Chapter 239 Cruel

Despite the efforts of British bureaucrats to cover up, the tragedy on the Crimean peninsula appeared in the London newspapers.

There was an uproar among the people, and a large number of family members of soldiers took to the streets to demonstrate. There is no role, the bureaucrats of the Quartermaster Department act according to the regulations, in full compliance with British law, and do not need to bear any responsibility.

The bureaucrats are fearless, but the British cabinet is under enormous pressure. If this problem cannot be solved, the next general election is expected to be very moving.

There is no need to wait until the general election, and now War Secretary Stanley feels what is the pressure.

"Your Excellency, the public opinion is very unfavorable to us. The exaggeration of the media has caused serious problems in our recruitment work."

The poor logistics system, more than one-third of the British soldiers fell ill and could not receive effective treatment, and the mortality rate of ordinary wounded was as high as 42%. The cruel reality is enough to discourage anyone.

After the artistic processing of the media, the Crimean Peninsula is naturally reduced to a hell on earth, and it is not surprising that the people are boycotting military service.

It can be said that if the Russians have a little more financial resources, and if it drags on for another three years and five years, Britain and France will have to leave in despair.

This has nothing to do with war, disease can defeat the British and French coalition forces, no army can withstand the ravages of disease.

George Hamilton-Gordon thought for a moment and said: "Public opinion is set off by the opposition party and is not under our control. What we can do now is to find a way to change the current situation.

The situation on the front was really bad, and the bureaucrats in the quarters department should all be sent to the gallows. If this situation does not change, I am afraid that this war will not be fought by the Russians, and we will be played dead by these bureaucrats. "

Obviously, he wanted to do something to the bureaucrats of the Quartermaster Department. These people are the best allies of the Russians, they have not won the war with their help, mainly the bureaucrats of the tsarist government are also allies of the British.

Everyone is on the same level, pulling each other's back legs, and the war will be stalemate.

Home Secretary Henry reminded: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, the bureaucrats in the logistics department should be hanged, but we can't do anything about them.

All their actions are in accordance with the regulations and do not need to take any responsibility. The interests involved here are too broad, and rash action will cause big trouble. "

Why are bureaucracies mechanical? The answer is very simple - profit.

Only by doing things in full accordance with the regulations, the makers of these regulations, can use the loopholes in the regulations to seek benefits for themselves without bearing legal responsibility.

After thinking about it, George Hamilton-Gordon said helplessly: "If you can't move them, then order them to change the current situation, it's alright!"

There is no compromise. The real master of the British Empire is the huge bureaucratic group. These people have long formed their own interest groups. If they tear their faces, the cabinet is not necessarily their opponent.

At least the coalition cabinet established by George Hamilton-Gordon is powerless against the bureaucracy. Even if the British Quartermaster Department has only 178 people and only 44 people in charge of the Crimea Peninsula, they would not dare to act rashly.

Home Secretary Henry replied: "Of course, it's our right."

An order to rectify means that everything that happened before has been revealed. Therefore, the tens of thousands of British troops who died were all dead in vain.

Facing the pressure of public opinion, the London government decided to change the medical conditions of the expeditionary force and recruit medical staff from all over the country. In this context, Nightingale's medical ambulance team entered the stage of history.

...

The historic city of Constantinople is now becoming misty in the smoke. The artillery that the Russian army had been waiting for finally arrived, and without any hesitation Menshkov ordered the attack.

Constantinople is big, but small. The outskirts of the outer city have been lost, and the French army is relying on fortresses to defend them at this time. Unfortunately, these fortifications are too old, and even after their reinforcement, they cannot stop the baptism of artillery fire.

The 6-pounder can’t hit these fortresses, and the 12-pounder still won’t work, but with the 24-pounder, 48-pounder, or even 100-pounder, these ancient fortifications can’t stand it.

One cannonball can overturn a building, which brought very heavy casualties to the French army in the city. They don't know when a cannonball falling from the sky will take their lives.

The city is no longer safe, the French army headquarters has been moved to the bomb shelter, and the original headquarters of Aimable Jean-Jacques Perlisier has come to an end.

A middle-aged officer defending the city said with lingering fears: "Your Excellency Commander, the enemy's firepower is too fierce. Our city defense can't stop the baptism of artillery at all, and the soldiers suffered heavy casualties."

The officer in charge of maintaining order in the city said bitterly: "Your Excellency Commander, the situation in the city is even worse. The enemy's artillery shells may fly in at any time, causing a large number of casualties, and the order of the city has collapsed.

Just yesterday afternoon, the Ottoman government building collapsed under enemy fire, and the Sudanese government stayed behind to cooperate with our official, Moss de la Pasha, who died on the spot. "

The reality is even more serious than they say. If the Russian artillery shells were not on target, their losses would have been even greater.

Originally, the residents of the city were left behind to allow them to provide services to the French army, so that the soldiers could enjoy a normal life in their spare time in battle.

This is an excuse. The real reason is that the Sudanese government has no ability to evacuate so many people in the city. able to leave early

It ran away, and the rest of the civilians wanted to run and didn't know where to go.

