"Your Excellency, the Fortress of Silistra is already an area that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is normal for an attack to be frustrated! To be honest, I don't think that our army will be able to crush the Turkish army in the citadel in a short time! ”

Because there were only two people, General Gorchakov did not hide his inner thoughts in the slightest, and his expression and tone revealed a solemnity and seriousness. However, he believed that if the Russian Empire could make up its mind, it would be able to conquer the fortress of Silistra.

After all, the ratio of military strength between the besieging side and the defending side has reached a point of nearly 3:1.

Moreover, the Turkish troops in the fortress were not comfortable during this time, judging by the number of Turkish troops killed outside the city (most of them were casualties caused by the destruction of the Russian Empire's trenches), there are very few Turkish troops still left in the city of "Tabia" at this stage.

General Gorchakov believed that in two more weeks they would be able to completely occupy the fortress and use the bridgehead for their purposes, thus turning it into a safeguard for the Russian army against the British and French forces.

Looking at General Gorchakovkovkov, who still maintained an "optimistic" military style in front of him, Prince Paskevich shook his head and sighed: "Of course I know that as long as we give our army a certain amount of time, we will definitely be able to conquer this fortress transformed by the damned Prussian (Prussian engineering colonel Lach, Silistra and Ruse are all his masterpieces), but do we really have time to continue to waste time here......

Prince Paskeewicz paused and replied incoherently to himself: "...... I mean, even if the Anglo-French forces had not arrived at the fortress of Silistra, His Majesty the Tsar would not have given us such a long time! We've wasted too much time here! ”

"Wait! Your Excellency, do you mean that the Anglo-French forces have arrived at the fortress of Silistra? "General Gorchakov extracted the key message from Prince Paskevich's words.

"Yes!" Prince Paskevich nodded, and then told General Gorchakov what he had received from the Cossack cavalry.

"300,000 people? It's ridiculous! ”

For intelligence on the Cossack cavalry, Gorchakov. The general clearly did not want to believe it.

The logistical supply required for 300,000 people to arrive at the fortress of Silistra was an astronomical amount, not to mention that the Ottoman Empire itself did not have the capacity to support 300,000 troops.

This meant that most of the things needed by the army had to be transported from Britain and France, and the combined maritime power of Britain and France could not sustain 300,000 people in the Ottoman Empire.

In Gorchakov's view, Britain and France can only maintain the logistics of 15~200,000 troops in the Ottoman Empire.

Moreover, such an army also needs to be divided into troops to the Caucasus, so that it can reach the Near East, and the supporting Ottoman army is not very large, only about 80,000-90,000, according to the current strength of the Russian Empire in the Danube region, as long as Tsar Nicholas I is willing to transfer another guard division to the Danube region, they can still fight with it.

In Gorchakov's concept, although the Russian Imperial Army was far inferior to the well-trained coalition troops in terms of shooting, the Russian army, which inherited Suslov's ideas, was not afraid of the coalition forces at all.

[PS: Insert an anecdote, as far away as London, the factory owner surnamed En, is criticizing the Russian Empire's army-building ideology since Suslov, that is, "bullets are stupid, bayonets are heroes".

The factory owner surnamed En: The army of the Russian Empire was able to pierce only the granite of the Alps, not the stone of Silistra on the fortress. 】

Of course, Gorchakov did not know that this was just wishful thinking, and there was a world of difference between the Allied forces armed with Migne rifles and the Russian Imperial Army.

Gorchakov, who fantasized about achieving victory with bayonets, had no idea what kind of situation would face the Russian Imperial Army next.

"Although I also think this conclusion is absurd, it is certain that the Anglo-French forces (in this case, Paskeewicz automatically ignored the Sardinian and Ottoman forces) have begun to assemble here, and their vanguard forces have already engaged us! We're running out of time! Prince Paskeevich said with a worried look on his face.

