Holy Roman Empire

Balkan Peninsula

The Russians have already shed blood with the coalition forces. It is worth mentioning that the largest number of Ottoman troops has become a supporting role in this war. The main force of the coalition forces has become Britain and France.

In the Sliven region, the two sides were in a stalemate. The French blocked the Russians' progress. Now, every step forward must be filled with human life.

Because the Ottomans were not forceful, they were held back by the Russian army with a small amount of force. It is now 160,000 French troops against 280,000 Russian troops. It is very difficult for the French to block the Russians. The counterattack does not exist.

French commander Emma Bleu Jean-Jacques Perissier had a headache. In the previous battle, he used 10,000 French troops to fight off 20,000 Russian troops, which is a brilliant result.

It is a pity that the allies are not forceful, the Russian army just divided a partial division, plus tens of thousands of Bulgarian guerrillas, it pressed more than 400,000 Ottoman troops to fight, and it could prevail.Faced with such teammates, anyone will have a headache.

Aimble Jean-Jacques Perissier acknowledged that the Ottoman army ’s lack of combat effectiveness was mainly caused by the tradition of squandering pay. The actual number of people on the battlefield each time was nominally two or three layers lower.

Even if it is discounted, there are always more than 300,000 Ottoman troops, almost twice the strength advantage, and he was drunk when pressed by others.

The plan couldn't keep up with the rapid changes, overestimated the strength of allies, and the war became a war of attrition. Even if you fight this way, even if you win this battle, you will lose both sides.

"My Excellency Commander, frontline success!" Said Shen Sheng, a young military officer

"Nian!" Ambler Jean Jacques Perissier said quietly

"Yes!" The young officer replied

"In the early morning of September 14, 1852, the 7th Infantry Division encountered an encounter with the 16th Division of the enemy in the eastern area of ​​Sliven. After a day of bloody fighting, our army defeated the enemy.

In this campaign, 1328 enemy soldiers were killed, 16 enemy soldiers were captured, and several enemy soldiers were injured. Eight horses, 628 rifles, 28 pistols, and some ammunition were seized.

Of course, our army also paid a terrible price.The 7th Infantry Division suffered 1,236 casualties, of which 784 were killed in war, 652 were injured, and 196 were missing. Major General Orehaton, the division commander, was concentrated by stray bullets, and his life and death are unknown."

Is this also a victory?Aimble Jean-Jacques Perissier was very skeptical that his officers had forgotten the concept of victory.

He also mixed up from the bottom, this little trick has long been boring.Defeated the enemy?It is clear that the fighting has ended at night, and each has dispersed.

If you win the battle, you can still lose nearly 200 people?If the French had so many idiots, this war would not have to be fought.If these people are not successful, they are now in the Russian prisoner of war camp.

Aimble Jean-Jacques Perissier frowned and ordered: "Send someone to ask if the stupid Ore Hatton is dead, if he is still alive, give me the fastest speed to come here Report. If you die, let the chief of staff come over. "

"Yes!" The young officer immediately replied

Aimble Jean-Jacques Perissier could not believe the report. The casualties of the Seventh Infantry Division should be true. No one dared to fake these things.

But the glorious results are mostly nonsense. If you win, there will not be so few captives.The Russian army is not a deadly man, nor will the French army slaughter captives at this time.

Ambler Jean Jacques Perissier did not care about the outcome of this encounter. The battlefield is constantly changing, and occasionally eating a small loss is acceptable.

The French Expeditionary Force also has a gap in combat effectiveness. The powerful combat force can hang all Russian troops. The weakest combat force is also not an elite Russian opponent.

The combat effectiveness of the 7th Infantry Division is only moderate in the French army. If you encounter the main Russian troops, it is not surprising that you will suffer a little.

After pondering for a while, Aimble Jean-Jacques Perissier ordered: "Order the troops to be defensive, and try not to fight Russia.

We just have to drag them in the Sliven area, and wait for the Sofia battlefield to make a breakthrough before we fight the Russians."

The Ottoman army was incapable of fighting, and the Sliven region could not make a breakthrough. Aimble Jean-Jacques Perissier had given up his plan to fight the Russians here.

Here is not France, desperately for the Ottomans is not necessary, in the view of Ambler Jean Jacques Perissier, the first priority now is to preserve strength.

They have held back the main force of the Russians and have fulfilled their ally's obligations. It is now the Ottoman army that has failed to complete the cooperating tasks, resulting in the inability of the implementation of the combat plan, and it is not their responsibility.

After the British had won in Sofia, they would join forces to surround the Russians.Anyway, the Russian army there is only more than 70,000, and the 50,000 British army plus 20,000 Sardinian army and 30,000 Ottoman army have absolute advantages.

Otherwise, they are now desperately fighting with the Russians, and even if they finally won the war, there will not be much left for this French expeditionary force.

...

Russian General Command

The commander of Menshkov did not know that he was lucky enough to escape the disaster.If the French are desperate for a wave at this time, it is still very likely to win.

The fighting power of the Ottoman army is not good. That is not possible when fighting head-to-head.

As long as the French army was willing to suffer casualties, Ken rushed forward and punched the arrogance of the Russian army. These Ottoman troops followed the battle and the fighting power came out.

