Chapter 479: Chapter 473 Bombardment of Odessa
The Anglo-French fleet sailed continuously for several hours and finally arrived near Odessa around five in the afternoon.
By then, the fiery sun had slowly descended from the summit to just above the sea level, and the large white clouds in the azure sky turned a fiery red under the sunset’s glow, with the white sails, blowing in the sea breeze, also dyed a shade of orange-red.
The Southern Pearl of the Russian Empire—Odessa, under the sunset, exuded an indescribable French beauty, prompting Vice Admiral Dunsda, who was observing the sights of Odessa through a telescope, to let out a sigh: "Ah! It’s so beautiful! If only it weren’t a city established by the Russian Empire, how wonderful would that be!"
"General Dundas, this city was established by Duke Richelieu, who was appointed the first governor of Odessa by Catherine. It is through his efforts that Odessa has become what it is today!" explained Major General Edmond Lyons softly to his superior, Dundas.
"No wonder Odessa’s architectural style has such a French flair! Now I know it’s actually built by our French friends! Our friends from France are indeed helpful!" Dundas remarked sarcastically.
Upon hearing Admiral Dundas’s sarcastic comment, Major General Edmond Lyons promptly extinguished any further attempts to explain, and instead turned to discuss the attack sequence with Admiral Dundas.
"No rush! Let’s wait until the reconnaissance fleet that went to Odessa Port returns," responded Admiral Dundas, raising his hand to stop the conversation.
A while later, the steam gunships (two British gunships and one French gunship) responsible for surveying the enemy situation at Odessa Port returned to the vicinity of the main fleet, and the flag signal soldiers on board used flags to report the situation to the main fleet.
The naval fleet stationed at Odessa Port included three main sail warships, two two-deck ships, and three outdated steam gunships.
Such a scale is hardly a match for the Anglo-French Combined Fleet. It is important to note the forts deployed around the area of Odessa Port. Each fort’s cannons can fire 24 or 48-pound shells. These forts were initially prepared by Nicholas I as a precaution against the potential attack of the Anglo-French Alliance Army on Odessa Port, but these weapons are over a decade old and pose far less than a lethal threat to the current Anglo-French Combined Fleet, which has ships equipped with larger caliber cannons with greater range that can pose a deadly threat to the Odessa forts.
Of course, if opposed to Turkey, these forts would be sufficient, and Turkey’s fleet would stand no chance.
Upon receiving the basic information about Odessa Port, Dundas calmly analyzed the current situation.
Although the Anglo-French Combined Fleet was fully aware of the deployments on the Odessa sea, the inside of Odessa Port remained a mystery. Dundas believed that now was not the time to launch a general attack.
While Dundas was carefully contemplating countermeasures, a small boat descended from the French command ship on the left side of his fleet. The boat sailed to the vicinity of Dundas’s ship, and the marine soldiers aboard Dundas’s ship escorted the guest onto the ship.
Once the guest reached the deck, the marine soldiers reported to Vice Admiral Dundas about General Bruea’s arrival.
Admiral Dundas and Major General Edmond quickly went to greet General Bruea. Under the sunset, the two of them shook hands once again and promptly got down to business.
General Bruea inquired about Vice Admiral Dundas’s opinions on Odessa. Vice Admiral Dundas cautiously replied to Bruea: "I hope the fleet can postpone the attack because we still do not understand whether there are troops within Odessa Port!"
"What do you plan to do?" General Bruea asked Vice Admiral Dundas.
"It would be best if we could capture someone to learn about the situation inside Odessa Port from them!" Vice Admiral Dundas replied to General Bruea.
"That’s not easy!" General Bruea frowned and said.
"Actually..." Major General Edmond muttered softly, "this is not such a difficult task!"
"Hmm?" General Bruea looked at Major General Edmond curiously, "What do you suggest?"
"Based on my recent observations of Odessa and the Sevastopol Fortress, there are always a few ships returning from Sevastopol Fortress to Odessa. Most of these ships are merchant ships, and I presume they supply goods for the Russian Army at the Sevastopol Fortress. If we can capture them, we will surely learn about the situation in Odessa Port!" Major General Edmond suggested.
"That’s a good idea!" General Bruea nodded and looked at Vice Admiral Dundas. "What do you think?"
"Let’s give it a try!" Vice Admiral Dundas nodded.
Subsequently, Major General Edmond took out his small notebook, which he carried with him, and after checking the recorded contents, informed Dundas and Bruea of the time when the merchant ship would return to Odessa Port.
