After more than two months of bitter fighting, the coalition forces finally defeated the Greek "civilian forces" and achieved the first major victory of the British army since the outbreak of the Near Eastern War.

Major General Oliver's hanging heart also fell to the ground, and he finally had a good record. With less than 5,000 casualties on his side, he killed 18,000 enemy troops and captured 14,000 enemy soldiers.

The fact that the enemy army is a rabble has been decisively ignored by him, as long as he continues to defeat the army of the Principality of Montenegro, he has completed all the combat missions.

A young officer reported: "General, there is a military order from the country: we are ordered to continue the pursuit of the enemy army, and if the Kingdom of Greece takes these enemy troops in, we are authorized to take the necessary means at home. ”

Necessary means? In fact, it was to find an excuse to enter the Greek kingdom and teach the Greek government a lesson. Apparently the government of London was already very dissatisfied with the government of Otto I, and wanted to give them some color.

"Got it." Major General Oliver replied calmly

He didn't have a good impression of the Greeks, and if it weren't for the Greeks' sneak attack, which forced the Ottomans to draw troops from the front, the Battle of Sofia would not have been lost.

Although he put the blame on others, Major General Oliver knew in his heart that he was to blame for that battle, and it would be an indelible stain on him throughout his life.

Now that he has the opportunity to settle accounts with the Greeks, he will naturally not let go of this opportunity.

There will always be excuses, even if Otto I pretended to be cowardly, this time the London government wanted to knock this restless little brother, and it would still do it.

If you want to get by, it's obviously impossible. It's just that the Greek government does not recognize this dispatch of troops, so on the surface, the British can't use this as an excuse to do anything to them.

European countries are still watching, once they go too far, everyone will still intervene, and John Bull can't cover the sky with one hand.

Even in Britain, they didn't think there was anything wrong with the Greek attack on the Ottomans, but they didn't choose the right time.

The Greek government lost its way at the last minute and did not join the camp of the Russians, which gave him room for manoeuvre, and it was clear that Otto I's political judgment was still passable.

……

The General Command of the Russian Army outside Constantinople, General Menshkov again received a letter of rebuke from Nicholas I.

After attacking for so long and paying more than 100,000 casualties, Constantinople was still in the hands of the enemy, and there was no sign of being conquered, so the tsarist government was naturally in a hurry.

Menshkov's pressure has increased greatly, and if he can't think of a way, the government of St. Petersburg will have to be replaced, and when the time comes, he will be able to say goodbye to him forever after conquering the glory of Constantinople, which Menshikov will never tolerate.

A middle-aged general proposed: "Your Excellency, you may consider the Austrians' suggestion, as long as you can conquer Constantinople, the rest will be done." ”

Menshkov shook his head and said, "The Austrians' suggestion is too costly! They were not going to take Constantinople, but to bombard Constantinople with artillery.

The heavy artillery they recommended, in addition to being used for siege cities, could only be used as shore artillery in the future. If they really did what they proposed, they would have brought in hundreds of huge cannons, and the daily ammunition consumption would be several thousand tons.

Don't say that we can't afford it, and it is estimated that even if the Austrians produce it at full capacity, they may not be able to meet our needs.

Millions of rubles worth of ammunition are knocked out every day, and to conquer Constantinople, at least hundreds of millions of rubles, or even billions of rubles, will be consumed, do you think we can fight? ”

This is not the most pitiful, what is even more pitiful is that the money is spent, and Constantinople may not be able to fight it.

The Austrian recommended cannon is very inconvenient to move around the battlefield, and it will be even worse if the artillery position is destroyed by the enemy.

The middle-aged officer reminded, "But Your Excellency, this is the only way that seems to be able to break through Constantinople.

The enemy forces on the opposite side were very stubborn, and they relied on fortifications for defense. The six-pounder cannon in our hands is simply to tickle them, even if it is a twelve-pounder cannon, it can only deal with some ordinary fortifications.

If we can't destroy these fortresses, what will we do to conquer Constantinople? If this opportunity is missed, we are sinners of Russia. ”

This is the most frustrating, no matter whether this method is reliable or not, it is the only way that can be successful.

The tsarist government will not care so much, and the people in the country will not be any different, they have all arrived at the foot of Constantinople, if they don't take this city, will they be worthy of their ancestors?

……

After inspecting the camp, looking at the declining morale and listening to the screams of wailing, even the hard-hearted Menshikov couldn't help but waver.

He knew that he couldn't go on like this, and if he continued to fight like this, it was estimated that before Constantinople was captured, the Russian army would mutiniate first.

Grey animals are also human beings, and when the casualties reach a certain level, they will also collapse, a consequence that Menshkov can never afford.

……

In one corner of the camp, several soldiers were plotting.

