the troops are not fully assembled yet, Your Majesty."

The fact is that all orders from the Russian army have been conveyed, but some troops are still undergoing final deployment and mobilization.

Of course, Alexander's attitude was quite relaxed, and he even showed concern for the veteran, and his tone sounded very gentle: "This is not a military parade, Kutuzov. In the military parade, you only need to wait for the team to start. review."

When Alexander said this, he was obviously asking for a fight on his own initiative, and it was obviously an urging, but his attitude didn't sound that strong.

However, Kutuzov's attitude was still very serious at this time. After all, war is not a child's play.

"It is precisely because it is not a military parade or a royal parade ground that I did not announce the start."

When he heard this, Alexander's face obviously didn't look good either.

But that’s not enough to make his color the same as the uniforms of the Russian army.

As an old man, Kutuzov has a very strong ability to observe people's emotions for a young man like Zubov who condescends to make hand-grinded coffee himself.

Since Alexander's expression changed suddenly, he also wanted to express his position: "However, Your Majesty, as long as you give the order, we can start."

Although he looked unwilling, Alexander was the monarch, and Kutuzov could only act according to his will.

At this time, the battle is about to begin.

However, the place where the battle started was not the Pratzen Heights where the fourth column was located. While the troops here were still gathering, the first column on the left wing of the coalition had already opened fire, and the French position launched an attack.

Dokhturov and Langeron each commanded a column to start the operation. Langeron's order was to use the artillery of the second column to fire directly at the French army. It seemed that the progress was very fast.

The French actually gave up part of their forward positions after this round of artillery fire, and retreated for a while in the early morning fog.

This allowed the coalition forces on the left to begin to move forward, completely leaving Ice Lake behind.

When Napoleon received the report at his command post, he was not nervous, but seemed very relaxed.

Obviously, the coalition's attack was exactly what they wanted, and his show of weakness was also to make the coalition put its attacking forces on this side, thus weakening the front and causing the supporting troops to be trapped in the battle. In this direction, there is no need to worry too much. The troops of Davout's Third Army are marching quickly to join the battlefield, just to replenish this side.

As for the front, he is still waiting for his chance.

When the fog dissipates, it will be a more appropriate time.

The current deployment of the coalition forces is somewhat chaotic. Kutuzov has just launched operations, but his actions are very slow.

If we really go down from Pratzen Heights and the French army launches an attack from the front, the situation will not be good.

But Alexander was here and he had issued an offensive order. At this time, he had to send his troops down.

In the thick fog at this time, the coalition side could not clearly see the deployment of the French army. Except for the troops fighting on the west side, everyone on the battlefield only heard the sound of artillery and knew that the battle had begun.

Napoleon was observing the front on the high ground. There were always old guards with bearskin hats beside him, but he always held the most elite troops in his hands as the last reserve.

"It looks like it's OK. Soult, the Pratzen Heights are right there, what are you going to do?"

Soult's answer was very straightforward: "Your Majesty, we only need twenty minutes!"

Napoleon was very satisfied with what he said, and the Fourth Army has now advanced all the way there.

At the same time, Napoleon made a deployment to strengthen the front line and pulled the Grenadier Division commanded by Oudinot into the battlefield.

Although this unit was put together and had only more than 5,000 troops, it was very useful. Grenadiers have always been the best soldiers in the army.

If this unit rushed up, it would still have some impact on the situation on the battlefield.

However, the Guards were still placed behind and did not join the battle.

Now Soult's troops have continued to move forward, and the sun is already at a higher position.

As the fog dissipated, the Russian soldiers who had just come down from the Pratzen Heights also found the French soldiers who were not far away from them, and they also encountered a round of long-planned shooting.

The two sides started to exchange fire at this position, replacing the previous thick fog. This time, it was the smoke brought by black gunpowder in the exchange of fire between the two sides.

However, for the soldiers in the rear, this kind of battle is also quite tormenting, after all, they have not been put into the battlefield yet.

As for the current position of the Guards, it is not bad. After all, the shells have little killing power on the reverse slope, and many troops are currently out of range, which is relatively safe.

And Solovyov stood in front of the soldiers of the Guards Chasseur Regiment, and he was very relaxed.

"Colonel, I saw you were still calibrating the gun position at night. Why are you quiet now?"

"The battle has begun, but it's better. Well, let the brothers sit down. There is no need for us to stand here stupidly and waste our energy."

"Sit down!"

Of course, it is also his two battalions of soldiers, which are relatively easy to dispatch.

As for the order received by Grand Duke Constantine, it is also to prepare the infantry regiment of the Guards column to fight, but there is no definite order.

It all depends on how the battle on the high ground goes. The current level of firepower and the sound of gunfire from both sides mean that the exchange of fire between the coalition forces and the French army is very intense.

For others, the battle may be fierce.

But Solovyov looks calm, but he is very uneasy inside.

After all, a person already knows the outcome based on this roughly accurate deployment before the battle begins, just like a plot, it is inevitable that this will happen.