CHAPTER 540: CHAPTER 532: PANIC IN SEVASTOPOL

After receiving Marshal Saint Arno’s invitation, the commanders of England, Sardinia, and Turkey immediately realized that this meeting would determine the next steps of the Allies.

Would they attack the northern part of the Sevastopol Fortress, or was there another plan?

Thus, the commanders of England, Turkey, and Sardinia, along with their deputies, headed to the French Command.

The slanting rays of the setting sun streamed through the open windows of the French Command, illuminating the entire room and the map of the Sevastopol Fortress right opposite the window.

The commanders of England, Turkey, and Sardinia sat at a round fir wood conference table led by French officers. This table symbolized the (supposedly) equal status of the countries in the joint war.

Serving as the initiator of the entire meeting, Marshal Saint Arno also acted as its host, sitting with his back to the map at the round table.

Once everyone had settled, Marshal Saint Arno began, "On behalf of the French Army, I thank you all for coming to this meeting concerning the future of the Allies!"

No sooner had Marshal Saint Arno finished speaking, the commanders and deputies at the table quickly raised their hands to applaud him.

This is the influence of the world’s first army and the second navy; even if Marshal Saint Arno were to curse outright during the meeting, all countries except the Kingdom of Britain would have to smile along, and some countries (like the sycophantic Kingdom of Sardinia) would even applaud and shout "Well said!"

The applause lasted for quite some time until Marshal Saint Arno signaled it could stop, at which point it finally ceased.

With a smile, Marshal Saint Arno continued, "To be honest, the reason I chose to invite you here at this time is because I received a telegram from Paris! The sender is our great monarch of the French Empire, His Majesty Napoleon!"

When Jerome Bonaparte’s name was mentioned by Marshal Saint Arno, the expressions of the commanders from England, Turkey, and Sardinia instantly became serious.

They understood that this Alliance meeting was very likely... no, necessarily related to the emperor far away in Paris! However, everyone present did not yet know which direction the emperor supported attacking.

"The Emperor congratulates us on the decisive victory we achieved in the Alma Region, and he hopes that we can continue our efforts to capture the North Shore of Sevastopol in the shortest time!" Marshal Saint Arno continued.

Everyone present immediately understood that Marshal Saint Arno’s strategic goal had been set on the northern part of the Sevastopol Fortress.

The commanders of Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire instinctively looked towards the British commander Lagren. If there was anyone present who could overturn Marshal Saint Arno’s opinion, it would be Commander Lagren.

After all, the Sevastopol Fortress was easy to defend and hard to attack; if they forcibly besieged it, it would likely result in enormous casualties. High casualty figures, even if victorious, would still provoke a public outcry from the domestic press.

If asked which of the four commanders present feared the power of the press the most, it would be Commander Lagren, because Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire simply had no space for public opinion fermentation. Since the start of the war, the French Empire had implemented strict press control measures, making major casualties hard to appear in mainstream papers. If the government wished, the Parisians would only see the French Army moving from one victory to another.

Yet the Kingdom of Britain was a more free country than France, where people could criticize the British government and politicians impudently. Even a commander as strong as Wellington could not avoid being egged after the Battle of Waterloo.

It is imaginable how unfriendly the English public opinion environment can be to a general, who must cautiously protect his troops from major losses while constantly watching for journalists in his ranks to prevent them from sending unfavorable reports about the British Army to London, which is quite an ordeal. (Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire did not know about the northern shore’s defense weakness.)

To the surprise of the Ottoman and Sardinian commanders, who thought Lagren would oppose, Commander Lagren agreed with Marshal Saint Arno’s proposal.

Subsequently, Marshal Saint Arno symbolically asked for the suggestions of Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire.

The commanders of the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire could only agree with Saint Arno’s opinion.

Seeing that after all four countries agreed, Marshal Saint Arno spoke again: "Since you all agree with the plan to attack the Sevastopol Fortress, I will ask General Pellissier to assign you your respective tasks!"

Sitting beside Marshal Saint Arno, General Pellissier rose and stood in front of the aerial view map, assigning tasks to everyone present.

In the upcoming battle for Sevastopol, France and Sardinia would serve as the main force to overcome the most challenging Star Fortress. (In fact, the so-called hardest Star Fortress, completed in 1818, had not been repaired for over 30 years. The walls had collapsed due to disrepair, and the cannons inside had been taken by Prince Menshikov to the Alma River and became the spoils of the Anglo-French Alliance.) The Ottoman Empire and Britain would be responsible for clearing the Russian army near the northern shore of Sevastopol.

The attack on the Sevastopol Fortress was scheduled for the morning after next.

After the deployment was completed, everyone stood up and left, preparing to formulate corresponding tactics based on their assigned tasks.

