Just as Nicholas I was following Gorchakov’s orders to prepare for a decisive battle on the Cria Peninsula, Prince nshikov was supervising the Russian Imperial soldiers constructing defensive positions on a height near the Alma River.
As for why Prince nshikov was constructing defensive positions near the Alma River, this matter must be traced back more than a week previously.
At that ti, Prince nshikov was leisurely sitting in the command post of the Sevastopol Fortress, waiting for news from the Caucasus Region (Prince nshikov also served as Governor of the Caucasus). Instead, what he received was a report from the Cossack Cavalry Corps under his command informing him that the Anglo-French Army had already landed near Kalamat Bay.
Upon receiving the news, nshikov was first shocked by the landing of the Anglo-French Army. In nshikov’s view, the best strategy for the Anglo-French Army should be to continue heading north; why were they coming to the Cria Peninsula?
Finding that he could not make the Allied Forces leave the Cria Peninsula, nshikov had no choice but to ask the commander of the Cossack Cavalry Corps about the number of Allied Forces.
"They built many tents near Kalamat Bay, stretching as far as the eye can see! At least 70,000 to 80,000!" The commander of the Cossack Cavalry Corps reported to nshikov in rather unrefined Russian.
"Stretching as far as the eye can see? 70,000 to 80,000?" nshikov muttered to himself, realizing that he had only about 50,000 troops under his command (all stationed at the Sevastopol Fortress), he felt imdiate pressure.
With only 53,000 n under his command, nshikov had no possibility of launching an offensive.
To restrain the Anglo-French Army from advancing further south (Kalamat Bay being south of the Sevastopol Fortress), Prince nshikov gathered his staff officers to ask for their opinions.
After two days of intense discussion, it was decided to deploy the defensive positions along the Alma River.
The reason being that the terrain on the south shore of the Alma River is higher than that on the north shore; the Russian Empire only needs to destroy the bridges leading to the south shore of the Alma River at the right ti. For the Allied Forces to cross, they would first have to swim across the Alma River, then engage in climbing, and finally reach the heights on the south shore.
During the ti the Allies were swimming and climbing, the Russian Empire’s troops could easily bombard the Allied soldiers.
Of course, Prince nshikov himself was also aware that, considering the number of troops at his disposal, holding the defensive positions was a matter of great relief; counterattacking would have to wait until reinforcents arrived.
Thus, nshikov wrote a letter of appeal to Nicholas I, exaggerating the (self-perceived) number of Anglo-French forces (140,000) while also stating his determination to live and die with the fortress.
Although the letter did not directly seek assistance from Nicholas I, every sentence conveyed an appeal to Nicholas I for help.
After writing the letter, nshikov handed it to a subordinate adjutant, instructing him to ensure it reached Nicholas I. To prevent the letter from being intercepted, nshikov also specifically ordered the adjutant to detour through the Caucasus before returning to St. Petersburg.
The adjutant, upon receiving the letter, hurriedly rode away from the Sevastopol Fortress. nshikov then summoned his two Vice Admirals, Kornilov and Nasimov.
Prince nshikov asked Kornilov and Nasimov how they should resist if the Anglo-French Fleet sailed into the Sevastopol Fortress.
"Your Excellency the Governor, the best course of action now is to sink ships!" Vice Admiral Kornilov imdiately responded to nshikov.
"Sink ships?" nshikov looked at Kornilov in confusion and asked, "Are we the ones sinking ships, or are the Anglo-French sinking ships?"
"Of course, it’s us sinking ships!" Vice Admiral Kornilov answered Prince nshikov, "We can sink all the ships docked at the port entrance, then the Anglo-French Fleet won’t be able to get in!"
Prince nshikov nodded in satisfaction; Kornilov’s thod was indeed an effective approach for the Russian Empire at present.
Once the decision was made, Prince nshikov imdiately ordered Kornilov and Nasimov: All ships docked within the Sevastopol Fortress harbor, except for warships, were to be sunk.
As soon as Prince nshikov’s orders were issued, Kornilov and Nasimov sprang into action, commandeering all civilian vessels and troop transports docked at the Sevastopol Fortress, then sinking them at the fortress entrance.
The Sevastopol Fortress port was barely sealed off. With that worry alleviated, Prince nshikov continued to dispatch more troops to the Alma Heights.
Except for 10,000 n left within the Sevastopol Fortress for fortification protection, the remaining 43,000 were concentrated on the Alma Heights to construct defensive works. The commotion initiated by the Anglo-French Army at Kalamat Bay was ignored by him, though he did deploy a small number of Cossack Cavalry to inspect the actual number of Allied Forces at Kalamat Bay. During this period, the Cossack Cavalry clashed briefly with the British Light Cavalry.
