Make France Great Again

Chapter 482 Trench Warfare Preview

"Your Excellency, Commander, Silistra Fortress is an area that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is normal for the attack to be frustrated! To be honest, I do not think that our army can defeat the Turkish army in the castle in a short time. !”

Because there were only two of them, General Gorchakov did not hide his inner thoughts at all, and his expression and tone revealed a kind of solemnity and seriousness. After this period of on-the-spot inspection on the front line, General Gorchakov The unrealistic idea of ​​quick victory has been completely abandoned. However, he believed that as long as the Russian Empire could make up its mind, it would be able to conquer the Silistra Fortress.

After all, the military strength ratio between the siege team and the defenders had reached nearly 3:1.

Moreover, the Turkish army in the bastion was not feeling well during this period. Judging from the death toll of the Turkish army outside the city (most of which were casualties caused by the trenches used to destroy the Russian Empire), it is still at this stage There are very few Turkish troops left in the city of "Tabia".

General Gorchakov believed that in just two weeks, they could completely occupy the bastion and use this multi-faceted bridgehead for their own use, thus turning it into a safeguard for the Russian army against the British and French armies.

Looking at General Gorchakov who still maintains an "optimistic" military style, Prince Paskevich shook his head and sighed: "Of course I know that as long as our army is given a certain amount of time, we will definitely be able to conquer this place." This fortress was renovated by a damn Prussian (Prussian engineering colonel Lach, Silistra and Ruse are his masterpieces), but do we really have time to continue wasting here..."

Prince Paskevich paused and asked himself incoherently: "...I mean even if the British and French forces had not arrived at Silistra Fortress, His Majesty the Tsar would not have given us such a long time! We've wasted too much time here!"

"Wait a minute! Your Excellency, Commander, do you mean that the British and French forces have arrived at Silistra Fortress?" General Gorchakov extracted the key information from Prince Paskevich's words.

"Yes!" Prince Paskevich nodded, and then told General Gorchakov the information he obtained from the Cossack cavalry.

"300,000 people? That's ridiculous!"

For intelligence on the Cossack cavalry, Gorchakov. The general obviously didn't want to believe it.

When 300,000 people arrived at Silistra Fortress, the logistical supplies required were simply astronomical, not to mention that the Ottoman Empire itself did not have the ability to support 300,000 troops.

This means that most of the things needed by the army have to be transported from Britain and France, and the maritime forces of Britain and France combined to serve as transport ships cannot maintain the food and drink of 300,000 people in the Ottoman Empire. Lazarus.

In Gorchakov's view, Britain and France could only maintain the logistics situation of 150,000 to 200,000 troops in the Ottoman Empire.

Moreover, such an army needs to be divided into the Caucasus region, so that it can reach the Near East, and the supporting Ottoman Empire troops are not very many, only about 80,000-90,000, based on the current strength of the Russian Empire in the Danube region. Said that as long as Tsar Nicholas I was willing to transfer another Guards Division to the Danube area, they would still be able to fight it.

In Gorchakov's concept, although the Russian Imperial Army is far inferior to the well-trained coalition forces in shooting, in close combat, the Russian army, which inherited Suslov's ideas, is not afraid of the coalition forces at all.

[PS: Here’s an interesting anecdote: far away in London, a factory owner named En is criticizing the Russian Empire’s army-building ideology since Suslov, that is, “bullets are stupid and bayonets are heroes”.

The factory owner surnamed En said: The army of the Russian Empire can only penetrate the granite of the Alps, but cannot penetrate the stone of Silistra on the fortress. 】

Of course, Gorchakov didn't know that this was just his wishful thinking. There was already a huge difference between the coalition troops equipped with Miner rifles and the Russian Imperial Army.

Gorchakov, who fantasized about winning with a bayonet, had no idea what kind of situation the Russian Imperial Army would face next.

"Although I also think this conclusion is absurd, it is certain that the British and French forces (Paskiewicz here automatically ignored the Sardinian and Ottoman forces) have begun to gather here, and their vanguard troops have also exchanged fire with us. ! We don't have much time!" Prince Paskievich nodded with worry.

After Gorchakov thought for a moment, he said with a firm face: "Your Excellency, Commander, please let me lead the Polish Army to annihilate this army! If we leave them alone, they will definitely give us a hard time." The military poses a huge threat!”

"Gorchakov!" Paskevich said with displeasure in his words: "Even now, do you still want to annihilate the troops in Silistra Fortress?"

