Chapter 685 These Polish lunatics!

Chapter 686 This group of Polish lunatics!

After the cavalry who came to report explained the situation in Smirnov, Morkov's face instantly darkened.

"This useless guy!"

He cursed fiercely, then raised his eyes and looked in the direction of Mozyr City.

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According to the cavalry's report, the Polish army that attacked Smirnov had at least 15,000 people, and the garrison of Mozyr had a total of more than 50,000 people.

In other words, after deducting casualties, there were less than 30,000 Polish troops in Mozyr City at this time.

And he still had nearly 60,000 troops in his hands. If he launched a fierce attack on Mozyr, he should be able to break it soon.

However, he hesitated again.

If that Polish army attacked Kiev, Chaperov would probably not be able to hold on.

Kiev was the main logistical material storage point for his army. Although he could still get supplies from Smolensk even if he lost this place, it would be a great shame for the empire if the Poles occupied the richest city in the western part of the empire, even for just one day!

The Tsar might dismiss him from his post or even send him to prison.

Thinking of this, Morkov angrily bent his whip and said to the staff:

"Order the Zaporoski Corps to stay here. The others will rest for half a day and go to Kiev tomorrow morning. Follow me to catch the rat!"

The next day.

Morkov personally led 30,000 troops to Kiev and sent someone to order Chaperov to cooperate from the south.

However, when he arrived in Kiev four days later, the Poles had already disappeared.

After a large number of rangers scouted around Kiev, they finally learned from local farmers that the Polish army had "fled" to the northeast four days ago.

Morkov immediately chased after them, and then found traces of the Polish army at the Loyev Ferry, but they were just traces of them having already left.

The Polish army easily controlled the ferry, which was guarded by only a few hundred people, and then the entire army crossed the Dnieper River and headed towards the heart of Russia.

Morkov's forehead was bulging with veins, and he threw his whip to the ground and roared:

"These damn Polish lunatics!"

Yes, the Poles must be crazy.

With the Dnieper River blocking them, it was impossible for them to get any supplies.

In other words, these Polish soldiers would starve to death in at most half a month.

Even if they could grab food along the way, they would not be able to get enough ammunition.

The local Russian garrison only needed to continue harassing and consuming their ammunition. After more than a month, they could easily capture this army without weapons.

However, the Poles still chose to go deep into Russia.

Morkov could imagine that they would first attack Chernigov, which was the closest place. There were only a small number of reserve troops there to replenish the consumption of Mozyr, and it was impossible to resist the attack of tens of thousands of Polish troops.

After looting, the Polish army would bypass the northern part of the Sura River and continue eastward along the southern side of Smolensk, directly approaching Kaluga.

Kaluga is the second richest province in the central and western part of the empire, second only to Moscow.

Yes, this damn place is right next to Moscow!

The most cunning thing about the Poles is that the offensive route they chose cleverly avoided the Smolensk Fortress in the north and the Kursk Fortress in the south. When the empire arranged its defense, it did not consider that the hinterland in the center would be attacked.

Usually the enemy would attack Russia from Minsk as a base, then they would face a series of strong fortresses from Smolensk to Vyazma.

And if they sent troops from Mozyr, they would be blocked by the river and unable to provide supplies to the army.

But the Poles just chose this dead end.

Morkov knew very well that 15,000 Polish troops would definitely not be able to enter Moscow - as the old capital of the empire and the economic center of the central region, the Moscow Legion was stationed there with more than 10,000 soldiers.

However, as long as the Polish army appeared outside Moscow, even if no shot was fired, the losses caused by the fear of the people would be in the tens of millions of rubles.

This Polish army was determined to bite off a piece of the empire before dying.

By then, even if he wanted to go to prison, he would not be able to go, and the death penalty would be his only outcome.

Morkov hesitated again and again, and first sent two teams of signalmen, one team to warn Kaluga and Moscow to prepare for defense in advance, and the other team to report the bad news to St. Petersburg.

Then, he sent all 3,500 cavalrymen he brought to cross the Dnieper River to track the Poles.

During the half month when he led his army to encircle and suppress Kosciuszko's troops, Mozyr's Polish army got a rare chance to breathe.

Prince Poniatowski brought thousands of new soldiers from the rear, and with the help of the people, he re-reinforced the Mozyr Line.

What awaited him was a fierce battle. But there was hope...

Paris.

Palace of Versailles.

On a morning that was no different from any other, a soft voice called out to Joseph's bedside:

"Your Highness, it's already 7 o'clock, and you will preside over the opening ceremony of the Paris Agricultural Futures Exchange today."

Joseph turned over, but he slept too late last night because he reviewed the documents sent from the Caribbean, and fatigue pulled his eyelids tightly.

Perna called him a few more times. Recently, Camelia had a fever from time to time because of the last time she fell into the water. She was very weak, so she took over the task of taking care of the prince's daily life. Seeing that His Highness did not respond, she glanced back at the two maids holding the shirt behind her. Seeing that they were not looking at this side, she immediately bent down and quickly kissed him on the cheek.

"You really have to get up."

The soft touch helped Joseph dispel his tiredness. He opened his eyes and saw Perna's beautiful emerald eyes.

"Ha... You got up so early." He yawned and smiled.

Perna's cheeks flushed immediately, and she hurriedly glanced at the maids behind her. Fortunately, they still didn't pay attention to this side.

Well, as the maid of the prince, it is a basic quality to have eyes.

After Joseph finished washing, he let Perna do a series of examinations on his fundus, throat, pulse, etc., and then pulled her to sit at the dining table together.

While waiting for the food to be served, he habitually picked up the documents beside him, and saw that the top one said: The Polish Minsk defense line suffered more than 4,000 casualties and had retreated to the suburbs of Minsk.

Colonel Kosinski led two infantry regiments and five cavalry squadrons to the north.

The document did not mention Kosinski's goal, but Joseph knew very well that he would go straight to Riga.

The latter document was about the situation in Mozyr.

It was much better than the situation in Minsk - after all, with the two Polish war gods Kosciuszko and Poniatowski in charge, the 70,000 Russian troops did not even see the city of Mozyr.

And Kosciuszko's dagger had already stabbed Russia's weak belly.