Chapter 198: A wrong war

Balkan Peninsula
The Russians have been shed with the blood of the coalition. It is worth mentioning that the Ottoman army, which has the largest number, has become a supporting role in this war. The main force of the coalition has become Britain and France.
In Sliven, the two sides fell into a stalemate. The French blocked the advance of the Russians, and now every step forward will be filled with human lives.
Because the Ottomans were weak, they were stopped by the Russian army with a small amount of force. Now it is 160,000 French troops against 280,000 Russians. It is very difficult for the French to block the Russians. There is no counterattack.
The head of the French army, Emmable Jean-Jacques Perlisier, had a headache. In the previous battle, he used 10,000 French troops to fight off 20,000 Russians.
Unfortunately, the allies did not give up. The Russian army just separated a partial division and added tens of thousands of Bulgarian guerrillas. It was under the pressure of more than 400,000 Ottoman troops and was able to gain the upper hand. In the face of such teammates, everyone will have a headache.
Emmable Jean-Jacques Perlisier acknowledged that the Ottoman army's incompetence was mainly caused by the tradition of emptying its feet. Every time the actual number of people on the battlefield was two or three levels lower.
Even if it was discounted, the 300,000-odd Ottoman army always had it, and it was almost twice as powerful, and it was drunk to be beaten by others.
The plan couldn't keep up with the rapid changes, overestimating the strength of the allies, and the war became a war of attrition. Even if you fight this way, you won the battle, but you lost both.
"His Commander, Frontline News!" Said Shen Sheng, a young military officer.
"Read!" Emmaboule Jean-Jacques Perlisier said quietly
"Yes!" Replied the young officer.
"In the early morning of September 14, 1852, the Seventh Infantry Division encountered an encounter with the 16th Division of the enemy in the eastern area of ​​Sliven. After a day of fighting, our army defeated the enemy.
This battle killed 1328 enemy forces, captured 16 enemy forces, wounded several enemy forces, and seized 8 war horses, 628 rifles, 28 pistols, and ammunition.
Of course, our army also paid a bitter price. The 7th Infantry Division suffered 1,236 casualties, of which 784 were killed, 652 were injured, and 196 were missing. Major General Ole Hatton was concentrated by stray bullets, and his life and death are unknown. "
Is this also a victory? Emmaboule Jean-Jacques Perlisier was very skeptical that his officers had forgotten the concept of victory.
He also mixed up from the bottom, and this little trick has long been tired. Defeated the enemy? It was clear that the fighting was at night, and they all dispersed.
If you win, can you still lose nearly two hundred people? If the French army had so many idiots, this war would not have to be fought. Well, these people have now entered the Russian prisoner of war camp.
Emmable Jean-Jacques Perlisier frowned and ordered: "Send someone to ask if the stupid Ore Hatton is dead. If it is alive, give me the fastest speed to come here. Report. If you die, let the chief of staff come over. "
"Yes!" The young officer replied immediately
Emmable Jean-Jacques Perlisier did not believe this report. The casualties of the 7th Infantry Division should be real. No one dare to fake these things.
But the glorious results are mostly nonsense. If they win, the captives will not be so small. The Russian army is not the master of death, and the French army will not kill the captives at this time.
The outcome of this encounter is that Emmaboule Jean-Jacques Perlisier doesn't care. The battlefield is constantly changing, and occasionally a small loss is acceptable.
The French Expeditionary Force also has a gap in combat effectiveness. The powerful combatants can smash all Russian troops, and the weakest combatants are also not Russian elite opponents.
The combat effectiveness of the 7th Infantry Division is only moderate in the French army. If it encounters the main force of the Russian army, it is not surprising that it will lose a little.
After a moment of contemplation, Emmaboule Jean-Jacques Perlisier ordered: "Order the troops, mainly defense, and try not to have a decisive battle with Russia.
We just drag them in the Sliven area and wait for a breakthrough in the Sofia battlefield before decisive battle with the Russians. "
The Ottoman army was ineffective and the Sliven area could not make a breakthrough. Emmaboule Jean-Jacques Perlisier has abandoned plans to battle the Russians here.
This is not France. It is not necessary to work hard for the Ottomans. According to Emmabouille Jean-Jacques Perlisier, the priority now is to preserve strength.
They held back the main force of the Russians and had fulfilled the obligations of their allies. Now it is the Ottoman army that has not completed the cooperative task, making the combat plan impossible to implement, and it is not their responsibility.
After the British have won in Sofia, they will join forces to annihilate the Russians in front of them. Anyway, there are only more than 70,000 Russian troops, 50,000 British troops plus 20,000 Sardinian troops, and 30,000 Ottoman troops have absolute advantages.
Otherwise, now they are desperately fighting with the Russians, and even if they win the war, this French expeditionary force will not have much left.
...
Russian General Command
Commander Menshkov didn't know that he had managed to escape. If the French fought desperately at this time, there is still a good chance of winning.
The fighting force of the Ottoman army is not good. It is not possible to face the decisive battle. If it is a downwind, it may not be.
As long as the French army was willing to die, Ken top rushed forward and beat down the Russian arrogance. The Ottoman army followed the battle, and the combat effectiveness came out.
"Order the troops and give me an attack at all costs. We must tear open the enemy's defense line as soon as possible. Don't worry about casualties. In the Principality of Wallachia, we have 50,000 supplementary soldiers, and in Ukraine we need 300,000 reinforcements.
