Struggle in Russia

The new round of offensive by the coalition forces is really not that fast. After all, no one is willing to move in this cold winter. Especially the British, who were too hungry and cold to go out and do anything at this time.

As for the French army, they were well fed and clothed, but they were a little frightened to have them go out alone to compete with the Russians in the cold winter months. After all, they had been tricked once decades ago.

This time, I will never act alone, even when I go to the toilet!

The coalition forces were not moving, but Kornilov was moving frequently. On the one hand, he stepped up the construction of fortifications and stockpiled supplies. On the other hand, he squeezed out 3,000 mobile troops and placed them on the front line of Telegraph Hill. He was really worried about Grand Duke Constantine. There will be a huge rout, and once Telegraph Hill fails, Sevastopol will be in trouble as well.

Especially in this cold winter month, Sevastopol's supplies are still counting on this lifeline, so there must be no mistake.

According to Kornilov's estimation, even if Grand Duke Constantine's attack was a huge rout, the number of casualties should be only 30,000 to 40,000, and his remaining 10,000 to 20,000 people would only have enough troops in Telegraph Mountain to protect him. , should still be able to hold on to Telegraph Hill.

In this way, even a disastrous defeat will not turn into the destruction of the entire army.

So how prepared was Grand Duke Constantine?

As far as he was concerned, he only owed east wind. On November 21, he ordered his 16,000 cavalry to suddenly go northward at night, aiming directly at Simferopol.

According to his battle plan, after arriving at Simferopol, these cavalry immediately went into hiding and rested, waiting for his main force to move north, and then they could take the coalition positions directly and catch them off guard.

In this battle, he wanted to highlight the word "quick", to advance at the fastest speed and launch the attack at the fastest speed, which meant to flatten the coalition forces in one go.

But in many cases, you can't get up as quickly as you want. For example, in this deep winter season, an unexpected snowstorm can disrupt your overall arrangement.

The Russian cavalry marched north at night and then ran into a blizzard. What a tragedy!

Many Cossacks were frozen to death, and most of the horses were frozen to death. By the time these sixteen thousand arrived at Simferopol, three full days had passed!

You know, this kind of journey can be completed in just over a day on weekdays. Why does it take so long?

Not only did it take a long time, but more importantly, the non-combat damage was as high as 3,000! In other words, half of the 6,000 cavalry that Archduke Constantine exchanged from Kornilov were used in an instant!

This is not the most fatal thing. What is more important is that the remaining cavalry are tired, tired, and mentally exhausted. They cannot go into battle at all and must rest first.

Archduke Constantine was a little depressed after receiving this blow. He was about to show off his talents, but he was met with darkness when he opened the door. It was simply unlucky.

Although he was full of anger, Grand Duke Constantine was not discouraged, nor did he give up his original plan. According to his self-deception, it would not be a bad thing to prepare for a few more days, at least it would be more sufficient!

But it’s hard to say whether this is true or not. Anyway, after the Russian cavalry arrived at Simferopol, they lost half of their lives one by one. They were hiding in the barracks in the face of the sky and Mao Dong was unwilling to move at all. .

As for other follow-up troops, due to bad weather and difficult roads, they had to stay in the area around Sevastopol to wait for the weather to improve.

After waiting for more than ten days, when the cavalry troops finally calmed down, Grand Duke Constantine took his two younger brothers and led the main follow-up troops to start marching north.

Among them, Grand Duke Michael was responsible for commanding 12,000 infantry and 80 cannons, while Grand Duke Nicholas was responsible for commanding 16,000 infantry and 100 cannons. As for Grand Duke Constantine himself, he led 12,000 infantry and 120 cannon.

According to Archduke Constantine's plan, his twelve thousand men first merged with the cavalry, and then immediately rushed westward like a sharp knife piercing the chest of the coalition.

Grand Duke Mikhail and Grand Duke Nicholas followed up to support him. When he opened the door to victory, they immediately rushed in to expand the results.

It's just that Grand Duke Constantine didn't know that his plan had actually been leaked. The problem lay in the 16,000 cavalry who acted in advance. After this group of people arrived at Simferopol, they would inevitably be attacked by Simferopol. The residents of Ropol noticed.

Originally, according to Archduke Constantine's plan, they would launch an attack within two days, so naturally they didn't have to worry about leaking secrets.

But who failed to keep up with the changes in the plan, they stayed for an extra ten or twenty days. In such a long time, both the coalition spies and the Tatars with evil intentions could spy on this information.

Although the commander of the coalition forces was also mediocre, this kind of information could still attract attention. After all, it was impossible for these more than 10,000 cavalry to go to Simferopol to spend the winter, right? Who would believe you if you say you are not causing trouble when you suddenly go north?

This information soon reached the desks of Raglan and Conrobel. Although the coalition forces were not particularly concerned about the situation in the north and moved the center of the attack completely south, this did not mean that they did not care about the more than 20,000 troops stationed in the north. People live and die.

Canrobert and Raglan unanimously concluded that the Russian army wanted to sneak attack the defenders to the north, so they specially ordered the defenders to strengthen their defenses and prepare for the attack.

What, you ask why not send reinforcements?

The reason was too simple. It was cold and the journey was long, and the coalition forces in the south were unwilling to move. Moreover, they believe that the defensive fortifications of the northern garrison are relatively solid, and the Russian army should not be able to take advantage unless it has an overwhelming advantage.

This judgment is quite correct. The northern defenders have done nothing else in the past two months and only focused on strengthening their defense. Thanks to their efforts, the position is not as strong as usual. It is not easy to penetrate their defense line with the Russian army's skills, tactics and weapons and equipment!

After another five days, Grand Duke Constantine finally arrived at Simferopol with more than 10,000 infantry. He suffered a lot along the way. The snowy road was slippery and the road was not ordinary muddy. After a lot of effort, he struggled to bring the troops to Simferopol.

But as a result, his raid plan had to be postponed again, because his infantry also needed to rest, otherwise they would not be able to enter the battle at all. Moreover, Grand Duke Mikhail and Grand Duke Nicholas who followed behind also complained endlessly because the road turned into a quagmire after being plowed by Grand Duke Constantine, making their march more difficult.

So the pause lasted another week, and by the time Grand Duke Mikhail and Grand Duke Nicholas arrived at Simferopol, it was almost a month late from the originally planned time to launch the attack...