Chapter 769 Battle of the Alma River (6)

The British army collapsed, and the French army next door did not fare much better. After storming the cliff to no avail, the French army began to attack in the direction of Telegraph Hill.

Teams of light infantry launched round after round of attacks towards Telegraph Hill. However, the Russian army occupied a dominant position and built relatively solid fortifications. Most of the French army's attacks seemed to be loud and heavy, or a bit anticlimactic. .

Around four o'clock in the afternoon, the French army was too exhausted to continue the attack. Seeing that the situation was not good, Saint Arnaud reacted much faster than Raglan. He immediately ordered the artillery to start covering fire to attack the Russian pursuing troops who broke out of the trenches. And ordered the rearguard troops to immediately switch to defense and try their best to cover the retreat of our own light infantry who were in chaos on the other side of the river.

However, Saint Arnaud still underestimated the ferocity and bravery of the Russian army, and misjudged the resilience of his own troops.

The Russian Cossack cavalry rushed straight from the center of the mountain road and cut off his troops' retreat as easily as a red-hot bayonet thrust into butter.

As the two sides fought in a melee, the coalition artillery had to stop shooting, otherwise God knows who would die under the fire.

This was naturally more beneficial to the Russian army. Peter Gorchakov immediately ordered his infantry to launch a countercharge and cooperate with the Cossacks to annihilate the French army.

For a time, the French troops on the other side of the river were either dead or wounded in a chaotic mess, and they might really be wiped out at the foot of Telegraph Hill. At this time, Saint-Arnaud was helpless. All the reserves he had on hand were pressed forward, but the morale of the troops had been weakened, and the orders could not be conveyed at all. The soldiers were all fighting on their own instincts.

If nothing else goes wrong, this kind of trapped beast fight will definitely not last long, and it is very likely to be over!

At the critical moment, Saint Arnaud finally remembered that the coalition forces were not only the British and French armies, but also the 7,000 Turkish troops on the far right near the coast?

These damn pagans have been watching for nothing all day long. Now is it their turn to be of some use, right?

Saint Arnaud immediately gave orders to the Turks to cross the river immediately to support the French army. The Turks were actually a little embarrassed. Neither Saint Arnaud nor Raglan had the slightest intention to consult their opinions when the battle plan was agreed upon last night.

The two decided everything casually, and only gave them the task of strolling along the coast. Although the Turkish commanders were very angry about this, they dared not speak out. And after seeing the performance of the British and French coalition forces today, Turkey was even very lucky. Fortunately, Raglan and St. Arnaud did not give them a mission, otherwise As far as their equipment and troops are concerned, they are really not enough to kill the Russians.

At this time, Saint Arnaud suddenly ordered them to go to the rescue, but Turkey refused to tell the truth. However, considering that if the British and French armies are finished, they may also lead the dogs. Although they were reluctant, they rushed forward reluctantly.

I have to say that the timing for the Turkish army to join the battlefield was perfect. It happened to be when the French army was exhausted and could not hold on. Moreover, the Russian army was extremely exhausted due to fighting with the French army. Facing the sudden attack of the Turkish army, There is really nothing to stop it.

Seeing this scene, Kornilov and Peter Gorchakov were helpless. In fact, they also wanted to annihilate the French army, but their strength did not allow it. In this battle, they had used almost all the mobile forces on hand. Sent up.

More than 20,000 people are already Kornilov's base. After all, the coalition forces had a huge strength advantage. Nearly 70,000 people pressed forward. Even though they caused heavy casualties to the British and French troops, the Russian army was really exhausted.

In fact, the fighting process was very difficult. If Kornilov hadn't ordered Peter Gorchakov to build strong fortifications, and the weapons in his hands were no different from those of the British and French, this would have been able to withstand it. Otherwise, the big mound would have been so difficult. Soon they will fail.

"Kill the enemy as much as possible!" Kornilov sighed and ordered helplessly.

As the Russian army retreated as soon as it was ready, the British and French armies, which had been beaten to the point of losing their armor, staggered back to the other side of the river. When they were crossing the river, they almost came out in full force. More than 50,000 people rushed to kill each other. It really felt like killing people and killing Buddhas when they were blocking them.

But look at them who escaped in embarrassment. Nearly 10,000 people were killed and captured, and almost all of the rest were injured. Many people threw away their backpacks, rifles and even military boots before escaping with their lives. .

Compared with the high spirits when they launched the attack at noon, they looked like a group of desolate beggars at this time.

Especially Raglan, this guy was on the front line, and he really managed to save his life under the hail of bullets from the Russian army. The originally neat and brand-new marshal's uniform was in tatters, and many of his bright medals were missing. If the staff hadn't seen the situation go wrong and pulled the marshal onto his horse and ran away, he might have been shot dead or captured by the Russian army. .

The casualties in this battle were extremely heavy. Nearly 5,000 coalition troops and more than 1,000 Russian troops died on the battlefield in just one afternoon. There were corpses everywhere as far as the eye could see. Because there were so many casualties, it was impossible to count the exact number.

It took the British army two full days to transport the wounded away, and at this time it became clear how problematic the coalition's medical and logistics problems were.

For example, the British army forgot to bring medical equipment, the medical team's cart and caravan when they left Varna. In addition, the stretcher bearers were still in Bulgaria, so the doctors had to turn to a food transport convoy to help remove the wounded from the battlefield.

The Hugh Ainslie mentioned earlier suffered greatly. According to the memory of John Rowe, the administrator of the grain transport team: an officer of the 30th Regiment was injured in the arm, but he was still carrying a Scotsman. An officer of the rifle regiment. This officer leaned forward, with blood dripping from his mouth. He could not speak. He could only use a pencil to write in a small notebook that a bullet knocked out his Teeth and part of his tongue, and now fragments of the pellets lodged in his throat, he wondered in what field the fusiliers' medics were tending the wounded.

But John Rowe didn't know where the military doctor was, so he could only tell poor Ainsley to find a solution on his own.

God knows how poor Ainsley survived in the end, because the medical conditions were appallingly poor. There were no suitable medical dressings, no anesthetics, and anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs were unheard of, even the most basic sterility. The environment cannot be guaranteed.

According to Somerset Colpsoe, Raglan's nephew and one of his adjutants, the poor wounded soldiers were much quieter than last night. There is no doubt that many people did not survive today, and Too many people are too weak and exhausted to even have the strength to moan...