The Battle of Constantinople has been fought until now, and I don't know how many corpses are in the corners of the city, and they have not had time to dispose of them, and they have directly begun to decompose.

Both sides of the war only cleaned up the corpses in front of their eyes, and in the corners of the city, the houses of residents could not take care of them.

When the hot summer comes, Constantinople in August, the whole city is filled with the smell of rancidity, and the atmosphere is terrible and oppressive.

The artillery fire is still roaring, leaving only the remnants of broken walls, telling the past years. The Russians have already paid too much for the capture of the city.

The casualty reports that come in every day have long since stopped reading Menshkov. Thousands of casualties were paid every day, and he had long since become numb for months.

The name of the "Meat Grinder of Constantinople" has spread all over the world, and wherever there are Europeans, the cruelty of this war is spreading.

If you count it, you will find that the losses of the Russian army here have exceeded the sum of the two battles of Bulgaria, but the Russians are still fearless.

Just because the outer defense line of Constantinople was completely breached, it can also be said to be breached, and after paying tens of thousands of tons of ammunition, these fortifications were reduced to ruins.

The street fighting has begun, and now the two sides have entered the stage of pure desperate life, and the exchange ratio between the two sides has gradually dropped from the initial five to one, to four to one, and three to one...... It's now 1.3:1.

A middle-aged officer said in a deep voice: "Your Excellency, your Excellency, our cannon fodder units have lost all of them, and the Bulgarian partisans that have been incorporated have also suffered heavy losses.

At present, there are not many young people in the Balkan Peninsula, and it may be difficult to replenish the troops now. ”

Of course, there is not much left, and the war has been going on until now, and the most heavy losses are the local population.

The Ottomans caught the strong men to fight, and the Russians also caught the strong men to fight, but the British and French did not catch the strong men, it was the Ottomans who helped them catch them.

With a total population of more than 10 million people in the Balkan Peninsula, how many are the young and strong? How could it stand such a toss?

Before the attack on Constantinople, most of the Russians were engaged in coolie labor and tactics of driving people to siege the city, which the Russians still rarely used.

Once in the city, the situation changed, and the heavy casualties forced the Russians to use a lot of cannon fodder.

Menshkov replied in a cold voice: "I know, as many as there are, the cannon fodder is dead, and our own people will be on top."

The enemy is about to lose its hold, as long as we conquer this last city, we will win this war!

Order the Military Judge Advocate General's Office, strictly enforce the military law, kill those who do not move forward in battle, kill those who retreat lightly, and kill those who disturb the morale of the army! ”

There is no way, this war is not only about the fate of Russia, but also about the fate of Menshikov himself.

If he can't conquer Constantinople, he had better die on the battlefield, otherwise many people will want to tear him alive.

From a purely military point of view, Menshikov was a fool, completely fighting a dumb battle, without any regard for the casualties of the army.

In order to keep this war going, the Russian army relied on strict military law, and did a big thing for Livymenshikov, executing aristocratic officers who violated military law on the spot!

The aristocratic officers who died in his hands were no longer one or two, and there were dozens of people in front and back.

The conquest of Constantinople is so easy to say, he is the national hero of Russia, and these executed nobles are synonymous with cowards, and the family behind them is despised.

If Constantinople had not been conquered, the situation would have been different. Historically, Nicholas I could not bear the consequences of the defeat in the Crimean War, let alone Menshkov.

Menshikov hadn't lived long enough, he didn't want to die so notorious, so now he was desperate. No matter who you are or what your background is, as long as you dare to violate military law, it is - killing.

"Yes, Commander!" The middle-aged officer replied solemnly

Not only Menshkov, but also the fate of the high-ranking officers of the expeditionary force were tied together. The Battle of Constantinople was extraordinary, and if they lost here, they didn't want to have a good life.

……

In the Crimean Peninsula, before the Anglo-French forces had the upper hand to celebrate, a thunderbolt struck on a sunny day, and in July 1854 cholera broke out in the French barracks.

The hot weather and unsanitary conditions prevented the Coalition forces from reacting, and the plague broke out all at once, spreading from the French barracks to the British barracks.

Flies, mosquitoes on the Crimean peninsula became the best assistants for the spread of the virus, and a large number of coalition soldiers began to vomit and diarrhea, and then died in their tents.

Coalition forces have been plagued by filth in public spaces and a non-existent sanitation system. The number of sick people rose dramatically, and the plague spiraled out of control for a while.

By early August, 500 British soldiers had died of illness in the Varna area. The death toll of the French army has risen to more than 60 deaths per day.

This was just the beginning, this sudden plague was not detected at first, and the plague spread to other regions as people moved.

Constantinople

In the open space not far from the pier, more than a dozen French soldiers were resting, and suddenly one of the soldiers began to vomit, which attracted everyone's attention.

