Chapter 101 Battle in the Moscow direction (8)

In despair, Kutuzov was suddenly inspired and refused to walk eastward to the Avenue to Ryazan, but instead penetrated to the Old Kaluga Avenue. A few days later, due to the successful "flanking march", he took his troops to the Tarutino camp south of Moscow and settled down.

Then, he recruited food and grass from wealthy provinces such as Ukraine, began to reorganize and strengthen troops, and ordered Cossacks to intercept the convoy heading to the ancient city of Moscow, cutting off the French's retreat for replenishing supplies near the city. Situated in the Tarudino camp, he also threatened the enemy's road that must pass when retreating towards Smoorlensk.

Finally, if Napoleon decides to attack St. Petersburg directly, the local Russian army can quickly move north and encircle the enemy behind the enemy to attack, and the troops that maintained Genstein would block the enemy from the front. Kutuzov believed that only by acting in this way could evacuate Moscow not be futile.

During this period, Alexander was waiting for news from the front several hundred miles away, worried and anxious.

On August 29, the messenger arrived and reported to him about the large-scale battle that had been held near Borodino not long ago. He stayed up all night. The next day was his father's name day. In the morning, he received a quite optimistic report from Kutuzov. He was overjoyed and could not wait to let someone sing a hymn of gratitude in the cathedral of Alexander Nevsky's monastery and read it immediately.

The rumors about "victory" were gone in the city and spread quickly. People rushed to the streets to cheer at the Tsar and his family who returned to the palace. Alexander thought to himself, was it appropriate to arouse public enthusiasm before the end of the war was not clear? But he could no longer retreat. Kutuzov was immediately promoted to the Grand Marshal of the Army, his wife was awarded the honorary title of "Pengoed Lady", and all the generals were given honorary titles, and each soldier was rewarded with five rubles.

But this was only a flash in the pan. The Tsar soon received a report from Rostopkin and other news, and learned that despite the hard battles, the army had been forced to abandon Moscow. The following report from Count Rostopkin: "The adjutant of Duke Kutuzov brought me a letter in which he asked me to send police officers to lead the army to Ryazan Road. He claimed that he regretted to give up Moscow.

Your Majesty! Kutuzov's actions determine the fate of the ancient capital and your empire. Once you hear that the great things in Russia are concentrated, the place where the remains of your ancestors are buried--the city is lost, Russia will tremble for it. I will follow the army. I have transported everything, and I can only cry out for the fate of my motherland."

After receiving this urgent report, the Emperor sent Duke Vorkonsky to bring the following edict to Kutuzov: "Duke Mikhail Ilarionovich! I have not received any report from you since August 29. But on September 1, I received a sad message from Yaroslavl, saying that you have decided to lead the army to abandon Moscow. You can imagine how this news will affect me, and your silence has deepened our shock. I sent the general Duke Vorkonsky to send this edict to hear from you the situation of the army and the reasons that prompt you to take such a tragic decision."

After the news of Moscow abandoning without a fight was confirmed, the public was no longer happy, and instead they were shock, anger and rage. People were panic, panic, and fear. The Empress Dowager, Constable Grand Duke Dante, Rumenzov's Prime Minister, Arakchev, and Volkonsky all tended to negotiate peace as soon as possible.

But the female granddaughter of Ekadrina wrote to Alexander in Yaroslav, with intense words, "Everyone is yelling at the disaster of the empire, total disillusionment, successive failures, and finally accusing you of the decline of the country's reputation and your own disgrace, etc. No, don't worry about the disaster of revolution. I just remind you of what the situation will be in a country where the public despises its leaders? Fortunately, peace talks are not common. On the contrary, the shame of the fall of Moscow has aroused the desire for revenge."

The Tsar replied to his sister Kadelina, saying, "Some things are difficult to predict, but I ask you to believe that I have never wavered in the war, and I am particularly firm now. I would rather die than to compromise. "The disaster star of the world, compromise?" I hope God, my country's admirable and strong nation, and my own perseverance: I have made up my mind and will never bear to live in humiliation."

A few days later, he received the French envoy sent by Kutuzov, Colonel Mishaw (an exile who was loyal to Louis XVIII), who made the following conversation to the colonel in French, asking him to tell the army: "Where you go, please make sure to announce to my kind subjects that once the army is gone, I will lead my dear nobles and kind peasants to take advantage of the remaining resources of the country and persevere.

However, if one day I want to end the dynasty founded by my ancestors in my dynasty, I would rather raise my hair and retreat when I am exhausted from ammunition and food, and go to the deepest part of Siberia to share the joys and sorrows with the lowly peasants, than to endure humiliation and make peace and fail to betray my dear motherland. I know how heavy the sacrifices my motherland has made?

Colonel Mishaw, don't forget the following sentence. One day we may be happy to remember this. Napoleon and I swear to be incompatible, either him or me. From now on, we will no longer be monarchs together. I have known him, and I will not misjudgment him again!"

