Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 646 The Battle of Shenicha (Part 1)
Following the declaration of war by the Minor Alliance, Russia declared war on Iran and the Ottoman Empire on February 14th; France followed suit on the 16th. Iran and the Ottoman Empire then declared war on the aforementioned countries on the 17th.

At this time, the Ottoman territories in the Balkans were under attack from all directions. In Serbia, the important town of Užice had fallen, leaving only the city of Šenica. This city was the only passage connecting Bosnia and the Ottoman Empire, and its fall meant that Bosnia would become an exclave.

At this time, the city had a garrison of 3500 men, mostly from the newly formed 24th Regiment. An additional 6000 residents, including many women, were also mobilized to defend the city. The overall commander was the commander of the 24th Regiment, a middle-aged Ottoman officer named Ibrahim Topz.

On February 22, 18000 Serbian troops, aided by local Serbs, arrived in Šenica. Equipped with advanced Russian-made breech-loading rifles and dozens of field guns, they were in high spirits and determined to succeed. Furthermore, they were commanded by the experienced General Jovanovic, Serbia's elite force.

Standing atop the makeshift fortifications, Topz observed the massive Serbian army ranks and gleaming cannons through his binoculars, his heart sinking. This was a battle fought with an overwhelming disparity in strength, a battle that brought despair. He turned to his pale-faced adjutant and several citizen representatives, saying, “Gentlemen, Bosnia is behind us. His Majesty the Sultan is mobilizing a large army. The longer we hold out here, the greater the chance of the main force returning to reinforce us! We are not fighting for one city; we are buying time for all our compatriots in Bosnia!”

General Misić did not give the defenders much time to prepare. He demanded their surrender, but the reply was only one sentence: "Ottoman soldiers only fight to the death, never surrender!" Serbian artillery roared in at exactly two o'clock in the afternoon.

The thunderous roar of artillery shattered the tranquility of the mountain town, sending plumes of black smoke billowing into the air. Shells from Russian-made field guns whistled down on the city walls and within the town walls, instantly setting wooden houses ablaze, and sending rubble and severed limbs flying everywhere. New recruits and civilians, experiencing such intense shelling for the first time, were gripped by panic.

"Don't panic! Take cover!" Commander Topz shouted, running along the city wall under artillery fire. "Remember your training! Wait for them to get close before you fire!"

The artillery barrage lasted for a full hour. Then, the Serbian army launched its first assault in dense skirmish lines, chanting "For Serbia!" as they surged toward what appeared to be a breach in the city wall.

When the Serbian soldiers charged to within a hundred meters of the city wall, Topz suddenly swung his arm and shouted, "Fire!"

From behind the crenellations and makeshift sandbags, flames of vengeance spewed forth. Rifle bullets, and even shotgun pellets, rained down in a dense hail of bullets. The Serbian soldiers at the forefront fell like felled wheat. The poorly trained defenders, relying on their superior position and their unwavering determination to defend their homeland, had miraculously repelled the Serbian army's first attack.

The Nadir Shah II machine guns, urgently transported by Iran, also proved their worth, with just two forming a dense network of fire, making it extremely costly for the Serbs to attempt an assault.

General Misich frowned behind his binoculars. He had underestimated the town's will to resist, and even more so, he hadn't expected the enemy to possess such formidable automatic weaponry. He immediately adjusted his tactics, abandoning the costly, concentrated assault.

"Artillery! Concentrate fire and take out those two machine gun positions!" Misic roared. "Infantry, spread out and use the terrain and wreckage to advance! Organize snipers to suppress the wall fire!" The Serbian artillery fire became accurate and deadly again, focusing on the machine gun positions and vulnerable sections of the wall. A shell luckily hit a machine gun bunker; the explosion overturned the sandbags, killing the Ottoman soldier operating the machine gun instantly, and the machine gun fell silent.

Meanwhile, Serbian snipers came into play. Hidden behind distant ruins, they used rifles with scopes to precisely fire at any defenders peeking out from the walls. Ottoman soldiers fell one after another, and the defenders' firepower was significantly suppressed.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Serbian infantry, in more dispersed formations, crawled or used shell craters to advance, and launched another attack. The battle entered a more brutal and protracted phase. The two sides engaged in fierce fighting at breaches in the city walls, between burning houses, and on every street.

Commander Topz personally carried a rifle and led the last reserve force, a company of soldiers and dozens of civilians armed with shotguns, axes and even pitchforks, towards a breach that was about to be breached.

"For Sudan! For Bosnia!" Topz shouted, pulling the trigger and shooting down a Serbian officer who had just emerged. The bullet whizzed past his ear, the scorching air grazing his cheek, but he felt nothing. A hand-to-hand battle erupted at the breach, soldiers from both sides grappling, bayonets, rifle butts, fists, and teeth becoming weapons. Men fell continuously, their blood staining the ruins.

The next two days became a living hell for Xenica.

Relying on their overwhelming numerical and firepower superiority, the Serbian army launched relentless attacks day and night. Artillery fire blasted several massive breaches in the city walls, forcing the defenders to retreat into the city and engage in street fighting, utilizing every house and street as cover. The battle had entered its most brutal phase.

Even the women rose up to fight the Serbs. A Bosnian woman named Fatima, whose husband had died on the first day of the defense of the city walls, did not weep. Instead, she picked up her husband's scimitar and, along with several neighbors, ambushed them in a half-collapsed house. When a small squad of Serbian soldiers tried to cross the alley, they leaped from the ruins like vengeful lionesses, fighting the enemy with the most primitive weapons. In the end, they all perished, but they also took with them an enemy force several times their size.

Ali, a seventeen-year-old recruit, ran out of ammunition while holding out on the second floor of a school. As he watched the Serbian soldiers swarming towards him, he detonated the last pack of explosives beside him, taking the enemy with him.

Commander Topz led from the front, his left arm struck by a stray bullet. After a simple bandage, he continued commanding. His uniform was stained with blood and dust, his voice hoarse, but his eyes remained resolute. He knew that every extra hour of holding out was wearing down the Serbians' morale and wasting their time, creating opportunities for Sudan and the main force in the distance.

Everything for the final victory!

(End of this chapter)