The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1694: The brave one wins when we meet on a narrow road
However, the opposing force remained unmoved and showed no intention of giving way. Imamorpasha's family was one of the most powerful families in the entire Ottoman Empire, and he was the vanguard commander of the new army at the time, so he was quite pleased with himself.

Imamorupa spurred his horse forward, but before he could speak, he noticed that the other man had already raised his gun. Only then did he realize that something seemed off about the man's uniform.
But it was too late. Although the Russian commander couldn't understand what the other side was saying, he wasn't there to negotiate.

Almost all Russian military officers knew that the enemy outnumbered them, and that time was life, time was everything.

If the enemy forces, three or four times the size of our own, were concentrated to guard the vicinity of the palace, then even if we could win, it would take several weeks or even months.

Such a long time was clearly unacceptable for the Russian army at this point, because the longer it took, the lower their chances of winning would be.

Leaving aside the reinforcements pouring in from all directions and the British who might join the war at any time, the armed forces of the more than 50 Ottoman civilians in Constantinople alone were an unstoppable force.

Therefore, the Russians wanted to create chaos immediately, so they wouldn't give the Ottomans any chance to delay.

Imamorupasha is no superman; without the aid of bullet time, dodging dozens of rifle shots is nothing short of a pipe dream.

The reality is that Imamorupasha was shot multiple times the moment he turned his horse around, and died before he could even scream.

At this moment, Imamorpasha's soldiers seemed to wake up from a dream and began to fight back. However, the new Ottoman army was clearly not mentally prepared, as they did not expect to fight here.

Furthermore, having lost its commander before the war began, this Ottoman vanguard performed extremely chaotically.

An exceptionally tall officer of the new Ottoman army, wanting to boost morale, drew his scimitar and charged forward, shouting.

"For the Sultan! For Allah! Drive them into the sea!"

Meanwhile, the elite Russian troops a few dozen meters away were not nervous. The first rank of soldiers knelt down in an orderly manner and began loading ammunition, while the second rank of soldiers followed suit and began to aim their guns.

"Fire!"

As a burst of gunfire rang out, another swath of the Ottoman New Army's front ranks fell.

The exceptionally tall Ottoman officer clutched his chest in disbelief, his scimitar falling to the ground. His lips twitched, but he couldn't utter a single word before collapsing to the ground, convulsing.

"Second rank, retreat; third rank, advance! Aim! Fire!"

In the narrow alley, the two armies collided head-on with no way to avoid it. The soldiers on both sides could only use their flesh and blood to withstand the attack. This kind of dull and oppressive queuing for execution was something that the Ottoman new army could not imagine during training.

Screams, muffled groans as bullets pierced bodies, and the sounds of weapons falling and corpses collapsing blended together, making the officers' angry curses and comrades' swears sound like heavenly music.

Soon, some of the new soldiers could no longer bear the intense oppression; they dropped their weapons and began to flee.

Ottoman officers wanted to drive the fleeing soldiers back, but more and more were affected, and fear spread like a plague through the army.

The officers were powerless to stop them, but the fleeing soldiers were also unable to escape the narrow street, as there were thousands of men on each side and the roads behind them were already blocked.

As the saying goes, "the brave prevail when paths cross," Stepan Khrulev immediately gave the order.

"Fix bayonets! Charge! Hurrah!"

"Ula!"

The charge began, and Russian troops surged towards the other end of the street like a tidal wave. This could no longer be called a battle; it was clearly a massacre.

Dense formations clashed and clashed, the close-range fire leaving no room for escape. Some high-powered rifles could even penetrate the first person before killing those behind them. Bayonets pierced flesh, blood and entrails flowing onto the ground, turning the entire street into a slick, hellish place.

Democracy collapsed, and the Ottoman soldiers began shoving each other in an attempt to escape. Some soldiers who were not aware of what was happening were pushed down and never got up again; they were trampled to death.

Imamorupasha's vanguard force of 3100 men collapsed, with at least 300 killed in action and the rest trampled to death by their own troops.

Many of the routed soldiers did not choose to return to their units; instead, they fled. Therefore, no one knows the exact extent of Imamoruppasha's losses; all that is known is that the initial statistics showed the entire brigade had only 603 men remaining.

The most terrifying aspect of the collapse of the vanguard was the chain reaction it caused. Seeing the collapse of the vanguard, Shturkoby, who was in charge of the second echelon, was furious. He initially wanted to drive the fleeing soldiers back to slow down the Russian army's advance.

But Shturkobai soon realized it was futile; the fleeing soldiers were acting like madmen.

Shturkobai was a veteran with many years of combat experience. He had fought the Russians many times and knew that the Russians could only fight when they had the upper hand.

Shturkobai immediately ordered the shooting of the retreating soldiers and established a position in the middle of the road.

Shturkobey had at least studied under French instructors, so he was extremely familiar with things like barricades.

As for the materials needed for the barricades, there's plenty of them. After all, there are plenty of houses on both sides; you just need to knock on the door and take them.

"Stand firm! Anyone who retreats will be killed!"

Because there were different factions within the Ottoman New Army, and their garrisons and sources of manpower were different, even their uniforms and weapons were different.

In short, these new forces not only compete with each other, but also have significant differences in their understanding of one another.

That's why Imamorupasha couldn't distinguish between enemy and friendly forces, and even thought they were there to steal credit.

At that moment, an adjutant ran over and said.

“Bey, our orders are to reinforce the coastal defense at all costs. Now you're ordering us to stay here and garrison. If we get blamed from above, I'm afraid we'll be in trouble.”

The adjutant was telling the truth; if they were accused of disobeying orders on the battlefield, they would all be finished.

"Damn it! Can't you see the rout ahead? Am I going to charge into the alley now? Are we going to get turned into mincemeat by the Russian bayonets?"

"Can"

The adjutant wanted to say something more, but was stopped by Shturkobey.

"Enough! What time is it now? If we rush in, we're doomed."

Did you hear what those defeated soldiers were saying?
The Russians are skilled in magic, and Imamulupasha is dead. We'd die if we went in now, but staying here at least offers us a chance of victory.

The adjutant didn't say anything more; after all, he didn't really have the courage to rush into that narrow street and fight the Russians to the death.

It's important to understand that Imamulu became a vanguard officer not only because of his family's influence, but also because his troops were among the most combat-effective in the entire new army.

Such a force vanished as soon as the war began, and even Imamolo himself died on the battlefield.

The second echelon had no idea what was happening ahead; from their perspective, the vanguard commander had died on the battlefield alongside his men.