While Nicholas I was preparing for a decisive battle on the Crimean peninsula on Gorchakov's orders, Menshikov on the Crimean peninsula was overseeing the defensive positions of his Imperial Russian soldiers on a high ground on the Arma River.

As for why Prince Menshikov built a defensive position near the Arma River, the matter goes back more than a week.

Prince Menshikov was sitting leisurely at the headquarters of the Sevastopol fortress waiting for news from the Caucasus (Prince Menshikov was also the governor of the Caucasus), but his Cossack cavalry regiment reported to him that the Anglo-French troops had landed near Kalamita Bay.

Menshikov, who received the news, was first surprised by the landing of the Anglo-French troops, and in Menshikov's opinion, the Anglo-French troops should now continue to the north is the best strategy, why did they come to the Crimean Peninsula.

Seeing that the coalition troops could not leave the Crimean peninsula, Menshikov had to ask the commander of the Cossack cavalry regiment the number of British and French troops.

"They set up a lot of tents near Kalamita Bay and there is no end in sight! At the very least, there should be about 70,000 or 80,000! The commander of the Cossack cavalry regiment reported to Menshikov in Russian, which was not too proficient.

"There's no end in sight? 7, 80,000? Menshikov muttered to himself, and he suddenly felt a pang of pressure when he thought that he had only more than 50,000 troops under his command (the fortress of Sevastopol).

With only more than 53,000 men under his command, Menshikov had no possibility of attacking at all.

In order to contain the continued advance of the Anglo-French army to the south (Kalamita Bay was located south of the fortress of Sevastopol), Prince Menshikov summoned his staff to ask them what they thought.

After two days of intense discussions, it was decided to deploy defensive positions on the Alma River.

The reason for this was that the terrain on the south bank of the Alma River was higher than that on the north bank of the Alma River, and the Russian Empire only needed to destroy the bridge to the south bank of the Alma River at the right time.

During the period when the coalition troops were swimming and climbing, the Russian Imperial Army could easily shell the servicemen of the coalition units.

Of course, Prince Menshikov himself also knew that it was a blessing that he was able to hold the defensive position with his forces, and that the counterattack would have to be left to the arrival of reinforcements.

Menshikov wrote another letter to Nicholas I asking for help, in which he exaggerated the number of Anglo-French troops (140,000 Menshikov believed) and stated his determination to live and die with the fortress.

Although the letter did not directly ask Nicholas I for help, every sentence revealed the meaning of Nicholas I's help.

Menshikov, who had finished writing the letter, handed it to one of his lieutenants, ordering him to give it to Nicholas I, and in order to prevent the letter from being intercepted, Menshikov deliberately asked the adjutant to divert the letter to the Caucasus and from the Caucasus back to St. Petersburg.

The adjutant who received the letter hurriedly drove his horse out of the Sevastopol fortress, and Menshikov called for two of his lieutenants, Kornilov and Nasimov.

Prince Menshikov asked Kornilov and Nasimov how they could resist the Anglo-French fleet if it sailed into the fortress of Sevastopol.

"Your Excellency the Governor, there is no better thing to do now than to wreck!" Lieutenant General Kornilov immediately responded to Menshikov.

"Shipwrecks?" Menshikov glanced at Kornilov suspiciously, and asked puzzledly: "Is it our shipwreck, or is it the Anglo-French shipwreck!" ”

"Of course we shipwrecked!" Vice Admiral Kornilov replied to Prince Menshikov: "We can sink all the ships docked at the head of the harbor into the entrance of the fortress, so that the British and French fleets will not be able to get in!" ”

Prince Menshikov nodded with satisfaction, Lieutenant General Kornilov's method is really an effective one for the current Russian Empire.

As soon as he said it, Prince Menshikov immediately ordered Kornilov and Nasimov that all ships anchored in the port of the Sevastopol fortress, with the exception of the battleships, should be sunk.

As soon as Prince Menshikov's order was issued, Kornilov and Nasimov immediately went into action, requisitioning all civilian ships and troop transports docked at the Sevastopol fortress, and then sinking them all to the entrance of the Sevastopol fortress.

The fortress port of Sevastopol was barely blocked, and Prince Menshikov, who was relieved, was able to continue to send more troops to the Alma Heights.

In addition to only 10,000 people left in the fortress of Sevastopol to be responsible for the protection of the fortress, the remaining 43,000 people were all concentrated in the Alma Heights to build fortifications, and the farce of the British and French forces in Kalametta Bay, he did not care, but sent a small number of Cossack cavalry to survey the specific number of British and French troops in Kalamita Bay, during which the Cossack cavalry also had a brief confrontation with the British light cavalry.

After several days of deployment, the Alma Heights have initially formed an effective defensive position.

As for the Anglo-French forces, Menshikov roughly figured out their number of 9-100,000 people.

Of course, this was not the case between the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire.

