Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 83 033 Everything is out of plan

The Russian army was still far away from the battlefield. When Bagration's column heard the gunfire from the Austrian side, the soldiers were still lining up one after another.

Even when the Russian soldiers were lining up here, they heard the gunfire, which meant that the Austrian army had been fighting with the French for a while.

The Austrian hussars did not expect that the French skirmishers put the cordon far away from the high ground. When they passed by here, they were attacked by these scattered archers. After suffering losses, they began to line up in large forces.

When the French heard the gunfire, they were very vigilant. Most of the French soldiers wearing blue clothes had come out from their sleeping places and began to line up.

This also made the Austrian army see clearly that there were quite a few French soldiers above.

General Krei was riding on a horse and saw the French's actions. He remembered that when he met General Melas before, he talked about the defeat of their "old friend" Prussia in Kolin. After winning a battle, they launched a forced attack and were defeated by the Austrian army.

The situation this time was similar, but the French occupied the advantageous terrain and they were now on the defensive.

"What's the situation over there at Ott?"

"General, the French occupied the high ground and they had already deployed their troops in advance."

"Okay, this is a place suitable for defense. The French have guarded the high ground and they can do whatever they want. But we have to line up our two columns and prepare to hold back these French."

In addition to Ott, there are also Bellegarde's troops. They have defeated the French several times before, at least making these Austrian veterans no longer afraid of the French, just like they fear wild beasts.

What's more, if they really encounter wild beasts, they still have hunting rifles in their hands.

The Austrians engaged in battle much earlier than Suvorov expected. Even the command and deployment of the troops to be deployed today was caused by the first engagement of the right wing of the coalition where Kray was.

The main forces of the Russian army, except for the two marching columns led by Bagration and Miloradovich, were still far away from the battlefield, especially the Rosenberg Corps that had been resting, which included many elite columns of the Russian army that came to Italy, as well as the Guards troops that had recently merged.

The French could see clearly from the heights of Novi that there was a white area on the west side, and a green line was coming from the horizon on the farmland in the north.

"The Russians are still far away! We are now..."

Saint-Cyr was about to give an order when he saw a messenger coming from the west.

"The commander-in-chief wants us to mobilize the troops and move westward!"

In fact, it was General Jubel who had just arrived at the front line to command the left wing of the French army, attempting to use it to repel Kray's Austrian army. However, shortly after he arrived at the battlefield, he was hit in the chest by a bullet and fell off his horse.

Moreau hurriedly dismounted to check on the commander-in-chief's injuries, but Jubert had already vomited blood, muttered his wife's name and wanted to continue the attack, and then died on the spot.

It was because he came here and retained Moreau to assist in commanding the corps that the French army on the entire battlefield was not in serious chaos.

While holding Jubert's body, Moreau had already begun to issue orders to Jubert's chief of staff Suchet, asking him to mobilize the troops of Grouchy and Perignon on the left wing to continue fighting Cray, and to ask Saint-Cyr to dispatch a division to make a detour on the battlefield and attack Cray's left side, so as to force the Austrian army to retreat.

"General Moreau, then the commander-in-chief."

"Listen carefully, the commander-in-chief was shot, but he is receiving full treatment from the military doctor!"

Now that he has taken over the command, he must also consider that he was a veteran in the Rhine Corps in the past. The defeat in Italy was mainly caused by the stupid General Scherer's angry death in Verona, which led to the collapse of the war. There is nothing to blame him. On the contrary, the successive battles have allowed the French army to maintain cohesion. This kind of seniority and prestige are still there.

When the French and Austrian armies were fighting, the Russian army rushed over from the front. On August 15, the weather was extremely hot. Under the scorching sun, the earth seemed to be burning. There were no clouds in the sky, and there was no sign of trembling.

In other words, in this damn Italy, in the hottest season of summer, the Mediterranean climate has no rainfall process.

Therefore, many Russian soldiers also consumed a lot of physical strength, and the speed during the march was not as fast as usual. During the march, the Bagration column also encountered continuous artillery fire from the French on the hillside of the Novi position, causing considerable losses.

This time Solovyov's luck was not very good. He was hit in the leg by shrapnel. Although it was not fatal and no parts were lost, he could not insist on commanding the joint chasseur battalion to advance at this time. When fighting, for officers, it is better to injure the arms and the head than the legs, unless it is in a defensive battle.

Only von Bystrom could command the battle. Seven companies were in his hands and launched a frontal attack on the French army.

The Russian firepower was very fierce. Saint-Cyr was now commanding the battle on the hillside. He also noticed the continuity of the chasseur's firepower, and the nearby French army was quickly repelled.

Bagration's battle went smoothly. After opening fire, he launched a bayonet charge and drove the French army out of the north of Novi, thus leveling the front line.

Miloradovich's column quickly caught up and launched an attack in front of the high ground.

The Russian grenadiers tried to rush up the mountain with bayonets, but were beaten back by the dense grapeshot of the French army on the top of the mountain. This charge caused a lot of losses. The grenadiers, chasseurs and musketeers were all knocked down.

However, the Russian army still insisted on launching an attack. If the French had fought the Austrians in the past, the other side would have retreated after two rounds of grapeshot.

Such a fierce battle lasted until noon. Under the scorching sun, both sides suffered heavy losses.

If Suvorov was still young, he might still be riding a horse and commanding the battle under the scorching sun.

Now he is physically exhausted, so he asked his servants to spread out a blanket and cool off under the shade of the tree. When an old general encounters such a situation, he really needs to rest, which is no problem.

His complexion is also a little bad. Compared with when he entered Italy before, the commander is obviously a little tired under the scorching heat.

He lay on his side on the blanket and listened to reports from all sides. Melas was slightly older than him, and Krei was also a veteran. At noon, he was indeed unable to hold on.

