After more than two months of hard fighting, the coalition forces finally defeated the Greek "civilian armed forces" and achieved the first great victory of the British army since the outbreak of the Near East War.

Major General Oliver's heart was also overwhelmed, and he finally had a record of making a name for himself. With less than 5,000 casualties on his side, he killed 18,000 enemies and captured 14,000 enemies. No matter how you look at it, they all have brilliant results.

The enemy's affairs were a mob, and he had decisively ignored them. As long as he continued to defeat the army of the Duchy of Montenegro, he would complete all combat missions.

A young officer reported: "General, military orders from the country have been sent to us: order us to continue pursuing the enemy. If the Greek Kingdom takes these enemy troops in, we can take necessary measures in China."

The necessary means? In fact, it is to find an excuse to enter the Greek Kingdom and teach the Greek government a lesson. Obviously, the London government is very dissatisfied with the Otto I government and wants to give them some color.

"I understand." Major General Oliver replied calmly.

He had no good feelings for the Greeks. If it weren't for the Greeks' sneak attack and forced the Ottomans to draw troops from the front line, the Battle of Sofia would not have lost.

Even though he pushed all the blame to others, Major General Oliver still knew that he was to blame for that battle and would accompany his life and become an indelible stain.

Now that he has the opportunity to settle the score with the Greeks, he naturally won't miss this opportunity.

There are always excuses. Even if Otto pretends to be timid, the London government will still take action if it wants to hit this restless little brother this time.

It is obviously impossible to get away with it. However, the Greek government does not admit that it sends troops this time, so the British cannot use this as a reason to do anything to them.

European countries are still watching. Once they have done too much, everyone will still interfere. John Bull can't cover up the sky with one hand.

Even in the UK, I don’t think there was any big problem with Greece’s attack on the Ottomans, but they chose the wrong time.

The Greek government was lost at the last moment and did not join the Russian camp, which gave him room to maneuver. Obviously, Otto I's political judgment was still qualified.

...

General Minshkov, at the Russian Army General outside Constantinople, received a letter of reprimand from Nicholas I again.

After attacking for so long and suffering more than 100,000 casualties, Constantinople was still in the hands of the enemy, and there was no sign of being conquered. The Tsarist government was naturally anxious.

The pressure on Menshkov is greatly increased. If he cannot think of a solution, the St. Petersburg government will replace him. At that time, he will be farewell to him forever due to conquering the glory of Constantinople. This is something that Menshkov cannot tolerate.

A middle-aged general suggested: "Your Excellency Commander, please consider the Austrian's advice. As long as you can conquer Constantinople, the rest will be easy."

Minshkov shook his head and said, "The Austrians' suggestions are too expensive! They are not conquering Constantinople, but want to use cannons to beat Constantinople.

The heavy artillery they recommended, except for the siege, can only be used as shore artillery. If they really want to get hundreds of giant artillery, the daily ammunition consumption will be thousands of tons.

Not to mention that we can't afford it, even if the Austrians do their best to produce, they may not be able to meet our needs.

To destroy ammunition worth millions of rubles every day, to conquer Constantinople, it will cost at least hundreds of millions of rubles or even more than one billion rubles. Do you think we can fight?"

This is not the most deceptive thing. What’s even more deceptive is that the money is spent, and Constantinople may not be able to fight.

The giant cannon recommended by Austria is very inconvenient to move on the battlefield. If the enemy destroys the artillery position, it will be even worse.

The middle-aged officer reminded: "But the commander, this is the only way to break through Constantinople.

The enemy troops on the opposite side were very stubborn, and they rely on fortifications to defend. The six-pound cannons in our hands were just to tickle them. Even the twelve-pound cannons could only deal with some ordinary fortifications.

If we cannot destroy these fortresses, what can we use to conquer Constantinople? If we miss this opportunity, we will be the sinners of Russia."

This is the most helpless. Regardless of whether this method is reliable or not, it is the only way to succeed.

The Tsarist government would not care about so many people, and the people in the country would not be anything more than that. They all came to the feet of Constantinople. If they did not take this city, would they be worthy of their ancestors?

...

After patrolling the camp, watching the declining morale and listening to the wailing screams, even the sarcastic Minshkov could not help but waver.

He knew that he could not continue like this. If he continued to fight like this, it was probably that before Constantinople was captured, the Russian army would mutiny first.

Gray animals are also humans. When casualties reach a certain level, they will also collapse. This consequence is something that Menshkov cannot afford.

...

In a corner of the camp, several soldiers were plotting.

A young soldier with a dirt tone said in a low tone: "Joey, have you figured out the route? If this continues, it will probably not take long before we will fall on the battlefield.

