Struggle in Russia

When the coalition forces began to bombard Sevastopol, the belated Menshikov arrived in Bakhchisarai with 60,000 reinforcements. After hearing the latest battle report from Sevastopol, the old eunuch , formulated a set of combat strategies that he believed to be the most appropriate.

The old eunuch believed that the coalition's forces were severely dispersed north of the Alma River, but the main force was outside Sevastopol. If they could seize the enemy's seven inches, they could win a complete victory in minutes.

So where does he think the coalition's seven inches is?

He thought it was in Balaclava. In Menshikov's opinion, this small fish port is the lifeline of the coalition forces. As long as the supply line of the coalition forces is cut off, the coalition forces will soon collapse without a fight, and victory will be easy.

In a way, this is true. The coalition relies heavily on Balaklava for supplies. Once this port is gone, the coalition will lose all channels for obtaining supplies, and it is not even clear whether it can escape Crimea safely.

Therefore, the old eunuch ordered the 12th Infantry Division commanded by Lieutenant General Pavel Liplandi to set up camp on the Fijukshi Highlands near the village of Chalgen. On the one hand, he would lay the foundation for the subsequent main force to move in, and on the other hand, he would also actively conduct reconnaissance of the coalition forces. Condition.

Naturally, the movements of the Russian army cannot be hidden from the eyes of the coalition forces. The British army also knows that its forces are seriously dispersed. If the enemy uses a large number of troops to launch a surprise attack on their supply base, they will be unable to fight back.

At this time, the British built six small forts on the ridge known as Causeway Heights to guard the Vorontsov Road. This is an east-west road that divides the Balaclava Valley into two parts, north and south. The Fejukshi Highlands are to the north of the road, and the valley to the south of the road is the road to Balaclava Port.

The coalition stationed Turkish guards in four small forts, mostly composed of new soldiers, supported by two or three twelve-pounder guns.

Behind these forts, on the south side of the valley, was stationed the 92nd British Highland Infantry Brigade, commanded by Sir Colin Campbell, who was also the commander-in-chief responsible for the defense of Balaclava port.

In addition, on the flank of the Highland Brigade was the Cavalry Division led by Lord Lucan. Further back on the high ground overlooking the gorge were stationed a thousand Royal Marines and some field artillery.

In the event of a Russian attack, Campbell could request British infantry reinforcements. In addition, two French divisions led by General Bosquet of the French army stationed outside Sevastopol can also come for reinforcements.

All in all, the coalition garrison at Balaclava numbered approximately 5,000 men.

At dawn on October 25, the Russian army's offensive began. After building a temporary fort near the village of Kamala, the Russian army began to launch fierce shelling on the nearby Allied Forces Fortress No. 1.

Fortress No. 1 was built on the so-called Canrobert Heights. The British army named this hillock after the new commander-in-chief of the French army.

The coalition forces had heard about this attack because Raglan had received a warning from Russian deserters the night before that the attack was about to begin.

The only problem is that three days ago, Raglan heard false information from Russian deserters that Menshikov was about to launch an attack. At that time, he specially sent a thousand people to reinforce. But after waiting for two or three days, nothing happened. So this time Raglan didn't believe a word of the intelligence about the Russian deserters.

Just like in Bulgaria, the five hundred Turkish soldiers on Fortress No. 1 put up extremely tenacious resistance, holding on for more than an hour and losing more than one-third of their men.

When 1,200 Russian troops began to charge with bayonets in hand, the Turkish army finally could no longer hold on and had to abandon its position and escape.

At that time, Raglan, who heard the news of the Russian attack, was observing the battle situation on the Saporn Highlands. Seeing this scene, he was very angry and severely accused the Turkish army of being ineffective.

It can only be said that Raglan said it too soon. Because of the tragedy of Fort No. 1, the other three fortresses stationed by the Turkish army also collapsed instantly. The Turkish army abandoned their positions and weapons and ran away, rushing straight towards When we arrived at Balaclava Port, what was funnier was that these guys didn’t forget to take the sheets, earthenware pots and pots when they escaped. It was obvious that they valued the guys who were eating and sleeping more.

When the Turkish troops passed through the defense line of the British 93rd Highland Brigade, Campbell was stunned to see them running away without forgetting to shout: "Get in the boat! Get in the boat!"

A thousand Turkish soldiers fled in all directions, chased by the Cossack cavalry. Their embarrassment made it unbelievable that they were still resisting tenaciously just an hour ago.

As the fleeing Turkish soldiers passed through the village of Kadikoy, a group of British military wives booed and jeered at them on the roadside. One of the laundresses was huge and had thick arms and wrists as hard as horns.

When a Turkish soldier bumped into his laundry, the laundress caught him and kicked him hard. Especially when she realized that this Turkish soldier had abandoned the 93rd Highland Brigade to which her husband belonged, she immediately cursed:

"You damn coward, you ran away and left the brave Highland Christians to fend off the brutal Russians!"

The Turkish soldiers around tried to comfort her, but some called her "Corinna" (this is the Turkish name for a woman who is not dressed appropriately. It is generally used to describe non-Muslim women, roughly equivalent to female branch girls). or female cousin).

This naturally made the washerwoman even more furious. In anger, she waved her stick and beat the Turkish soldiers into a panic. They fled for two miles before stopping to rest.

The tired and frustrated Turkish soldiers simply threw their belongings on the roadside, fell down on the roadside and began to catch their breath. Some of the more pious ones simply spread their prayer rugs on the ground and began to pray in the direction of Mecca.

Objectively speaking, the performance of the Turks is indeed eye-catching, but this cannot be entirely blamed on the Turks. Because most of the Turkish soldiers sent to Crimea were from Tunisia, they had no systematic training and no combat experience at all.

Even when they arrived in Crimea, they were already hungry, because they had not received any rations for Musmumu since they boarded the ship in Varna.

While the Turkish soldiers were busy doing their own thing, Lord Lucan ordered Brent to ride on horseback to catch up with the fleeing Turkish soldiers and ordered them to regroup behind him.

But the Turks did not accept this at all. Instead, they asked Brent why the British army did not support them, and why no one gave them food and water during the few days they were left in the fortress, and said that supplies were provided to them. The cannonballs did not match the cannons in the fort, and they simply refused to obey orders.