Chapter 205 The Highest Realm of the Pit

The British reinforcements had just arrived in the Balkans and had not had time to take over all the defense areas. The Bulgarian guerrillas launched a full-scale counterattack. This time the Russians also cooperated very well and suppressed the coalition forces on the front line.

Facts have proved that Plovdiv is indeed the bait arranged by the British, ready to surround and wipe out the main force of the Bulgarian guerrillas here, but they only controlled the beginning and failed to control the ending.

As soon as the battle started, the situation changed. More than a dozen cities, including Plovdiv, were attacked by partisans at the same time.

Most of them were feint attacks, but in this random attack, the arrangements that the British had not yet completed were exposed.

There is no way, although the Greeks are not strong enough, their timing is too good, who knows if they will go all the way to Constantinople? In order to be safe, the Ottoman Empire had to deploy troops to contain them.

There are not enough troops defending the city, and there are leading parties in the city, and a feinted attack may break the city. If all these places are lost, the coalition forces in Sofia will be trapped in the encirclement, and the British army can only send reinforcements.

The firepower of the Bulgarian guerrillas is too weak to bully the second-line troops of the Ottomans. On the frontal battlefield, they are just inferior to the British.

Just because you can't fight doesn't mean you can't fight. The British troops who had just arrived at the front had never fought against them, and the arrogant British commanders directly treated them as the natives of the colony.

This understanding is not wrong. In theory, Bulgaria can also be regarded as a colony of the Ottoman Empire, but it is directly under it.

In terms of strength, the gap is huge. The Bulgarian guerrillas have also been trained by Russian and Austrian instructors. Coupled with high morale, their combat effectiveness is not weak.

With a sound of "Boom", the British army who was on the march was attacked by the guerrillas again. After a while, the gunfire stopped abruptly, and it was obvious that the guerrillas had retreated.

A young officer said with a pale face: "General, we were attacked by the enemy ahead. Two soldiers were killed and seven soldiers were injured!"

"This is the first time we have been attacked by the enemy?" asked Major General Oliver.

"The eighteenth time!" the young officer replied in a low voice

"What nonsense is that, hurry up and send someone to chase me!" Major General Oliver ordered

The Bulgarian guerrillas brought them little casualties, but the frequent attacks slowed down their marching speed. The key was to damage the morale of the troops.

Major General Oliver is not the master who will not fight back when he suffers a loss, of course he will fight back.

Since there is no experience in fighting with guerrillas, most of the time, the enemy disappears after chasing halfway. If they are unlucky, there will be more traps waiting for them along the way.

In this round of confrontation, the British army did not take advantage of it, the key is to delay the best fighter. By the time they arrived at their destination, the main force of the guerrillas had long since disappeared.

Everyone knows that the base camp of the Bulgarian guerrillas is in the Balkan Mountains, and Major General Oliver's mission is to encircle and suppress the guerrillas.

But entering the Balkan Mountains is to attack the enemy's strength with one's own weakness. Large units are difficult to move, and artillery is useless. In this environment, the casualty ratio of both sides is almost 1:1.

Exchange a British soldier for a guerrilla, Major General Oliver is not crazy, if he dares to do this, the day of court martial is not far away.

Major General Oliver was commanding troops for the first time, otherwise, as a gilded householder, he would not have taken on this unfortunate task.

The British generals who had been in the Balkans for a long time would rather fight the Russians on the front line than go into the mountains to encircle and suppress the guerrillas.

The former enemy can see that the British army has the upper hand in combat effectiveness. As long as they are not besieged by several times the enemy army, the risk is controllable; the latter seems to have little risk on the surface, and the guerrillas will definitely be unable to defeat the regular army. But it's different after entering the mountains.

Major General Oliver, arrogant, set up a bait to lure the Bulgarian guerrillas into being fooled.

The result now is obvious, the enemy was fooled, but unfortunately he overestimated the British army's marching speed, and they could not close the pocket formation in time under the enemy's sneak attack.

...

In Plovdiv, most of this strategic location has been occupied, and the defenders are still stubbornly resisting. Tackling tough battles is not the guerrilla's strength, even if there are internal and external cooperation in the city, they have not been able to capture the city in one breath.

The guerrilla commander Edimir ordered: "Order the troops to stop the attack, collect as much strategic materials as possible, take away what can be taken away, and set fire to those that cannot be taken away, and cannot be left to the enemy."

The middle-aged officer said reluctantly: "Commander, isn't it a pity that so many treasures have been burned. If we organize people's husbands to rush to transport them, they can still be transported out."

