Chapter 235: Helpless choice

After more than two months of hard fighting, the coalition forces finally defeated the Greek "civilian armed forces" and achieved the first victory of the British army since the outbreak of the Near East War.
Major Oliver's hanging heart also fell to the ground, and he finally had a record. With less than 5,000 casualties on his own side, he killed 18,000 enemy troops and captured 14,000 enemy troops.
The enemy's business was a matter of blackness and he had been decisively ignored. As long as he continued to defeat the Principality of Montenegro, he would complete all the combat tasks.
A young officer reported: "General, military orders from the country: order us to continue to pursue the enemy forces, if the Greek Kingdom accepts these enemy forces, domestic authorization we can take the necessary means."
Necessary means? In fact, it is an excuse to enter the Greek kingdom and teach the Greek government. Apparently, the London government was very dissatisfied with the government of Otto I, and wanted to give them some color to see.
"I see," Major Oliver replied calmly.
He has no good opinion of the Greeks. If it was not for the Greeks' sneak attack, the Ottomans were forced to reduce their frontline forces, and the battle of Sofia would not be lost.
Although all the responsibilities were passed on to others, Major General Oliver knew it well. The battle was difficult to blame. It would accompany his life and become an indelible stain.
Now I have the opportunity to find the Greeks to settle accounts, he naturally will not let go of this opportunity.
There will always be excuses. Even if Otto I pretended, this time the London government would try to beat this restless young man.
It is obviously impossible to get confused. It's just that the Greek government did not recognize the troop dispatch, so in the face of it, the British could not use this as a reason to treat them.
The European countries are still watching. Once they have done too much, everyone will still interfere, and John Niu can't cover everything.
Even in the UK, there is no problem with Greece's attack on the Ottomans, but they have chosen the wrong time.
The Greek government lost its way at the last minute and did not join the Russian camp, which left room for manoeuvre. Obviously, the political judgment of Otto I was still acceptable.
...
Constantinople's General Command of the Russian Foreign Forces, General Menshkov, once again received a letter of reprimand from Nicholas I.
The attack lasted so long and cost hundreds of thousands of casualties. Constantinople was still in the hands of the enemy and could not see any signs of being conquered. The Tsarist government was naturally anxious.
The pressure on Menshekov has increased greatly. If he can't think of a way, the St. Petersburg government will have to replace someone. When the glory of Constantinople is overcome, he will part with him. This is intolerable for Menshekov. .
A middle-aged general proposed: "Her commander, consider the Austrian suggestion, as long as you can conquer Constantinople, everything is easy to do."
Menshkov shook his head and said, "The Austrian proposal was too expensive! They did not conquer Constantinople, but they used a cannon to blast Constantinople.
Except for the heavy artillery they recommend, they can only be used as shore artillery in the future. If they had proposed hundreds of huge artillery guns, their ammunition consumption would be thousands of tons per day.
Don't say that we ca n’t afford it. It is estimated that even if the Austrians produce at full capacity, they may not be able to meet our needs.
Every day, destroying millions of rubles worth of ammunition. To conquer Constantinople, at least hundreds of millions of rubles, or even a billion rubles, are needed. Do you think we can fight them? "
This is not the most pitfall, but the money is spent, and Constantinople may not be able to beat it.
The artillery recommended by Austria is very inconvenient to move on the battlefield. It would be even worse if the artillery positions were destroyed by the enemy.
The middle-aged officer reminded: "But the Commander, this is the only way that seems to be able to breach Constantinople.
The enemy forces opposite were very stubborn and they relied on fortifications to defend. The six-pound cannon in our hands simply tickles them. Even a twelve-pound cannon can only deal with some ordinary fortifications.
Unable to destroy these fortresses, what can we do to conquer Constantinople? If we miss this opportunity, we are Russian sinners. "
This is the most helpless, no matter how reliable this method is, but it is the only way to succeed.
The tsarist government will not care so much, and the people in the country will not be too much outside, and all have reached the foot of Constantinople. If you do n’t win this city, will you be worthy of your ancestors?
...
After visiting the camp, watching the declining morale and listening to the mournful screams, even the iron-hearted Meneshkov couldn't help shaking.
He knew that he couldn't continue this way anymore. It was estimated that the Russian army would have mutinized before Constantinople had attacked.
Gray animals are also human. When the casualties have reached a certain level, they will also collapse. This consequence cannot be afforded by Menshekov.
...
In one corner of the camp, several soldiers were plotting.
A gray-faced young soldier said in a low tone, "Joy, have you figured out the route? If you continue this way, I'm afraid it won't be long before we all fall on the battlefield.
