Chapter 518： Army marching in chaos

Just as Nicholas I obeyed Gorchakov's orders and was preparing for a major battle on the Crimean Peninsula, Menshkov in the Crimean Peninsula was overseeing a high ground on the Alma River. A defensive position built by soldiers of the Russian Empire.

As for why Prince Menshkov built a defensive position near the Alma River, this matter goes back more than a week.

At that time, Prince Menshkov was sitting leisurely at the headquarters of the Sevastopol fortress, waiting for news from the Caucasus (Prince Menshkov also served as the governor of the Caucasus), but it was his Cossacks who were waiting. The cavalry regiment reported to him that the British and French troops had landed near Kalamita Bay.

Menshkov, who received the news, was first surprised by the landing of the British and French coalition forces. In Menshkov's view, the best strategy for the British and French coalition forces should continue to the north, why they came to the Crimea Peninsula.

Seeing that the coalition could not leave the Crimean Peninsula, Menshkov had to ask the head of the Cossack cavalry regiment the number of British and French troops.

"They have set up a lot of tents near Kalamita Bay, and they can't see the end! At least there are around 70,000 or 80,000!" The commander of the Cossack cavalry regiment thought of Menshkov in Russian, which was not too proficient. Reports.

"I can't see the end at a glance? 70,000 or 80,000?" Menshkov muttered to himself, thinking that his men only had more than 50,000 troops (in the Sevastopol fortress) and suddenly felt a burst of pressure.

With only more than 53,000 men under his command, Menshkov had no possibility of attacking at all.

In order to stop the Anglo-French coalition from advancing further south (Kalamita Bay is located to the south of the Sevastopol fortress), Prince Menshkov summoned his staff to ask them what they thought.

After two days of intense discussions, it was decided to deploy the defensive position on the Alma River.

The reason is that the terrain on the south bank of the Alma River is higher than that on the north bank of the Alma River. The Russian Empire only needs to destroy the bridge to the south bank of the Alma River at the appropriate time. If the coalition forces want to come over, they must first swim across the Alma River. Ma River, and then climbing operations, and finally able to reach the highlands on the south bank of the Aer River.

During the time when the Allied troops were swimming and climbing, the Russian Imperial Army could easily kill the soldiers of the Allied Forces.

Of course, Prince Menshkov himself also knew that it was a blessing to be able to hold the defensive position in terms of the strength of his troops, and the counterattack had to be left to the reinforcements after they arrived.

So, Menshkov wrote another letter to Nicholas I for help, in which he exaggerated (Menshkov thought) the number of British and French troops (140,000), and also stated that he vowed to die with the fortress. determination to live together.

Although the letter did not directly seek assistance from Nicholas I, every sentence revealed the meaning of Nicholas I's help.

After writing the letter, Menshkov handed the letter to an adjutant under his command and ordered him to hand it over to Nicholas I. In order to prevent the letter from being intercepted, Menshkov also specially asked the adjutant to divert to the Caucasus, and then from there. The Caucasus returns to St. Petersburg.

The adjutant who received the letter hurriedly drove his horse away from the Sevastopol fortress, and then Menshkov found his two vice admirals, Kornilov and Nakhimov.

Prince Menshkov asked Kornilov and Nakhimov how they should resist the Anglo-French fleet if the Anglo-French fleet entered the Sevastopol fortress.

"Your Excellency, the best way now is to sink the ship!" Lieutenant General Kornilov immediately responded to Menshkov.

"Shipwreck?" Menshkov gave Kornilov a puzzled look and asked, "Was it our shipwreck, or the British and French shipwrecks!"

"Of course we sank!" Lieutenant General Kornilov replied to Prince Menshkov: "We can sink all the ships docked at the port into the entrance of the fortress. In this case, the British and French fleets will not be able to do anything. come in!"

Prince Menshkov nodded with satisfaction, Lieutenant General Kornilov's method is indeed an effective method for the current Russian Empire.

As soon as he said it, Prince Menshkov immediately ordered Kornilov and Nakhimov that all ships parked in the port of the Sevastopol fortress, except the battleships, be wrecked.

As soon as Prince Menshkov's order was issued, Kornilov and Nakhimov immediately took action, requisitioning all the civilian ships and troop transport ships docked at the Sevastopol fortress, and then all sank to the fortress of Sevastopol. Entrance to the Vastopol fortress.

The port of the Sevastopol fortress was barely blocked, and Prince Menshkov, who was relieved, was able to continue to send more troops to the Alma Heights.

Only 10,000 people were left in the Sevastopol fortress to be responsible for the protection of the fortress. The remaining 43,000 people were all concentrated in the Alma Heights to build fortifications. He did not care about the farce, but only dispatched a small number of Cossack cavalry to investigate the specific number of British and French troops in Kalamita Bay. During this period, the Cossack cavalry also had a brief confrontation with the British light cavalry.