Edimir glared at him and said, "Stop talking nonsense, with so many supplies, how can we still run? If we are bitten by the British, even if our strength increases tenfold, we will not be their opponents! "

Being able to destroy this part of the supplies, Edimir was already satisfied. Although it is a pity that they did not win the whole of Plovdiv, politically they can declare that they have captured it and strive for a better position with the Russians.

The Russians were very realistic, and the Bulgarian partisans were treated so that they would not starve to death. Since they tore through the Sardinian army's defense line frontally and broke into the enemy's rear, the guerrillas' treatment has been aligned with the Russian army.

The logistical supplies were temporarily unavailable to them, but the Russians still sent them a batch of weapons and equipment, which passed through the small areas of the Balkan Mountains.

Good luck came.

Many guerrilla officers, including Edimir, have obtained official ranks in the Russian army, and they are now staffed.

Fitzroy Somerset also promised that those who are willing to join the army after the war can obtain official Russian military numbers and are responsible for stationing in Bulgaria; those who want to retire can also enter government departments to receive matching treatment.

"independent"? Stop dreaming, the Russians are not here to do charity, and they have fought so hard for so long, just to make the Bulgarians independent.

Now the Bulgarians are not so demanding, and autonomy is their highest goal. Most also wanted Russian asylum, guaranteeing that they would not be enslaved by the Ottomans.

In particular, the personnel of the religious circles are standard pro-Russian factions, and they have very high expectations for Bulgaria to join the big family of the Russian Empire.

The future Bulgaria is nothing more than a province, an autonomous province, or joining Russia in the name of an autonomous principality. The specific situation depends on the decision of the tsarist government.

The premise is that the Russians win the war, and if they lose everything, the loser is not entitled to the spoils.

...

Sofia

In the coalition headquarters, Lieutenant General Montes has already greeted all the relatives of Major General Oliver in his heart.

If it wasn't for him delaying the defense in order to arrange the so-called pocket formation, the Bulgarian guerrillas would not have been able to take advantage of the situation and conquered three and a half cities in just one week.

The city is owned by the Ottomans, and even if Montes is captured, it doesn't matter. The problem is that the materials hoarded in the city belong to them.

Even if the British Empire has a big business and doesn't care about such a little loss, it still needs to consider the political impact?

The immediate consequence now is that Montes can't lift his head in front of the French. The deeper impact is that the Bulgarian region is more unstable, and more and more people see the hope of getting rid of the Ottoman rule and turn to support the partisans.

"Give Major General Oliver an order to immediately recover the lost ground and ensure the smooth flow of our army's logistics and transportation lines." Montes ordered

The matter of encircling and suppressing the guerrillas will be discussed later. If it is really impossible, it will be left to the Ottomans. Anyway, this is not the territory of the British Empire, and Montes does not care so much.

"Yes!" replied the attendant

At the time of this order, Montes had not yet noticed that the danger was approaching, and Fitzroy Somerset was already planning the great battle.

At the beginning, on the battlefield of Sofia, there were 73,000 Russian troops + 20,000 Bulgarian guerrillas vs. 50,000 British troops + 20,000 Sardinian troops + 30,000 Ottoman troops.

Now that the Russian army has been supplemented, the total strength is still more than 70,000, while the Ottoman army in the coalition is less than 10,000. Of the remaining 42,000 British troops, only 35,000 are on the front line, and the Sardinian army still has 1.9 remaining. Ten thousand.

It has to be said that the Italians are good at life-saving, and they have the lowest casualty rate among the warring parties. The battlefield life-saving manual tossed by Franz was now deeply rooted in the Sardinian army.

This means that when the reinforcements of the coalition forces were pinned down by the Bulgarian guerrillas, the Russian army already had an absolute advantage on the battlefield.

The Ottoman army has been crippled, the Sardinian army is paddling again, and the remaining British army can't stand the Russian army that is twice as strong.

On December 27, 1852, under the leadership of Fitzroy Somerset, the Russian army launched a fierce attack on the Sofia region.

Unlike the previous attack, this time the Russian army caught the Sardinian army's defense line and beaten it. Since the Bulgarian guerrillas smashed out from here, Fitzroy Somerset realized that this is the weak point of the coalition defense line. .

It was just that the opportunity was missed at the time. In order to prevent the British from plugging this loophole, it became the target of the Russian army's feinting attack in the later period.

