Wild North America 1846

Sevastopol Fortress, inside the coalition headquarters on the outskirts

The Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, the British Lord Raglan, put down the letter in his hand with a solemn expression. This was a personal letter written by Lord Palmerston, the British Prime Minister, expressing serious dissatisfaction with the Allied Forces' presence outside the Sevastopol Fortress.

Urge to launch a fierce attack to open the situation as soon as possible.

The new cabinet in London is under great expectation from the people, and Lord Palmerston urgently needs a victory message from Crimea to show the toughness and correctness of this cabinet.

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

"My noble lord, I can see from your face that this is bad news. Is London urging you again?" The commander of the French army was Marshal Armand Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud.

Holding a precious cane, he walked and spoke like a rooster, arrogant and reserved, which was also the consistent bad behavior of French aristocrats.

Lord Raglan nodded silently, put the letter into his pocket, took two steps with his hands behind his back and asked, "Has the Eastern expedition arrived on the battlefield?"

"Yes, Lord, to be honest, I don't have much expectations for the army composed of these Easterners. The damn Russians are difficult to deal with. From the Middle Ages to the present, except for the Mongols, no Eastern army has ever performed well.

,impressive."

"Your Majesty, Marshal, don't you think highly of this army of the Tang Kingdom?"

"Yes, compared to those Eastern troops who were blind, the soldiers of the Ottoman Empire performed more reliably. They used lever-action repeating rifles to defend the fortress and beat the attacking Russians to pieces, losing more than 10,000 troops.

."

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

"But this is Europe, and the cruelty of war is much higher than in North America. Teaching those vulgar Americans a lesson means nothing, don't you think so?"

"Indeed, this force has yet to prove its combat effectiveness, and this is where we place our expectations." Lord Raglan frowned with a headache.

The coalition forces were in a stalemate on many fronts in the Danube, the Balkans and Crimea. He, the supreme military commander, was under the greatest pressure. Marshal Armand was only his deputy, so the pressure was much less.

For the current French Emperor, His Majesty Louis Bonaparte Napoleon III, as long as war breaks out, the Holy Alliance constraints that plague France's neck will disappear, and it has long been determined 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. The Tang Kingdom and the Kingdom of Sardinia joined the coalition, making Tsarist Russia even more isolated internationally.

In order to cope with the changes in the international political environment, it is necessary for the coalition forces to achieve a breakthrough victory on the battlefield, so as to exert greater pressure on Russia and force it to recognize the situation and surrender.

The breakthrough point chosen by the top leaders of the coalition was on the battlefield of Sevastopol Fortress. Lord Raglan placed his hope on the powerful reinforcements from the Tang Kingdom.

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

from deep within;

Lord Raglan had very high expectations for the reinforcements from the Tang Kingdom. This was because the Eastern mercenaries of more than 4,000 had performed very well.

Although the troops were crippled, it cannot be denied that their fighting spirit was extremely tenacious, and their battlefield performance was not inferior to that of Europe's top armies, such as the French army and Prussian mercenaries.

The Expeditionary Force of the Kingdom of Tang Dynasty is one of the few strong cards that Lord Raglan can play. Compared with the Indian soldiers, their combat effectiveness is reduced. 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.

If the casualties of an army dominated by Indian soldiers exceed 10%, the commander will be unable to control his soldiers running around, and collapse is a high probability event.

In the British army, inspired by the lofty military honor, the soldiers can withstand up to 30% of the heavy casualties and still maintain the basic formation without being disorganized.

As a traditional European army power, the French infantry has more experienced commanders and more fully trained soldiers. Under the strong indoctrination of military honor, it can withstand about 40% of the total casualties under extreme circumstances and grit its teeth to persevere to the end.

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

When it comes to the spirit of sacrifice, Russian soldiers are undoubtedly the first.

During Lord Raglan's military life, the only thing that surprised him was the outstanding performance of the Tang Kingdom's mercenary team in the Battle of Little Inkerman that broke out on October 24 last year.

Yes

Prince Menshikov, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army with rich combat experience, considered that among the British and French coalition forces, the British army had relatively less combat experience and weaker overall combat effectiveness, so it was listed as a key target for attack.