"Your Excellency, Commander, there is only one way we can go!" Gorchakov said to Paskevich without giving in at all: "I know that our army may face the main force of the British and French coalition forces at any time, but we cannot We can give up the siege of Silistra! Only by mastering the Silistra Fortress can we have the ability to fight the incoming main force!"

Seeing that he could not reverse Gorchakov's will to fight to the death, Prince Paskiewicz chose to follow Gorchakov's suggestion and sent his unused 1st and 2nd Divisions of the Polish Army (the two divisions totaled 32,000 people). ) was handed over to Gorchakov's command.

"When are you going to launch an attack?" Prince Paskevich asked Gorchakov.

"After I find out the actual strength of this coalition force!" Prince Gorchakov responded.

In order to support (or dissuade) Gorchakov's actions, Prince Paskevich immediately transferred a regiment of Cossack cavalry to Gorchakov's command for Gorchakov to drive.

Gorchakov, who had two divisions plus a cavalry regiment, was full of confidence in the coming battle. He believed that the number of this coalition force would never exceed the number of troops in his hands.

Then General Gorchakov said goodbye to Prince Paskevich. Paskevich, who was lying on the camp bed, got up and sent Gorchakov out of the camp.

Looking at Gorchakov's long and departing back under the setting sun, Paskiewicz sighed again.

The sun sets and the night rises, and the time comes to 1 a.m. in a blink of an eye.

The cunning moonlight is in the French temporary camp less than 2 kilometers away from the Silistra Fortress. A six-foot-deep simple trench appears in front of the camp under the moonlight. In front of the trench is a circle of winding Barbed wire and spiked barricades made of wood.

When Gorchakov led the Cossack cavalry to check the situation of the French camp at night, the scene before him made Gorchakov feel that he might have to face a difficult opponent.

The barbed wire fences and roadblocks surrounding the camp prevented his infantry and cavalry from engaging in close combat with the coalition troops, and the trenches could effectively prevent the impact of artillery.

Moreover, behind these trenches and barbed wires, Gorchakov felt an unprecedented chill. Only a few hours had passed since the Conrober Army set up camp. In these short few hours, Within a short period of time, the coalition forces had created a defensive position similar to a foxhole. Behind this simple position, it represented the strict discipline of an army.

If this simple version of the trench was left to the Russian Empire, it would take at least two days to complete.

The gap between the coalition forces and the Russian army has been fully revealed here.

Just when Gorchakov was distracted, a group of Bash Pozuk cavalry was approaching quietly from Gorchakov's flank.

After a "bang" gunshot, the Cossack cavalry beside Gorchakov fell down.

"superior!"

After reacting, Gorchakov and the Cossack cavalry immediately launched a counterattack in the direction of the cavalry. The sound of gunfire quickly attracted the attention of the coalition forces in the camp.

A company of Zhuav's regiment rushed out of the camp with Miner guns. Upon seeing this, Gorchakov quickly ordered the Cossack cavalry not to continue to entangle with the Bashbozuk cavalry.

After hearing Gorchakov's order, the Cossack cavalry showed their bravery and fighting character as nomads. The Cossack cavalry drew their sabers on their waists and rode up to fight with Bash Pozuks, who were about the same number as them. .

After just a few rounds, this group of Bashbozuk cavalry who were originally in an advantageous position gradually fell into a disadvantage.

The Cossack cavalry who found the right moment opened a way for General Gorchakov to survive at the cost of several deaths.

Gorchakov and the Cossack cavalry left the French camp and drifted away, looking for the bookstore www.zhaoshuyuan.com. The Bashbozuk cavalry stayed where they were and did not pursue, because they had no way to determine whether the Cossacks were It's not like you can lure them into pursuit.

Then the Bashbozuk cavalry dismounted from their horses and used Turkish scimitars to cut off the heads of the Cossacks lying on the ground as trophies.

After a while, Major General Canrobert and Captain Jérôme Patterson appeared in front of the Bash Pozuk cavalry.

The Bashbozuk cavalry, who did not understand the language, presented the head of the Cossack cavalry to Major General Canrobert as if it were a treasure.

Regarding the barbaric behavior of the Bash Bozuk cavalry, a flash of disgust flashed in Kangrobel's eyes, which he covered up in an instant.

"You did a good job!" Canrobert nodded kindly and said to them in French.

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