Do you know, just yesterday, that guy Rolls Biki was injured in his left leg. In order to avoid infection, he had to amputate his limbs. He couldn't stand the blow, so he committed suicide that night."

A middle-aged soldier next to him reminded: "Fox, don't do this. The route you leave must be planned well, otherwise if there is a mistake, we will be hung at the gate of the camp!"

In order to kill one person to warn a hundred and shock the deserter, the Russian army adopted a very cruel method: drop a person on a pole, and starve to death by sunshine and death by thirst and starvation...

Looking at the people with anticipation, Joey sighed, took out a sketch and pointed at it and explained: "The route has been found, but this road is difficult to walk.

Leaving here, there are people guarding you along the way. You must avoid these people and enter the Balkans to be temporarily safe.

This is just the first stage of escape. You will have to cross the Balkans to enter the occupied Austrian area.

During this period, you cannot obtain any supplies from the outside world and can only find food in the mountains and forests. In addition to being careful of poisonous insects and beasts, you also have to worry about losing your way.

When you arrive at the Austrian occupied areas, it doesn’t mean it’s safe. They are our allies. Even if you mistakenly enter, you will not be disarmed and will most likely be deported.

If you want to get through, you can only pretend to be war refugees. Language is a big problem. Russian and Bulgarian are very similar, but there are still differences. Once they are seen through, no one knows what will happen."

The middle-aged man said cautiously: "We have no choice. You may not know in the logistics force. The casualties on the front line these days are too heavy. Every day, you can see familiar people leaving here.

Half of our camp people were replenished one after another. If we continued to stay, we would die here soon.

Joey, thank you whether we can run out or not.

You can rest assured that we have figured out the situation and look for opportunities to pretend to be dead while attacking, and wait until it gets dark before leaving secretly.

Even if we were discovered, we could say that we were stunned by the bomb and our minds were confused."

A premeditated escape began. They were not the first or the last. The cruel casualties had already made them nervous.

Everyone would rather take the risk of running away and fight for an unknown life than stay here.

Anyway, their family is full of serfs and belongs to the property of nobles and men. Even if they are discovered, they don’t have to worry about being involved in their homes.

...

The middle-aged man asked in a low voice, "Go away, where is Wallace, why don't you see this kid?"

Fox replied: "Uncle Marney, I didn't see him following me. I'm afraid something happened. Why don't we go back and look for it?"

The middle-aged man thought for a while and said, "Don't worry about him, life and death are fate on the battlefield. This is so dark and lit, where can I find it?

Now everyone is about to leave, it is not safe here. If we can't quickly pass through here, we can't escape by dawn."

They were lucky, someone provided a road map, did not run in the wrong direction, and spent the first day of escape safely.

But not everyone was so lucky. Not long after they left, another wave of deserters unfortunately met the patrol team and was naturally caught.

The military judge asked: "Mr. Commander, I caught seven more deserters last night. Are they the same?"

"Um!"

Menshkov seemed to have just said one word casually, but in fact his heart was not calm.

The number of deserters is increasing. As a high-level officer who is not an idiot, he knows that this means that it is almost at the limit of this army.

In the face of reality, Minshkov quickly made a compromise. He didn't want to become a traitor, so this battle must be fought.

The money problem has a headache for the Tsarist government, and no one can retreat now.

Menshkov said: "Come here, borrow the Austrian telegram to forward it to the government of St. Petersburg!"

Since Austria took over the Danube Principality, wired telegrams have also been quickly laid, and at the end of 1853, domestic telegrams were connected.

At this time, the Russians often use Austrian telegrams to handle the news that they do not need to be kept secret.

If the Russians go through their own communication, they have to go to a large city in Poland or Ukraine before they can send telegrams. Without ten days and half a month, it is impossible to send the news back to St. Petersburg.

Obviously, Myshkov does not believe that this combat plan needs to be kept confidential from the Austrians, and even if he wants to keep it confidential, it cannot be done. Artillery must be purchased from the Austrians.

Myshkov is not prepared to supply domestic military enterprises. When they produce cannons and ship them to the front line, who knows if it will be one year or two years later?

When it comes to attacking Constantinople, Nicholas I fully supports his work. Whoever dares to do something here is to fight against the great Tsar.

Without the support of the Tsar, Minshkov would not have changed the logistics and transportation system of the Russian army in the Balkans. If it were not changed, the Russian army on the front line would not have been so easy.

The ball was kicked to St. Petersburg, and Menshkov explained the various situations in detail. It was decided by Nicholas I.
Chapter completed!