Chapter 16 Miracle Reappears?

Despite defeating Ahmed Pasha, Potemkin still faced the problem of insufficient supplies. (っ◔◡◔)っDue to the fall of Komrat, the Russian supply line has never been restored. After all, no one will throw supplies into the water.

The supplies of the Ottoman army in the Kahulu area were transported by Fokshani, and there would not be a large-scale inventory, which resulted in the captured supplies not being enough to support the Russian army.

Faced with the dilemma of insufficient supplies, Potemkin made a decisive decision and decided to borrow food from local residents.

Under Potemkin's arrangement, the Russian army exceeded the task in less than half a day, and the residents of the entire Kahulu city were slaughtered.

At the city gate, residential areas, streets, alleys, and markets, piles of dead bodies were piled together. The summer temperature was frighteningly high. When the Russian army left, the bodies of the residents who were killed in the morning were already covered with flies, emitting bursts of unpleasant stench.

The Russian army, which gradually lost its mind, even used artillery during the massacre, and many Romanians were buried directly under the collapsed houses.

When Napoleon arrived, the Russian army had already left with the looted food, leaving Napoleon with a scene like hell on earth.

Ragusa, the Russian army that left two days ago was forced to stop here.

Hussein Pasha, who received the news of Ahmed Pasha's defeat, quickly returned to block the Russian army that might go north, and a battle broke out between the two sides in Ragusa.

The Ottoman army, which was waiting for the opportunity, successfully defeated the Russian vanguard with the help of the terrain, but then the main force of the Russian army commanded by Rumyantsev gave Hussein Pasha a surprise.

Intensive artillery fire, flexible cavalry, and timely infantry rotation attack. It reminded him of the scene when he had exercised with Napoleon. Although the location and time were different, the feeling of powerlessness was exactly the same.

If Muhammad Ali had not arrived in time to cover Hussein Pasha's withdrawal of the blocking fortifications built in advance, the Russian army would have been able to completely break through the encirclement of the Ottoman army and regain the strategic initiative in this battle alone.

However, the Russian army was completely blocked here with only one step away. Potemkin and Rumyantsev kept trying to get rid of the Ottoman army through maneuvers, but were blocked again and again by Hussein and Muhammad Ali.

The two sides were in a stalemate here. On the confrontation position, there was dense artillery fire roaring every day, looking forward to the collapse of the enemy.

On July 2, 1788, Hussein and Ali, who had been blocking the Turkish army for nearly two weeks, finally waited for Napoleon's reinforcements. The Russian-Turkish decisive battle was about to break out, but the location was far away from the planned Izmail Fortress.

In terms of military strength: the Ottoman army totaled 100,000, with 65,000 infantry, more than 15,000 artillery and nearly 20,000 cavalry.

The Russian army had more than 50,000 soldiers, including more than 30,000 infantry, 5,000 artillery, and 15,000 cavalry.

On July 4, 1778, the Russian army took the lead in launching an attack. The reason was simple: there was no food. The daily material consumption of a force of tens of thousands of people was an astronomical figure, especially for the cavalry. In order to maintain their combat effectiveness, they needed to give their horses enough fodder and bean cakes.

Kahuer was not a big city, and it was trapped in Ragusa by Hussein and Ali for nearly two weeks. If the cavalry had not been sent out to get food every day, Rumyantsev estimated that he would not even make it to July 4.

But he could not wait any longer. The food reserves on the other side were far greater than his own, and the only loser in a protracted war would be his own side. Besides, who knew whether the Ottomans would send reinforcements here.

As for whether this was a gamble, Rumyantsev could feel that the quality of the army on the other side was not high, and more importantly, he had a cavalry artillery on hand.

If commanded properly, Rumyantsev believed that he still had a chance to win, just like the miracle he accomplished when fighting against Frederick II and Ottoman Marshal Khalili. He did not think that this lieutenant would be stronger than Frederick II in the Seven Years' War and Khalili, who had five times his number of troops in the Battle of Cagoule.

That night, Rumyantsev ordered the entire army to attack. The Ottoman army on the opposite side did not seem to expect that the Russian army would attack at night, so that the Russian army successfully entered the Ottoman camp with almost no resistance.

However, this situation made Rumyantsev extremely uneasy. As an excellent commander, his intuition saved him and his army. He quickly ordered a retreat when half of the vanguard troops had already entered the Ottoman position.

Napoleon, who was on the high ground, saw that he could not attract more Russian troops, and immediately ordered artillery fire, but Rumyantsev's timely order kept the Russian army's losses within an acceptable range.

The two sides began to play cautiously. Time passed by little by little. The highly tense battlefield atmosphere made the nerves of the soldiers on both sides tense, and they did not even notice that the sky was slightly bright.

Finally, Rumyantsev saw a tiny flaw in the Ottoman army - a weak spot appeared on the right wing when changing formations.

Although this flaw was indeed quite small, it didn't matter. An excellent commander could always seize the critical moment on the battlefield, expand the enemy's flaws, and put his side in an advantageous position.

The Russian army began to attack. Unexpectedly, Rumyantsev sent out cavalry first, and the commander was Suvorov, who was defeated by Napoleon before.

"Each cavalry regiment attacked in a staggered formation, detour and go around, and the cavalry artillery was in the center of the left wing cavalry regiment. Prepare to bombard the enemy cavalry." Suvorov shouted, he was determined to wash away the shame brought to him by this lieutenant in this battle.

"Infantry in skirmish formation, march forward, the first and second rows are ready to fire, and the third row is on standby." Potemkin went to the battlefield himself.

"Artillery assembled on the left wing to provide cover for the infantry." Rumyantsev ordered.

If Selim were here, he would probably have begun to doubt whether this young version of Napoleon could beat the opponent. After all, they were the three famous generals of Tsarist Russia, and they served Napoleon alone.

But the next battle will make all Europeans remember the name of Napoleon, which naturally includes Selim.

Rumyantsev knew very well what kind of virtue the Ottoman cavalry was. In a favorable situation, they rushed forward and were extremely brave. They were not afraid of any battle. In an unfavorable situation, they ran faster than anyone else.

So he sent the cavalry artillery to the cavalry, hoping that his cavalry could quickly defeat the enemy and further expand the loopholes on the enemy's right wing so that he could annihilate the enemy.

Facts have proved that Rumyantsev's experience is completely correct. With the superior firepower of the cavalry artillery, the cavalry of the Ottoman army quickly collapsed in front of the Russian army.

After the right wing of the entire Ottoman army lost the protection of the cavalry, a huge vacuum zone appeared.

Rumyantsev was overjoyed when he saw this, and quickly ordered Potemkin to launch a rotary attack, concentrating the main force of the infantry on his left wing.

Under the cover of its own artillery, the Russian army launched the final general offensive, and the right wing of the Ottoman army began to waver. The miracle seemed to be reappearing.

Today is the Dragon Boat Festival. I am busy visiting relatives, and the copy of the Russo-Turkish War is about to end. I need to prepare the subsequent plot arrangement, so there is only this chapter, please understand.