"Order the troops to 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 additional troops, and in Ukraine we have 300,000 reinforcements.

As long as we win, the Russian Empire has waited nearly two hundred years for this victory, and nine generations have fought for it.

Constantinople is now less than three hundred kilometers away from us, and tearing the enemy's defense line, no one can stop our footsteps."

Menshkov said passionately, as if here was not a command post, but a podium, and he was making an exciting speech.

How much are the Russians willing to pay for Constantinople?No one knows this question, but ask another way.

Is it worth paying millions of casualties for Constantinople?The Russian answer is: it is worth it!

From the first Russian-Turkish War to the present, the Russians have paid more than one million casualties for this fortress city. Have they shaken?

Myshkov knows the determination of the tsarist government, that is to win.

The small goal of the Russian-Turkish war was to capture Constantinople and lock the Bosphorus.The highest goal is to occupy the land along the two straits and turn the Marmara Sea and the Aegean Sea into Russia ’s inland seas.

The casualties were not considered by the tsarist government from the beginning.As long as the war is won, tens of thousands of casualties and hundreds of thousands of casualties are paid, this gap is only a figure in the eyes of the Tsarist government.

Lieutenant General Bould questioned: "My Excellency Commander, we have done our best now, and if we increase the intensity of our offense, it will probably leave the enemy with a chance.

Everyone knows the fighting power of the French. Except for a few elite troops who can compete with them, we can only rely on the strength of our troops.

In the area around Sliven, on this front line of more than 100 kilometers, we do not have an absolute strength advantage. In many places, the enemy has the strength advantage.

Now that we have the upper hand, it is the Ottomans who are weak.A blind attack on the French position consumes a lot of strength.

If you do n’t take precautions, the French will suddenly attack, and we will probably suffer a little.By then, these low-power Ottoman troops will likely give us a fatal blow."

Myshkov shook his head and said, "General Boulder, you are too worried. The French are indeed very powerful, but their strength is too small.

Attacking the French now is fighting with them.The French are not gods, and they will collapse as the casualties increase.

I said that every day, they caused 3,000 casualties, and within a month, the French would collapse.

It was really worth it to win the battle with hundreds of thousands of casualties.

If we don't destroy the elite French troops and instead bully the Ottoman rabbits, even if we kill all the hundreds of thousands of rabbits, this war will continue."

Arms can not be thighs, the coach asked to attack, then naturally can only fight.Anyway, all the dead animals are gray cattle, and they do n’t need these officers to charge.

...

Sofia battlefield

Montes didn't know yet that the French allies had given him the burden of winning, and now he was counting on a breakthrough on the battlefield of Sliven.

As for commanding the army, defeat the Russian army in front of them, and then go to copy the Russian back and win this battle.

For such a difficult task, let allies go!In Montes's view, the combat force in his hands is 50,000 British troops, and at most 20,000 Sardinian troops, the Ottomans can't count on it.

There are also more than 70,000 Russian troops on the opposite side, and there is also a Bulgarian guerrillas. The combat effectiveness of the guerrillas is not worth mentioning. It is estimated that it is half a catty with the Ottomans.

With 70,000 to 70,000, even if you win, you have to lose a lot.

Montess only came to rely on the merits of war, but he didn't ask for trouble.Domestic bureaucrats don't care. Their contribution on the battlefield depends only on the results.

To put it simply, how many enemies are killed and how much is paid.In front of the French, they are deeply involved, and they can all play a 1: 1.3 exchange ratio. They are now 100,000 to 70,000, and they must play more beautifully.

The guerrillas are not considered by the London bureaucrats and cannot be counted in the record, they only recognize the regular army.

Before playing against the Russians, Montes was still confident.After the fight, this confidence is gone.In terms of overall combat effectiveness, the British army does have an advantage, but this advantage is not obvious.

At least 50,000 British troops still can't win 70,000 Russian troops. If the Russian troops on the opposite side are not changed, it is not impossible for them to rely on firepower.

Before the refit, the Russian rifle had a range of only 200 yards, and the British rifle had a range of more than 1,000 yards. The British rifle had to be at least 30% faster at the rate of fire. The artillery had a greater advantage.

(Remarks: 1 yard is equal to 0.91 meters)

Historically, the Russians suffered a major loss of equipment in the Crimean War and were savaged by the British and French coalition forces.

It's different now, the refitted Russian army has caught up in firepower.It was these forces that fought against the British in the early days, which directly made Montes overestimate the strength of the Russians.

Based on this judgment, Montes made a limited attack, first consuming the Russians' decision.To put it simply, it is to command the Ottoman army as cannon fodder, rush ahead to fight the Russian army, and the British as the governor.

On the surface, there is no problem. In fact, he ignored it. Such a battle is actually helping the Russians to train troops.

An army won a battle and became a veteran; after winning three or five battles, it became elite.This is how elite teachers of this era came out.

The continuous victory not only increases combat experience, but also confidence and morale.

The Ottoman army, which rushed forward with a weak combat effectiveness, was giving the Russians experience 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 add an elite division.

Then there is no need for the British to fight later. Although their training is more strict than that of the Russians, the elite troops cannot be established by training, but they must also be baptized by blood and fire.