Chapter 483: Chapter 477: Battle for Tabia
After crushing the Russian Empire’s attempt to approach the fort using tunneling methods, the Ottoman Empire’s army turned back to the fort without hesitation.
On their return journey, the Ottoman Empire soldiers were shaken by the thunderous roar of cannons fired from the island in the river, with shells falling near the Russian Empire’s trenches.
The enormous explosion left the Ottoman Empire soldiers trembling, thinking that if they hadn’t turned back immediately, they would have been blown to pieces.
The explosion from the twenty-four-pound cannonball created a moderately sized crater in the flat ground, and the dust rising behind the trenches obscured the view from the fort, preventing Musa Pasha and others from seeing whether the Russian corps still occupied the trenches under the cover of night.
"Surely these Russians won’t dare to attempt such a thing again after such a lesson!" Musa Pasha said lightly in English as he put down his binoculars.
"Esteemed Pasha, I believe they are likely to take action again," Captain Barlet said with a very serious attitude to Musa Pasha.
"Oh? How do you explain this?" Musa Pasha asked Captain Barlet humbly.
"Because of the frequency of the attacks!" Captain Barlet replied, then asked, "Musa Pasha, do you remember the artillery bombardment from a few months ago?"
"Are you referring to the first attack Russia made against us?" Musa Pasha responded.
"Exactly!" Barlet nodded and then pointed to the area currently being shelled, "Esteemed Pasha, do you see any differences compared to a few months ago?"
Musa Pasha once again picked up his binoculars to examine the area, "The frequency of the shelling seems to be more intense than the first time!"
"Right! You’re correct!" Captain Barlet’s expectations of Musa Pasha rose to a new level, at least he’s not entirely clueless: "With such frequent bombardment, it seems the Russian Empire’s army has acquired some new cannons!"
"Will this have any impact on our defense of the fort?" Musa Pasha asked nervously, fearing the fort might fall under his watch.
Though losing the fort wouldn’t greatly affect his career, it would tarnish his reputation.
After all, if the fort fell soon after being handed over to him, it would certainly be seen as his fault.
Captain Barlet glanced at Musa Pasha, his internal evaluation dropping back to its original position. He shook his head and replied to Musa Pasha, "It won’t have much impact unless the Russian Empire places all their cannons in a row beneath the fort! Only then might they inflict irreparable damage to our walls. So we only need to harass them when they are digging in the trenches."
"Good!" Musa Pasha smiled, entrusted the task of defending the fort to the two of them, and promised privately to reward them with 5,000 British Pounds each after the war ended.
Looking at the generous Pasha before him, Nismit also offered a suggestion to boost the morale of the city’s defenders.
Musa Pasha could issue a notice on behalf of the government to the Ottoman residents within the fort, offering a reward of twenty Pera (Ottoman currency) to anyone who handed over a cannonball.
"What use do I have for cannonballs?" Musa Pasha asked in confusion.
"Musa Pasha, cannonballs have no practical use, but today they can help conquer the fear of cannon fire within the fort," Captain Nismit explained, "I’ve seen many cases of fort assaults in history, and in most cases, forts were breached not from the outside but from within. Once a major turmoil occurs inside the fort, then the fall of the fort is not far off. The most important thing now is to boost the morale within the fort. As long as our army can hold on until the Allied Forces arrive here, we can declare victory! The rest of the task can be confidently handed over to the Allies!"
Listening to Captain Nismit’s words, Musa Pasha nodded understandingly, then asked Captains Barlet and Nismit if they knew when the Anglo-French Alliance Army would arrive.
Captains Barlet and Nismit shook their heads, indicating that they had been detached from the military for a long time and did not know when the Anglo-French Army would arrive.
"Alas! I hope they can arrive soon!" Musa Pasha sighed deeply.
Meanwhile, across the river in the Russian base camp, the commander of the Guard Division and the commander of the Thirteenth Corps, both failing in their offensive and tunneling attempts, were called into the tent by Paskievich to receive criticism.
Paskievich first loudly questioned why the commander of the Guard Division suddenly retreated, asking whether the Russian Imperial Army could not sustain casualties of even a few hundred men.
The commander of the Guard Division hastily explained that his troops were caught in a sudden double attack, causing temporary chaos and leading to the current situation.
