Chapter 241: Unable to make a choice
Chapter 235: The Helpless Choice
After more than two months of hard fighting, the allied forces finally defeated the Greek “civil army”, achieving the first major victory for the British army since the outbreak of the Near East War.
Major General Oliver’s heart was hanging in the air, and he finally had something to show for it. With less than 5,000 casualties on his side, he killed 18,000 enemy soldiers and captured 14,000, which is a brilliant result.
The matter of the enemy army being a rabble had been decisively ignored by him, as long as he continued to make further efforts to defeat the Black Mountain Duchy army, he would have accomplished all of his combat tasks.
A young officer reported, “General, a military order has come from the country: we are ordered to continue pursuing the enemy army, and if the Greek Kingdom takes in these enemy troops, the country authorizes us to use the necessary means.”
Necessary means? It was actually an excuse to enter the Kingdom of Greece and teach the Greek government a lesson. Apparently the government in London was already very unhappy with Otto I’s government and wanted to show them a lesson.
“Understood.” Major General Oliver replied calmly.
He didn’t have a good feeling towards the Greeks, if it wasn’t for the Greeks’ sneak attack, forcing the Ottomans to draw down their frontline troops, the Battle of Sofia wouldn’t have been lost.
Despite putting the blame on others, Major General Oliver still knew in his heart that he was to blame for that battle, and it would stay with him for the rest of his life, becoming an indelible stain.
Now that he had the chance to settle the score with the Greeks, he naturally wouldn’t let go of the opportunity.
There will always be excuses, even if Otto I pretended to be a wimp, this time the London government wants to knock this restless little brother, or will make a move.
Trying to muddle through was obviously impossible. Only the Greek government did not recognize this military expedition, then in the open the British could not use this as a reason to do anything to them.
European countries are still watching it, once done over the head, everyone will still intervene, John Bull can not do a hand.
Even the British domestic, also do not think that Greece attack the Ottomans have any big problem, only they choose the wrong time.
The Greek government lost its way at the last minute and didn’t join the Russians, so there was room for maneuver, and it was clear that Otto I’s political judgment was still passable.
……
Outside Constantinople at the Russian General Headquarters, General Mareshkov again received a letter of reprimand from Nicholas I.
After attacking for such a long time, paying more than 100,000 casualties, Constantinople is still in the hands of the enemy, not seeing half a sign of being conquered, the tsarist government is naturally anxious.
Maishkov’s pressure increased greatly, if you can not think of a way, the government of St. Petersburg will have to change, then the glory of the conquest of Constantinople, and he said goodbye forever, this is Maishkov can never tolerate.
A middle-aged general suggested, “Sir Commander, you can consider the Austrian’s suggestion, as long as we can capture Constantinople, the rest of the things are good.”
Maeshkov shook his head and said, “The Austrian proposal is too costly! Instead of conquering Constantinople, they want to flatten Constantinople with artillery.
Those heavy cannons they recommended, in addition to being used to attack the city, can only be used as shore cannons in the back. If they really get a few hundred giant cannons over as they propose, the daily consumption of ammunition is several thousand tons.
Not to mention that we can’t afford to consume, I guess even if the Austrians are producing at full capacity, they may not be able to meet our needs.
Every day knocking out millions of rubles worth of ammunition, to capture Constantinople, at least hundreds of millions of rubles, or even more than a billion rubles need to be consumed, do you think we can afford to fight?”
This is not the most pitiful, what is even more pitiful is that after the money is spent, Constantinople may not necessarily be able to be defeated.
Austria recommended the huge guns, in the battlefield to move very inconvenient, in case the enemy to destroy the artillery position, that would be even worse.
The middle-aged officer reminded, ”But Your Excellency the Commander, this is the only way that looks like it will be able to break through Constantinople.
The enemy forces on the other side are very stubborn, and they are relying on their fortifications for defense. The six-pounders we have in our hands are simply tickling them, and even the twelve-pounders can only deal with some ordinary fortifications.
Unable to destroy these fortress forts, what are we going to take Constantinople with? If we miss this opportunity, we are the sinners of Russia.”
That was what was most hopeless, and whether the solution was reliable or not, it was the only one likely to succeed.
The tsarist government is not going to care so much, the people in the country is even less outside, have reached the foot of Constantinople, if you do not take the city, to stand up to the ancestors?
……
toured the camp, looked at the declining morale, listening to the wailing screams, even if the hard-hearted Maishkov, but also can not help but falter.
He knew that he could not go on like this, so fight on, I guess Constantinople has not yet attacked, the Russian army will first want to mutiny.
Gray animals are also people, when casualties reach a certain level, they will also collapse, the consequences of this is Maishikov can not afford.
……
In a corner of the camp, several soldiers were plotting.
A gray-headed young soldier said in a low tone, “Joey, have you figured out the route? If we continue like this, I’m afraid it won’t be long before we all fall on the battlefield.
