Eight hundred and eighteenth chapter general attack (two)
In just a few minutes, the Nikolay Bastion and the Vorontsov Bastion were filled with corpses. The Russian army, the British army and the French army were mixed together. After each charge, another layer of corpses was left behind, and the last layer was piled one on top of another.
On the second floor, both sides stepped on the bodies of dead and wounded soldiers and continued to fight until the battlefield turned into a mountain of corpses!
Vyazmitinov, who participated in this battle, later told his friends: "The corpses under our feet were covered with blood, and the air was filled with a thick layer of blood mist. We couldn't see where the enemy was at all. The only thing we could do was
The best thing is to shoot in the direction where the enemy may be in the blood mist."
The French and British troops came in a steady stream, killing them all, while the Russian troops opened fire like crazy. You can see the British and French troops running forward along the trenches like crazy, with shotguns whizzing in their ears.
From time to time along the way, you can meet injured soldiers and officers who are retreating. The closer you get to the Russian position, the more people are being carried down!
The trenches and the slopes in front of the parapets were crowded with follow-up troops from the British and French armies. They were unable to move forward because the parapets above had been blocked. The fighting between the officers and soldiers of both sides made it impossible for follow-up reinforcements from both sides to approach.
The brutal hand-to-hand combat made both sides red-blooded. Soldiers from both sides fought repeatedly around every parapet, obstacle and fortification.
The battle lasted for a full hour, until the British and French troops on the breastworks of the bastion could no longer hold on. After they retreated, the Russian artillery fire was finally able to resume its power, and overwhelming canisters began to bombard the British and French troops in front of the breastworks and in the trenches.
Army soldier.
Finally, the morale of the coalition forces collapsed. The soldiers huddled in the trench no longer ignored the officers' orders and turned around and ran away!
Suddenly, the coalition's front line was in chaos. The follow-up reinforcements and the hastily escaping forwards collided head-on and trampled on each other.
The coalition officers realized that the situation was not good. They drew their swords and beat the deserters desperately, trying to stop them from escaping, but with little effect!
The reason is that most of these frightened soldiers are reservists and have never participated in combat before. Naturally, they cannot be compared with the determined veterans of the past.
Soon the rout turned into a wildly spreading infectious disease, and almost all coalition soldiers on the front line were infected. This trend caused greater chaos, so much so that Pelissier had to terminate all plans for the day in advance -
—The coalition's general offensive failed again!
This general offensive, which did not last long, cost the coalition forces about 20,000 people, including 15,000 French troops and 5,000 British troops. The Russian army also paid the price of about 7,000 wounded.
It can be said that this was the day with the heaviest losses for both sides since the war began. In the words of reporters who witnessed this bloody battle - the blood has been drained on this day!
The blow was particularly huge for the coalition forces. They had made sufficient preparations, fired so many artillery shells, and invested so many soldiers. However, they still failed to shake the Russian defense line. This made them feel a kind of Sevastopol.
The idea that Boer was unconquerable.
Of course, Sevastopol is certainly not impossible to capture. In fact, the coalition's general offensive almost achieved its goal. If it weren't for the Russian army's desperate counterattack without fear of death, the defense line of Inkerman Mountain would have fallen.
, at that time Sevastopol really became a turtle in a urn.
Even so, the situation of the Russian army that was lucky to win was not too good. The cost of more than 7,000 casualties was too high. It can almost be said that the defenders of Nikolay Bastion and Vorontsov Bastion were replaced by two.
All over the place, the battle fatality rate of the troops originally stationed in the bastion was as high as 50%.
Kornilov put in almost all the reserves he had on hand to barely hold the position.
Although the position was held, it was also changed beyond recognition by the fierce battle! The previously mighty and tall bastion was riddled with holes by the coalition's artillery fire, and a few walls collapsed and turned into powder.
The two bastions were littered with corpses. The corpses of our own people and those of the enemy were stacked together and could not be moved. Some of them were even turned into pulp by artillery fire from both sides.
The ground of the two bastions and the nearby soil were dyed red. As soon as the sun shone, a disgusting stench spread everywhere, which was really irritating to the eyes.
After Kornilov personally inspected the two bastions, he found that the two bastions were almost destroyed, and the remaining defenses could hardly withstand the artillery fire. If the precious manpower were to continue to be placed here, it would be simply impossible.
It's no different than letting them die.
However, if the defense line on Inkerman Mountain is abandoned, it means that the door of Sevastopol will be wide open, and the enemy will face the south port area of Sevastopol. At that time, the situation in the city will be even worse.
What's more, without the Inkermann Mountain defense line, Sevastopol's aqueduct will definitely be cut off by the coalition forces, and drinking water will be a problem for the entire city.
Even though Li Xiao had reminded him before to drill more wells and build reservoirs, so few wells and reservoirs simply could not meet the needs of the entire city.
For a time, Kornilov was in a dilemma. Although giving up the Inkelman Mountain position could avoid some sacrifices, it would make them more passive in the overall situation. And continuing to defend the Inkelman Mountain defense line would be a bottomless pit. With the coalition's
The troops and firepower can be used to attack continuously until he is exhausted.
The defense line on Inkelman Hill was now completely useless, leaving him in a dilemma. After pondering for a long time, he ordered most of the troops stationed in Nikolai Bastion and Vorontsov Bastion to retreat, leaving only a few
Strength to contain the coalition forces.
He also ordered the diversionary troops to lay out mines or booby traps as much as possible, and even pile explosives into the underground gun-proof holes. Once he made up his mind to abandon these two bastions, he would leave nothing to the enemy!
In addition, Kornilov also wrote a long letter to Nicholas I. In the letter, he bluntly told the iron-headed tsar that Sevastopol would fall sooner or later.
It can hold on for three months to half a year. If it cannot open up the situation on other battlefields, then the fall of Sevastopol will cause an extremely huge blow to Russia.
He reminded Nicholas I that he must make early preparations, so that it would be possible to minimize the adverse effects of the fall of Sevastopol. Finally, he expressed to Nicholas I extremely tragically that if he did not agree with Sevastopol
If you surrender, then he will fight to the end.
It’s just that Kornilov didn’t know that Nicholas I would not be able to read his letter. Almost at the same time that he wrote the letter, Nicholas I, who was far away in St. Petersburg, was already seriously ill. This extremely proud and extremely confident man
The Tsar is about to usher in the last moments of his life...