Did you know that just yesterday, the guy from Rollsbee was injured in the left leg. In order to avoid infection, he had to amputate. Unable to bear the blow, he committed suicide that night. "
A middle-aged soldier next to him reminded: "Fox, don't be like this. The route must be planned before leaving, otherwise if there is a mistake, we will be hung at the gate of the camp!"
In order to kill a hundred and deter deserters, the Russian army took a very cruel approach: dropping people on a pole, sunburn, thirst, starvation ...
Looking at the expectant crowd, Joey sighed, took out a sketch and pointed out, explaining, "The route has been found, but this road is difficult to take.
From here, there are people guarding along the way, you must avoid these people and enter the Balkan Mountains to be temporarily safe.
This is only the first stage of your escape. Later, you will have to cross the Balkan Mountains to enter the occupied area of ​​Austria.
During this period, you can't get any supplies from the outside, you can only find food in the mountains and forests. In addition to beware of poisonous beasts, you also need to worry about getting lost.
Arriving in the Austrian occupation area does not mean that it is safe. They are our allies. Even if you are mistakenly in, you will not be disarmed, and you will most likely be repatriated.
If you want to mix up, you can only pretend to be war refugees. Language is a big problem. Russian and Bulgarian are very similar, but there are still differences. No one knows what will happen once they are discovered. "
The middle-aged man said cautiously: "We have no choice. You may not know in the logistic forces. The casualties on the front lines are too heavy these days. You can see familiar people leaving here every day.
Half of the people in our camp are supplemented one after another. If we continue to stay, we will all die here.
Joey, thank you whether we can run out or not.
You can rest assured that we have figured out the situation, and found an opportunity to pretend to die during the offensive, and then secretly leave when it gets dark.
Even if it was discovered, we can say that we were stunned by the bomb and our brains were confused. "
A premeditated escape started, and they were not the first or the last, and their cruel casualties had broken their nerves.
Everyone would rather risk running away to fight for an unknown life than to stay here.
Anyway, all of their families are serfs, and they belong to the noble grandpas. Even if they are found, there is no need to worry about being involved in the family.
...
The middle-aged man whispered, "Hurry up, Wallace. Why don't you see this boy?"
Fox replied: "Uncle Marney, I didn't see him follow, for fear of an accident, should we go back and look for it?"
The middle-aged man thought for a while and said, "You don't need to worry about him. There is life and death on the battlefield. Where is this black lamp blind?
Everyone hurry up now, it's not safe here, if we can't shuttle quickly here, we can't even run away at dawn. "
They had good luck. Someone provided a road map. They did not run in the wrong direction and spent the first day of the escape safely.
But not everyone was so lucky. Shortly after they left, another wave of deserters encountered the patrol very unfortunately, and was naturally caught.
The military judge asked: "His Commander, did you catch another seven deserters last night, as usual?"
"Ok!"
Menshkov seemed to just say a word casually, in fact his heart was not calm.
The number of deserters is increasing. As a high-ranking officer who is not an idiot, he knows that this means that the endurance of this unit is approaching.
In the face of reality, Menshkov quickly made a compromise. He did not want to become a national thief, so this battle must be fought.
The question of money has given the Tsarist government a headache, and no one can back down anyway.
Menishkov said: "Come here, borrow the Austrian Telegraph Network and transfer this telegram to the St. Petersburg government!"
Since Austria took over the two Principalities of the Danube, the cable telegraph has also been laid quickly, and the domestic telegraph network was connected at the end of 1853.
At this time, the Russians passed on news that was not particularly confidential, and often borrowed the Austrian telegraph network, which could be done in two or three days.
If the Russians use their own communication network, they must first travel to Poland or Ukraine's big cities before they can generate telegrams. Without ten days and a half months, it is impossible to get the news back to St. Petersburg.
Apparently, Menshekov did not think that this battle plan needed to be kept secret from the Austrians. Even if it was to be kept secret, the artillery had to be purchased from the Austrians.
Myshkov wasn't prepared to supply the domestic military industry companies, waiting for them to produce the cannons and ship them to the front. Who knows whether it will be one year or two years later?
On the issue of attacking Constantinople, Nicholas I fully supported his work. Whoever dares to do things here is against his great Tsar.
Without the support of the Tsar, it would be impossible for Menshekov to change the logistical transportation system of the Russian army in the Balkans. If it did not change, the life of the frontline Russian army would not have been so good.
The ball was kicked to St. Petersburg, and Menshekov explained in detail all the circumstances, and how to choose was decided by Nicholas I.
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