Struggle in Russia

The insistence of Nicholas I made Kornilov really speechless. He knew very well that this kind of attack would not be of any use at all, except to consume Sevastopol's precious living strength.

But the Tsar's order could not be disobeyed, and in desperation he could only say to Nicholas I: "Your Majesty, it is impossible to defeat the enemy according to your plan with the current strength of Sevastopol... Topol's available power is tight even to maintain defense, if you want to defeat the enemy, you need at least 50,000 troops!"

Nicholas I definitely couldn't give Kornilov 50,000 troops. After all, he has now transferred all the troops that can be transferred from the country to Wallachia and Crimea. If he transfers more troops from other places, it will become a vacuum. . And he also has to watch out for Polish and British and French attacks from other directions.

So give up this attack?

This is also unacceptable to Nicholas I. He just wants to attack and defeat the enemy, so this attack must be done!

So he gritted his teeth and ordered Duke Mikhail to dispatch 20,000 troops to support Kornilov. Although this is really a bit small, but for 20,000 people, Kornilov can't shirk any more, can he?

Even if the troops are a bit small, the mosquito legs are still meat. If you grit your teeth and think of a way, maybe you can make up enough numbers?

Of course Kornilov was not enough, and he would not do it either. In September 1854, when he received 20,000 reinforcements, he just sighed and said helplessly to Nakhimov: " Now we have to do it if we don't!"

Nakhimov is also very helpless about this. It would be great if these 20,000 people were invested in the defense of Sevastopol! But who let them have a brainless king!

"What are you going to do?" Nakhimov asked.

"Our frontal enemies have built a solid offensive and have strong artillery support. Attacking them frontally is simply courting death!"

"The only location where the enemy can be regarded as a loophole is near the Qornaya River. The terrain there is flat and there is no danger to defend, and the difficulty of attacking there is relatively low."

Nakhimov didn't need to look at the map to know what Kornilov was talking about. Ever since the coalition began to besiege Sevastopol, they have been trying to cut off the aqueduct of Sevastopol, so in Cholnaya The river is arranged with about 5,000 people and horses.

Although the action of the coalition forces to destroy the aqueduct did not achieve the expected effect, the 5,000 people have not been transferred back, but stayed on the Cholnaya River to monitor the Russian supply route north of Sevastopol.

Several times before, the supply operations organized by Simferopol were destroyed by these defenders. If they were able to drive them away, it would be equivalent to kicking a bomb off their own supply line, and it could also threaten the water and water resources of the coalition forces. flank.

When and then the two means that, because as long as the coalition forces are too strong, even if they lose their positions unnoticed for a while, they can effortlessly increase their investment to regain them in the future.

Such a bit of a tasteless place would definitely not be handled according to Nakhimov's will, but who made Nicholas I the head iron? If you want to explain something, you can only start here!

But before that, Kornilov convened a battle meeting with the generals to see if there was a better solution. But the result is that his plan was unanimously opposed.

Count Osten-Sackon, commander of the city defense of Sevastopol's southern port area, said bluntly: "From the current situation, the fall of Sevastopol is only a matter of time, and the only thing we can do now is to do our best. Delay the process if possible, instead of blindly jumping into the offense to speed it up!"

"I don't think any offensive action is advisable, it's utterly stupid and crazy! As long as there is a shred of reason in the brain, there should be no such thoughts! The most correct way is not to attack, but to retreat and break through immediately, giving up Sevasto. Bol retreating to Simferopol is the best policy!"

As for the other generals, although their words were not as straightforward as the one above said, their meaning was also very clear, that is, to oppose the attack. This made Kornilov even more speechless, and finally he could only tell everyone helplessly: "This is His Majesty's will and cannot be stopped!"

In this way, everyone knew that it was useless to object, but there were also many opinions on how to attack everyone. It's a one-time competition with the enemy.

He said: "We should completely destroy Sevastopol, completely destroy the city, leaving not even a single brick to the enemy, and then we should concentrate our forces on an all-out attack.

"Are you crazy?" exclaimed Earl Osten-Sackon~www.readwn.com~ This is suicide, do you want us all to go to hell? "

Khrulev replied nonchalantly: "So what? Let everyone die, and we will leave an indelible mark on the map!"

Fortunately, not all the generals of the Russian army were lunatics like Khrulev. In the end, the calm faction prevailed. At the end of the meeting, everyone voted to approve Kornilov's plan to attack the enemy on the Chornaya River.

It's just that Kornilov was not optimistic about this action at all. After the meeting, he wrote to Prince Dolgorukov, Minister of War: "I will attack the enemy on the Chornaya River, because if not By doing so, His Majesty will destroy Sevastopol with an even crazier and more dangerous plan. Although this attack is likely to fail, if you get away with it, I hope you will try to calm His Majesty, we will never go through it again Any similar dangerous action!"

Kornilov set the attack time on August 16, because the first day was the "Emperor's Day" of the French army. On this day, the French army fell into a carnival, drinking and having fun all night. It has to be said that Kornilov Pick a suitable time to attack.

Following the cover of the morning fog, Kornilov commanded the troops to march towards the French positions. He invested 30,000 troops, including 25,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry, and also attached 270 field guns. .

According to his plan, the attack was not launched in advance, and the cavalry was first inserted into the enemy's position. If it went well, the infantry was thrown in.

It should be said that Kornilov is still very cautious. According to his plan, even if the attack does not go smoothly, the Russian army will not suffer too much losses.

It's just that there are always such and such accidents in this world. For example, the Russian army's attack has occurred frequently from the beginning...