Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

After writing to his sisters, Nikolai continued south and arrived in Ploiești, where oil extraction was relatively easy.

"Oil will be very important, Your Majesty. Especially since the quality of the oil here is better than that from the Caucasus, as you can see from this barrel."

The oil in Wallachia is so good that some shallow oil deposits can be used directly as lubricant for horse-drawn carriages. Currently, it is not being exploited on a large scale or used as a power source, but it will eventually be available.

After Carnot's theory was presented, the Russian Academy of Sciences and Moscow State University have now taken the lead in conducting applied research on the first-generation internal combustion engine within the engineering field.

Solovyov once included his own schematic diagram; I wonder what Moscow State University thinks of it.

“You consider this place important and therefore want to place a monarch here. I agree with this opinion. Direct rule over Bucharest is not an advantageous condition for us, but we can establish a protectorate.”

When the Empress nominated Potemkin to be King of Dacia, Nicholas was not yet born, and even his older sisters were very young at the time.

For various reasons, the plan was not implemented until the Treaty of Bucharest in 1812, which made Wallachia and Moldavia protectorates of Russia.

Integrating this area now wouldn't be a problem, especially with the establishment of an oil field in Ploiești. Simple fractionation could allow these oil resources to be utilized.

Therefore, a reliable relative is indeed needed here. Nikolai has not yet made a decision, but there are potential candidates.

At least the husbands of Polina and Svetlana would be well-suited to be placed in Athens and Bucharest, which would likely reduce the British's objections. Another option would be the Grand Duke of Baden's uncle, whose presence in Karlsruhe has always posed a threat to Baden's succession.

But Nikolai was thinking that what was important at this moment was to take down several key fortresses.

Dibich had anticipated this, and the battle of Varna went relatively smoothly. With the support of the navy, they breached the walls of the fortress there, forcing the Ottoman army to surrender and leave the camp with their weapons and flags.

This was a respectable surrender, and the Turkish army was not as untrustworthy as the Persians.

Dibich's next focus was Silistra; once he captured it, there would be far fewer obstacles ahead.

However, the difficulty he now faces is that the Russian army's frontal assault will inevitably come at a cost.

Moreover, when Kamensky and Solovyov campaigned here last time, they often used tunnel blasting to attack the fortress, and always used a larger amount of explosives, with the intention of completely destroying the city walls.

When Solovyov led his detachment south, he destroyed a large number of Turkish fortresses and cities along the way. In particular, the destruction of the city walls at the Battle of Vidin left a deep impression on the Turks.

Therefore, they now want to take precautions, but it is not so easy to guard against them underground in Silistra. All they know is that the Russians have started tunnel blasting again.

The excavated tunnel was right below them, and its location was extremely precise.

Is this alright?

"If they dare to cause trouble, the explosive charges we've piled up now are already quite powerful, and it's impossible to use groundwater to make those explosive charges damp."

Dibich personally supervised the process in order to complete the initial objective more quickly.

As for the engineers, they stretched a line through the tunnel and buried it deep underground. Even if the Turks wanted to destroy the tunnel, it would take them some effort.

"My lord, everything is ready."

"How much explosives did you put down there?"

"More than 5000 putts, sir, at several detonation points."

"Hopefully it will succeed on the first try. Our war minister loves tunneling and blasting. I heard he's researching new methods that don't use fuses anymore."

"No fuse needed?"

Some of the older engineers looked at each other in bewilderment after hearing Dibich's explanation.

Mikhail Pushkin, who was still serving in the army as punishment, suddenly remembered that his son-in-law had taken out Solovyov's manuscripts, which, in addition to political discourses, included parts about new weapons and future warfare models.

Solovyov did mention that the blasting methods should be improved, as the fuse was unreliable and the timing of the blast was difficult to control.

However, we can't rely on that now. The technology of using electric shock to blast things in 1827 was exceptionally advanced.

