Chapter 482: Chapter 476 Silistra Meat Grinder
February 23, 1854, 9:00 AM, within the Russian Empire camp northwest of the Silestra Fortress.
A military meeting regarding a total assault on the Silestra Fortress was being discussed inside this tent.
The meeting participants included the Russian Empire’s Danube Region Commander Prince Paskevich, Deputy Commander General Gorchakov, the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Corps, the stationed Polish Corps, the Guard Corps Division Commander, and staff department officers, aides, and others.
After unanimous discussion, the meeting approved a plan for a comprehensive attack on Silestra City and its surrounding fortresses and trenches within the Ottoman Empire territory.
To complete this plan, the Russian Empire Army brought in over thirty siege cannons from Polish territories to add to the existing artillery, making the number of cannons far exceed those of the Ottoman Empire in the Silestra region, and even surpassing the total number of field cannons in the entire Ottoman Empire Eastern Front region.
Prince Paskevich believed that with such powerful artillery, if the Russian Empire could not capture the fortress and its surroundings, it would only indicate that the combat capability of the Russian Empire’s army had fallen far below that of the Napoleonic Wars period.
Next, all the Russian Empire could possibly do was retreat.
Of course, this was just a thought in Paskevich’s mind. During the meeting, Paskevich still emphasized that all units should exert all their strength, striving to completely capture Silestra within a week, and then march south from Silestra to engage with the Anglo-French Alliance Army.
This time, as with several months prior, the operational deployment still had the Guard Division acting as the vanguard force, launching an attack on the Turkish forts.
General Hilde of the 13th Corps served as the support force for the Guard Division, conducting construction work around Silestra City, digging deep trenches to transport cannons closer to the fortifications, and the cannon stationed on the central island of the Danube River was also required to impose a clear artillery suppression on the Silestra Fortress’ gateway "Arab Tabia," facilitating the smooth assault by the Russian Empire Army.
The Polish Corps and the Fourteenth Corps, except for the cavalry, were entirely designated as the general reserve. The Cossack Cavalry units under these two corps were to bypass the Silestra Fortress, scout southward, and report immediately to Paskevich upon discovery of the Anglo-French Army.
Rather than saying the Polish Corps and the Fourteenth Corps were the general reserve against the Silestra Fortress, it would be more accurate to say that these two corps were not participating in the battle just to guard against a sudden attack by the Anglo-French Army.
The battle between the Turkish troops and the Russian troops officially began at 2 PM on the same day. Following the attack order from the Staff Department, the artillery units on the river’s central island immediately poured their firepower on the fortes around the Silestra Fortress.
As an outer defense of Silestra City, the "Arab Tabia" (Arab Tabia), the key that connects other independent forts, was heavily damaged immediately. Nearly a hundred cannons bombarded the protective walls outside the fort to collapse directly.
To prevent the Russian Empire from launching an attack immediately after the artillery stopped, the Albanian and Tunisian Corps defending the fort, under the orders of their officers—two British captains, James Butler, and Charles Nisbet, began repairing the damaged walls amidst the cannon fire.
A line of warriors loyal to the Sultan arrived at the edge of the collapsed wall one after another. They often worked in teams of six, with two soldiers responsible for repairing the wall and the remaining four soldiers providing cover for them.
The soldiers of the Russian Guard Division in the trenches clearly did not want to miss this golden opportunity. They stuck their heads out to shoot the Turkish soldiers fixing the protective walls, and the remaining four soldiers also engaged in rifle exchanges with the Russian soldiers in the trenches.
Thus began a brutal battle for wall repair, where each soldier responsible for mending the fort’s "Arab Tabia" protective wall had an average survival time of only five minutes.
Often, when one soldier was killed by the Russian Empire soldiers, another soldier would immediately fill the vacancy.
The Turkish army, fueled by fervent religious zeal, deeply shocked the Russian Empire Army in the trenches and also profoundly impressed the two British captains.
Before this great battle began, the two captains assumed that with their army, it would be impossible to hold the fort, and the best outcome would be defending for 72 hours before retreating in an orderly manner to the main city area to engage in street fighting with the Russian Empire Army.
But they underestimated the Turkish army. Although this army had a significant equipment gap compared to the British Army, its fighting spirit was in no way inferior to the British Army, making the battle’s outcome still a suspenseful mystery.
Thinking of this, the two British captains were infused with confidence, believing that the Turkish army would surely hold their ground here.
With the continuous onslaught of Turkish soldiers, the collapsed protective wall was repaired after a round of artillery barrage.
