Some time after Menshikov issued the order, a hunting team consisting of six steam clippers, three three-sail clippers, and six double-decker battleships was formed. Their mission was to use their
Its strong maneuverability launches attacks on supply ships in the eastern Black Sea, making it unable to continue to provide effective support to the Caucasus region.
This can not only help the Russian Empire gain some supply advantages for its troops in the Caucasus, but also anger the Ottoman Navy so that it can engage in a decisive battle with the Russian Imperial Navy as soon as possible.
Only by completely eliminating the Ottoman Empire's ships in the Black Sea can the Russian Empire's supplies in the Caucasus and the Near East be able to rest assured.
The person in charge of commanding this fleet is none other than Lieutenant General Nakhimov, who is good at sea raids.
As for the remaining fleet, they were gathered together by Menshikov and used as a sharp knife to raid the port of Sipno at any time.
From September 26th to 30th, the "Wolf Pack" led by Lieutenant General Nakhimov frequently launched attacks on all Ottoman fleets in the Black Sea, and the frequency of their attacks was more intensive than before.
In just four days, five ships were attacked by Nakhimov's fleet, two of which were supply fleets, and the remaining three were steam clippers.
This put the Ottoman Empire's navy, whose naval strength was slightly lower than that of the Russian Empire, into a more passive state. When the news was passed to Constantinople through the port of Sinop, the angry Mecid I immediately called in the navy
Generalissimo Mahmoud.
"Didn't you tell me! Doesn't the Imperial Navy belong to the Russian Navy at all? In less than three days now, the Empire has already lost three warships! Tell me, what on earth is going on!" said the ferocious-looking Magid I.
Gritting his teeth, he threw the intelligence from Sinop at the feet of Navy Chief Marshal Mahmoud.
Marshal Mahmoud did not speak, but bent down slightly to pick up the information at his feet, and then quietly waited for Abdul Meguid I to regain his composure.
After a while, Abdulmecid I's anger gradually subsided.
What followed was an inexplicable sadness. He was sad that he was in a decaying empire and sad for his once glorious ideals.
"Tell me! What is going on!" Abdul Meguid I asked Mahmoud weakly.
"According to the information currently available, the Russian Empire has formed a fleet specifically for hunting supply ships! Our three steam clippers were all dragged down by the Russian Empire's flexible fleet because they protected the supply ships!"
Mahmoud spoke to Abdul Meguid I calmly, as if everything was as he expected.
"How should we fight against such a fleet now? We can't let them keep destroying our fleet!" Abdul Meguid I asked Mahmoud.
"Your Majesty, our steam clippers are not as fast as those of the Russian Empire!" Mahmoud did not answer Abdul Meguid I's question immediately, but answered about the steam clippers themselves: "If our situation
If there are no mistakes, the steam engines used by the Russian Empire are the latest models of British steam engines. The steam engines carried by the Ottoman Empire fleet are of the previous generation, so the imperial fleet is much less maneuverable than the other side."
"The empire doesn't have money!" Abdul Meguid I explained to Mahmoud slightly embarrassed.
In the final analysis, everything is about money. If the Ottoman Empire could squeeze out more money to invest in the military field, then the Ottoman Empire would not be what it is now.
The Ottoman Empire has now fallen into a strange cycle. If the center of the empire wants to collect more taxes, it must have a central army that can defeat local vassals (Egypt, Tunisia) and external forces (Britain, France) to suppress local areas and establish
An army that can defeat feudal lords and foreign forces requires more tax revenue to invest in the army.
If you want to centralize power, you need an army. If you want to strengthen the army, you need to collect more taxes. But if you want to collect taxes, you need an army that can suppress the pashas in various places.
Under such an endless cycle, most of the taxes the Ottoman Empire could collect would only fall into the hands of the bloated bureaucracy, while a small amount of funds would be used to build a new army.
Without sufficient salary and equipment, the army's combat effectiveness and fighting will will not be much higher, let alone the Prussian and British military commanders in the Ottoman Empire's army and navy. Their salaries are higher than those of the Ottoman Empire's native officers.
It is much higher.
As for why the army chose Prussia, it was not because Prussian officers were cheaper. If the Ottoman Empire had money, they would of course be willing to choose the number one French military commander in Europe.
