Chapter 235 Helpless Choice

After more than two months of hard fighting, the coalition finally defeated the Greek "civilian armed forces" and won the first victory for the British since the outbreak of the Near East War.

Major General Oliver's dangling heart also fell to the ground, and he finally had a successful record. With less than 5,000 casualties on his own side, 18,000 enemy troops were killed and 14,000 enemy troops were captured. No matter how you look at it, the results were brilliant.

He has decisively ignored the fact that the enemy army is a mob, and as long as he continues to defeat the army of the Principality of Montenegro, he will complete all the combat tasks.

A young officer reported: "General, there is a military order from the country: We are ordered to continue to pursue the enemy troops. If the Kingdom of Greece accepts these enemy troops, the country authorizes us to take necessary measures."

necessary means? In fact, it is to find an excuse to enter the kingdom of Greece and teach the Greek government a lesson. Obviously the London government was very dissatisfied with the Otto I government and wanted to give them some color.

"Understood." Major General Oliver replied calmly

He didn't like the Greeks. If it wasn't for the Greeks' sneak attack, which forced the Ottomans to mobilize their troops on the front line, the Battle of Sofia would not have been lost.

Even though he had put the blame on others, Major General Oliver still knew in his heart that he was to blame for that battle, which would accompany him throughout his life and become an indelible stain.

Now that he has the opportunity to settle accounts with the Greeks, he will naturally not miss this opportunity.

There will always be excuses, even if Otto I pretends to be a coward, this time the London government wants to beat this restless little brother, and he will still do it.

It is obviously impossible to get away with it. It's just that the Greek government does not recognize the dispatch of troops, so the British can't do anything to them on the grounds of this.

European countries are still watching. Once they go too far, everyone will still intervene, and John Bull can't do it.

Even in the UK, I don't think there is any big problem with Greece attacking the Ottomans, but they chose the wrong time.

The Greek government lost its way at the last moment and did not join the Russian camp, so there was room for manoeuvre. Obviously, Otto I's political judgment was still passable.

...

The General Headquarters of the Russian Army outside Constantinople, General Menshkov once again received a letter of rebuke from Nicholas I.

After attacking for such a long time and paying hundreds of thousands of casualties, Constantinople is still in the hands of the enemy, and there is no sign of being conquered at all, so the tsarist government is naturally anxious.

The pressure on Menshkov has increased greatly. If there is no way to think of it, the St. Petersburg government will be replaced. When the time comes to conquer the glory of Constantinople, we will say goodbye to him forever. This is something that Menshkov cannot tolerate. .

A middle-aged general suggested: "Your Excellency Commander, you can consider the suggestion of the Austrians. As long as Constantinople can be conquered, the rest will be easy."

Menshkov shook his head and said, "The Austrians' proposal is too expensive! Instead of conquering Constantinople, they are going to use cannons to flatten it.

The heavy artillery they recommended, in addition to being used for siege, can only be used as shore artillery. If they really followed their proposal and brought hundreds of giant cannons over, the daily ammunition consumption would be several thousand tons.

Don't say we can't afford it. It is estimated that even if the Austrians produce at full capacity, they may not be able to meet our needs.

Every day, millions of rubles worth of ammunition are destroyed. To conquer Constantinople, at least hundreds of millions of rubles, or even billions of rubles, are needed. Do you think we can do it? "

This is not the most pitiful, and even more pitiful is the money spent, and Constantinople may not be able to beat it.

The artillery recommended by Austria is very inconvenient to move on the battlefield. If the enemy destroys the artillery position, it will be even worse.

The middle-aged officer reminded: "But Your Excellency Commander, this is the only way that seems to be able to break through Constantinople.

The enemy on the opposite side is very stubborn, and they rely on fortifications for defense. The six-pounder guns in our hands are simply to tickle them, and even the twelve-pounder guns can only deal with some ordinary fortifications.

Can't destroy these fortresses, what can we do to conquer Constantinople? If this opportunity is missed, we are Russia's sinners. "

This is the most frustrating thing. No matter how reliable this method is, it is the only method that is likely to succeed.

The tsarist government will not care so much, and the people in the country will not be more than that. They have all arrived at the foot of Constantinople. If they don’t take this city, will they be worthy of their ancestors?

...

After patrolling the camp, watching the declining morale, and listening to the wailing screams, even the hard-hearted Menshkov couldn't help but shake.

He knew that he couldn't go on like this. If he went on like this, it was estimated that the Russian army would mutiny before Constantinople was captured.

Gray animals are also people. When the casualties reach a certain level, they will also collapse. This consequence is something that Menshkov cannot afford.