After all, in the eyes of Prince Menshikov, the offensive ability of the Ottoman Empire should be said to be at a negative level, and the Kingdom of Sardinia is probably at the same level as the Ottoman Empire.

These two teams are already very good if they don't pull down the average between England and France.

Despite the fact that the Anglo-French forces were now three times larger than his, Menshikov was confident that he would wait for reinforcements to arrive in the Anglo-French offensive.

In order to defend the last barrier of the Sevastopol fortress, Menshikov also deliberately dismantled some of the heavy artillery deployed by the Sevastopol fortress and placed it on the upper commanding heights of the Alma Heights.

However, there was no arrangement on the edge of the cliff facing the sea, and Menshikov thought that the area was so steep that no one would climb up through it.

Nearly 100 artillery pieces and naval guns were placed on various commanding heights under Menshikov's command, and when everything was ready, Menshikov, who was unprecedentedly confident, decided to send a small force to carry out a small-scale tentative attack on the British and French troops, and the Cossack cavalry regiment and Menshikov's 17th Division (full of 10,000 people, actual strength of 6,000 people) became the main force of the tentative attack.

The coalition forces that had remained in Katami Bay, having received food from Yevpatoria, also began to advance south.

A large contingent began to set off in a majestic manner, and the army on the far right of the line, near the sea, was the army of the French Empire, and the forces of three divisions (the 1st Division, the 2nd Guards Division, and the Guards Division) and two regiments (Juaf's Regiment) began to advance in a length of about 7 kilometers.

The armies standing on the left side of the French army were the Sardinian Army, the Ottoman Army, and the British Army, which means that the French Imperial Army was at the innermost part of the Allied forces, while the British Kingdom Army was at the outermost part of the Allied forces.

By the way, the proposer of the queue is not a saint. Field Marshal Arnault, but Commander Raglan, who did this in order to save the bad impression they had left on friendly forces during the landing.

It is a big surprise that the Kingdom of Britain, which is the dignified maritime hegemon, would pull its crotch so much in the landing operation of the army.

On the sea not far from land, the supply ships and hospital ships of Britain and France will follow the coalition forces, and they will provide the most favorable support for the coalition forces.

In addition to all of the above, there is an equally large supply convoy in the rear of the dense queue, which provides the most timely support for the coalition forces.

Of course, the vast majority of these supplies were "borrowed" by coalition troops from nearby Tatar farms.

Among the four logistical supply convoys, the French Empire was still the most orderly of all the convoys, and the worst one was not the Ottoman Empire, which was famous for its plunder, but the Kingdom of Britain, which was famous for its wealth.

In addition to food such as bread and fruit wine, the supply convoys of the Kingdom of Britain also included live goods such as sheep, goats, and oxen, which were also borrowed by British soldiers who kindly broke into the farmowner's home.

It is precisely because the Kingdom of Britain has a huge flock in its hands that the entire coalition army is dragged down by the Kingdom of Britain and has to move forward slowly. Coupled with the chaos of the logistics management system of the British Kingdom itself, this also led to the fact that the British logistics department could not effectively restrain the animals they collected, and there were often cattle and sheep that escaped the control of the British logistics department and ran into the supply convoy of the Ottoman Empire without authorization, causing the supply convoy of the Ottoman Empire to fall into chaos, and the whole team had to stop and wait for the rectification to be completed and continue to move forward.

The procession came and went, and soon went from morning to noon.

At noon, the scorching sun shrouded the sky, and the marching ranks of Sardinia, Ottoman, and Britain began to break up, and some of the thirsty soldiers gradually began to fall behind.

On the side of the French Empire, the thirsty soldiers skillfully untied the water bag hanging from their waists, took a sip of the boiled water, and then re-covered the water bag and continued to move forward.

By the time the time was getting a little hotter, the weather was even hotter, and most British soldiers could not stand the heat (the British uniforms were still thickened, and the stubborn Commander Raglan did not listen to the saints. The establishment of Marshal Arnault will be love, and the military uniforms on your bodies are changed into summer clothes) The pace is gradually slowing down.

Commander Raglan, who was sweating profusely, also found St. Raglan. Marshal Arnault offered him a rest.

"Commander Raglan, if you want me to say that you should change your military uniforms to another style, I see that the boys in your army are about to faint from the heat! Look at you like this...... "Saint on a horse. Field Marshal Arno bitterly dissuaded Commander Raglan.

Commander Raglan glanced at the Duke of Cambridge, who was also sweating beside him, and he nodded to St. Raglan. Arnault said: "I will make this request to London!" But now it's all about resting! ”

Saint. Marshal Arnault squinted his eyes and looked up at the scorching sun in the sky, then pointed ahead and said to Commander Raglan: "Commander Raglan, go one kilometer further and you will reach the Bulganak River!" Let's rest there! ”

"Good!"

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