Make France Great Again

Chapter 542 The Fall of Sevastopol

June 6, 1854, Sevastopol.

Gray clouds shrouded the sky above the city that was about to fall, and drizzle as dense as silk fell from the sky, bringing a hint of coolness to this city that had been hot for a long time.

In such weather, a large army headed south in the rain. They were a joint combat force composed of the French Guards Division and the British Guards Division, and the destination of this army was Sebasto. Boer South Bank.

The reason why they had to rush to the south bank of Sevastopol despite the rain was because of the two letters from Brigadier General Trochu yesterday.

The first letter was sent to the headquarters yesterday afternoon. In his heart, Brigadier General Trochu claimed that he led his troops to chase the Russian Empire's troops, and then killed Vice Admiral Kornilov and occupied Sevastopo. A bastion on the south bank of Er.

This made Marshal Saint-Arnaud and Pellissier overjoyed. They immediately wrote back to Brigadier General Trochu and ordered them to occupy the bastion at all costs until the main force arrived.

However, considering that Brigadier General Trochu on the south bank did not carry heavy weapons such as artillery before setting off, it would be somewhat difficult to defend.

In order to share some pressure on the south bank and also to weaken the defense system of the north bank, General Pellissier urgently launched an attack on the north bank. While attacking the north bank, he also dispatched naval troops to attack Sevas at the port of Sevastopol. Indiscriminate fire coverage of Topol port.

According to Pellissier's idea, the French Empire has already put in a full-scale attack on the north bank. The Russian defenders on the south bank must help the "brothers" on the north bank to share some of the pressure.

Who would have thought that after the entire battle, the Russian troops on the south bank made no movement at all, and they seemed to have given up on the north bank.

Sure enough, under the powerful attack of the French army, the First Division took only two hours to occupy the North Bank, and then marched all the way into the residential areas on the North Bank, and by the way conducted "friendly" visits to the people in the residential areas. access.

When the news of Canrobert's occupation reached the headquarters, the remaining three members of the headquarters except Pellissier and Saint-Arnaud were very happy (even though Commander Raglan, who was worried in his heart, was still ostensibly for France. happy with victory)

The time gradually moved to 11 o'clock in the evening, and the second letter from Brigadier General Trochu appeared. In the letter, Trochu said that the Russian Imperial Army was now frantically attacking the bastion he occupied, with hundreds of artillery pieces (mostly It was removed from the naval gun) and aimed at the bastion for bombing.

If they had not relied on the artillery left behind by the Russian Empire to defend the bastion before it retreated, their troops would probably have retreated under the first round of the Russian Empire's offensive.

Even so, their defense was still very difficult. In order to expand the defense range of the bastion, many soldiers had to dig deep trenches against the artillery fire of the Russian Empire.

In more than four hours from the start of the Russian offensive to Brigadier General Trochu's letter, the death toll in the British and French armies had reached about 500.

The total number of Trochu troops was only 5,000, and nearly one-tenth of the casualties were enough to prove how violent the Russian Empire's attack was.

Therefore, Pellissier and Marshal Saint-Arnault hurriedly called Commander Raglan over to discuss countermeasures.

At Commander Raglan's suggestion, the armies of the four countries divided into two groups and began to take action.

The British and French armies sent more mobile troops from the north coast of Sevastopol to the south coast. The Sardinian and Turkish armies sent a small number of troops to the port of Karayana via sea to support Brigadier General Trochu.

This arrangement obviously did not use Brigadier General Trochu's side as the main direction of attack, but the pawn responsible for containing the Russian army.

The small number of troops in Sardinia and Turkey only allowed Brigadier General Trochu to defend the bastion. The real main force was the troops rushing to the south coast via land.

From a common sense perspective, Commander Raglan's actions were simply unnecessary.

After all, the breakthrough already exists and they just need to expand it.

Raglan's behavior of giving up this breakthrough is a waste of resources.

Is Commander Raglan stupid? of course not! How could a general who rose to prominence in the Napoleonic era be said to be demented?

The reason why Commander Raglan proposed this strategy was for military glory!

From the beginning of the Crimean War to the present, except for the Battle of Armagh, the British army has been in a state of being led away.

Whether it is a breakthrough on the south bank of Sevastopol or an attack on the north bank of Sevastopol, the whole process is a personal show of the French Empire!

This kind of personal show is the best thing for the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia, but for Commander Raglan, every personal show in the French Empire is a destruction of his political life.

Just imagine, if The Times was full of reports about France's deeds in Crimea, then the citizens of London would think that Commander Raglan was a general who only talked big words and sent his own children to the gilded aristocracy. It will be even more apparent that Commander Raglan is a general who cannot lead their children to promotion.