A grizzled young soldier said in a low tone, "Joey, have you figured out the route?" If we continue like this, I'm afraid it won't be long before we all fall on the battlefield.

You know, just yesterday that Rolls Bickie guy was blown up and injured his left leg, and had to be amputated to avoid infection. Unable to stand the blow, he committed suicide that night. ”

A middle-aged soldier next to him reminded, "Fox, don't be like this. The departure route must be planned, otherwise if there is a mistake, we will be hung at the gate of the camp! ”

In order to make an example of each other and deter deserters, the Russian army adopted a very cruel method: they dropped people on a pole and died of sunburn, thirst, and starvation......

Looking at the expectant crowd, Joey sighed, took out a sketch and pointed to explain, "The route has been found, but this path is difficult to follow."

From here, there are people guarding the way, and you have to avoid them and enter the Balkan Mountains to be safe for the time being.

This is only the first stage of the escape, after which you will have to cross the Balkan Mountains to enter the Austrian occupation zone.

During this time, you will not be able to get any supplies from the outside world, so you will have to look for food in the mountains and forests, and in addition to being careful of poisonous insects and beasts, you will also have to worry about getting lost.

Arriving in the occupied territory of the Austrians does not mean that it is safe. They are our allies, and even if you enter, you will not be disarmed, and most likely will be repatriated.

If you want to get by, you can only pretend to be war refugees, and language is a big problem. Russian and Bulgarian are very similar, but there are still differences, and no one knows what will happen once they are recognized. ”

The middle-aged man said cautiously: "We don't have a choice, you may not know in the logistics unit, the casualties on the front line are too heavy these days, and you can see familiar people leaving here every day."

Half of our battalion has been replenished one after another, and if we continue to stay, it won't be long before everyone dies here.

Joey, thank you whether we can get out or not.

You can rest assured that we have figured out the situation, looked for opportunities to play dead when attacking, and then sneaked out when it got dark.

Even if it is discovered, we can say that we are stunned by the bomb and our minds are confused. ”

A premeditated escape began, they were not the first, nor would they be the last, and the brutal casualties had already broken their nerves.

Everyone would rather take the risk of escaping and fight for an unknown life than continue to stay here.

Anyway, their family is all serfs, and they all belong to the property of the nobles, even if they are discovered, they don't have to worry about implicating the family.

……

The middle-aged man asked in a low voice, "Hurry up, Wallace, why don't you see this kid?" ”

Fawkes replied, "Uncle Marney, I didn't see him coming up, I'm afraid something happened, why don't we go back and look for it?" ”

The middle-aged man thought for a while and said, "Don't worry about him, life and death on the battlefield, where can I find this black light?"

Now let's go, it's not safe here, if we can't shuttle through here quickly, we won't be able to run away at dawn. ”

They were lucky that someone provided a road map, they didn't run in the wrong direction, and they spent the first day of their escape safely.

However, not everyone was so lucky, and not long after they left, another wave of deserters was very unfortunate enough to encounter a patrol, and then naturally they were caught.

The military judge asked, "Your Excellency, seven more deserters were caught last night, is it still the same?" ”

"Hmm!"

Menshikov seemed to have just said a word at random, but in fact his heart was not at peace.

The number of deserters was growing, and as a high-ranking officer who was not an idiot, he knew that meant that he was approaching the limit of what the force could bear.

In the face of reality, Menshikov quickly made a compromise, he did not want to become a national thief, so this battle must be fought.

The problem of money gave the tsarist government a headache, and no one could back down now anyway.

Menshikov said: "Someone, borrow the Austrian telegraph network and forward this telegram to the government in St. Petersburg!" ”

After Austria took over the Danube principalities, cable telegraphs were quickly laid out, and by the end of 1853 they were connected to the domestic telegraph network.

At this time, the Russians often borrowed the Austrian telegraph network to deliver information that did not particularly need to be kept secret, and it could be done in two or three days.

If you go through the Russians' own communication network, you have to go to Poland or a big city in Ukraine before you can send a telegram. Without ten days and half a month, it would have been impossible to get the news back to St. Petersburg.

Obviously, Menshkov did not think that this battle plan needed to be kept secret from the Austrians, and even if he wanted to, he could not do it, and the artillery had to be purchased from the Austrians.

Menshkov is not ready for the supply of domestic military-industrial complexes, and when they produce the cannons and deliver them to the front, who knows whether it will be a year or two years?

Nicholas I fully supported his work in the attack on Constantinople, and whoever dared to do something here was against His Majesty the Great Tsar.

Without the support of the tsar, Menshkov would not have been able to change the logistics and transportation system of the Russian army in the Balkans, and if not, the life of the Russian army on the front line would not have been so good.

The ball was kicked to St. Petersburg, and Menshikov explained in detail all the circumstances, and it was up to Nicholas I to decide what to choose.