Chapter 724 The Final Showdown (Recommended, Please Read)

Chapter 725 The final showdown (recommended, please read it)

"Bang, bang-"

Several artillery shells flew from the top of the city, and scattered into dozens of goose egg-sized iron balls halfway, which instantly swept across the Polish artillery position below the city.

Shvihzic heard a cannonball passing over his head, and the sound of the iron ball rubbing against the air stung his ears.

But he did not move at all, he just confirmed the artillery losses as quickly as possible, and shouted loudly to the herald behind him:

"The igniter of the No. 2 gun, the gunner and loader of the No. 4 gun, the No. 5 gun..."

As the herald conveyed the order to the rear, several reserve artillerymen immediately stepped forward.

In fact, even Colonel Shvechczyk had a backup - if he was shot, Lieutenant Colonel Dorland would step in and take his place.

However, the cannon must not retreat even half an inch!

Just like that, when the 24-pounder gun fired its 27th shell, and soldiers' corpses were lying around it, a section of the east side of Bakhchisarai finally collapsed.

A relieved smile flashed in Shvihzic's eyes, he turned around and waved to the herald.

There was no need for him to say anything. The battle arrangements had been made long ago, and the sound of military drums soon sounded all around.

"Come on!"

"For the motherland!"

"Kill the Russian bastard!"

Thousands of Polish infantry roared loudly, like angry beasts, facing the sky full of bullets and artillery shells, and ran towards the gap in the city wall.

Trunikov also hurriedly ordered the Russian troops to rush there to defend.

The two sides soon stood in front of a gap that only allowed four or five people to pass abreast, cursing loudly and shooting at each other.

But it only lasted 3 minutes before the Russians were pressed and began to retreat.

At this moment, gunfire suddenly erupted from behind the Russian soldiers blocking the gap. Three or four Russians were immediately shot in the back and fell to the ground.

Dozens of rebels in the city shouted Ottoman, hid behind houses or trees, and fired at them continuously.

The Russian army subconsciously turned around and counterattacked. A dozen Polish soldiers who were closest immediately seized this opportunity and jumped in through the gap in the city wall...

Not long after, the Russian artillery on top of the city stopped firing.

The Polish artillerymen looked at each other, let out bursts of cheers, then nailed the gun doors three or two times, pushed the cannon down, picked up their flintlock guns, and rushed towards the gap in the city wall, shouting.

At around two o'clock in the afternoon, Trunikov took the remaining 400 or so Russian soldiers and a dozen Russian officials to abandon the city and fled south.

Shvehchits and his brave soldiers defeated Bakhchisarai in only 7 and a half hours.

Shvekhzits looked around at the former capital of the Crimean Khanate, and was discussing with his staff how to cause the greatest damage here in the shortest time, when he suddenly saw thick black smoke rising from the north of the city. .

Soon, an officer reported to him that the Ottoman resistance was massacring Russian nobles and setting fire to their houses.

Shvihchitz was stunned for a moment, then smiled, turned to the staff officer and said:

"Yes, it is most appropriate to leave the destruction work to the Ottomans."

Although most of the residents of Crimea are Cossacks from southern Russia, the Ottomans have ruled here for hundreds of years. Although they are small in number, they have the pride of their superiors.

But since Potemkin led his army to occupy Crimea, the Ottomans have become a discriminated inferior ethnic group.

At present, there are no Russian troops in the city, and the anger they have accumulated for nearly ten years burst out immediately.

Shvihchitz thought for a moment and said to his staff:

"Let the soldiers rest as soon as possible. We will set off early tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Mr. Battalion Commander." The latter nodded and asked, "Are we going to reinforce General Kosciuszko?"

"No," Shvehcicz raised his head and looked east, "I believe that if the general knew the situation here, he would definitely not want us to reinforce him. Let's go to Kaffa Port!"

Kaffa is the easternmost port in Crimea. It is responsible for the transit between the Sea of ​​Azov and the Black Sea. It is considered the most important place in Crimea after Bakhchisarai.

Early the next morning, 1,700 Polish soldiers lined up in neat queues and walked eastward under the light of fire in the city of Bakhchisarai.

…

"Watch the spacing in the queue!"

Accompanied by the sound of the gurgling water of the Salgir River, Polish officers were making final adjustments to the infantry line.

The two lines formed immediately adjacent to the west bank of the river, with the Sargir less than 200 paces behind them.

Kosciuszko deployed his troops here not to engage in a "last-ditch battle" to boost morale - there is no need to doubt the morale of soldiers who can go deep into Russia with him - but to prevent the Russian army from taking advantage of their numerical advantage to outflank them from behind.

He was going to have a head-on showdown with Kachowski here without any tricks.

After Kakhovsky suffered yesterday's losses, he was obviously a lot more cautious.

The Russian army advanced slowly and carefully, keeping a distance between the several legions that could support each other at any time. It was not until 10:30 in the morning that the Polish military flag on the riverside was finally seen.

The four Russian cannons roared first.

The artillery shells passed over the heads of the Polish skirmishers at the front of the battlefield, penetrated into the thin infantry lines, and immediately raised large splashes of blood.

But the Polish infantry line was like a birch forest in the wind, standing straight in place. Even though the strong wind could break them, it could not move them at all.

After 20 minutes, the bombardment stopped.

The Russian army launched an all-out attack with two elite grenadier battalions as the core.

Along with the tentative exchange of fire between the scattered soldiers, the two lines of gray and white infantry were getting closer and closer. The gray was long and thick, and the white was short and thin.

Finally, when the two sides were about 70 steps apart, the Russian soldiers stopped under the command of the officers and aimed their guns.

"Shoot--"

The dense gunfire like firecrackers sounded immediately, and the smoke filled the entire battlefield.

More than 30 Poles on the opposite side fell down in response, but the entire infantry line remained motionless. The soldiers only frowned slightly when the smoke drifted to their faces.

The Russian infantry line moved forward again, fired in unison, and continued to move forward...

Soon, the distance between the two sides was less than 40 steps. The Poles withstood four rounds of volleys, and nearly 300 soldiers were shot and killed, but they still did not move.

They were enduring.

Waiting.

Waiting for the moment of revenge.

The Russian commander looked at the silent Polish position nervously, raised his hand and gave an order:

"Forward 7 steps!"

When the Russian soldiers took 5 steps forward to the beat of the military drums, the Poles suddenly moved.

Kosciuszko personally rode behind the infantry line, raised his sword, and shouted:

"Aim--"

The flintlocks on the entire infantry line were raised with a "swish".

"Shoot--"

The soldiers were silent and pulled the trigger.

Thousands of black muzzles spewed flames almost at the same time. The opposite Russian infantry line was like being hit hard by an invisible giant, with blood and flesh flying all over the sky.

With just one volley, the Polish bullets took away more than 300 Russian soldiers, making up for the previous losses.