Struggle in Russia

At this critical moment Raglan and Saint-Arnault were completely at odds. Raglan believed that the Russian army's position was strong and occupied superior terrain, and that continuing to attack was meaningless except to cause casualties.

He believed that the current strength of the coalition forces was not enough to conquer the Russian position on Telegraph Hill, so they should retreat and recuperate first, waiting for the main force of the coalition forces to arrive in Crimea before taking over Telegraph Hill in one go.

But St. Arnaud thought this was too negative and passive. Although the Russian army's positions on Telegraph Hill were strong and powerful, they still had few people. Even though the coalition forces lost more than 10,000 people, they still had an absolute advantage in strength.

From the fact that the Russian army stuck to Telegraph Hill and did not pursue pursuit, it can be seen that the Russian army should be insufficient in strength. In this case, why should it retreat? At least we have to confront the Russian troops on the Alma River and try to wear them down. Wouldn't it be great, for example, to order the navy to bombard them non-stop?

According to Saint Arnaud's opinion, while waiting for follow-up reinforcements, the coalition forces should continuously launch small-scale harassment and attack operations, consuming the Russian army bit by bit, until the main force arrives and then eliminate them in one go.

To be honest, Saint Arnaud's strategy is slightly better than Raglan's. If Raglan's opinion is followed, the coalition forces really can't do anything and can only wait and waste time.

But if you want to say how clever Saint Arnaud's strategy is, to be honest, it's nonsense. Harassing and consuming the Russian army is easier said than done. After all, the Russian army's position is very strong and it occupies an absolute terrain advantage.

Facing this kind of enemy, even with the help of the navy, it is very difficult to consume the opponent. Maybe if you fail to consume the enemy, your own troops will continue to be consumed, which will be self-defeating!

It can be seen from the strategies of these two people that these two are not famous generals, and they can even be said to be a bit dull. Needless to say, Raglan has always been hesitant, always taking one step forward and two steps back, always seeking stability, but the result is that he loses his chances again and again.

As for Saint Arnaud, although this one is slightly better, it is still very limited. But there is one thing to say. After all, this person is very unwell and has advanced gastric cancer. His life is hanging by a thread. Under this situation, it is really difficult for him to make reasonable and excellent arrangements.

In fact, after the Battle of the Alma and the last joint operations meeting with Raglan, his condition took a turn for the worse. He soon fell into a coma after returning to his tent. The French army was immediately in chaos and fell into a coma. A leaderless situation.

The sudden coma of the French army coach triggered a series of chain reactions. The coalition forces, which had been unstable due to the tragic defeat, suddenly became even more disorganized. Many soldiers began to desert, and then it evolved into systematic robbery.

Because of the shortage of supplies and food, the French soldiers began to loot the surrounding villages. They completely forgot what military discipline was.

"The French are the worst, there is nothing they won't steal!"

According to the recollections of local residents: "If they see a house with locked doors and windows, they will smash the door and break the windows, rummaging through boxes and cabinets in every room, and will not leave anything they can take away. They believe that the residents must There were gold, silver, soft and other valuable things hidden in the house, so they rummaged through everything, even the cushions on the sofas and armchairs. The study and books were also destroyed, and the mirror was too big to be used. , just break it into pieces so that you can put that piece into your backpack."

It can only be said that the Russians in Crimea experienced the looting methods of the British and French coalition forces in advance. A few years later, these two bandits broke into the Old Summer Palace again. The smashing, looting, and burning were really smooth. They are worthy of being the descendants of bandits. This ancestral craftsmanship is truly skillful.

What are the Russian troops doing while the coalition forces are busy buying for zero dollars?

Kornilov actually noticed the chaos of the coalition forces, and he also knew that this was a good opportunity. If enough troops could be gathered to attack decisively, it would be enough to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.

It's a pity that he doesn't have enough troops. The troops he can use are only more than 20,000. He also needs to consolidate the defense line of Telegraph Mountain. The most that can be used to attack the coalition is more than 10,000.

What's more, it's not just the coalition forces that he needs to take care of. The local Tatars in Crimea also create endless troubles for him.

What's going on?

As we all know, Crimea originally belonged to the Crimean Khanate, and this country was initially a vassal of the Golden Horde, and later became a vassal state of the Ottoman Turks.

It was not until Russia rose up that it defeated Turkey and seized Crimea in 1783. Strictly speaking, this country has not been occupied by Russia for too long. The local residents are overwhelmingly composed of Tatars, and the main religious belief is Christianity. This is almost incompatible with the Russian Slavic ethnic majority and the Orthodox Christian faith.

Even if Russia has been operating here for decades, it dare not say that it has complete control of Crimea. And here we must also mention Prince Vorontsov. As the Governor of Crimea, as the supreme local governor of Crimea, he believed in liberalism and was pro-British. Although he did a lot of things locally, such as building many important cities and defensive fortresses, for the Tatars He didn't put many restrictions on people.

He gave the Tatars more freedom and respected their property and beliefs. In short, the Tatars could do what they wanted to do more freely.

Although doing this is very humane and humanitarian, it is undeniable that it also weakens Russia's control over Crimea.

When the coalition forces landed in Crimea, the consequences came out!

The local Tatars welcomed the Turks very much. They actively led the way and cooperated with the coalition forces to destroy Russia's local rule, causing the already small number of ethnic Russians to abandon their homes and flee.

Some Tatars even joined the coalition forces and began to fight against the Russian army. For a time, Crimea was in chaos, and many towns and villages actually became semi-independent from Russian control.

Such a situation was impossible for the Russian army and Russia to accept. In order to protect the Russian ethnic group, Kornilov had to deploy troops to attack those dishonest Tatars, which further weakened his strength.

And this thing still had to be done, even if he didn't want to, there was nothing he could do.

Not only was the Tatar rebellion holding him back, another important reason for Kornilov to give up the pursuit of victory was that the coalition's follow-up troops had also arrived in Crimea, although the number was not particularly large, only more than 10,000 people.

But even these more than 10,000 people are enough to make up for the losses of the coalition forces in the Battle of the Alma River...