CHAPTER 544: CHAPTER 536 UNEXPECTED VICTORY

The Russian Imperial Army, which was bombarded by the fleet at Karatina Port, avoided the shelling by lying flat on the ground under the command of Admiral Korolev.

The British and French light infantry, protected by the naval guns at Kara Yan Na Port, slowly advanced towards the direction of the Russian Imperial forces on the orders of Brigadier General Troche, either in skirmish line mode (to be exact, in the Zuav Corps skirmish line mode) or in column formation (the British tradition of firing squads from the Napoleonic Wars era).

Most of the Russian Imperial Army, suppressed by naval guns, could only watch helplessly as the British and French forces moved toward them. A few hot-blooded young Slav soldiers rose to fight back, not realizing their muskets were utterly ineffective for counterattack, especially while still within naval gun range.

Even if one or two Russian soldiers disregarded orders and charged toward the Anglo-French Alliance Army, their fate was merely becoming ghosts under the naval guns.

Fortunately, the location where Admiral Korolev was situated was a hill, and most shells could only explode around him, causing damage through the shockwave.

If Admiral Korolev had been on a plain, the naval guns at Karatina Port could have crushed his troops immediately.

Nearing 500 naval guns bombarded the troops led by Admiral Korolev for over half an hour. During this time, his forces occasionally heard wails.

With luck, they could even see severed limbs descending from the sky.

For militiamen participating in combat for the first time, these scenes were nothing short of a nightmare.

After the artillery ceased, Admiral Korolev dusted himself off and shouted to the Russian Imperial soldiers: "Form up! Quickly!"

Hearing the order, the Russian soldiers hurriedly rose to form a line to confront the Anglo-French Alliance Army.

Unfortunately, the distance between them and the Anglo-French Alliance Army had already entered the effective range of 550 meters.

At around 550 meters, the Anglo-French Alliance Army could hit the Russian Imperial Army, while the Russian Imperial Army had no way to hit the Anglo-French Alliance Army.

If Admiral Korolev had participated in the Battle of Alma, he wouldn’t have rashly led his troops to confront the Anglo-French Alliance Army.

With such a significant weaponry gap, defense is the most effective method.

Of course, the root cause of all this was Prince Menshikov and Admiral Kiriyako.

If Prince Menshikov had chosen to retreat forcefully to the Sevastopol Fortress after the Battle of Alma, then Admiral Korolev could have known the firing range of the Anglo-French Alliance Army rifles.

If it weren’t for Admiral Kiriyako revealing a lot of inside information about Sevastopol after being captured, Marshal Saint Arno wouldn’t have made up his mind to capture Sevastopol.

Far away in Paris, Jerome Bonaparte also contributed to the failure of Sevastopol.

If it weren’t for his telegram, Marshal Saint Arno might have taken longer to make up his mind to attack.

At this point, Admiral Korolev did not know that from the beginning of the Sevastopol offensive, he had already lost the support of time and unity.

Relying on geographical advantage alone, there was no way to defeat the Allied Forces.

When the Anglo-French Alliance Army raised their Minie Guns and Enfield Rifles, a mockery echoed from the Russian Imperial Army’s formation.

Unaware of the severity of Minie Rifles, these ignorant Slavic barbarians mistook the behavior of the Anglo-French Alliance Army as fear, thinking of them as cowards who dared only to shoot from afar.

The soldiers in the front-line battalions pulled the triggers, and bullets flew out of the barrels at speeds too fast for the naked eye, shooting toward the Russian Imperial vanguard.

The unprepared vanguard fell to the ground the second after hearing the gunshots, and the Russian Imperial Army lost dozens of men just upon first meeting.

This wasn’t even accounting for those Russian Imperial soldiers hit by the artillery aftershock.

The Russian Imperial Army, never having encountered such a situation, was left dumbfounded. They first glanced at the fallen Russian Imperial soldiers, most of whom did not die immediately upon being hit by Minie Bullets. Lying on the ground, they desperately reached out to their surrounding comrades, pleading for help, as blood gushed from their wounds, dyeing their gray uniforms red.

"Save me... I beg you..." The fallen Slav soldiers showed painful expressions, sporadically pleading with nearby soldiers.

Upon seeing their comrades’ plight, the surrounding soldiers felt waves of fear engulfing their hearts.

Recalling certain rumors from the barracks, their fear of the Anglo-French Alliance Army grew.

"Charge! You are warriors baptized in Christ! The evil power borrowed from Hell by the Anglo-French Alliance Army is powerless against you! In this battle, I will stand with you!"

