"As expected of Teacher Jomini, you have perfected the plan so quickly!"
Grand Duke Mikhail couldn't help sighing, and Alexander II, standing aside, nodded gently in agreement.
"Your Highness, Your Excellency the Grand Duke! How about we go over and have a look now!" Commander Gorchakov suggested.
"Okay!" Alexander II said softly.
So Alexander II, Grand Duke Mikhail and Gorchakov got up and went to the staff headquarters near the old palace in Bakhchisaray.
When Alexander II and others arrived at the staff headquarters, Marshal Jomini was pointing his pen at a map of the Crimean Peninsula to explain something to the surrounding staff members.
"Teacher Jomini!" Grand Duke Mikhail shouted loudly.
Marshal Jomini slowly raised his head, with a surprised expression on his face, and said with a smile: "Your Excellency, Your Highness, you are here!"
"As soon as we heard that the teacher had perfected the plan, we rushed here non-stop! Tell us about your plan!" Grand Duke Mikhail said to Marshal Jomini impatiently.
"Yes! Marshal!" Gorchakov also said.
At the joint request of Grand Duke Mikhail and Gorchakov, Marshal Jomini began to explain to them his plan.
Since the Russian Empire has a total of about 260,000 people on the Crimean Peninsula, which completely crushes the coalition forces in terms of pure military strength, Jomini plans to launch attacks on the coalition forces at multiple points, making it impossible for them to fight with each other.
Support, only in this way can it be possible to seize their weaknesses and strive to defeat them.
(Let me mention here that Marshal Jomini himself no longer has any hope for the Russian Empire to win. He only hopes that the Russian Empire can accumulate more tactical victories on the Crimean Peninsula and cause a certain degree of damage to Britain and France.
Only in this way will Britain and France be willing to sit down and have peace talks with the Russian Empire.)
The initial focus of this attack was near the Joanna River and the Inkerman Mountains.
"Why these two places?" Mikhail asked Jomini doubtfully, then pointed to the town of Yevpatoria and said: "Shouldn't we occupy this place as soon as possible?"
"Your Majesty the Grand Duke! According to the intelligence from the reconnaissance cavalry we dispatched near Yevpatoria, Yevpatoria has not only sent more soldiers and built trenches in recent times, but also has built trenches in Yevpatoria.
There are naval guns parked at the port of Tolia Town! If we attack rashly, we will only suffer heavy losses!" Jomini explained to Mikhail.
Later, Jomini explained to Mikhail that he had stopped his losses and would focus his attack on the vicinity of the Joyana River and the Inkerman Mountains, in order to contain the British and French forces.
"What happens after it's contained?" Mikhail then asked.
Jomini also told Mikhail that as long as the coalition believed that the Russian Empire chose to attack Sevastopol head-on, then the Russian Empire could secretly lead an army to cross the Kacha River from Sakhi along the coastline at night.
Arrive near the north shore of Sevastopol.
After the army reaches the north bank of Sevastopol, Bakhchisarai's army will also dispatch to storm the Star Fortress.
By that time, the army on the north bank will be attacked from three directions.
If you're lucky, you can take the North Shore directly.
Mikhail again raised his concerns about how they should deal with the naval guns in Sevastopol port.
Faced with Mikhail's inquiry, Jomini fell silent, and then told Mikhail with a wry smile that this surprise attack force could not even resist the coast, let alone the naval guns in the Sevastopol military port.
The fort on top.
"Then why do we have to die in vain?" Mikhail asked subconsciously.
Everyone present fell silent, and Mikhail soon understood that this war was not the war they wanted at all, but a war forced on them by his father Nicholas I.
From a logical perspective, they cannot win either Sevastopol or Yevpatoria.
"I will write to His Majesty the Emperor immediately to explain the situation here! I believe His Majesty will understand!" Mikhail's thoughts gradually moved closer to Alexander II.
Alexander II tactfully told Mikhail that he had already informed Nicholas I of the situation in the Crimean Peninsula, but their father still insisted on letting them attack.
Mikhail also realized that if persuasion had been effective, he would not have appeared here.
Obviously, his father could no longer listen to any persuasion.
"Then what?" Mikhail said weakly.
He could already foresee that the Russian Empire was very likely to fail in this operation, but even so, they had to bite the bullet and continue.
Because Jomini's plan is already the most feasible of all plans.
"If our army breaks through the north bank, then the French Empire on the south bank will definitely reinforce the north bank! At that time, we will attack here with all our strength!" Jomini pointed his finger at the town of Yevpatoria.