A young man asked with concern, "Alphonse, what's wrong with you?" ”

The man who vomited replied weakly: "I don't know, but I suddenly felt a little nauseous and wanted to vomit." ”

A man who looked like an officer said: "It may be a cold, you should pay attention to yourself, if it doesn't work tomorrow, then you can go to the military doctor to have a look." ”

Obviously, he just thought that Alphonse had a cold, and everyone usually relied on their bodies to overcome this kind of minor illness, and only if it was serious, they would go to the military doctor.

Although the French army did a better job of logistics than the British, medical resources were also very scarce, and it was equally difficult for ordinary soldiers to obtain effective treatment unless they were middle and upper rank officers.

At this time, another person said, "No, I'm going to make it easier." ”

After saying that, he ran not far away to solve it without looking back.

Such a vignette will obviously not attract everyone's attention. They had just arrived a few days ago, and were now acclimatizing to the climate of Constantinople.

Because of the adverse reactions caused by soil and water adaptation, everyone has seen a lot. Usually you just stay for a while and you're fine, but if you can't, you'll have to be repatriated.

However, most people were reluctant to be repatriated, even though the casualties on the battlefield of Constantinople remained high.

Because the body is unable to adapt to the climate, it causes adverse reactions, and usually they cannot return safely, and most of them die on the road.

In this era, the sea was not easy to mess with, and the environment on the ship was quite harsh.

Seeing the increasing number of sick people, the commander of the French army, Aimable-Jean-Jacques Pellisier, finally realized that something was wrong, but it was too late.

There were too many dead in Constantinople, and in order to defend the fortress city, more than 100,000 French soldiers fell, and the Russians died only more, and the civilian casualties in the city could not be counted.

Because of the war, the French army had no way to clean up the corpses in the city, and in fact, many of the corpses were buried by the collapsed buildings, and they couldn't clean it up.

This created a superior environment for rats and flies, and this summer the number of rats and flies in Constantinople broke the record high, as if they were the masters of the city.

Pelisier called the guards: "Ask Dr. Ambroise to come and give him the information." ”

Despite his suspicions, Pelisier was unsure of the outbreak of the plague. Until this time, the news of the outbreak of the plague in the Crimea was not communicated to him.

Busy with the defense of Constantinople all day, Pelissier did not have the energy to pay attention to the grapevine, and of course he might not be able to pay attention to it if he wanted to.

It is no longer news that the coalition forces have been plagued by illness since the Crimean peninsula, everyone has been used to it for a long time.

Moreover, the coalition forces on the Crimean peninsula determined the outbreak of the plague only a few days before Pelissye, and the virus had already entered the city before that.

Because of the war, a large number of people die here every day, and after a long time, people's spirits become numb to death.

……

Ambroise said solemnly: "Your Excellency, Commander, I just went to the hospital to have a look, and combined with this data, we can preliminarily judge that the plague is coming!" ”

Pelissier's face sank, and the worst happened. Constantinople is connected by the sea, whether it is reinforcements or supplies, it can be continuously sent, as long as he is willing to suffer casualties, he is confident that he will always hold on.

There is one exception, and that is the plague. Humanity is fragile in the face of disease, and Pelissier can defeat the Russians, but he is helpless in the face of disease.

"Can you control it?" Pelisier asked with concern

It's just control, and he's not looking forward to treatment. In this era, if you are infected with the plague, you can only resign yourself to fate, and there is no special medicine.

Ambroise thought for a moment and said, "I'm sorry, Your Excellency, Commander, but I can't answer this question for you.

It depends on the transmissibility of the plague and how many people have been infected with the virus before a conclusion can be drawn.

But now it is a time of war, and the troops are so frequently mobilized that we have a serious shortage of doctors to disperse to the troops to diagnose and treat them, and it is impossible to determine which ones are common colds and which are plagues.

In fact, in terms of symptoms, it is possible for the common cold to have these symptoms, and if it were not for the high mortality rate, I suspect that it was just a highly transmissible flu. ”

The reason why the plague is terrible is the speed of its spread and the high mortality rate.

Pelisier continued to ask, "Can you determine the nature of this plague?" ”

Plagues are also classified, and different classifications will cause different lethality in the end.

Ambroise shook his head and said: "At present, we have too little information in our hands to determine the source of this plague, as well as the transmission route, and we cannot rule out the possibility of plague."

From a professional point of view, I personally believe that Constantinople is no longer fit to stay.

There are so many dead people in the city, many times we can smell rotting corpses in the stinky gutters, and war is a source of plague. ”

Pelisier smiled bitterly and said, "Well, Doctor Ambroise, I have entrusted you with the task of investigating the plague and preventing the plague.

As for the question of whether Constantinople is habitable, I cannot answer you, it is not just a question of military affairs, but also politics. ”

Constantinople is not suitable to stay, and Pelissier also knows that the plague has broken out, and it is certainly not suitable to stay any longer.

But the consequences of the abandonment of Constantinople were so severe that at least he, the commander of the expeditionary force, could not hold back, and he did not even have a say in the matter.

Ambroise replied, "Well, Your Excellency Commander. All I can say is to do my best, the final result is not guaranteed! ”