Watching the distant sunset, Marshal Saint Arno silently prayed for the success of the attack on the Sevastopol Fortress: "I hope he did not deceive me, otherwise..."

Marshal Saint Arno’s eyes revealed a hint of murderous intent.

...

Just as Marshal Saint Arno and others were actively preparing the plan to attack the North Shore of the Sevastopol Fortress, within the navy camp on the South Shore of Sevastopol Fortress, Vice Admiral Nakhimov and Admiral Korolev were worried about the upcoming Allied Forces’ attack on Sevastopol Fortress,

Menshikov’s failure at the Alma River resulted in the Sevastopol Fortress losing more than 43,000 troops. Now, Sevastopol Fortress is left with only over 6,000 soldiers, 3,000 sailors, and 3,000 militiamen, making it extremely vulnerable.

If it was just a lack of troops, that would be one thing, but the more critical issue is the instability within Sevastopol Fortress itself.

With Prince Menshikov’s defeat at the Alma River, the residents of the fortress who once thought they were safe are now thrust to the edge of war. Panic began to spread in the city, and the residents within the fortress were constantly fleeing Sevastopol Fortress. Nakhimov and Admiral Korolev had no choice but to issue a tough order prohibiting all residents living in Sevastopol Fortress from leaving.

Who would have thought that this order not only failed to stop the exodus of Sevastopol Fortress residents but actually exacerbated the panic.

Now, panic not only spread in the residential area of the fortress but also began to occur within the military camp.

Russian soldiers, indoctrinated by priests with all sorts of bizarre stories, had long viewed the Allied Forces as man-eating monsters. Now, the monsters were at the fortress, and their officers had been defeated by them.

Thus, the image of the Allied Forces in the camp changed from man-eating monsters to invincible man-eating monsters, and their purpose for attacking the Russian Empire evolved from capturing Sevastopol Fortress to devouring the Russian Army within the fortress.

Faced with invincible monsters, the only option for any Russian soldier was to run away.

On the third day after Prince Menshikov was defeated by the Allied Forces, a portion of the militia and regular troops began fleeing from Sevastopol Fortress.

Faced with soldiers unwilling to fight, Admiral Korolev and Nakhimov had no choice but to resort to harsh penalties to make them realize the terrifying consequences of desertion.

Under Admiral Korolev’s directive, the Cossack Cavalry Corps (600 men) present in the fortress was mobilized, directly beheading hundreds of soldiers who attempted to flee.

The soldiers’ heads were piled into a mound atop the Malakhov Kurgan, and no soldier dared to exhibit any further escape attempts.

However, Admiral Korolev and Nakhimov understood that this method could only maintain temporary stability, and if Russia were to face another defeat in the next battle, Sevastopol Fortress would inevitably suffer retaliation.

By then, it wouldn’t be just about resisting the Allied Forces—they might not even be able to escape alive.

Therefore, Admiral Korolev and Nakhimov were constantly contemplating ways to help Sevastopol Fortress through the crisis.

"How about we abandon the North Shore? Concentrate all our forces on the South Shore? This way, we can strengthen our control over the South Shore!" Admiral Korolev inquired of Nakhimov beside him.

"Have you considered that doing so would cause even greater panic? There are quite a few residents on the North Shore!" Nakhimov retorted to Korolev.

"That is indeed a major problem!" Admiral Korolev was silent for a moment before responding decisively: "But now is not the time to think about these things. The Allied Forces have already reached the North Shore! It’s likely they will attack soon! Our fortress on the North Shore simply can’t withstand their assault! Failure on the North Shore is a foregone conclusion; we absolutely cannot let the South Shore fall into chaos!"

"How do you plan to bring back the soldiers from the North Shore?" Nakhimov asked again.

"We can set up a pontoon bridge between the North and South Shores! Use the ships at our disposal to construct it!" Admiral Korolev replied.

"In that case...it will take a considerable amount of time to complete! Do we truly have enough time left?" Nakhimov said a bit pessimistically, "I’m afraid the Allied Forces will advance on the North Shore before we finish setting up the pontoon bridge!"

"At the very least, we are trying to protect this fortress!" Korolev stated firmly.

"Yes indeed!" Nakhimov also remarked with a sigh: "Two navy admirals protecting an army fortress, what an irony!"

Poor Korolev and Nakhimov did not know that if it weren’t for some unscrupulous monarch tampering with the historical timeline, they wouldn’t need to worry about the Allied Forces.

In history, the Allied Forces didn’t finish the Battle of Alma River until September 23rd, and then hesitated for nearly half a month between attacking the North or South Shore, during which Korolev and Nakhimov completed the fortification of Sevastopol.

With the fortification and the three months of winter (from late October to February), they managed to delay until the following spring. This time, they wouldn’t have such good fortune.