Having said that, Alexander was still anxiously thinking about what would happen next after Napoleon entered Moscow. It is generally estimated that the army would advance towards St. Petersburg soon. This is also the natural development of a battle.

In order to deal with the unexpected, the Tsar had ordered the transfer of files, the treasures of the empire's treasury, schools, and hospitals to be transferred abroad. Seeing these evacuation measures, residents were preparing to leave Beijing and went to other provinces to find shelter. Once they found a distant relative of hospitality, they would pack up and buy boats to prepare a car. On the Neva River and its tributaries, a fleet of ships filled with wooden tools and luggage could be opened. The alarm would sound.

On September 18, the second bad news spread to St. Petersburg. In the direction of the Baltic Sea, MacDonald's 10th Legion captured the Riga Fortress a few days ago. After the massacre, the Prussian Legion was also preparing to head towards Tallinn, Estonia, and then follow the Baltic Sea and turn east from the western front, directly threatening the Russian capital, St. Petersburg, two hundred kilometers away.

A few days later, the Baltic Combined Fleet of Desai organized nine battleships of all levels, 34 patrol ships, and a huge fleet of more than 20 armed supply ships. At the intersection of the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea, they successfully encircled and defeated the Russian Navy that came to the decisive battle, causing it to lose two-thirds of its main ships.

Although the joint fleet failed to pursue and wipe out the Russian fleet due to the interference of the Swedish Navy and the British fleet, the Russians also lost their efforts to sail freely in the Baltic Sea. The Gulf of Finland has become a stagnant water blocked by the gate, and St. Petersburg is in danger.

On September 20, a unit of the Prussian Legion joined Desay into Estonia. A few days later, the Tallinn Fortress was declared to fall. Once Napoleon also rushed north to St. Petersburg, the Russian Empire of the Romanov dynasty might be completely destroyed.

However, things often turn around at critical moments!

Under the coercion and temptation of the British and the Swedish crown prince, the Polish king had to give up his attempt to let the joint fleet penetrate the Gulf of Finland and siege St. Petersburg. On the land, thanks to the guarantees of the British and Swedes, Desay could freely acquire any territory of French allies, especially the Kingdom of Prussia in East Prussia to the north of Poland.

So the Polish king secretly removed the position of Marshal MacDonald, commander of the 10th Legion without bleeding, and sent him and his adjutants to a merchant ship heading to Copenhagen. At the same time, the Prussian army led by MacDonald, with a remaining 15,000 men, was also taken over by Desai.

On September 29, after receiving the 3 million pounds of redemption fee paid by St. Petersburg (loans from the British), the Polish army began to evacuate from Tallinn, retreated southward from the entire Estonian territory, and then organized defenses in the Riga area again. According to the secret agreement reached with St. Petersburg, Desai promised not to invade Estonia, but the Russian Tsar must also abide by the fact that Lithuania, Latvia, East Prussia, the Neman River Basin (the western territory of Belarus) and other places belong to the Kingdom of Poland.

This is obviously not a ceasefire agreement, nor is it a peace agreement. In fact, Alexander and Desai were not prepared to implement it seriously, so the reason for reaching a temporary compromise was simply that the Tsar was unwilling to be besieged by the enemy in both directions so that Russia could have a chance to breathe; Desai must first consolidate the rear, especially to lift the threat from the direction of Konisburg (East Prussia).

In fact, St. Petersburg is not easy to fight. In addition to its unique terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, the secret spies hidden by Tsar Alexander also told the Polish king that the Russians would rather give up Finland. The Tsar mobilized elite Finnish legions and marched south into St. Petersburg. He would never give up the Russian capital like he abandoned Moscow, but instead defended the death.

The traveler naturally remembers that in later generations, when the Soviet-German War broke out, Hitler tried to occupy the city, but failed. Although the powerful German army carried out a 900-day siege against St. Petersburg (Leningrad), 650,000 people were starved to death or frozen to death, and 20,000 people died of German air strikes and artillery attacks, the Russians still did not surrender.

Therefore, Desai did not care about the gains and losses of Russian cities. In addition to the plunder of wealth, he cared about destroying the Russians' vitality and fighting consciousness. The carriers of the two things not only refer to the Russian army, but also include the 45 million people living on Russian land.

He needs to continue to wait for the opportunity, the best time to break out in Ukraine and Belarus; the best time to run out of the most serious food crisis in Ukraine and Belarus; the best time to get Kutuzov and Napoleon exhaust each other on the snowy wastelands of Russia; the best time to get the serf liberation movement outbreak in Lithuania to create a huge impact on 40 million Russian social groups; the best time to wait for Turkey, Persia, Sweden and other ulterior motives to share the fruits of victory together when Russia is extremely weak.
Chapter completed!