"The next closest time is around 6 o’clock!" Major General Edmond told Vice Admiral Dundas and then pulled out a pocket watch. After checking the time, which was now about 5:45, he said, "There are less than 15 minutes until the ship arrives!"
"Order the reconnaissance fleet to patrol along the route from Odessa to Sevastopol. We must capture the merchant ships!" Vice Admiral Dundas responded firmly.
"Yes!" replied Major General Edmund, then relayed the order to the flag signal soldiers, who waved the flags to convey Admiral Dendas’s command to the reconnaissance fleet.
The reconnaissance fleet, upon receiving the order, appeared like wild mustangs unleashed, frantically searching for traces of passing vessels along the route from Odessa to Sevastopol.
Time flew by, and after nearly 20 more minutes, the reconnaissance fleet returned once again to the main fleet, where the flag signal soldiers on board conveyed the message that the mission was completed.
Seeing the order from the reconnaissance ships, Edmund immediately entered the cabin to report to Admiral Dendas and General Bruea the news of the mission’s completion.
"Bring the people over!" Admiral Dendas ordered once again.
Edmund quickly returned to the deck to relay the message from the reconnaissance fleet to escort the merchant ship members to the main fleet, and the reconnaissance fleet turned and departed.
After a while, a boarding ship pierced through layers of encirclement, arriving in front of the command ship. The person in charge aboard followed by two sailors also boarded the boat heading for the command fleet, and then boarded the British command ship.
Looking at the Russian Empire merchant before him with Tatar-like appearance, Dendas asked in broken Russian if he could speak English.
"Honorable Sir! (The merchant didn’t know whether Dendas was indeed of nobility and could only address him as Sir tentatively), I do not speak English, only a little French!" the merchant said fluently in Russian to Admiral Dendas.
Admiral Dendas turned his gaze to General Bruea, and General Bruea stepped forward to communicate briefly with the Tatar-looking merchant.
From the mouth of this merchant, it was learned that since the Anglo-French Alliance declared war on the Russian Empire, Tsar Nicholas I had continuously strengthened the military forces around Odessa, and now there were 50,000 to 60,000 Russian troops gathered in Odessa, indicating a heavily fortified defense.
"50,000 to 60,000 troops? Where did the Tsar find such a massive army!" Admiral Dendas was somewhat disbelieving of this Tatar merchant’s words and immediately questioned.
General Bruea translated Dendas’s words into French for the Tatar merchant.
"Honorable Sir, I am just an ordinary merchant and do not know where the Tsar gathered these troops, but they are indeed in the Odessa Port!" the Tatar merchant articulated each word carefully.
After listening to the Tatar merchant, General Bruea and Admiral Dendas remained silent, while Major General Edmund quickly ordered his men to take the Tatar merchant away.
"What do you think?" After pondering for a while, Admiral Dendas asked General Bruea.
"We cannot rule out this possibility! After all, Odessa Port is too important for the Tsar! It’s always better to be cautious!" General Bruea replied while stroking his chin, adding comfortingly, "However, we shouldn’t pay too much attention to the numbers. I personally believe that there are not 60,000 men in Odessa Port! At most, there are only about 30,000 to 40,000!"
"Even if they only have 30,000 to 40,000 men, our forces would have difficulty gaining the upper hand!" responded Admiral Dendas’s forces.
The Anglo-French Alliance Army on board consisted of only about 8,000 men, which did not provide any numerical advantage, and in addition, an early landing operation would inevitably result in significant soldier casualties, making it somewhat unworthy.
"Then we can only choose to destroy Odessa’s active forces!" General Bruea decided on the next strategic objective of the Anglo-French Combined Fleet.
"We have no choice but to do so!" Dendas nodded in agreement.
Under the joint command of General Bruea and Admiral Dendas, the Anglo-French Combined Fleet began to change their attack formation, advancing towards Ossade Port.
The small and nimble gunships led the way at the forefront, closely followed by the massive steam sailing battleships.
As the Anglo-French Combined Fleet reached the maximum shooting range of ships and cannons from Odessa Port, the port’s batteries and the Russian Imperial Navy ships remaining there likewise discovered the arrival of the Anglo-French Combined Fleet.
In the starlight shining from the sky, shadows at the Odessa Port batteries began moving back and forth, all of which were observed by Admiral Dendas and General Bruea on the command ship.
"Counterattack? Do you think you have the ability?"
Admiral Dendas, having vaguely observed the movement of the batteries through the telescope, put down the telescope with disdain, then ordered the fleet to proceed step by step to execute the next command.