However, the Turkish army suffered the loss of hundreds of men, most of whom died under the guns of the Russian army, and only a few directly perished from cannon hits.
The bombardment from the Russian cannons only brought shock to the Turkish army, and their actual lethal effect was not even as significant as that of lighter artillery.
Of course, these were merely post-battle observations. The cannons did shake the confidence of some Ottoman Empire soldiers to some extent.
"For His Majesty the Tsar!"
With a roar from the commander of the Russian Imperial Guard, hundreds of Russian Imperial Guard soldiers climbed out of the trenches, carrying bridges and attacking the two demi-lunes outside the fort.
As the Russian Imperial Army climbed up the slope of the Fort, the Turkish soldiers stationed there immediately launched an attack, with light artillery and rifled guns raining down on the invaders without hesitation.
Due to the crossfire with no blind spots characteristic of the Fort, many Russian soldiers barely emerged from the trenches before facing the Turkish soldiers on the fortress walls. After suffering hundreds of casualties, the exhausted Russian Imperial soldiers finally reached the base of the fortress walls, but before they could set up a bridge, Captain Butler immediately ordered a charge to meet them.
The gates of the Fort opened, and a group of soldiers wearing white turbans screamed as they charged out. These were soldiers from the Tunisian Corps, and each one was determined to sacrifice for Allah and His Majesty the Sultan.
"Praise Allah!"
Led by their commander, the group of Tunisian soldiers launched another fervent charge against the Russian Imperial Army.
The Russian Army, not expecting the Turkish forces to take the offensive and meet them outside the city, was thrown into chaos. Seeing this, Captain Barlet immediately ordered all artillery and rifled guns at the Fort to fire at the Russian Imperial soldiers nearing the Fort’s edge.
The artillerymen and infantry on the Fort promptly followed his orders and opened fire. The Russian Imperial Army, already showing signs of slight defeat, became completely routed under the dual assault.
The Russian Guard Division, reputedly the elite force of the Russian Empire, retreated like a tide, and the Tunisian Army, seeing this, immediately launched an attack. In the ensuing pursuit, hundreds more Russian soldiers became casualties.
However, the zealously advancing Tunisian Corps had pushed too far, nearly suffering a countercharge from the Russian reinforcements in the trenches.
After leaving more than a hundred corpses in the Russian trenches, the Tunisian Corps managed to return inside the Fort.
Upon returning to the Fort, the Tunisian Corps received cheers from the residents within and a personal meeting and reward from Omar Pasha in Silistra City.
After rewarding the Tunisian Corps and the two captains, Omar Pasha publicly announced that he would appoint Musa Pasha as the commander of "Tabia" within the Silistra Fortress.
Astute observers immediately saw that this so-called Musa Pasha was merely someone Omar Pasha had sent to claim the credit.
Nevertheless, neither Barlet nor Nishmith objected to this appointment.
Because they were originally guests at the Silistra Fortress, the success or failure of the fortress had no impact on their promotion.
Moreover, Omar Pasha privately assured them that under Musa Pasha’s command, their command authority would not be stripped and that they would be given a large sum of money.
Thus, with the tacit approval of the "Tabia" Fortress, Musa Pasha assumed the role of "Tabia" commander.
Around seven in the evening, a "rustling" sound arose from the Russian positions outside the Fort.
The Turkish soldiers stationed in the Fort immediately reported this sound to Captain Barlet, and he and the soldiers ascended the fortification.
Using a telescope, he traced the source of the sound and discovered that the Russian Imperial Army was advancing under the cover of night.
Captain Barlet quickly realized that this group of Russian Imperials intended to replicate Marshal Vauban’s tactics, advancing their trenches all the way to the base of the Fort’s walls, then using artillery for suppressive fire.
Though clumsy, this tactic was highly effective.
"They must not be allowed to advance to the walls!" Captain Barlet immediately concluded, hurriedly organizing his troops to attack the Russian Imperial soldiers in the trenches.
As Captain Barlet approached the Fort, he met Captain Nishmith and Musa Pasha.
"What’s happening? Are the Russian Imperial forces attacking?" Musa Pasha asked Captain Butler, his face full of panic.
Captain Barlet shook his head and explained his plan to Musa Pasha and Captain Nishmith.
Musa Pasha and Captain Nishmith immediately agreed with Captain Barlet’s plan.
A handpicked team of Turkish infantry launched a night assault on the Russian Imperials, and the caught-off-guard Russian soldiers, suffering heavy casualties, retreated to the rear trenches.