A large group of Russian troops used the cover of darkness in the early morning to quietly approach the Khom Ridge, and launched a tidal wave of offensive in the early morning, trying to defeat the British garrison in one fell swoop and open up the post road from Inkermann Bridge to Vorontsov Avenue.

Receive Russian reinforcements and enter the Sevastopol defensive position.

In a sudden battle that broke out in the early morning, the British troops suffered a heavy blow. 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, the commander of the 1st Brigade of the Division, who commanded the British 2nd Division to endure the tidal wave of attacks by the Russian army.

crucial moment

The flanking troops, composed mainly of more than 4,000 mercenaries from the Tang Dynasty, launched a decisive counterattack and continuously repelled the assaults of 6 battalions of Russian Colonel Federov, giving the British 2nd Division a precious breathing space.

The two sides fought hard for three and a half hours. Although the mercenaries of the Tang Kingdom suffered serious losses of two-thirds of their troops, they still managed to hold on to their positions, demonstrating their strong will to fight.

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

The British Lord Raglan spoke highly of this battle. He had never seen an army that could suffer such heavy casualties, still stubbornly hold on to its position, and launch an effective counterattack against the attacking Russian army.

This is true for mercenaries, but what about the regular army?

Compared to the arrogance and prejudice of Marshal Armand of France, Lord Raglan's evaluation in the Allied Forces Headquarters was more objective and rational, and everything was based on the perspective of defeating the enemy.

From a certain perspective, is this not the helplessness of the British Continental Army?

in continental Europe

In particular, the powerful French army and the Tsarist Russian army are the most outstanding, followed by the armies of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Their standing troops range from 600,000 to 700,000 to more than 1 million, making them the first-class armies in Europe.

compare with

The size of the British Army hovers between 220,000 and 2.78 million all year round. Since the Anti-French War, Britain has not invested large-scale troops in the European battlefield for more than 30 years. It has only bullied some Asian countries in the colonial war.

With the backward feudal dynasties in Africa, the overall combat effectiveness has dropped 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 armies, such as Australia, Canada, South Africa and India, plus the current Tang Kingdom.

The total population of the British mainland is only a little over 20 million, and coupled with the need to colonize the world, the use of the Continental Army has reached the extreme.

For example, in the Indian subcontinent, the United Kingdom has maintained a garrison of more than 30,000 troops all year round. Coupled with Southeast Asia and Egypt in the Middle East, including the Straits Settlements, the number of troops that the United Kingdom can maneuver is extremely limited.

A land war in Crimea of ​​unprecedented scale. After mobilization, Britain was able to muster an army of 120,000 to 130,000 people, plus more than 100,000 colonial troops, which was almost the limit of the use of troops.

The difference is that France easily brought out nearly 400,000 army troops. After losing more than 70,000 troops, it still had an absolute advantage of more than 300,000 troops.

The Tsarist Russian army invested more than 800,000 troops on various fronts. After suffering heavy losses, it was still able to continuously replenish its troops, which the British obviously could not do.

It is precisely because of the limitations of various realistic situations that Lord Raglan attaches great importance to the unique force of the Tang Kingdom.

If it performs well in the Crimean War, Lord Raglan even intends to use his influence in the military to make the Eastern Corps a permanent foreign mercenary regiment in the UK and follow the footsteps of the British army to conquer the world.

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

"During this period, the Allied Forces Headquarters must make every effort to meet the winter combat needs of the Tang Expeditionary Force and provide as many cotton tents, cotton coats and gloves as possible. I can accept the casualties of soldiers in battle, but I cannot allow them to be wasted in the cold weather.

"Middle." Lord Raglan gave the order with a serious face.

His sharp eyes like a falcon glanced around, and the officers at the headquarters involuntarily straightened their chests and replied solemnly: "In compliance with your Lordship's military order, the coalition forces will make every effort to ensure the cold protection needs of the Tang Expeditionary Force and provide all necessary guarantees."

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

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

"Well, I hope your hunch is correct." Marshal Armand of the French army shrugged helplessly, paused heavily on the ground with the precious cane in his hand, and said, "The French army is fully prepared and is attacking.

The main force of the Russian army will be entangled in the sun, and all preparations will be made for your surprise army. We have prepared champagne and flowers, hoping that the people in the East can withstand the glory of victory."

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