Struggle in Russia

Not only were the soldiers at the frontline posts laughing and chatting with each other, but the lives of the soldiers in the trenches and fortresses at the rear were also becoming more and more colorful.

To kill time, soldiers generally played poker, while officers played chess or read. There was even a grand piano in the bunker of the Russian Sixth Bastion. Soldiers from other bastions who were good at playing were invited here. Hold a concert.

Kornilov's adjutant later recalled: "At the beginning the concert was solemn, with a sense of ceremony and the etiquette that should be followed when listening to a classical concert. But gradually as our mood changed, the playing became more and more There were more music representing the country as well as folk songs and dances, and once again a masquerade was arranged, with a military cadet dressing up as a woman and singing folk songs.”

In the French camp, drama was very popular. Zhu Afu's division has its own cross-dressing juggling troupe, and a large group of noisy soldiers can often be seen gathering in front of a wooden house to enjoy the juggling.

Andre Damas, a chaplain in the French army, also said: "Imagine a soldier from the Zouave Division dressing up as a shepherdess to flirt with the soldiers! There will also be another soldier from the Zouave Division dressed up as a high-society woman, and her performance will not be easily pursued. Ma’am. I’ve never seen such a funny scene and such a superb acting gentleman, they were so funny!”

The entertainment activities of the British are relatively high-end. They like horse racing very much. Who gives their cavalry troops nothing to do?

Of course, if you don't like these activities, then drinking is definitely something that all officers and soldiers like. In almost all units of both armies, alcoholism has caused a series of problems, such as indiscipline, swearing, arrogance and drunken brawls.

During the entire Crimean War, the British Army had a total of 5,546 soldiers. About one-eighth of the total number of soldiers had been sent to military courts for drunken behavior.

Many soldiers drank a large glass of wine in the morning, rum for the British, vodka for the Russians, and wine for the French, and then another large glass at dinner. Many soldiers even drank so much that they never sobered up during the entire siege.

Even the Turks, who are forbidden to drink alcohol, are not exempt from the custom. Their favorite is the sweet Crimean wine.

Almost every regiment has a canteen, and at the door of the canteen you can always see piles of British and French soldiers lying or rolling around. Some of them laughed wildly, some howled, and some danced and made faces, even fought and made out, or were stunned. Both the British and the French were equally bad when drunk, so much so that many senior officers believed that overpaying soldiers was a huge mistake.

Because once these soldiers get money, they will immediately change it to alcohol and get drunk into a puddle!

Some senior officers even began to miss the state when supplies were in short supply. At that time, there was almost no drunkenness problem. The only thing all soldiers looked forward to was to have a full stomach and then be able to dress warmly.

On the contrary, as the coalition forces continued to improve the infrastructure construction in Crimea, they found that the soldiers were getting more and more demanding and getting drunk, especially when the British repaired the Balaklava to Inkelman After the railway under the mountain, this bad situation became more and more common.

To be honest, sometimes you have to admire how wealthy the British bigwigs are. Just look at Li Xiao and the others who almost emptied their pockets to build a railway in Wallachia. The British, on the other hand, built a special supply railway in just two or three months.

The person responsible for building this railway was Samuel Peto, a British railway construction expert. This man raised 100,000 pounds from the Prime Minister Lord Aberdeen, purchased the materials needed to build the railway, and raised a group of people with a certain amount of money. How can an Irish-dominated construction team behave themselves.

The construction team arrived in Balaclava at the end of January and immediately started construction at a rapid pace. At one point, they could lay almost half a kilometer of railway in a day. By the end of March, the ten-kilometer railway from Balaclava to the foot of Inkelman Mountain was completed. Completed.

This railway is of particularly critical significance to the coalition forces. It greatly improves the efficiency of the coalition's material transfer. As long as the coalition's supply ships can reach Balaklava, they can quickly deliver materials to the front line.

It was precisely because of the greatly improved supply efficiency that Raglan made up his mind to launch a large-scale offensive in early April.

According to Raglan's plan, the coalition forces will bombard Sevastopol for ten consecutive days. By then, five hundred coalition artillery pieces will continue to bombard the Russian positions. This would be the largest artillery bombardment launched by the coalition forces after they landed in Crimea, and also the largest artillery bombardment in the world at that time.

The senior generals of the coalition forces have great expectations for this large-scale shelling. They all hope that this shelling can destroy Sevastopol's defense system in one fell swoop and shake the Russian army's will to resist, thus quickly ending the war.

It’s just that Kornilov had already prepared for the coalition’s actions. On the one hand, deserters from the coalition leaked information, and on the other hand, the Russian observation posts could clearly see that the coalition positions were very busy, almost every day. It was discovered that the coalition forces had deployed new artillery positions.

April 9, Easter. Just a few hours before the coalition forces were about to launch an artillery attack, prayer ceremonies were held in various churches in Sevastopol, and prayers were held in every bastion. Priests walked in front of the troops holding statues of gods, including Bonnie. The icon of Saint Sergius was sent from the Troitsky Monastery in the town of Sergievo by order of Nicholas I.

This icon accompanied the Russian army in military campaigns during the early Romanov dynasty, and joined the Moscow militia in resisting Napoleon's invasion in 1812.

At the midnight mass held in the main church of Sevastopol, countless candles illuminated the church and the streets. Even the coalition troops in the trenches could see clearly. The huge crowd spread all the way to the streets, all standing there praying silently. .

Everyone has a candle in his hand, and from time to time he lowers his head and makes the sign of the cross on his chest. Some people kneel on the ground, while the priests walk through the crowd holding the icon, and the choir follows them and sings continuously.

When the ceremony reached its climax, a storm suddenly came, and heavy rain poured down, but no one walked away. The soldiers and civilians of Sevastopol regarded the storm as a manifestation of God, so the praying crowd stayed in the rain until the first ray of light in the morning. The sun lights up.

At this time, the bombardment of the coalition forces also started. The praying crowd did not panic but evacuated in an orderly manner. Most people did not have time to change out of their Easter costumes and went directly into the bastion to assist the Russian army in the battle...