As long as we win, the Russian Empire has been waiting for this victory for almost two hundred years, and the nine generations have fought for it.
Constantinople is now less than three hundred kilometers away from us. Rip the enemy's defenses and no one can stop us. "
Menshkov said passionately, as if it was not the headquarters, but the podium, he was doing an exciting speech.
How much are Russians willing to pay for Constantinople? No one knows this question, but ask a different question.
Is it worth paying millions of casualties to Constantinople? The answer from the Russians is: it's worth it!
From the first Russian-Turkish war to the present, the Russians have paid more than a million casualties for this fortress city. Have they shaken?
Menshekov knew the Tsarist government's determination that victory must be achieved.
The small goal of this Russian-Turkish war is to capture Constantinople and lock the Bosporus. The highest goal is to occupy the land along the two straits and turn the Marmara and Aegean Seas into Russia's inland seas.
Casualties were not considered by the Tsarist government from the beginning. As long as the victory in the war is won, tens of thousands of casualties and hundreds of thousands of casualties are paid, in the opinion of the Tsar government, this gap is just a figure.
Lieutenant General Boulder questioned: "Hi Commander, now we have done our best. If we increase the intensity of the offensive, we will probably leave the enemy a chance.
Everyone knows the combat effectiveness of the French. We can only rely on the strength of the military except for a small number of elite troops to compete with them.
In the area around Sliven, on this front of more than 100 kilometers, we do not have an absolute military advantage. In many places, the enemy has a military advantage.
Now we have the upper hand, it is the Ottomans who are weak. If you blindly attack the French position, you will consume a lot of strength.
If we are not prepared for the sudden attack by the French, we will probably suffer a little. By then, these Ottoman troops with low combat effectiveness will likely give us a fatal blow. "
Menshkov shook his head and said, "General Bourd, you have been thinking too much. The French are indeed very powerful, but they have too few troops.
Now attacking the French army is trying to consume them. The French are not gods, they will collapse as the casualties increase.
I said that they would cause 3,000 casualties to them every day. Within a month, the French would collapse.
With hundreds of thousands of casualties, winning this battle is really worth it.
If we don't kill the French elite troops and instead bully the Ottoman rabbits, even if we kill all these hundreds of thousands of rabbits, this war will continue. "
Arms can't beat the thighs, the coach asked to attack, then naturally only hit. Anyway, all the dead animals were gray animals, and they didn't need their officers to charge.
...
Sofia on the battlefield
Montes didn't know that the French allies had given him the burden of winning the victory, and now he was counting on Sliven to make a breakthrough on the battlefield, and he was so painful to hit the water dog.
As for commanding the army, defeating the Russian army in front of it, and then going to the Russians' back road to win this battle.
Such a difficult thing, let the allies go! According to Montes, the fighting force in his hand is 50,000 British troops, plus a maximum of 20,000 Sardinian troops, and the Ottomans can't count on it.
The Russian army on the other side also had more than 70,000, and there was also a Bulgarian guerrilla. The combat effectiveness of the guerrillas is not worth mentioning. It is estimated that they are half as good as the Ottomans, and the two just offset each other.
With 70,000 to 70,000, even if you win, you have to lose a lot.
Montes only came to depend on the battle, not to ask for trouble. Domestic bureaucrats don't care. Their contribution on the battlefield depends only on the results of the battle.
In simple terms, how many enemies are killed and how much they pay. In front of the French, they were in deep siege, and they could play an exchange ratio of 1: 1.3. They are now 100,000 to 70,000, and they must play even more beautifully.
The guerrillas are not considered by the London bureaucrats and cannot be included in the record. They only recognize the regular army.
Before playing against the Russians, Montes was confident. After the fight, this confidence is gone. In terms of overall combat effectiveness, the British army did have an advantage, but this advantage was not obvious.
At least 50,000 British troops will not win 70,000 Russian troops. If the Russian troops on the opposite side have not changed their dress, then relying on their firepower advantage, it is not impossible.
The range of the rifle used by the Russian army before replacement was only 200 yards, and the range of the British rifle was more than 1,000 yards. At the rate of fire, the British rifle was also at least 30% faster, and the advantage on the artillery was greater.
(Note: 1 yard is equal to 0.91 meters)
Historically, the Russians suffered a big loss in equipment during the Crimean War, and were abused by the British and French forces.
It's different now, and the changed Russian army has caught up with the firepower. It was these forces that fought the British in the early stage, which directly led Montes to overestimate the strength of the Russians.
Based on this judgment, Montes made a limited attack and decided to consume the Russians first. In simple terms, it is commanding the Ottoman army to serve as cannon fodder, rushing ahead to fight the Russian army, and the British to be the oversight team.
On the face of it, there was no problem. In fact, he ignored that such fighting was actually training the Russians.
An army won a battle and became a veteran; after winning three or five battles, it became elite. This is how the elite divisions of this era are played.
Consecutive victories not only increase combat experience, but also confidence and morale.
The Ottoman army, which was smashing ahead, was sending experience to the Russians to help them complete the upgrade.
Fortunately, the Russian commander, Fitzroy Somerset, did not notice this. Otherwise, he transferred all the Russian troops to rotate several times, and the Russians would have to add an elite division.
Then the British will not have to fight in the future. Although their training is more stringent than that of the Russians, elite troops cannot be established by training, but also undergo the baptism of blood and fire.
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