At that time, Commander Raglan will not only be under pressure from public opinion outside the government, but even the nobles in the House of Lords within the government will also be dissatisfied with Commander Raglan.

Under attack from both inside and outside, Commander Raglan, not to mention being the commander-in-chief, the people of London are considered kind-hearted even if they don't get poked in the back.

Precisely because Commander Raglan could not withstand the pressure of public opinion, he had to satisfy the people of London and let the noble sons of the army receive military honors.

Leading the main force to reinforce Brigadier General Trochu was definitely not within the scope of Commander Raglan's consideration. Only by opening a second battlefield like the Battle of Armagh could Britain be "dominated".

Of course, Commander Raglan also knew that such an approach would cause dissatisfaction in France, so he took a step back and proposed that Pelissier serve as the commander of the main force, with the Duke of Cambridge as the auxiliary.

Although the French Empire complained about Commander Raglan's unnecessary actions, for the sake of the overall situation, it had to agree with Commander Raglan's approach.

The French Guards Division and the British Guards Division set out in the rain at around 6 a.m., and many soldiers fell behind along the way.

Even if someone accidentally fell behind, Pellissier and the Duke of Cambridge still ordered the follow-up troops to keep their heads down and continue to move forward. Those soldiers who accidentally fell behind could only find their own solutions.

With luck, they will be picked up by the troops arriving later.

If you are not lucky enough, you may lose your life directly.

Pelissier's task was to urge the two divisions to rush to the south bank as soon as possible.

After more than 10 hours of rapid march, the French Guards Division and the British Guards Division finally arrived near the Malakhov Fortress at around 4 p.m.

The original team of about 30,000 people now only has about 25,000 people left. Nearly one-sixth of the soldiers were forced to fall behind because they could not withstand the high-intensity running. The vast majority of the soldiers were from the British Guards Division. Soldier.

At this time, the sky in Sevastopol, although it had stopped raining, was still gray.

Every time you take a step forward on the muddy ground, you will feel as if someone is holding your feet with their hands to prevent you from moving forward.

"General Pelissier, should we find a village to live in! Wait until the weather clears before launching an attack!" The Duke of Cambridge on horseback asked General Pelissier beside him.

"No!" General Pelissier shook his head and replied to the Duke of Cambridge: "We must launch an attack as soon as possible!"

"But... we don't have heavy weapons in our hands! Isn't it a bit too risky to launch an attack now?" The Duke of Cambridge replied to Pelissier worriedly.

"Risk? How can there be no war without risk!" General Pelissier asked, "If there is no risk, is it still a war?"

"But..." The Duke of Cambridge lowered his voice and gritted his teeth and said to Pelissier: "I hope you can think about it for our commander-in-chief. We cannot lose too many people. Otherwise, it will be difficult for us to deal with the London government. Explain!"

"What about the standard of 500 people? If the number of deaths in Britain exceeds 500, then I will retreat immediately!" Pelissier stretched out five fingers and said to the Duke of Cambridge.

The Duke of Cambridge thought for a while, gritted his teeth and said to Pelissier: "Okay!"

Under Pellissier's order, the French and British troops advanced towards Malakhov Castle at around 5 p.m.

At this time, two thousand Russian Imperial troops in Malakhov Castle were having dinner.

After the British and French generals and soldiers jumped out of the first trench set by the Russian Empire, the Russian army in Malakhov Castle discovered the British and French troops.

"Oh, God!"

The Russian troops in Malakhov Fort looked at the British and French forces in the distance with horror. Although they had rifles and artillery in their hands, they did not dare to do anything.

Because there are so many British and French troops around Malakhov Fort, they have no idea which direction they should shoot in, not to mention that everyone in the Russian Empire now suffers from severe coalition-phobia syndrome.

After seeing the British and French forces getting closer and closer, the Russian Imperial soldiers turned around and ran towards the residential area.

Ten minutes later, the flags of the British and French armies were planted in the sky over Malakhov Castle.

For the south bank of Sevastopol, which has not yet been completely fortressed, the fall of the core position of Malakhov Castle means the complete fall of the south bank of Sevastopol Fortress.

The Russian defenders who escaped from Malakhov Fort told Nassimov the news of the fall of the bastion. Nassimov, who was planning the next attack, immediately fell into a petrified state.

"Sevastopol...it's over!"

On the night of June 6, Vice Admiral Nassimov of the Russian Empire led his troops to break through.

Unexpectedly, he was ambushed by General Pellissier, who had been prepared for it. The 4,000-man breakout force that had finally been assembled was defeated in one fell swoop.

Nassimov himself was hit in the face by a bullet and died. The Sevastopol Fortress, which had lasted for nearly a year in history, was destroyed by the unethical sneak attack of the old General Pelissier.

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