After several days of deploynt, the defensive positions on the Alma Heights were beginning to take shape effectively.
anwhile, on the side of the Anglo-French forces, nshikov roughly gauged their number to be about 90,000 to 100,000.
Of course, this is excluding the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire.
After all, in the eyes of Prince nshikov, the offensive capability of the Ottoman Empire should be considered below zero, much like the Kingdom of Sardinia which is also seen as quite diocre.
If these two forces do not lower the average level of Britain and France, that would be quite impressive.
Although the Anglo-French alliance army is currently three tis his number, nshikov was still confident he could hold on until reinforcents arrived amidst their offensive.
In order to defend the final barrier of the Sevastopol Fortress, nshikov specially disassembled so of the heavy artillery deployed in the Sevastopol Fortress and positioned them at the high point of the upstream of the Alma Heights.
However, on the cliff facing the sea, nshikov did not arrange any deploynts, believing the area was too steep for anyone to climb up through there.
Nearly a hundred cannons and naval guns, under nshikov’s command, were placed at various strategic positions. Once everything was ready, the highly confident nshikov decided to dispatch a small force to conduct a probing attack on the Anglo-French alliance army. The Cossack Cavalry Corps, along with the Seventeenth Division under nshikov (with a full complent of 10,000 n, actually numbering 6,000), beca the main force of this probing attack.
The allied forces, which had been stationed at Kalamat Bay, began their march south after receiving provisions from Yevpatoria.
A large force set forth in grand procession, with the forces from the French Empire on the far right near the sea. Three divisions (First Division, Second Division, Guard Division) and two brigades (Zuav Corps) ford a column nearly 7 kiloters long and started marching.
Standing to the left of the French Army were the Sardinian Army, the Ottoman Army, and the British Army, aning that the French Empire’s army was at the innermost part of the allied forces, while the British Kingdom’s army was at the outer side of the allied forces.
Incidentally, the proposer of this formation was not Marshal Saint Arnaud, but Commander Lagren. The purpose of Lagren adopting this strategy was to make ands for the poor impression their landing had left on the allied forces.
The mighty sea power of the British Kingdom displayed such incompetence in landing operations, it was truly astonishing.
Not far from the shore, supply ships and dical ships from Britain and France proceeded alongside the allied forces, providing them with optimal support.
A very large supply convoy followed the dense formation, also offering tily support to the allied forces.
Of course, most of these supplies were "borrowed" from nearby Tatar farms by the allied forces.
Among the four logistics convoys, the French Empire’s convoy was the most orderly, while the most chaotic wasn’t the notorious Ottoman Empire but the affluent British Kingdom.
The logistics convoy of the British Kingdom, alongside bread and wine, also included live animals such as sheep, goats, and bulls, which were also "borrowed" by British soldiers in good spirit from farmhouse owners.
It was precisely because the British Kingdom had a large flock of sheep that the entire allied forces were hindered by Britain, forced to proceed slowly. Coupled with the British Kingdom’s inherently chaotic logistical managent, their logistics departnt couldn’t effectively control the animals they collected, often resulting in cows and sheep straying from British control and mingling with the Ottoman supply convoy, plunging it into chaos, forcing the entire convoy to halt until it was restored and able to proceed.
The convoy kept stopping and starting, and soon it was noon.
At noon, with the fierce sun high in the sky, the marching troops of Sardinia, the Ottoman Empire, and Britain began to break apart, as so soldiers, unable to bear the thirst, fell out of line.
anwhile, on the French Empire’s side, thirsty soldiers expertly unclipped the water bottles hanging from their waists, took a sip of boiled water, and then capped the bottles again to continue marching.
By the ti it neared one o’clock, the weather had beco even hotter, and the majority of British soldiers couldn’t bear the heat (the uniforms of the British army remained thick, as the stubborn Commander Lagren did not heed Marshal Saint Arnaud’s advice to switch them to sumr uniforms), and their pace gradually slowed.
Sweating profusely, Commander Lagren also found Marshal Saint Arnaud and proposed that they take a rest.
"Commander Lagren, if you ask , you should change your uniforms. I see the young n in your troops are about to collapse from the heat! Look at the state you’re in now..." Marshal Saint Arnaud advised Commander Lagren earnestly from atop his horse.
Commander Lagren glanced at the also sweat-drenched Duke of Cambridge beside him, nodded, and said to Saint Arnaud, "I will make this request to London! However, resting is the most important thing right now!"
Marshal Saint Arnaud squinted up at the blazing sun in the sky, then pointed ahead and said to Commander Lagren, "Commander Lagren, just one more kiloter and we’ll reach the Bourganak River! Let’s rest there!"
"Alright!"
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