Now the trouble is big. Constantinople, a prosperous metropolis, can bring a lot of losses if the Russian artillery shells hit any part of the city.

The sudden artillery attack immediately collapsed the order of the city. The Sudanese government had already moved the capital and ran away, and the officials who stayed behind to maintain order received a lunch box.

After pondering for a moment, Aimable Jean-Jacques Pelissier frowned and said cruelly: "Order the troops to maintain order in the city, drive out the crowds who are running around, and allow the soldiers to People who don't listen to advice shoot."

This order is very cruel. There are not many people in Constantinople who can speak French. Even if they want to listen to advice, they can't understand it!

To drive the crowd out of the city is to drive them to a dead end. Don't think it's safe to leave the city, now the two sides are exchanging fire? Suddenly a group of people appeared between the two armies, thinking about it and knowing what the consequences would be.

Do you still expect the Russians to stop fighting for them, let them pass freely, and then start the attack again?

What a joke, a group of people who have lost their livelihoods show up in the Russian-occupied zone, just think about what will happen.

The logistical supply of the Russian army itself is very reluctant, and it would be strange if hundreds of thousands of refugees were added.

The Russian army came to fight, not to do charity. If the task of attacking Constantinople was delayed in order to rescue the refugees, the tsarist government had to kill them.

Of course, Aimable Jean-Jacques Pellisier was very clear about these circumstances.

Originally, Constantinople was connected by sea, so there is no need to worry about logistical supplies. Even if there are a large number of civilians in the city, they can still afford it, so they will stay if they stay.

Now it is different. Under the fire of the Russians, the city order is out of control, and the terrible execution ability of the Ottoman government is completely unable to maintain order.

To restore normal order in a short period of time, repression is essential.

Aimable Jean-Jacques Perlisier had to make this cruel decision in order not to leave an opportunity for the enemy to take advantage of.

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

Constantinople was too important to the French army. If they lost it here, they would lose most of the war in the Near East. There is one who is sitting in the seat, and no one wants to have a good life.

The French general Anthony suggested: "Your Excellency Commander, we must organize a counterattack. If we don't fight back if we are beaten like this, Constantinople will fall sooner or later."

Obviously, he advocates naval fire support. The coalition navy has provided them with fire support as soon as the war started, but this quasi-head is really touching.

Because of the distance, the British and French navies could not see the shadow of the Russian army at all, and only bombarded the direction of the Russian army.

It looks huge, but the actual speed of action is very small. If you want to aim, you can't even find the target.

Of course, even if there is a goal, it is useless, and there is Constantinople in the middle?

At a straight-line distance of more than ten kilometers, most of the naval artillery could not shoot the Russian army's position, but many fell into the city because of various accidents.

The youth army Tajik objected: "No, from the firepower analysis, the enemy's artillery is heavy artillery, we can only use it as shore artillery, even the naval firepower is much worse than theirs.

Moreover, we must also take into account the accidental injury. The fire support provided by the navy in front of us caused us more losses than the Russians. "

It is still the era of sailing, and the artillery on warships still pursues quantity, not power. After all, 48-pounder guns can sink enemy ships, and even a few hundred-pounder guns have the same effect.

Considering the poor hit rate of the Navy, instead of increasing the power of the artillery, it is not to install a few more artillery pieces, but to increase the hit rate by the number.

A warship with more than 100 artillery pieces in motion naturally cannot be equipped with large-caliber artillery pieces. If a 180-ton cannon is installed, it is estimated that installing a few will be the limit.

That's all, if the brain hole is wide open, maybe someone else will do it. The problem is that the recoil of a large-caliber gun is too great for a wooden warship to withstand.

I don't know if I can hit the enemy. Anyway, after a few shots, my warship sank first. No one dared to try this terrible consequence.

The artillery support of the British and French navies can play a role. Constantinople has to lose most of it first, otherwise the limit range will hit the enemy, and there is no way to avoid accidental injury.

Giving up most of Constantinople, Aimable Jean-Jacques Pelissier is not crazy, don't forget where most of the fortifications are there?

Putting the Russians in to fight, the 200,000 French troops huddled in a smaller area, and most of the city defenses were lost. Isn't this a death in battle?

Aimable Jean-Jacques Perlisier ordered: "I have asked for reinforcements at home, and soon we will have more artillery than the enemy, and now everyone must guard their positions, it is absolutely impossible to give They stay to take advantage of it."

Using artillery against artillery is the most effective means. But Aimable Jean-Jacques Perlisier was not reassured, because it took time.

They still had a hard time before the domestic artillery arrived on the front lines. If it cannot be stopped during this period, the Russians will tear the defense line and compress the space for the French army to move.

So in the future, even if they get the artillery, whether there are enough places to deploy is a big problem.

Aimable Jean-Jacques Pelissier is not a soldier

Shi Xiaobai doesn't simply think that the concentrated use of artillery will make it more powerful.

If the area is too small, the artillery positions are forced to be concentrated together, which may also become a living target for the enemy.