"You just said that the defense here is very tight, and a hasty attack will cause heavy losses to our army!!" Mikhail said with a confused look.
"Your Highness, the defense of Sevastopol is higher than here!" Jomini replied helplessly to Mikhail.
The current Russian Imperial Army has no ability to be picky. They can only try to take a bite out of the coalition forces.
…
After listening to the plan drawn up by Marshal Jomini, Mikhail, who was full of hope, felt at a loss and helpless.
He understood that this plan was completely based on the premise that the coalition forces were all idiots, but the coalition forces were not stupid. They also had old generals like his teacher Jomini who came from those legendary years (Lage
Marshal Lun).
However, they had no choice at all.
…
September 3, 1854.
The temperature in the Crimean Peninsula gradually dropped with the advent of September. A sudden autumn rain and a letter of urging from St. Petersburg made Bakhchisarai Gorchakov and others determined to start fighting.
September 4th at 5am.
The Russian Fourth Army and Fifth Army led by Soilov (60,000 men, 200 artillery pieces) and the troops led by Parlov (40,000 men, 128 artillery pieces) came from Simferopol and Bakhchisa respectively.
Lai set off and arrived at Inkerman Mountain and the Jonaya River near Sevastopol Navigation at around 5:30 a.m.
At the same time, Alexander II and Gorchakov in Sachi also led a team of 30,000 people from Sachi to the town of Yevpatoria.
As for the remaining 130,000 people, 100,000 were deployed in Sachi and Bakhchisaray under Jomini's personal leadership for ready support.
At six o'clock in the morning, Sevastopol and Yevpatoria came under artillery attack from the Russian Empire at the same time.
Inkerman Hill left wing.
The Sardinian Second Division, which was cooperating with the French army for defense, never thought that one day it would be "justified by heaven".
When artillery shells like raindrops hit the high ground where Sardinia was stationed, the loud explosion woke up the soldiers of the Second Division from their trenches and tents.
The Sardinian soldiers who were sleeping in the tent hurriedly put on their own clothes and ran out, scurrying around like headless flies. The whole camp was suddenly in chaos.
The soldiers sleeping in the trench quickly pressed their bodies against the trench to observe the enemy's movements.
However, they did not see the enemy, and only heard the rumbling artillery and the screams of their companions.
Judging from the current situation, the Russian army does not seem ready to take action immediately.
About 20 minutes after the bombardment, Marshal La Maramore, commander of the Sardinian Expeditionary Force, appeared in the trench. He immediately found Oliver Cane, commander of the 2nd Division, and asked him about the casualties of the troops.
"The casualty data are not clear yet!" A disgraced Oliver Cagne lowered his head and said to La Maramore.
"How on earth did you become a division commander!" La Maramore cursed angrily, and then he asked Oliver Cane if he knew the location of the enemy.
Oliver Cagne also shook his head blankly. This time, Maramore became even more angry. He pointed at Oliver Cagne and issued an order: "You don't want to squat here anymore. Lead two men to me immediately." Chasseur battalion (each brigade has a qualified chasseur battalion, the number of each chasseur battalion ranges from about 500 to 800, and is the best troop in Sardinia), search for Russian troops! If you can’t find it, I will definitely I have to take off your military uniform!"
"Yes!" After receiving the order, Oliver Cagne quickly fled from La Maramore and found the two battalion commanders at the other end of the trench.
"Take your soldiers and follow me!" Oliver Cagne said to them directly without any nonsense.
The two battalion commanders also decisively summoned the soldiers. About 10 minutes later, a small team of nearly a thousand people dispersed in the direction of the artillery.
Soon they encountered a group of soldiers wearing gray military uniforms and holding a rifle in their hands. They were climbing up.
enemy!
When the soldiers of the Jaeger Battalion saw the gray military uniforms, they immediately realized that the army in front of them was the Russian Empire's army. (In this era, the illiteracy rate was relatively high, and the underlying language was not fluent. Soldiers could only rely on military uniforms to identify enemies or friends.)
Before Oliver Cagne could issue an order, the Jaeger battalion armed with minie guns immediately took advantage of their initiative. They stopped, used the thick bushes as cover, and aimed at the Russian army, which was about 400 meters away from them.
In the distance, the Russian army also discovered this group of enemies wearing green coats. The brigadier general in charge of commanding this forward force raised his saber and shouted: "Ula!"
The surrounding Russian Imperial soldiers also shouted "Ula" and rushed in the direction of Sardinia.