Wild North America 1846

Chapter 226 Disagreement in the Allied Command
Sevastopol Fortress, inside the Allied Forces Command on the outskirts
Lord Raglan, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, put down the letter in his hand with a serious face. This is a personal letter from Lord Palmerston, the Prime Minister of the British Cabinet. Urge to launch a fierce attack to open the situation as soon as possible.

The new cabinet in London bears the great expectations of the people, and Lord Palmerston urgently needs a victory news from Crimea to show the toughness and correctness of this cabinet.

Too much blood has been shed in this offensive and defensive battle, and it is time to give an explanation to the British people.

"My lord, I can see from your face that this is bad news. Is London urging again?" Holding a precious cane, he walks and talks like a majestic big rooster, arrogant and reserved, which is also the consistent bad virtue of French nobles.

Lord Raglan nodded silently, put the letter in his pocket, and asked after walking two steps with his hands behind his back; "Has the Eastern expeditionary force arrived at the battlefield?"

"Yes, my lord, to be honest, I don't have any expectations for the army formed by these orientals. The damn Russians are not easy to deal with. From the Middle Ages to the present, there has never been an oriental army that has performed well except for the Mongols. ,impressive."

"Your Excellency, Marshal, you don't like the army of the Tang Kingdom?"

"Yes, compared to those Eastern troops with smeared eyes, the soldiers of the Ottoman Empire were more reliable. They defended the fortress with lever-action repeating rifles, beat the Russians who attacked, and lost more than 1 troops. .”

"I want to remind you, Marshal, that the Colt lever-action repeating rifle you mentioned came from the Tang Kingdom. They used this new rifle to teach the Yankees a lesson in North America."

"But this is Europe, the cruelty of war is much higher than that in North America, teaching those vulgar Yankees means nothing, don't you think so?"

"Indeed, this army has yet to prove its combat effectiveness, and this is what we place our hopes on." Lord Raglan frowned with some headaches.

The coalition forces have come to a stalemate on multiple fronts in the Danube, the Balkans, and Crimea. He, the supreme military commander, is under the greatest pressure. Marshal Armand is only his deputy, and the pressure is much less.

For the current French emperor, His Majesty Louis Bonaparte Napoleon III, as long as the war broke out, the imprisonment of the Holy Alliance that plagued France's neck would disappear, and it was already set to be invincible.

Prussia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire successively rejected Tsarist Russia's request to send troops, which made Tsarist Nicholas I feel deeply betrayed, while the Tang Kingdom and the Sardinian Kingdom joined the coalition, making Tsarist Russia even more isolated internationally.

In order to cope with changes in the international political environment, it is necessary for the coalition forces to achieve breakthrough victories on the battlefield, thereby exerting greater pressure on Russia, forcing it to recognize the situation and surrender.

The breakthrough point chosen by the top allied forces was on the battlefield of the Sevastopol Fortress. What Lord Raglan hoped for was the powerful reinforcement force of the Tang Kingdom.

In order to hide this good move, the coalition fleet strengthened the blockade of the Black Sea area, spending a lot of effort to hide the whereabouts of the Tang Kingdom's army, in order to get the effect of highlighting the surprise soldiers.

from the bottom of my heart;
Lord Raglan had very high expectations for the reinforcements from the Tang Kingdom, because the 4000 or so Eastern mercenaries had performed quite well before.

Although the troops are disabled, it cannot be denied that their fighting spirit is extremely tenacious, and their battlefield performance is not inferior to the first-class European troops, such as the French army and Prussian mercenaries.

The Expeditionary Army of the Tang Kingdom is one of the few strong cards that Lord Raglan can play. Compared with the Indian soldiers, the combat effectiveness is weakened.These oriental-dominated armies are simply eye-catching.

Under normal circumstances, line infantry tactics extremely test the training of soldiers and the resilience of the army.

With more than [-]% casualties in the army dominated by Indian soldiers, the commander cannot control the soldiers running around, and collapse is a high probability event.

If it were the British army, inspired by the lofty honor of the army, the soldiers could withstand up to [-]% of the heavy casualties, and still be able to maintain the basic formation without being scattered.

As a traditional European army power, the French infantry has more experienced commanders and better training of soldiers. Under the strong indoctrination of military honor, the French infantry can bear about [-]% of the overall casualty cost under extreme circumstances, and stick to the end.

As for those serf soldiers from Tsarist Russia who came from the icy and snowy environment, as long as they had a piece of black bread, even if the overall force suffered more than half of the casualties in the war, they could still hold on.

When it comes to the spirit of sacrifice, the Russian soldiers are number one.

Lord Raglan's military life, the only thing that surprised him was the outstanding performance of the Datang Kingdom's mercenary team in the Battle of Little Inkerman that broke out on October 10 last year.

Is slave
Prince Menshikov, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army with rich combat experience, considered that among the British and French allied forces, the British army had relatively little combat experience and weak overall combat effectiveness, so it was listed as a key target.