"Your Majesty, I am not complaining to you!" Marshal Mahmoud said to Abdul Meguid I: "What I mean is: since we can't catch up with these guys, then why don't we choose to send more
The fleet protects the safety of the route! In this case, the fleet of the Russian Empire will not act rashly!"
Mahmoud's method made Abdulmecid I a little moved, but he was still a little worried about the safety of Constantinople: "But... Constantinople cannot make any mistakes. Now
Our troops in Silistra Fortress are under attack from the Danube area! It would be terrible if the Russian Empire’s army arrived directly at Constantinople on warships!”
It turned out that since Menshikov formed a quick-response fleet to attack the supplies of the Ottoman Empire, Paskevich in the Danube Principality also received a letter from Minister Dolgolu, Minister of War in St. Petersburg. Dolgoluko told Paska
Skevich, the 130,000 Russian Empire troops stationed in the Danube Principality began to attack the Silistra Fortress at the moment they received the letter until they completely captured the Silistra Fortress Group.
Faced with Dolgoruko's letter, Danube Commander-in-Chief Paskevich and Deputy Commander Mikhail Gorchakov once again rushed several of their subordinate military commanders to their tents to discuss countermeasures.
After intense discussions, Paskiewicz decided to implement Russia's policy with reservations.
That is to say, the 140,000 troops under Paskevich will not all go into battle at once. The 13th and 14th legions under Mikhail Gorchakov will be stationed in the northwest with nearly 60,000 people to guard against the gradual attack in the northwest.
Transylvania increases the strength of the Austrian Imperial Army.
Although Nicholas I repeatedly assured Paskiewicz that the Austrian Empire would not take action against the Russian Empire, Paskiewicz was still unwilling to believe all the promises of the Austrian Empire and left troops to monitor Transylvania.
The Austrian garrison was a necessary option.
The remaining Guards Division and the Polish Army, with nearly 80,000 troops, were also divided into two groups by Paskiewicz. 30,000 of them pretended to attack Ruse to attract the Ottoman Empire's troops stationed in Ruse, thus
Contain part of the Ottoman Empire's army.
As the main force, the Guards Division and most of the Polish legions went to Silistra Fortress to launch an attack, striving to capture Silistra as quickly as possible.
If it weren't for Omar Pasha stationed in Silistra, who had a force of nearly 40,000 people (including the Egyptian field army "Jihad Army") and an excellent Prussian fortress defense engineering commander.
, Silistra had already been captured by Paskiewicz on the first night.
At that time, the Russian Imperial Army, under the command of Paskevich, used the elite Guards Division as the vanguard and 70 artillery pieces as cover (all the artillery of the 130,000-person army were concentrated in Silistra) to attack Silistra.
Stella's bastion fortress group attacks.
The Ottoman Empire in the bastion showed signs of defeat after suffering the first round of artillery. Many Ottoman soldiers could not help but run towards the inside after suffering such powerful artillery.
You must know that things like fortresses are not afraid of violent external attacks, but are afraid of internal self-defeat.
Once the internal morale of the bastion fortress group becomes unstable, and in conjunction with external enemy attacks, a fortress can be captured quickly.
Fortunately, Omar Pasha still had a selfless team of supervisors in his hands. They led the troops who had left their posts without permission, and the whole army was able to stop the collapse.
After that, Omar Pasha sent experienced Egyptian veterans to the walls of the bastion to coordinate defense. Some of these Egyptian veterans had been fortunate enough to participate in Muhammad Ali's war against the Ottoman Empire.
Unexpectedly, after thirteen years, the two armies were standing in the same trench fighting each other.
With the help of Egyptian veterans, Silistra's army finally stabilized its position, and what followed was a battle of wills.
The Guards Division launched attacks against Silistra Fortress again and again, and the defenders in the bastion fortress group also fought back tenaciously.
Although the defenders defending Silistra Fortress did not have enough artillery, they were able to launch an attack on the Guards Division with only a dozen or so artillery pieces in hand.
In just five days, the bodies of more than 200 soldiers of the Guards Division had been piled up in the Silistra Fortress Group.
Faced with a war that was like a meat grinder, Paskiewicz decided to postpone the attack.
The Russian Imperial soldiers retreated and planned their next move.
Omar Pasha was also able to send people to deliver the news to Constantinople. After receiving the news, Abdulmecid I breathed a sigh of relief, but also became concerned about the safety of Constantinople.
Worried, there was still a sizable army and navy around Constantinople.