Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 460 The Akmechte Conflict (Part 4)
Iranian troops filed in and engaged in street fighting with Russian forces stationed in the fortress. But the interior of the Pelovsk fortress was far more complex than imagined.

After the Iranian soldiers rushed through the breach in the city wall, they were met with a maze of alleyways and scattered stone buildings. These officers' quarters, ammunition depots, and bakeries had now become deadly traps.

"Scatter! Take cover!" Pashinyan rolled into a stone manger by the roadside, bullets scattering shards across the granite surface. He saw two recruits frantically smash open a wooden door, followed by a deafening explosion—the Russians had booby-trapped behind the door. Shattered limbs flew more than three meters into the air, blood raining down on the statue in the center of the alley.

Four soldiers appeared at the alleyway, dragging a 6-pounder cannon with its wheels removed by ropes. The barrel was wrapped with water-soaked burlap to cool it down. When the first shrapnel shell exploded on the roof where the Russian machine gun was positioned, human remains rained down amidst the flying rubble.

The brutality of urban warfare was on full display. For every building captured, Iran suffered twice as many casualties as in open field battles. Behind the seemingly ordinary doors and windows of civilian houses might lie all sorts of traps.

At 3:17 PM, Pashinyan's troops were halted in front of the central square of the fortress. The Russian army had constructed a circular fortification using sandbags and railway tracks, containing at least six small artillery pieces. More than twenty Iranian soldiers lay dead on the square, all fallen during their attempts to charge. A severely wounded soldier, dragging his intestines, crawled back to his bunker, repeatedly warning, "Watch out, there's a trap!"

Even if there are traps, we must charge forward; whether we can capture this place depends on this one move.

Iranian soldiers brought artillery and fired back, the shockwaves from the explosions knocking many people off their feet. Under the cover of smoke, the assault team finally reached the base of the circular fortifications. They pulled out prepared Molotov cocktails and threw them in unison towards the artillery position.

The kerosene-soaked rags burst into flames on the sandbags, and as the Russian artillerymen screamed and beat out the flames, the assault team's bayonets were already embedded in their backs. A Russian officer with a face covered in blisters struggled to detonate the ammunition pile, only to have his Adam's apple crushed by a sergeant's rifle butt.

As the central square fell, the fortress's defenses began to crumble. The remaining Russian troops retreated to the most fortified command building, transforming the three-story stone structure into a death trap. Dark gun barrels pierced every window, and meticulously calculated crossfire covered all approach routes.

"Bring up all the artillery pieces, and don't skimp on the ammunition. Smash them all in!"

Dozens of artillery pieces relentlessly rained shells upon the command post. The deafening roar pushed the Russian troops to the brink of psychological collapse. Many of them had suppressed the Kazakh uprising and assumed all their enemies were like this, only to find the Iranians even more ferocious in battle.

Shiites value sacrifice and take pride in martyrdom. After the conflict began, red flags were raised on mosques in Tashkent and Samarkand. This signified the start of a campaign of revenge against Russia.

The army gradually approached the headquarters gate, which was constructed of the thickest oak. Wooden crates were piled up behind it; the Russians believed that as long as the gate wasn't breached, they could hold the position thanks to the building's sturdiness. Based on the timeline, reinforcements were less than a day away. Perseverance was key to victory.

"General, we can't reach the gate; the enemy's firepower is too intense!"

Pashinyan was anxious; less than eight hours remained of the twenty-four-hour countdown. If they couldn't take the city by then, their plan would likely fail.

"Increase the firepower! I refuse to believe their fortress is truly impregnable!"

He had barely finished speaking when his adjutant exclaimed in alarm. "General, look!" A blood-soaked figure lunged towards the door from the side. It was one of the soldiers who had been seriously wounded earlier, clutching the last barrel of explosives. Everyone had heard his final words: "For Iran!"

The blast wave knocked many people off their feet. When the smoke cleared, a large hole was blasted in the doorway, and Pashinyan found Reza's dog tag nearby; the metal had been deformed by the intense heat.

He carefully wrapped up his general's badge, then gave the order to charge.

"For Iran, charge!!!"

The soldiers launched a final assault on the command post, and the morale of the Russian troops had collapsed. They began to flee or surrender on the spot. The battle quickly came to an end.

When Pashinyan stepped into the fortress command post, the last defenders were burning documents. The Russian commander, a major general, pointed a revolver at his temple and, before firing, said in fluent Persian: "You have won this battle, but the war has only just begun."

After he finished speaking, a gunshot rang out. The last Russian officer committed suicide, and Iran officially occupied the entire fortress.

Pashinyan stood atop the fortress's highest point, gazing at the faint glow of fire on the northern horizon—the approaching Russian reinforcements. A cold wind dispersed the smoke, revealing a sky full of stars. The general suddenly realized that this Pyrrhic victory was merely the prelude to a much larger storm. When Russia, this war giant, truly completed its military reforms, how long could the technological advantage gained through bloodshed last?
He pulled out the blood-stained notebook from his pocket and wrote on the latest page: "I suggest that the General Staff formulate a defense plan for the Transoxiana region. If we cannot defeat Russia, our country will lose Transoxiana forever."

When Akmechte raised the Iranian flag, Salami knew their first step had succeeded. But the casualties were also staggering; nearly 2000 people had been lost in the battle for the fortress in the past few days.

But now is not the time to consider this; a tough battle still lies ahead. The General Staff issued orders for emergency repairs and defenses of the fortress: dig trenches around the fortress and rapidly construct multiple bridges across the Syr Darya River to transport a steady stream of personnel and supplies to the other side.

Colonel Andreas, who was on his way to the rescue, also saw the Iranian flag. After receiving a distress call from the locals, he immediately led his troops to the rescue, but unfortunately, they arrived too late.

“Iran is probably celebrating right now, and if we catch them off guard, we might be able to retake Petrovsk immediately.”

His adjutant offered a suggestion, which Andreas agreed to, and he immediately ordered the soldiers to march quickly, catching Iran off guard.

But when they arrived, they found it wasn't like that at all. Iranian soldiers were engaged in defensive operations, and when they came into view, machine gun fire made it difficult for the Cossack cavalry to advance. This situation forced them to change their strategy, to defend first and wait for reinforcements to arrive.

(End of this chapter)