Taking advantage of the cover of the early morning night, the Russian army quietly approached the Hom ridge, and launched a tide-like offensive in the early morning, trying to defeat the British garrison in one fell swoop, and opened up the post road from the Inkerman Bridge to the Vorontsov Avenue. Coping with Russian reinforcements entered the defensive position of Sevastopol.

In the sudden battle that broke out in the early hours of the morning, the British troops were hit hard. Sir Evans, the commander of the 2nd Division, accidentally fell off his horse and was seriously injured.

Command was handed over to Brigadier General Pennyfather, commander of the 1st Brigade of the division, who commanded the 2nd British Division to hold out against the tide of Russian attacks.

crucial moment
The flanking troops, mainly composed of more than 4000 mercenaries from the Datang Kingdom, launched a decisive counterattack, repelling the assaults of 6 battalions under Colonel Fedorov of the Russian Army, and gave the British 2nd Division a valuable respite.

The two sides fought hard for three and a half hours. Although the mercenaries of the Tang Kingdom suffered a serious loss of two-thirds of their troops, they still held their positions hard, showing their super will to fight.

It was not until the French reinforcements arrived in time and repelled the attack of the large Russian army that the overall battle situation was stabilized.

For this battle, Lord Raglan of the United Kingdom spoke highly of it. He had never seen an army that could suffer such heavy casualties, still tenaciously stick to its position, and effectively counterattack the attacking Russian army.

This is true for mercenaries, but what about the regular army?
Compared with the arrogance and prejudice of Marshal Armand of France, Lord Raglan's evaluation in the Allied Command is more objective and rational, and everything starts from the perspective of defeating the enemy.

From a certain perspective, isn't this the helplessness of the British Continental Army?
in continental europe
In particular, the powerful French army and Tsarist Russian army are the most prominent, followed by the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austro-Hungarian army. Their standing troops range from 70 million to more than 100 million. They are out-and-out first-class armies in Europe.

compared with

The size of the British Army has hovered between 22 and 27 all year round. Since the Anti-French War, the United Kingdom has not invested large-scale troops in the European battlefield for more than 30 years. It has only bullied some backward countries in Asia and Africa in the colonial war. In the feudal dynasty, the overall combat effectiveness has fallen to the second-rate level.

It is precisely because the strength of their own continental army is not strong enough, so the British pay more attention to the use of colonial troops, such as Australia, Canada, South Africa and India, plus the current Datang Kingdom.

The total population of the British mainland is only a little over 2000 million. Coupled with the needs of colonizing the world, the use of the Continental Army has reached the extreme.

For example, in the Indian subcontinent, Britain has maintained a garrison size of more than 3 people for many years. In addition to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Egypt led by the Straits Settlements, the number of troops that the United Kingdom can maneuver is extremely limited.

In a land war in Crimea of ​​unprecedented scale, the United Kingdom was able to muster an army of 12 to 13 after mobilization, plus a colonial army of more than 10, which was almost the limit of the use of troops.

But France is different. It easily took out nearly 40 army troops. After losing more than 7 troops, it still has an absolute advantage of more than 30 troops.

The Tsarist Russian army has invested more than 80 troops on various fronts. After suffering heavy losses, it is still able to continuously replenish its troops, which is obviously impossible for the British.

It is precisely because of the limitations of various realities that Lord Raglan attaches great importance to the surprise army of the Tang Kingdom.

If he performed well in the Crimean War, Lord Raglan even intended to use his influence in the military to promote the Eastern Corps to become a permanent foreign mercenary regiment in the United Kingdom, following in the footsteps of the British army to conquer the world.

The starting point of all this is based on the fundamental interests of the British Empire.

"During this period, the Allied Forces Headquarters must do its best to meet the needs of the Tang Expeditionary Force in winter combat, and equip as many cotton tents, cotton coats, and gloves as possible. I can accept the casualties of soldiers in battle, but I cannot allow waste to be wasted in the cold weather." Now." Lord Raglan gave the order with a serious face.

His eagle-like eyes scanned the left and right, and the officers at the headquarters straightened their chests involuntarily, and replied in a solemn voice; "I would like to follow your lord's military order, and the coalition forces will do their best to meet the cold protection needs of the Tang Expeditionary Army and provide all necessary guarantees."

Marshal Armand frowned and asked, "My lord, do you really believe that those oriental soldiers can bring surprises?"

"We have no choice but to choose Armand. As long as this eastern force can cross the southwest mountains, I firmly believe that they can bring back the victory that the coalition forces desire."

"Well, I hope your premonition is correct." Marshal Armand of the French Army shrugged helplessly, the precious cane in his hand paused heavily on the ground, and said; Ensnare the main force of the Russian army every day, and prepare everything for your surprise army. We have prepared champagne and flowers, and hope that the Orientals can bear the glory of victory."

"Let us wait and see, Your Excellency the Marshal."

(End of this chapter)