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Volume 8 From the Mediterranean to... Chapter 101 Battle in the direction of Moscow...

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    Chapter 101 Battle in the direction of Moscow (8) In despair, Kutuzov was suddenly enlightened and refused to go east on the road to Ryazan, but instead cut diagonally onto the Old Kaluga Avenue.  A few days later, due to the success of the "flank march", he took the troops to the Tarutino bivouac south of Moscow and settled down.  Then, he requisitioned grain and grass from wealthy provinces such as Ukraine, began to reorganize and strengthen the troops, and ordered the Cossacks to intercept the convoy heading to the ancient city of Moscow, cutting off the French's escape route to replenish supplies near the city.  Based in the Tarutino camp, he also threatened the enemy's main road as they retreated to Smolensk.  Finally, if Napoleon decided to go straight to St. Petersburg, the local Russian troops could quickly move north and outflank the enemy's back to attack, while the troops maintaining Gerenstein would suppress the enemy from the front.  Kutuzov believed that only by acting in this way would the evacuation of Moscow not be in vain.  During this period, Alexander was waiting for news from the front line hundreds of miles away, worried and anxious.  On August 29, a messenger arrived to inform him of the large-scale battle that had taken place near Borodino not long ago.  He stayed up all night.  The next day was his patronymic day, and in the morning he received a rather optimistic report from Kutuzov.  He was overjoyed and couldn't wait to have the hymn of thanksgiving read out immediately after it was sung in the Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky Monastery.  Rumors about "Victory" spread rapidly in the city.  People poured into the streets to cheer the tsar and his family as they returned to the palace.  Was it appropriate, Alexander wondered to himself, to arouse public enthusiasm before the outcome of the war was clear?  But he could no longer retreat. Kutuzov was immediately promoted to field marshal, his wife was awarded the honorary title of "Portrait Lady", all major generals were presented with honors, and each soldier was awarded five rubles.  But this is just a flash in the pan.  The Tsar soon received Rosstopkin's report and other news that the army had been forced to abandon the city of Moscow despite a hard fight.  Count Rostopkin reported as follows: "Prince Kutuzov's aide-de-camp brought me a letter in which he asked me to send officers to lead the troops to the Ryazan road. He declared that he regretfully abandoned Moscow.  Your Majesty, Kutuzov's actions have determined the fate of the ancient capital and your empire. Russia will tremble to hear that the city where the great things of Russia are gathered and where the bones of your ancestors are buried has been lost.  . I went to follow the army. I have carried away everything, and I can only lament the fate of my country." Upon receiving this urgent message, the Emperor sent Prince Volkonsky to deliver the following decree to Kutuzov: "M.  Prince Hayil Ilarionovich! I have received no reports from you since August 29th, but on September 1st I received a message from the Governor of Moscow.  You can imagine for yourself the sad news that you have decided to abandon Moscow with your troops, and your silence has deepened our consternation.  I went to this edict to hear from you the situation in the army and the reasons that prompted you to take such a sad decision.¡± After the news that Moscow had abandoned the country without a fight was confirmed, the public no longer rejoiced, but was replaced by shock, anger and anger.  furious.  People are panicked, confused and afraid.  The Empress Dowager, Grand Duke Constantine, Prime Minister Rumentsov, Arakchev, and Volkonsky all tended to negotiate peace as soon as possible.  But Grand Duchess Ekaterina wrote to Alexander in Yaroslav with fierce words: "Everyone is concerned about the disaster of the empire, the general disillusionment, the successive defeats, and finally the decline in the country's prestige and your personal disgrace."  No, don't worry about a revolutionary catastrophe. I'm just giving you an idea of ??what the situation would be like in a country where the public despises its leaders. Fortunately, talks of peace are not common. Instead, Moscow fell.  The shame has aroused the desire for revenge. "The Tsar wrote in reply to his sister Catherine, "Some things are unpredictable, but I ask you to believe that I have never wavered in the war, and I am especially determined now.  I would rather die than be the world's scourge and compromise I place my hope in God, in our country's admirable strong and unyielding nation, and in my own perseverance: I have made up my mind to never survive humiliation.  " A few days later, he received the French colonel Michaud (an exile loyal to Louis XVIII) sent by Kutuzov. He made the following remarks to the colonel in French, asking him to tell the army: "You  Wherever you go, please make it known to my kind subjects that once the army is gone, I will lead my dear nobles and kind farmers to use the remaining resources of the country to persevere.  If the dynasty started by my ancestors ends, I would rather grow up and retire to the depths of Siberia when I run out of ammunition and food, and share the joys and sorrows with the humble peasants. I will never bear the humiliation and make peace and let my beloved  motherland?I know very well how heavy the sacrifices our country has made Colonel Michaud, don't forget the following words. One day, we may still be happy to recall this.  Napoleon and I have sworn to be incompatible. It is either him or me. From now on, we can no longer be monarchs together. I already understand him, and I will never misjudge him again!  " Having said that, Alexander was still thinking anxiously about what Napoleon would do next after he entered Moscow. The general estimate is that the army will soon advance towards St. Petersburg. This is also the natural development of a battle. In order to cope with it  Unexpectedly, the Tsar had ordered the transfer of archives, imperial treasury, schools, and hospitals to foreign countries. Seeing these evacuation measures, residents also prepared to leave the capital and went to other provinces to find shelter. Once they found hospitable distant relatives, they packed their bags.  Buy a boat and prepare a car. The Neva River and its tributaries are full of fleets of wooden vessels and luggage. On September 18, the second bad news came to St. Petersburg in the direction of the Baltic Sea.  Donner's 10th Army captured the Riga Fortress a few days ago. After massacring the city, the Prussian Army was also preparing to move towards Tallinn, Estonia, and then along the Baltic Sea, turning from the west to the east, directly threatening two hundred kilometers away.  A few days later, Desai's Baltic Combined Fleet organized a large fleet of 9 battleships of all classes, 34 frigates, and more than 20 armed supply ships, and successfully surrounded the intersection of the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea.  Blocked and defeated the Russian navy that came for a decisive battle, causing it to lose two-thirds of its main ships. Although the combined fleet failed to successfully pursue and annihilate the Russian fleet due to the intervention of the Swedish Navy and the British fleet, it also caused the Russian fleet to be defeated.  People have lost their efforts to sail freely in the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Finland has become a backwater with blocked gates, and St. Petersburg is in danger. On September 20, a force of the Prussian Army and Desai entered Estonia. A few days later, the Tallinn Fortress was declared.  Fall. At this time, once Napoleon also marches north to St. Petersburg, the Russian Empire of the Romanov dynasty may really be finished. However, things often turn around at the critical moment. Under the coercion and inducement of the British and the Swedish Crown Prince, the King of Poland.  The attempt to send the combined fleet deep into the Gulf of Finland and besiege St. Petersburg had to be abandoned. On the land side, thanks to the guarantee from the British and Swedes, Desai was free to acquire any territory of the French allies, especially the Kingdom of Prussia in northern Poland.  East Prussia. So the King of Poland secretly dismissed the commander of the 10th Army, Marshal Macdonald, from his post in a secret mutiny, and sent him and his staff adjutants on a merchant ship sailing to Copenhagen.  On. At the same time, the remaining 15,000 Prussian regiments led by Macdonald were also taken over by Desai on September 29, after receiving a ransom fee of 3 million pounds from St. Petersburg.  After loaning money to the British), the Polish army began to withdraw from Tallinn, retreated southward from all Estonia, and reorganized defenses around Riga. In accordance with the secret agreement reached with St. Petersburg, Desai promised not to invade Estonia, but the Russian Czar also did not.  We must acquiesce in the fact that Lithuania, Latvia, East Prussia, the Niemann River Basin (the western territory of Belarus) and other places belong to the Kingdom of Poland. This is obviously not an armistice agreement, let alone a peace agreement.  In fact, neither Alexander nor Desai was prepared to implement it seriously, so they had to reach a temporary compromise.  It is simply that the Tsar did not want the capital to be besieged by enemies from two directions, so that Russia could get a chance to breathe; and Desai must first consolidate the rear, especially to eliminate the threat from the direction of K?nigsberg (East Prussia).  In fact, St. Petersburg is not easy to fight.  In addition to its unique terrain that is easy to defend but difficult to attack, the secret spies hidden around Tsar Alexander also told the Polish king that the Russians would rather abandon Finland. The Tsar mobilized the elite Finnish Army and marched south to St. Petersburg. He would never abandon Moscow.  Just the same, abandon the Russian capital, but defend it to the death.  Travelers will naturally remember that in later generations, when the Soviet-German war broke out, Hitler once attempted to occupy this city, but failed.  Although the powerful German army conducted a 900-day siege of St. Petersburg (Leningrad), 650,000 people starved to death or froze to death, and 20,000 people died from German air strikes and artillery bombardments, the Russians still did not surrender.  Therefore, Desai does not care about the gains and losses of Russian cities. In addition to the plunder of wealth, he is more concerned about destroying the Russian people's vitality and fighting spirit.  The carriers of these two things refer not only to the Russian army, but also to the 45 million people living on Russian soil.  He needs to continue to wait for the opportunity, the best opportunity for the most serious food crisis to break out in Ukraine and Belarus; wait for the best opportunity after Kutuzov and Napoleon exhaust each other's strength in the Russian ice and snow wasteland; wait for the LitauThe outbreak of the serf liberation movement is the best time to have a huge impact on the Russian social system of 40 million people; waiting for Turkey, Persia, Sweden and other quasi-allies with ulterior motives to jointly share the fruits of victory when Russia is extremely weak  opportunity. ?¡­.
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