However, Mikhail Pushkin agreed with his suggestion to use internal combustion engine-powered tanks, even though the principle behind it was still relatively new and it would take some time before a usable vehicle was available.

But there was no problem with steam-powered armored trains and laying railways between major Russian cities. Mr. Pierre invested his entire fortune in it, and even the early railway operations between St. Petersburg and Moscow seemed to be profitable.

Regular passenger and freight trains serve the people's livelihood, provide employment, boost the local economy, and transport goods out of the country.

Meanwhile, our armored trains entered the combat zone.
Although Mikhail Pushkin had been demoted to a soldier, he was still competent in his duties as a guards engineer, so he told Dibych about Solovyov's further military reform plans.

"I didn't expect him to have this skill; I thought he was just tinkering with some new weapons!"

As for even more amazing things, people like Dibich, with his exceptionally sharp mind, probably haven't even heard of them.

Solovyov is indeed very capable, a fact that has convinced his generals.

Just as they finished chatting and started lighting cigarettes, a deafening explosion was heard.

"See that? That's incredibly powerful!"

Because so much explosives were piled up, even consuming most of the Danube Legion's reserves at the front, a violent explosion was bound to occur, blowing away the city walls and outer fortresses, and it would be difficult to find any survivors in the surrounding area.

Solovyov has always emphasized demolition techniques, so they are practiced extensively in the Russian army, especially in the Danube Corps, which is on the front lines and has more demolition missions.

After the city walls and main outer fortresses were destroyed, the Russian artillery poured unicorn shells into the city from the direction of this opening, causing continuous explosions inside the city.

If it weren't for this dramatic explosion, the Turkish commander would probably have stubbornly held out for a while longer.

The explosion also completely destroyed the morale of the local army in the city. These people did not intend to be sent to the sky by explosives like some of their fathers more than ten years ago. The explosion in the Battle of Vidin was indeed impressive.

"If we take this place, the remaining fortress will be a piece of cake." Dubich was quite confident. The previous Secretary of State for War thought that Field Marshal Wittgenstein should be sent, but he was only senior and had some prestige. He was not suitable for a place where political battles had to be fought during the window of opportunity.

Moreover, he always sought the Tsar's opinion, causing the army to remain stationary and hesitant to advance.

That would cause delays; by the summer of 1827, Dubitch had already cleared the roads.

Next, support was provided to the Greeks, and in accordance with the latest diplomatic achievements between Britain, France, and Russia, the Ottoman Empire was required to recognize Greek independence and withdraw from Larissa.

However, the Ottoman Empire was unwilling to accept this, so after receiving further replies, Nicholas finally allowed Solovyov to assemble his troops and prepare to continue south towards Constantinople.

For this reason, the Russian army headquarters was set up on the south bank of the Danube, and the Tsar himself accompanied the army on the expedition.

Fortunately for these generals, the commander-in-chief was General Solovyov, who had great influence over the Tsar on matters large and small, and was able to prevent the Tsar from giving misguided orders.

“We are all here. It has been a long time since we held a military conference at the front. His Majesty has also come in person to hear our opinions. The situation is very good now. General Dibich has captured several important fortresses and opened up the road to the core areas of Greece and Lumilia. We are going to march on Adrianople to establish a solid forward base there, followed by Constantinople.”

"My lord, isn't this a bit too hasty?"

"Our offensive begins at the Danube, so we have some time and space to spare. I now announce the following deployment. The main forces of the Western 2nd and 3rd Armies will advance towards Adrianople after crossing the Danube, while the Danube Corps will advance towards Sofia, where they will await the arrival of the Serbian army."

Dibic knew in advance that Serbian, Montenegrin, and Albanian Pasha troops, who were active in the Balkans, would join Russian forces in besieging Sofia.

The capture of Sofia would then allow them to threaten several key passes in the Macedonian region. From there, heading south, lay the flat but not very wide Macedonian plains, where they could threaten the Ottoman forces in Thessaly from behind.