After several days of deployment, Alma Heights has initially formed an effective defensive position.

As for the Anglo-French coalition forces, Menshkov roughly figured out their total number of 90,000 to 100,000 people.

Gu Qi

Of course, this is the case when the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire are not counted.

After all, in the eyes of Prince Menshkov, the offensive capability of the Ottoman Empire should be said to be at a negative level, and the Kingdom of Sardinia is probably at the same level as the Ottoman Empire.

These two teams are good enough not to bring down the English and French averages.

Although the Anglo-French forces are now three times his size, Menshkov is confident that reinforcements will arrive during the Anglo-French offensive.

In order to defend the last barrier of the Sevastopol fortress, Menshkov also deliberately removed part of the heavy artillery deployed by the Sevastopol fortress and placed them on the upper reaches of the Alma Heights.

However, there is no arrangement in Menshkov on the cliff facing the sea. Menshkov believes that this area is very steep and no one should climb up through it.

Nearly a hundred artillery pieces and naval guns were placed at various commanding heights under the command of Menshkov. After everything was ready, Menshkov, who had an unprecedentedly high self-confidence, decided to send a small group of troops to the British and French coalition forces. In the large-scale tentative attack, the Cossack cavalry regiment and the 17th division under Menshkov (full force of 10,000 people, actual force of 6,000 people) became the main force of the tentative attack.

The coalition forces that had been staying in Katami Bay also began to pull their battalions and head south after receiving food from Yevpatoria.

A huge team began to set off in a mighty manner. The army on the far right of the team near the sea was the army of the French Empire. The troops formed a length of nearly 7 kilometers and began to advance.

The armies standing on the left side of the French army are the Sardinian army, the Ottoman army and the British army, which means that the French Empire army is located in the innermost of the coalition forces, and the British Kingdom's army is at the outermost of the coalition forces.

By the way, the person who proposed the queue was not Marshal St. Arno, but Commander Raglan. The reason why Commander Raglan did this was to restore the bad things they left to friendly troops when they landed. impression.

In the kingdom of Britain, the dignified maritime hegemony, it is surprising that the army landing operation would pull the hips so much.

On the sea not far from the land, supply ships and medical ships from Britain and France followed the coalition forces, and they would provide the most favorable guarantee for the coalition forces.

In addition to the above, there is an equally large supply convoy behind the dense formation, which provides the most timely support for the coalition forces.

Of course, most of these supplies were "borrowed" by the coalition troops from nearby Tatar farms.

Among the four logistical supply convoys, the French Empire is still the best-ordered one among all the convoys, while the worst-ordered one is not the Ottoman Empire, which is famous for its looting, but the British Kingdom, which is famous for its wealth.

In addition to food such as bread and wine, in the supply convoy of the British Kingdom, there are also living things such as sheep, goats, oxen, etc., which are also borrowed by the British soldiers who broke into the farm owner's house with goodwill.

It is precisely because the British Kingdom holds a huge flock of sheep that the entire coalition forces are dragged down by the British Kingdom and have to move slowly. Coupled with the chaos in the logistics management system of the Kingdom of Britain itself, this has also led to the fact that the British logistics department cannot effectively restrain the animals they have collected. From time to time, cattle and sheep will escape the control of the British logistics department and run to the Ottoman Empire's supply convoy without authorization. Among them, the supply convoy of the Ottoman Empire fell into chaos, and the entire team had to stop and wait for the rectification to continue.

The line stopped and walked, and quickly moved from morning to noon.

At noon, the scorching sun shrouded the sky, and the marching teams of Sardinia, Ottoman, and Britain began to break up, and some of the thirsty soldiers gradually began to fall behind.

As for the French Empire, the thirsty soldiers skillfully untied the water bag hanging from their waists, took a sip of boiled boiled water, and then closed the water bag and moved on.

When the time gradually came to a point, the weather became even hotter, and most British soldiers could not bear the hot weather (the British uniforms were still thickened, and the stubborn Commander Raglan did not follow the establishment of Marshal Saint Arnault. It will be love that all the military uniforms on you are replaced by summer clothes) The pace gradually slowed down. UU Reading

The sweaty Commander Raglan also found Marshal Saint Arno and suggested him to rest.

"Commander Raglan, if you want me to tell you that you should change your uniforms to a different style, I think the boys in your army are almost fainting from the heat! Look at you now..." Marshal Saint Arnault on a horse He bitterly dissuaded Commander Raglan.

Commander Raglan glanced at the Duke of Cambridge who was also sweating beside him. He nodded and said to St. Arno: "I will make this request to London! However, the most important thing now is to rest!"

Marshal Saint Arnault squinted and looked up at the scorching sun in the sky, then pointed to the front and said to Commander Raglan: "Commander Raglan, walk one kilometer further and you will reach the Burganac River! Rest there!"

"it is good!"