Just as the Russian Imperial soldiers were lost in thought, the voice of Admiral Korolev appeared in their ears.

The voice of Admiral Korolev reinvigorated the courage of the Russian Imperial Army as they recalled the words spoken to them an hour ago by God’s shepherd (priest).

The priest had told them that they were warriors chosen by the Lord, chosen to protect Sevastopol and His Majesty the Tsar!

Thus, their every move was under the Lord’s watchful eye, their actions subtly guided by the Lord, and all who remained loyal to Sevastopol would, with their roars, be ushered by the Lord into heaven to be worshipped... Anyone who did not follow the Lord’s commands would find their soul unable to ascend to heaven after death...

Thinking of this, the hearts of the naïve Russian Imperial soldiers were both excited and fearful.

They feared death, yet they longed to bring glory to God and the Tsar.

This conflicted mindset would make them fearless of death in the short term, but if deaths exceeded a certain number, their entire unit would risk complete collapse.

Instances of small unit collapses leading to the collapse of larger forces have been commonplace throughout the history of warfare.

This is especially true for armies like the Russian Empire, which are entirely sustained by faith.

"For His Majesty the Tsar!" Admiral Korolev, holding a flintlock pistol in his left hand, drew a command saber from his belt with his right hand and ordered a charge from his troops.

Influenced by Admiral Korolev, the Russian Army followed him in a charge towards the Anglo-French Alliance Army positions.

"Not this tactic again!" Brigadier General Troche, watching these death-defying Russian Imperial soldiers, couldn’t help but shake his head and gave orders to the regiment chief of staff, temporarily acting as his adjutant: "Pass my command, Anglo-French forces, fire at will! But do not let them get close!"

"Yes!" The regiment chief of staff quickly responded, then rode off to relay Brigadier General Troche’s orders to frontline units.

Upon receiving Brigadier General Troche’s orders, frontline units methodically retreated while continuously attacking the Russian Imperial Army.

After the third round of shooting, nearly 100 Russian Imperial soldiers lay on the path of the charge.

The morale of the vanguard began to decline gradually, and just as Admiral Korolev was preparing to have the next group of soldiers advance, in the French camp approximately 700 meters away from Admiral Korolev, a soldier wielding a Minie Gun took aim at Admiral Korolev.

Although the Minie Rifle’s maximum range was 914 meters, its accuracy diminished significantly beyond 550 meters; thus, hitting Admiral Korolev from a distance of 700 meters would require some luck.

Calculating the distance and wind direction silently in his mind, Senior Sergeant Baptiste (from a regiment of Zouaves) pulled the trigger, and the Minie Bullet shot out from the muzzle.

A few seconds later, it successfully struck Admiral Korolev in the chest, with blood flowing from his chest wound.

Hit by the shot, Korolev looked at the chest wound in astonishment, muttering, "Retreat quickly!"

He finished speaking and then collapsed to the ground.

The death of Admiral Korolev was an unexpected event for all three armies of England, France, and Russia. Brigadier General Troche, overseeing the French Army, was delighted upon discovering Korolev’s fall through his telescope, hurriedly issuing orders to the regiment chief of staff: "Quick! Order the troops to launch an immediate attack! Launch an immediate attack!"

The regiment chief of staff promptly left to relay his orders to the two forward battalion commanders.

The two battalion commanders hesitated not a bit, initiating a bayonet charge against the leaderless Russian Imperial Army.

Before the Russian Imperial Army recovered from the sorrow of losing Admiral Korolev, the British and French armies were already upon them.

A trial by blood and iron commenced; agile Zouave soldiers became sharp knives on the battlefield, as other British and French soldiers followed the steps of the Zouave Corps, assaulting the Russian troops.

Faced with the British and French Alliance advancing like tigers descending the mountain, the morale of the Russian Imperial Army plummeted, leading to a rout.

A small defeat extrapolated into a more significant defeat once again unfolded.

"Brigadier General, should we continue the pursuit?" the chief of staff inquired of Brigadier General Troche.

After a brief moment of consideration, Brigadier General Troche boldly decided, "Pursue!"

The armies of England and France, under Brigadier General Troche’s orders, pursued for quite a distance.

Upon reaching a fort near the South Shore of Sevastopol, deeming it too far in, Brigadier General Troche simultaneously ordered his soldiers to seize the fort while dispatching infantry to seek assistance from the main body of the Anglo-French Alliance Army on the North Shore!