Struggle in Russia

Of course, Duke Mikhail was not just a dead end, he still made adjustments in time. Forcing the Danube to cross the Danube proved to be ineffective, then the focus of the offensive was to first solve the enemies in Constanta on the east bank of the Danube. The regional Russian army can attack the Turkish army from two directions, and can also obtain maritime support from the Black Sea Fleet, which has great advantages.

The only problem is that the terrain along the Danube to the west of Constanta is not ideal.

Anyway, the East Route Army spent a lot of energy before passing through the swamp area, and almost everyone turned into mud monkeys.

This generation of Duke Mikhail is actually quite familiar. In the early years, the Russian army had been tossing with the Turkish army in this area, and was irritated by the terrible terrain.

This is also an important reason why he did not focus on this piece of offense before. After all, the traffic conditions on the Middle Road and West Road are much better. If you can conquer the stronghold of the Turkish army, there will be almost a Pingchuan behind.

It is a pity that the idea is very good, but the strength can’t keep up, and the Russian army can’t get a solid fortress. Therefore, Duke Mikhail can only turn his focus back to Constanta, hoping to open the situation here as soon as possible.

I have to say that Duke Mikhail’s luck is not bad. Although the Turkish army has built a relatively solid fortification in the direction of Constanta, the strength of the troops is not particularly sufficient, at least compared with the Central Road and the West Road. In particular, they were not psychologically prepared for sea attacks by the Black Sea Fleet.

So after forty days of the war, as the Russian army continued to flock to Constanta, they launched rounds of stormy attacks. The defenders were exposed to the powerful firepower of the Black Sea Fleet day and night, and finally collapsed.

The fall of Constanta was a blow to the Turkish army, and it also injected a boost from the Russian army, which had a poor start.

They annihilated and captured about 60,000 Turkish troops in Constanta, which is considered a brilliant victory. The key is that after removing Constanta’s nail, they can drive straight in from the eastern coastal area and threaten Varna and Burga. Si even Edirne.

Once this line of access is opened, it will not be far from the true heart of Istanbul. Anyway, the fall of Constanta caught the Turkish army by surprise. Their previous success in the Central and West Roads gave them confidence that they believed that the polar bears were nothing more than paper tigers. As long as they were tough enough, they could give Russia a little bit of color.

But now Constanta fell on the front line, forcing them to adjust their defensive center of gravity, and quickly dispatched troops from central Bulgaria to Varna and Dobrich day and night.

In fact, the Turks do not have to be so nervous at all, because the Russian army did not move so fast. After the fall of Constanta, the Russian army was exhausted and had to rest. In addition to causing them heavy casualties, the continuous assaults have exhausted most of their energy.

Then the sudden heavy rain hit Duke Mikhail by surprise. Think about Constanta, where Heze was full of swamps, and after being watered by rain, it was no different from a muddy puddle.

Not only is the marching a problem, the logistics supplies are also intermittent, especially those heavy artillery groups that are very important for the siege, which is even more difficult to move.

Anyway, Duke Mikhail’s wish to go south as soon as possible was in vain, and the Russian army was stuck in the mud and unable to move in Constanta.

After the rain cleared up for a while, the Turkish reinforcements gradually arrived, and Duke Mikhail could not do it even if he wanted to go south quickly.

“Try to capture Dobrich as soon as possible!”

Duke Mikhail knew that it was useless to be anxious now. The current situation is similar to the previous Russian-Turkish wars. The battle around the southern part of the Danube is seen as a saw-saw battle. Whoever can’t hold it first will have to fall.

The good news is that this kind of battle is very familiar to the Russian army. The bad news is that the Turks seem to be much tougher and more powerful than before. They stubbornly hold on to every position, and from time to time they also launch counterattacks to catch the Russian army by surprise.

Two months passed without knowing it, and both sides in the war suffered nearly 100,000 casualties. Such a fierce tug of war has discolored veterans like Duke Mikhail. Especially when thinking back to Li Xiao’s previous analysis and judgment, he was really not optimistic about the prospects of this war.

The only thing that can give him peace of mind is that Britain and France have not declared war on Russia. Although the two companies continue to condemn Russia and continue to give Turkey economic and military aid, as long as they do not directly participate in the war, the problem is not too big.

Duke Mikhail thinks it is better for him to think quickly about how to fix those annoying fortresses in Turkey. The effect of heavy artillery bombardment can only be said to be average. The only useful tactic is tunnel work to blast the enemy’s bunker, but this is too time-consuming. It takes a week of preparation for each nail to be removed. Such an efficiency is really not counted. high.

If you follow this speed, I am afraid that you will not be able to take Bulgaria in ten years, and according to the reconnaissance of front-line troops, the Turks are still building fortresses, which means that they are fighting with themselves and are ready to defend to the end.

It hurts to think of Duke Mikhail’s continual pulling out of nails. Such a tactic is basically a hooliganism. In his opinion, this is not a war at all. If you have the ability, you can show that you can fight. , That’s fighting!

Now that it is so clear that it is avoiding the battle, just not wanting to fight in the field, what a soldier!

Although Duke Mikhail despises the Turkish army, but Turkey’s tactical choice is very right. If they really do field battles with the Russian army, they are really not opponents and they will be defeated in minutes.

But relying on solid defenses to continuously consume the Russian army is completely different. Although the Turkish army still has to pay a heavy price because of the weakness of equipment and firepower, it also makes the Russian army unhappy, and every step forward has to pay a price in blood.

The tragic casualties made Duke Mikhail a big deal. Fortunately, the tradition of the Russian army has never cared about casualties. As long as he can continue to win, neither the Tsar nor ordinary people care about how many people died.

In this respect, Russia is really cruel!

It’s just that even if Russia’s endurance is very strong, there is no bottom line. About ten days later, just when Duke Mikhail uprooted a piece of the Turkish fortress and moved forward, the navy heard “good news”!

After Sinop Bay Nasimov caught the tail of the Turkish fleet as in history, the Turkish fleet was wiped out after a violent rush, and Sinop Port was also severely damaged as in history. …