The Sardinian army on the opposite side also cooperated very well. It was common to shoot guns in the sky, and the two sides made a very fierce fight.

Montes was fooled, and really thought that the Bulgarian guerrillas had torn apart the defense line. It was the Sardinian army who was new to the unfamiliar environment and was found by the guerrillas to break through.

Coupled with the tension of the troops, the Sardinians seemed to be working hard again. They fought vigorously on the battlefield and withstood the attack of the Russians. He did not let the British army and them jointly defend.

In the long run, Montes is doing the right thing. If the British army and the Sardinian army defended together, it is estimated that the elite of the British army will be abolished soon.

Mantua is not a good general, but he must be a good boss. In order to reduce the casualty rate of soldiers, he emphasized safety first in three orders and five times, and was deeply loved by the soldiers.

In the eyes of the Sardinian soldiers, this is not their war, and they go to the battlefield to earn that salary. Therefore, they have always been able to paddle, and they will never do anything.

All of this, the general Mantua, who is deeply aware of human nature, is clear that this army is the political capital for his future return to the Kingdom of Sardinia, and it must be done to buy the heart of the army.

To lead everyone to victory, to snatch the spoils and make a fortune, he cannot do it. Then you can only lead everyone to save lives, and generals who value the lives of soldiers will also be welcomed.

Now the trouble is big. The Russians on the opposite side are not cooperating, and Mantua has a headache. Give up the line of defense and run away, just think about it, if you do, the furious British will definitely kill him directly.

What about allies? Did Sardinia

In addition to protesting, how can the kingdom take the British?

A middle-aged officer suggested: "General, why don't we open a hole at the junction with the British defense line and let the Russians go there. Even if the British find fault after the war, we can put the blame on them."

Being reprimanded by the British every day, the Sardinians also have temperaments, and the disparity in treatment aggravates this dissatisfaction.

Nominally everyone's rations are the same, but after arriving at the place, the British can always get some fruits and vegetables, potatoes, bread and other supplies.

Due to the limited number, the British are only available to officers, and naturally they have no share.

Even a general like Mantua was not treated much better. If he wanted to improve the food, he had to pay the British quartermaster.

It is not that they did not protest to the British, but the British bureaucrats took out the contract signed by the two countries, which clearly stated that the British Empire provided logistical support for 20,000 Sardinian soldiers.

Since they are "soldier", they can only enjoy the treatment of soldiers. In the eyes of Sardinian officers, equating them with soldiers is no longer a simple treatment issue, but also insults their personality.

In this case, even Lieutenant General Montes, the coalition commander, was powerless.

The bureaucrats in London are not something he can afford to provoke. They all act according to the regulations and fully comply with British law, and it is useless to complain to the country.

There is no way in London, is it possible to ask the Ottomans to provide some?

Obviously, this is impossible. Just look at the situation of the Ottoman army. In addition to the guaranteed treatment of high-level officers, the lower-level soldiers also need the British army to support them.

If it weren't for the bureaucrats in London, who always distributed supplies according to the standard number of people at the time of departure, Montes distributed the extra beef jerky and biscuits to the Ottoman army, and now the Ottoman soldiers on the front line are still fighting hungry.

Mantua shook his head and said, "You can't do this. If we find out after the fact, we can't escape the relationship. We can't take responsibility for losing the defense line, which will affect the country's reputation."

It's okay to pit teammates, but you must have skills. If the operation is not good, you will be thrown in. Mantua will not do this kind of thing that has no technical content and directly releases the line of defense.

"Then what should we do? The Russians are attacking so fiercely, and our losses are very heavy. I'm afraid it won't last long." An officer said with a wry smile.

Mantua frowned, lowered his voice and said, "This war can't go on, we don't need to stay and work for the Ottomans.

The troops were ordered to abandon the most forward positions, and by the way, the information on the deployment of the British troops was forgotten on the battlefield, and the markings were clearer.

Remember to use Bulgarian, Russians can understand it anyway, this pot can only be used by the Ottomans, and it is very normal for them to have Russian spies in their army.

With this information, the Russians will definitely move their offensive targets. Once the defense line fell, we would shrink our forces and move into the Kosovo region, then return to Thrace from the Macedonia region. "

Obviously, he was well prepared, and even the escape route had already been planned. If the British are powerful enough to block the Russian attack, then it's easy to do, and check the Russian spies in the coalition!

The first suspect is the Ottoman army. In theory, the British and Sardinian armies are foreigners, and the Russians simply do not have time to infiltrate.