Then, Paskievich questioned the Thirteenth Corps commander on why they withdrew midway through tunneling, and Admiral Hilde similarly found a reason for their retreat, saying their troops were luring the enemy deep.
"Deep? Where did they go?" Paskievich scolded harshly.
"Those Turks are nothing but cowards!" Hilde ultimately passed the blame onto the Turks again.
If Hilde knew he was defeated by a British Captain, he would probably want to find a hole to crawl into.
"I don’t care what excuse you find! I just want the Fort!" Prince Paskevich scanned the surroundings with a severe gaze, emphasizing once more: "Listen carefully, I don’t want to hear about your difficulties, just the result!"
"Yes!" The gathered generals understood that Prince Paskevich was already furious, and it was clearly unwise to provoke him further at this moment.
In short, under Paskevich’s forcible prodding, the Thirteenth Corps engaged in fortification efforts under the light artillery of the Turkish on the city walls at dawn, during which they also engaged in two field battles with the Turkish Army emerging from the city.
In the empty ground under the pitch-black night sky, flashes of ammunition and the dull sounds of gunfire appeared from time to time.
On the first night, neither side gained the upper hand, with casualties numbering no less than two thousand. The trenches of the Russian Empire also moved forward by about six meters.
Early the next morning, the sound of cannons once again roused the Bulgarians and Albanians loyal to the Ottoman Empire within the fort. Due to the forward push of the trenches, cannonballs sent to the forefront of the trenches could now be fired into the fort, and the residents inside walked in trepidation.
However, this fear was soon diluted by the notices posted on the walls. The content of the notices was exactly what Captain Nismit told Musa Pasha the previous night, and Musa Pasha ordered them to be posted overnight.
Some brave children hoped to receive the reward of twenty Pera from Musa’s followers, while most adults secretly wished for gains too, although they feared cannonballs exploding around them.
At noon, an innocent child luckily picked up a split cannonball and presented the shot before Musa Pasha, who awarded him twenty Pera in front of everyone.
The fear caused by the cannonballs was overshadowed by greed, and they all eagerly hoped to obtain the twenty Pera from Musa Pasha.
For a time, the enthusiasm for picking up cannonballs surged among the residents inside the fort.
Meanwhile, outside the fort, the Russian Imperial Army continued their relentless assaults on the main city walls surrounding the fort.
This time, they didn’t care if the artillery would injure their own men.
With a sincere cry, the Guard Army soldiers charged toward the Turkish troops on the fort, under fire from both their own and enemy cannons.
Captain Barlet, as usual, dispatched the Tunisian Corps to sortie from the city and flank the Imperial Guard. This time, the Guard Army did not collapse as they had previously, but instead split into two groups: one continued to scale the walls, while the other resisted the attack from the Tunisian Corps.
The situation immediately became stalemated, with continuous deaths on and outside the fort. The argument war centered around the fort once again turned into a bloody meat grinder battle.
This battle continued for nearly over an hour, with both sides continuously adding "chips" to the meat grinder. Ultimately, the side defending the fort gained victory.
The Russian Imperial Army hastily left behind over 1,000 Russian soldiers’ corpses before retreating, while the Turkish Army defending the city also paid the price of nearly 700 deaths.
After the "long" meat grinder ended, both sides once again entered a period of reciprocal bombardment.
Under the bombardment, neither side inflicted much damage on the other, with very few unfortunate souls being hit and killed by shellfire.
By evening, a new round of battles for positions began again.
After dawn, several hundred bodies appeared once more around the Russian trenches.
Upon receiving reports of the Russian Empire’s second-day battle losses, Prince Paskevich nearly wanted to pull out his pistol and execute the Guard Division commander and Admiral Hilde within the tent.
If it weren’t for General Gorchakov and the Tsar’s Envoy intervening, the first and second generals would have been lost to friendly hands since the Danube Operation began.
With things having reached this point, Paskevich had no choice but to personally go to the frontlines to supervise the battle.
Even Gorchakov could not dissuade the stubborn prince this time.
And on this new day, Musa Pasha continued to pray that the Allied forces would arrive soon.
Musa Pasha was unaware that the Allied forces residing in the Varna Region were also facing an awkward problem.