...

In one corner of the camp, several soldiers were conspiring.

A gray-faced young soldier said in a low voice: "Joey, have you figured out the route? If we continue like this, I'm afraid it won't be long before we all fall on the battlefield.

You know, just yesterday that guy in Rollsbyki got his left leg blown up and had to be amputated to avoid infection. Unable to bear the blow, he committed suicide that night. "

A middle-aged soldier next to him reminded: "Fox, don't be like this. The exit route must be planned.

Well, if there is a mistake, we will be hung at the gate of the camp! "

In order to kill one example and deter deserters, the Russian army adopted a very cruel method: dropping people on a pole and dying from sunburn, thirst, and starvation...

Looking at the expectant crowd, Joey sighed, took out a sketch, pointed to and explained: "The route has been found, but it is difficult to walk.

Leaving from here, there are people guarding along the way. You must avoid these people and enter the Balkan Mountains to be considered temporarily safe.

This is only the first stage of your escape, after which you will have to cross the Balkan Mountains to enter the Austrian occupation zone.

During this period, you can't get any supplies from the outside world, you can only look for food in the mountains and forests. In addition to being careful of poisonous insects and beasts, you also have to worry about losing your way.

Being in an Austrian-occupied zone doesn't mean it's safe. They are our allies, and even if you enter by mistake, you will not be disarmed, and most likely will be sent back.

If you want to get in, you can only pretend to be war refugees. Language is a big problem. Russian and Bulgarian are very similar, but there are still differences, and no one knows what will happen once they are detected. "

The middle-aged man said cautiously: "We have no choice. You may not know it in the logistics force. The casualties on the front line are too heavy these days, and you can see familiar people leaving here every day.

Half of our battalion is replenished one after another. If we continue to stay here, it won't be long before everyone will die here.

Thank you, Joey, whether we can get out or not.

You can rest assured that we have figured out the situation, and we will find opportunities to play dead when we attack, and then leave secretly when it gets dark.

Even if it is discovered, we can say that we were stunned by the bomb and confused. "

A premeditated escape began. They were not the first, nor would they be the last. The brutal casualties had already made them nervous.

Everyone would rather take the risk to escape and fight for an unknown life, rather than continue to stay here.

Anyway, their family is all serfs, and they belong to the property of the nobles. Even if they are discovered, there is no need to worry about implicated in the family.

...

The middle-aged man asked in a low voice, "Come on, Wallace, why don't you see this kid?"

Fox replied: "Uncle Marney, I didn't see him follow, I'm afraid there is an accident, why don't we go back and look for it?"

The middle-aged man thought for a moment and said, "Don't worry about him, life and death on the battlefield are life and death, where can I find this blind man?

Now everyone, hurry up, it's not safe here, if we can't get through here quickly, we won't be able to run away at dawn. "

Their luck was good, someone provided a route map, they didn't go in the wrong direction, and they passed the first day of escape safely.

But not everyone was so lucky. Not long after they left, another wave of deserters unfortunately encountered the patrol, and then they were naturally caught.

The military judge asked: "Your Excellency, Commander, seven deserters were caught last night, is it still the same?"

"Um!"

Menshkov seemed to just say a word at random, but in fact his heart was not at peace.

The number of deserters is increasing. As a high-level officer who is not an idiot, he knows that this means that it is about to reach the limit of this force.

In the face of reality, Menshkov quickly made a compromise. He did not want to become a national traitor, so this battle must be fought.

The question of money is a headache for the tsarist government, and no one can back down anyway.

Menshkov said: "Come on, borrow the Austrian telegraph network and transfer this telegram to the St. Petersburg government!"

Since Austria took over the two principalities of the Danube, wired telegrams were quickly laid over, and the domestic telegraph network was connected at the end of 1853.

At this time, the Russians often use the Austrian telegraph network to transmit information that does not need to be kept secret, which can be done in two or three days.

If you use the Russians' own communication network, you have to go to a big city in Poland or Ukraine before you can send telegrams. It is impossible to get the news back to St. Petersburg without ten days and a half.

Obviously, Menshkov did not think that this battle plan needed to be kept secret from the Austrians.

Menshkov is not prepared to let domestic military enterprises supply, and when they produce the cannon and ship it to the front line, who knows whether it will be a year or two years later?

On the issue of attacking Constantinople, Nicholas I fully supported his work. Whoever dares to do things here is against the great Tsar.

Without the support of the tsar, Menshkov could not have changed the logistics and transportation system of the Russian army in the Balkans.

The ball was kicked to St. Petersburg, and Menshkov explained all the situations in detail, and it was up to Nicholas I to choose.