This Turkish army is limited in strength and poses no real threat to the Russian army. Giving Dibich 40,000 to 50,000 men would probably be enough to deal with them.

Solovyov himself was to lead the main force, along with the Imperial Guards who were crossing the river near Bucharest, on a march toward Constantinople.

This was his dream for many years. Dibich received the second greatest credit, and the other major generals marched towards Constantinople. As long as they won, they would also have a share of the credit.

At that time, the Tsar will give you no less in bonuses and land.

Moreover, the most advantageous point now is that news from Southeast Europe is slow to reach Britain, which will also affect the British cabinet's decision-making.

And because of Mr. George Canning's poor health, Solovyov was unaware that he was dead.

If we find out, we'll have to send someone to London to confirm whether he's really dead.

While Canning's presence in the Balkans was arguably the most advantageous for Russia's operations, it must be considered that his death would cause short-term internal turmoil in Britain, potentially more so than the short-term contributions he made while alive.

Even if the new Prime Minister Robinson comes to power, we have to take into account that he was the very same guy who championed the Corn Laws back then.

He was able to come to power because George IV really disliked the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel, and did not want either of them to become prime minister. In addition, Princess Charlotte, as the heir, had repeatedly expressed her dissatisfaction with the Tories and also disliked Peel, who had served as the first secretary of Ireland. Therefore, it was Robinson's turn to come to power.

At that point, the King, the Princess, the Duke of Clarence, the Tories, the Whigs, the army—the British will be in a state of chaos for a while, and it will be difficult to issue even a correct order.

Solovyov was planning his march on Constantinople at the time, and the timing was perfect.

More than a decade ago, the terrible "Butcher of the Danube" has returned, this time not leading a detachment, but the main force of the Russian army.

For His Majesty the Sultan, only by personally leading the army could he barely muster the courage to confront the Russians; at least the Sultan would have some guts to go to war.

Solovyov's next military deployment was to advance the main Russian forces southward; he was unaware that Sudan was on the other side.

However, when he marched to Harmanli, he learned of the Sultan's movements.

"Your Majesty, it seems our enemy is still very determined."

"I'll leave everything to you, Mikhail Sergeyevich, hmm."

Nikolai suddenly fell silent, glanced at Solovyov, then at the entourage that had always followed him, before finally speaking.

"Boss, we're counting on you again this time. Just go for it."

"Your Majesty, rest assured. Timur once captured Sultan Bayezid I. If we can defeat these Turks, we can also capture a Sultan to entertain Your Majesty and your brothers."

Solovyov always had this idea, and Nikolai was quite pleased with it.

He knew his master didn't usually boast, so the fact that he had such a goal showed that he was very relaxed.

The equipment of the Russian and Turkish armies is not even in the same league.

Even now, the Turkish army does not have breech-loading rifles, and they have not adopted them even when the British came to promote their imitations.

During the last war, the Russian army inflicted heavy casualties on the Turkish army with slingshot rifles.

As for machine guns, unicorn cannons, and other new weapons and equipment, the Turkish army has not been seen using them.

Although the new Turkish army has been established, its personnel are limited. Yenicheri has not been completely eliminated, and there are still many people in the army. These Sultan's personal guards even staged a mutiny last year, which was suppressed by His Majesty the Sultan.

Nobody knows exactly how much combat power such an army has.

Even now, Sudan's army is said to number 300,000, which is indeed a large number, more than Solovyov's 80,000 troops.

Although a fight was inevitable, Solovyov never expected that his opponent would stop there after arriving in Adrianople.

It seems that because both Solovyov and Wellington had fought Napoleon's army in a squatting position, they thought this tactic would work.

Surprisingly, the Turkish army also included Europeans. Marmont, unable to return to France and finding no foothold in many places, became the Turkic August Pasha. (End of Chapter)