Do you know, just yesterday that Rauschbicki guy got his left leg blown up and had to amputate it to avoid infection. Unable to bear the blow, he committed suicide that night.”
A middle-aged soldier next to him warned, “Fox, don’t be like this. The departure route has to be planned out, or else if there is a slip-up, we’ll be hanging at the gate of the camp!”
In order to make an example and deter deserters, the Russian army took a very cruel method: hanging people on a standing pole, dying alive of sunlight, thirst, and starvation ……
Looking at the expectant crowd, Joey sighed and took out a sketch map and pointed to it, explaining, “The route has been found, but it’s a difficult road.
Leaving from here, there are people guarding the route along the way, and you must evade these people and enter the Balkan Mountains to be considered safe for the time being.
This is only the first stage of your escape; later you will have to cross the Balkans to enter the Austrian occupied territories.
In the meantime, you will not be able to get any supplies from the outside world, and will have to search for food in the mountains and forests, and in addition to being careful of poisonous insects and beasts, you will also have to worry about losing your way.
Arriving at the Austrian occupation zone doesn’t mean it’s safe either. They are our allies, and even if you enter by mistake, you will not be disarmed, and most likely you will still be repatriated back.
To muddle through, you’ll have to pose as war refugees, and language is a big problem. Russian and Bulgarian are very similar, but there are still differences, and no one knows what will happen if you are recognized.”
The middle-aged man said cautiously, “We have no choice, you may not know from your time in the logistics unit, the casualties on the front line are too heavy these days, and every day you can see familiar people leaving the area.
Half of our battalion has been replenished one after another, if we continue to stay here, it won’t be long before everyone dies here.
Joey, whether we make it out or not, thank you.
You can rest assured that we’ve already mapped out the situation, and we’ll look for a chance to play dead during the attack, and then sneak out when it gets dark.
Even if we are discovered, we can say that we were stunned by the bomb and our brains are confused.”
A premeditated escape kicked off, they weren’t the first, nor would they be the last, the brutal casualties had broken their nerves.
Everyone would rather take the risk of escaping and fighting for a life in the unknown than continue to stay here.
Anyway, their families are all serfs and belong to the property of the noble lords, even if they are discovered, they don’t have to worry about implicating their families.
……
The middle-aged man asked in a low voice, “Hurry up, where is Wallace, why don’t we see this kid?”
Fox replied, “Uncle Marnie, didn’t see him follow up, I’m afraid that there was an accident, why don’t we go back and look for him?”
The middle-aged man thought about it and said, “Don’t worry about him, life and death have their own destiny on the battlefield, where can we find him in the dark?
Now let’s all go, it’s not safe here anymore, if we can’t quickly shuttle through here, none of us will be able to run away at dawn.”
Their luck was good, someone provided a road map, they didn’t run in the wrong direction, and safely spent the first day of their escape.
But not everyone was so lucky anymore, not long after they left, another wave of deserters were very unfortunate to run into a patrol, and then naturally they were caught.
The Judge Advocate asked, “Your Excellency the Commander, seven more deserters were caught last night, is it the same as before?”
“Uh-huh!”
Mareshkov said what seemed to be just a casual word, but in reality his heart was unsettled.
The number of deserters was increasing, and as a high-ranking officer who wasn’t exactly an idiot, he knew that meant it was nearing the limit of what this unit could take.
In the face of reality, Mareshkov quickly made a compromise, he didn’t want to become a traitor to his country yet, so this battle had to be fought.
The problem of money, let the tsarist government headache, anyway, now no one can retreat.
Mareshkov said, “Come on people, borrow the Austrian telegraph network, forward this telegram to the government of St. Petersburg!”
Since the Austrian takeover of the two Danube principalities, wire telegraphs were also rapidly laid over, connecting to the domestic telegraph network at the end of 1853.
At this time, the Russians, transmitting messages that did not particularly require secrecy, often borrowed the Austrian telegraph network, and it was done in two or three days.
If the Russians had to use their own network, they would have had to travel to a major city in Poland or the Ukraine before they could send a telegram. Without ten days and half a month, it was impossible to send the news back to St. Petersburg.
Obviously, Menshkov did not think that the battle plan needed to be kept secret from the Austrians, even if he wanted to keep it secret, he could not do it, and the artillery had to be purchased from the Austrians.
Maishkov is not prepared to let the domestic military industrialization enterprises supply, wait for them to produce artillery, transported to the front who knows whether it is a year later, or two years later?
On the issue of attacking Constantinople, Nicholas I is fully supportive of his work, who dares to make things happen here, is against the great Tsarina.
Without the Tsar’s support, Maimeshkov could not have changed the logistical transportation system of the Russian army in the Balkans, and if he hadn’t, the days of the Russian army on the front line would not have been so good.
The ball was kicked to St. Petersburg, Mareshkov explained the situation in detail, and it was up to Nicholas I to decide what to choose.
(End of chapter)