After thinking for a moment, Gorchakov said with a bit of resoluteness on his face: "Your Excellency Commander, please let me lead the Polish Legion to annihilate this army!" If they are left alone, they will inevitably pose a huge threat to our army! ”

"Gorchakov!" Paskeewicz's words revealed displeasure: "Even now, do you still want to annihilate the troops in the fortress of Silistra?" ”

"Your Excellency, Commander, this is the only way we can go!" Gorchakov did not back down in the slightest and said to Paskevich: "I know that our army may face the main forces of the Anglo-French army at any time, but we cannot give up the siege of Silistra!" Only by mastering the fortress of Silistra will we have the ability to fight the upcoming main forces! ”

Seeing that he could not reverse Gorchakov's will to fight to the death, Prince Paskeewicz chose to follow Gorchakov's advice and handed over the 1st and 2nd divisions of the Polish Corps (a total of 32,000 men in the two divisions) under Gorchakov's command.

"When are you going to attack!" Prince Paskevich asked Gorchakov.

"After I find out the actual strength of this coalition force!" Prince Gorchakov responded.

In order to support (or discourage) Gorchakov's operation, Prince Paskevich immediately transferred a regiment of Cossack cavalry units to Gorchakov's command for Gorchakov's drive.

With two divisions and a cavalry regiment, Gorchakov was confident that the battle would ensue, believing that the coalition force would never outnumber the number of troops in his hands.

Then General Gorchakov bid farewell to Prince Paskevich, who was lying on the marching bed, got up and sent Gorchakov out of the camp.

Looking at Gorchakov's elongated departing back in the sunset, Paskevich sighed again.

……

The sun sets and the time is 1 a.m. in the blink of an eye.

Cunning moonlight was home in the makeshift camp of France, less than 2 kilometers from the fortress of Silistra, and a simple six-foot-deep trench appeared in front of the camp in the moonlight, and in front of the trench was a circle of barbed wire and spiked barricades made of wood.

When Gorchakov led the Cossack cavalry to inspect the French camp at night, the scene before him made Gorchakov feel that he might have to face a tricky opponent.

The barbed wire fence and barricades surrounding the camp made it impossible for his infantry and cavalry to engage in close hand-to-hand combat with the coalition forces, and the trenches were effective for local artillery charges.

Moreover, behind these trenches and barbed wire, Gorchakov felt an unprecedented chill, and it was only a few hours since the Konrobel army was encamped, and in this short period of time, the coalition forces had already made a defensive position similar to a foxhole, and behind this improvised position, it represented the strict discipline of an army.

If this simple version of the trench were to be left to the Russian Empire, it would have taken at least two days to complete.

The gap between the coalition forces and the Russian army is already fully evident here.

Just as Gorchakov was distracted, a group of Bashpozuk cavalry was quietly approaching from Gorchakov's flank.

After a "bang" of gunshots, the Cossack cavalry on Gorchakov's side fell.

"Up!"

Gorchakov and the Cossack cavalry immediately launched a counterattack in the direction of the cavalry, and the gunfire quickly attracted the attention of the coalition troops in the tent.

A company of Zhuaf's regiment rushed out of the camp with a Mine-gun, and Gorchakov hurriedly ordered the Cossack cavalry not to continue to entangle with the Bashpozuk cavalry.

After hearing Gorchakov's order, the Cossack cavalry, showing their nomadic courage and fighting character, drew their sabers at their waists and fought with Bashpozuk, who was about the same number as them.

After just a few rounds, the Bashpozuk cavalry, which had been in an advantageous position, gradually became at a disadvantage.

The Cossack cavalry, who had found the right time, after paying the price of several deaths, opened a way for General Gorchakov to survive.

Gorchakov and the Cossack cavalry left the French tent and drifted away, while the Bashpozuk cavalry remained where they were and did not pursue, for they could not be sure whether the Cossacks could lure them into pursuit.

Then the Bashpozuk cavalry dismounted from their horses and used Turkish scimitars to cut off the heads of the Cossacks lying on the ground and use them as trophies.

After a while, Major General Conrobert met with Jérôme. Captain Patterson appeared in front of the Bashpozuk cavalry.

The Bashpozuk cavalry, who did not understand the language, presented the head of the Cossack cavalry to Major General Conrobert as if it were a treasure.

For the barbaric behavior of the Bashpozuk cavalry, a trace of disgust flashed in Conrobel's eyes, which was covered up by him in an instant.

"You're doing a great job!" Conrobel nodded kindly and said to them in French.

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