At this moment, some young generals rushed out like this, but they were shot and killed. They were also unlucky.

"Your Excellency Marshal, now we need General Melas to enter the battlefield from the east."

"Send another scout, our troops will break through from the front, and we must attack the French hill in the afternoon to teach them a lesson!"

However, General Melas did not go through the middle road. Instead, according to the report, he knew that the right wing of the French army had stretched the front line, which was conducive to his breakthrough, so he sent all his troops of more than 10,000 people up.

Later, there were still Russian troops that did not arrive at the battlefield. After this order was issued, the Austrians flew on both wings.

Suvorov had no opinion on this. He just asked the troops to continue to attack, and did not care that the Austrians always changed their orders.

In the afternoon battle, the grenadiers launched an attack on the top of the mountain. The French still had grapeshot in their hands, and the artillery fired randomly, causing heavy casualties in the subsequent troops.

But the French had begun to lose their hold. Melas's reserve, including the Duke of Liechtenstein's cavalry and the Marquis of Lusignan's column, had already come to the high ground and joined the attack on the French core position.

The French were finally defeated on this day.

Solovyov was dragged to the field hospital by the soldiers at this time, and the shrapnel was taken out. He didn't bleed much and was thrown aside.

Anyway, this shrapnel was injured very coincidentally, and it bounced and hit the calf.

It can be seen that although the Russian field hospital is very rough, there is still disinfectant alcohol. If there is really no alcohol, vodka will be used instead.

"Captain, you are a hunter, right?"

"Doctor, did you look at my collar and cuffs?"

"You are very skilled in disinfection. Have you ever saved wounded soldiers on the battlefield before?"

"Indeed, but there were only a few opportunities. I am fine now, but these brothers must help them!"

"You injured your leg, you still need to rest well, avoid infection, and stay away from these wounded soldiers. You two, carry this young captain to the place where officers are being treated over there!"

Soloviev had to succumb to the doctor's opinion. There were too many things missing here.

The technology tree he wanted to climb now was related to medication, especially hemostatics and bactericidal drugs used on wounds. If these things were developed, plus there were battlefield rescue teams, it would be very helpful for treating wounded soldiers.

He was lucky today. When Bagration's column attacked, it suffered heavy casualties from the fierce firepower of the French position. The battle was not declared over until 5 pm. One-third of the guards attacking the mountain were killed or wounded, and many officers were injured.

He also saw von Bystrom being carried in behind him. He was shot twice, but he was still in good spirits.

"Captain, I still need your help to hold him down. I am worried that these soldiers lack experience in this area, and your hands have been disinfected."

What was taken out was a deformed lead bullet, which seemed to be hit by something.

"As long as there is no infection, you have to take care of the commander, clean your hands first, wash your hands with hot water, and use wine to disinfect your hands."

"Doctor, disinfect with vodka, how expensive it is!"

"Use this thing, apply it around the wound, and it can save your life!"

"Yes, sir!"

After these veterans carried the commander in, they were responsible for taking care of him here.

Solovyov asked and found out that the coalition forces were now in pursuit, but the casualties of the Guards were not small, and many wounded soldiers were not carried back on the battlefield, and they needed to mobilize carts to pull them back together.

The losses in the battle were huge, and the coalition forces in the pursuit achieved great results and captured many French generals.

When the French were defeated, it was Grouchy who commanded the troops on the far left to fight desperately and retained a channel for the French army to retreat, so that they were not completely wiped out.

Of course, Grouchy himself was captured alive by the Austrian cavalry this time, and there were thousands of French prisoners.

It was a brilliant victory, and many officers who were wounded in the battle were also carried down.

However, surprisingly, Miloradovich rode into the area with the most intense firepower, but he was unharmed, and even rushed into the gap in the French line with the cavalry around him and came out again.

This time Bagration was not injured, but a wound in the Battle of Trebia left him with a scar, which made him look uglier, but also made him look more powerful.

When he came to visit the wounded, he also looked at Solovyov.

"You are lucky not to participate in the subsequent battles today. The enemy's artillery caused huge casualties in your camp."

He only said this, and Solovyov knew that his men, these selected hunters, suffered casualties on the battlefield, even if they were scattered in the formation of skirmishers.

However, he did not have time to think about it. The battle was about to end, and the gates of Liguria were wide open. At this time, it was time to rush directly to Genoa and let the French explode gold coins.

You know, the property of French prisoners found by the Russian army in the battle was very considerable.

This was also severely criticized by Suvorov. Today, a Russian army troop only looted and blocked some roads during the pursuit, resulting in many French troops slipping away in a very short time.

It was a great victory, but because of some minor episodes, it failed to achieve the greatest expected results.

But there are more headaches for Suvorov. Fortunately, he is thin and dry, and it is unlikely that he has hypertension or coronary heart disease.

The Austrian emperor changed the entire strategic deployment based on the British suggestion to land in the Netherlands, and whether the British operation can succeed is a question.

The news reached the front line of Novi, and Suvorov did not disobey. The Austrian emperor was far worse than his own.

After all, Paul worked hard, and the new equipment and some favorable organizational changes provided to the Russian army also strengthened the combat effectiveness of the troops, while the Austrian emperor only coveted petty profits.

Young people nowadays are just a little greedy for money, Suvorov thought so.

Even his nephew Andrei made a small fortune in the pursuit, seizing a French officer's private carriage and taking out a lot of things from it.

But compared with him, Solovyov's seizures were really for the good stuff.

Especially in the Battle of Trebia River, he fished out the French baggage carts, but those seizures were the results of the search after the pursuit, and did not affect the final results.

But Franz's order had to be carried out again. Suvorov left Melas's Austrian army to continue fighting here, and prepared to embark on the journey to the Swiss battlefield.