Struggle in Russia

Zhuav's division effortlessly recaptured the British fort occupied by the Russians, and then pursued the Russians all the way to the San Clemente Valley at the foot of the mountain. Even because the running momentum was too strong, the French army rushed over the head and rushed straight into the quarry ravine.

It was crowded with soldiers of the Tarutinsky regiment who had withdrawn from the mountain. When they saw the Zhuav troops rushing towards them, they huddled together in horror. Some soldiers tried to fire on the French, but they hit themselves. people.

Fortunately, the soldiers of Zhuav's division saw the large number of Russian troops, worried that they were not opponents, and quickly chose to retreat, otherwise this charge alone would make the Tarutinsky regiment collapse.

Returning to the fort, Zhuav's division found the British in a precarious position against the right flank of Pavlov's forces.

Dannenberg was commanding a pincer attack from the Okhots, Yakut and Selenkin groups, as well as the remnants of Soymolov.

The battle was very brutal. Captain Wilson of the Cold Creek Guards recalled that waves of Russian troops charged towards them with bayonets. Muzzle, **** to **** fight.

Faced with a Russian army that far outnumbered his own, the defenders of the Coldstream Guards were reinforced by six companies under the 4th Division of Cascart, led by General Torrance.

The newly-reinforced British were eager to fight (they missed the Battle of the Alma and Balaclava), and when ordered to attack the Russians near the battery, they chased down the hillside, Completely forgot to follow orders, and as a result was attacked from a height by the Russian Yakutsky and Selenkinsky groups at close range, Kascart was killed in a rain of bullets, and his burial place became known as Kascart Mountain

At this time, the last 100 men of the Duke of Cambridge's Guards were left in the fort, and the ammunition was exhausted, but there were still 2,000 Russian troops outside.

So the Duke of Cambridge proposed to hold on to the fort to the end - making a foolish sacrifice for a stronghold of no great strategic importance.

Fortunately, his staff persuaded him in time: it would be a disaster for Britain if the queen's nephew and her Guard flag were brought before the Tsar!

So the Guards began to retreat, and the soldiers slowly retreated, ensuring that they were facing the enemy, and prepared to meet the enemy with bayonets in their hands. When a soldier falls, whether dead or wounded, his comrade must immediately take his place.

Although the number of the guards is getting smaller and smaller, they have always maintained a tight formation, guarding the flag without blinking their eyes... Fortunately, the terrain is very steep, preventing the enemy from attacking from the flanks.

Of course, every now and then brave Russians rushed up to try to **** the flag, and two or three grenadiers would charge out with bayonets until they were pushed back.

At the critical moment, Berkeith's men finally arrived, and the French have never been so popular to the British. The soldiers of the Guards shouted to the approaching French soldiers: "Long live France!"

The French soldier responded: "Long live England!"

The Russian army was frightened by the sudden appearance of the French soldiers, and immediately began to retreat, hurriedly running towards Cannonball Mountain. Under the joint attack of the French and British troops, holding the position feels that the odds of winning are not good.

As a result, people kept sneaking away without the officers noticing, and soon there were not many Russian troops left in the battery.

For a while, Dannenberg believed that he could still win by the advantage of artillery fire, and he had nearly a hundred cannons in his hands, including twelve-pounder field guns and howitzers, far more than the British army.

But at half past nine, the two 18-pounder guns ordered by Raglan finally arrived at the scene and began to fire violently at the Russians.

Huge artillery shells exploded in the Russian artillery positions, forcing the Russian artillery to retreat.

However, even at this time, the Russian army has not completely failed. They still have 6,000 people on the high ground, and there are 12,000 people in reserve at the foot of the mountain. If they are well organized, it is not impossible to win.

However, in the end, Dannenberg decided to give up the attack and retreat, because he found that his organization and command sequence had completely collapsed, and no matter how many people there were, it would not play any role.

It's just that Menshkov, who was watching the battle at a position 500 meters behind the main force of Dannenberg, and Archduke Nikolai and Archduke Mikhail, who were rushed to Crimea to supervise the battle under the order of Nicholas I, did not like this decision. , they unanimously demanded that Dannenberg withdraw the retreat order.

But Dannenberg defended: "Your Highness, if the troops are not withdrawn, they will be left to fight to the last man. I think this is extremely unfair and cruel to the soldiers who have been fighting all morning. If you think that My order is wrong, then it's better to take back the command from me and let you continue to command the battle yourself!"

After this conversation was over, the two quarreled fiercely for a long time, and they were both displeased with each other. They both blamed each other for the failure of the battle, and neither was willing to take responsibility for the failure, because no matter how you looked at it, the Russian military had an absolute advantage. , should not lose at all.

So Menshkov blamed Dannenberg, UU reading www.uukanshu. com and Dannenberg put the blame on Soymolov, after all, the latter is dead, and the dead have no way to defend themselves. In the end, the blame was thrown to the soldiers, and the generals agreed that the failure was caused by the soldiers' lack of discipline and disorder.

In fact, to say why the Russian army failed, the reason is actually very simple, that is, the lack of command. The senior commanders were in disarray, and the middle and lower commanders lacked control. Especially Menshkov, the nominal commander-in-chief, to tell the truth, this fellow did nothing during the battle, he had no idea, no command, and no decision-making, just like a passerby.

Even Archduke Nicholas wrote to Crown Prince Alexander: "After the battle, we waited for Prince Menshkov near the Inkerman Bridge, but he did not leave the house until half past six, when our troops The first position has been occupied. We have been on the right flank with the prince, and we have not seen any general report to him on the progress of the battle... The soldiers are out of order because there is no one to direct them... All chaos originates from Menshkov What's even more unimaginable is that he doesn't have a combat command, and there are only three people around him. With the way they work, if you want to know anything, you don't know who to ask!"

After receiving the evacuation order, the Russian army began to flee in panic. The officers had no way to stop the avalanche of human flesh, and the British and French armies continued to harass them with artillery shelling behind them, making the chaos of the Russian army even more unbearable...