Chapter 26

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Chapter 26: The Battle of the Crimean Kitchen Kings

In the Crimean War, many countries surrounded Russia, so it should have been easy, right?

But unexpectedly, both the British and French were hesitant, taking turns to "feed" everyone and Prussia’s Military Observation Team watched it all.

A cholera outbreak in the French camp, yet they sent over a dozen sick messengers to inform the British camp a few kilometers away, resulting in an outbreak there too.

The British and French began isolating patients, burning items in contact with patients, resulting in the loss of a large portion of supplies. That night, due to a lack of tents and blankets, over a hundred soldiers froze to death.

Lacking supplies and with cholera spreading in the army, Queen Victoria and Napoleon III kept urging the troops to attack.

The British and French coalition forces had to face a bunch of debuffs to engage in combat with Russia.

A total of eighty thousand soldiers from the British and French coalition forces boarded ships, but unable to find a landing point, they waited on the ships for over a week and all contracted cholera.

The Prussian military officers watching the battle were all laughing loudly. Are they planning to use biological weapons when landing in Crimea? The British army, the best in the world, and the French army, the second best, are lacking in medical and logistical capabilities.

The Prussian mercenaries also joined the allied landing forces, but they were hardly affected by cholera.

In 1837, the prince regent established the world’s first military medical and field medical training academy, which has upgraded the medical knowledge of all Prussian military officers so far. There are field hospitals and field doctors in the Prussian army as well.

Not only do they have excellent abilities in preventing and managing cholera, but the recovery rate of battlefield injuries has increased from ten percent to seventy percent, far exceeding that of other countries in the world.

The allied forces successfully landed in Crimea without encountering Russian attacks, but were all struck down by cholera. The British and French armies began to learn from Prussia’s field hospital system, but lacked professional medical knowledge.

Until…

A dropout from the Prussian military medical university volunteered to go to Crimea to set up a field medical system for the British army. The medical situation in the English army improved only after this Prussian medical university dropout named Nightingale arrived.

That happened several months later. Now, the camps of the British and French armies are in a pitiful state, with cholera and mosquitoes wreaking havoc, reducing their combat effectiveness to the lowest point.

What’s even more amusing is that despite the lack of supplies, the allied forces, who are suffering from illness, actually defeated the Russian army, while the Prussian mercenaries in Osman didn’t even contribute much.

The English and French armies are no match for the Russian army yet, and the Prussia Military Observation Team is greatly impressed.

The allied armies slowly march towards Sevastopol from the land. The British commander orders to loot along the way, boosting the morale of the soldiers significantly and improving the condition of the cholera outbreak.

However, the local residents suffer greatly as the English and French troops plunder the villages without mercy, leaving behind the cholera epidemic.

Due to excessive looting, the progress of the advance is very slow. The Russian army has reinforced their defense of Sevastopol. The allied armies missed the chance to quickly seize the Black Sea Fleet’s main port and end the war swiftly.

Catherine returned to the battlefield after dealing with matters in her country. At this time, the English and French armies have Sevastopol surrounded, resembling the Battle of Constantinople from both the sea and the land.

Catherine notices that the English and French camps are filled with all sorts of looted goods, such as bedding, blankets, curtains, wardrobes, desks, glass windows, vases, paintings, musical instruments… The soldiers of the allied armies have become more interested in making money than fighting.

The discipline of the Prussia mercenaries is very satisfactory, with orderly and well-maintained camps. The commander does not allow subordinates to loot, resulting in minimal impact of the cholera epidemic. It is evident that the Prussian army’s elite second division, after reforms, upholds strict discipline and values, unlike the feudal armies.

Umm… Only the most elite units can maintain such a standard. Most of the Prussia forces are not much different from the English and French armies; if they were mercenaries, they would surely loot as well.

Subsequently in Sevastopol, the English and French troops begin the assault, repeatedly challenging the defenses. Catherine starts doubting her decision to come to the front lines, as the British and French troops, who are second-rate and conscripted, seem incompetent.

The Russian army sank five battleships and two cruisers to block the harbor channel. They moved over 800 ship cannons ashore to build a very scary defense. Together with forts, long walls, and anti-cavalry defenses, they created an extremely strong line of defense.

The allied forces attacked a stronghold, but the Russian army’s intense cannon fire destroyed many horses. The French armored cavalry unit was completely wiped out without a single horse left. Only the British cavalry unit remained usable.

The commander of the Prussian defense army, fighting as a mercenary with the allies, couldn’t bear to see what was happening. He advised the British and French commanders not to keep attacking, but they didn’t listen. Over the next few days, they continued the strong assault, and thousands more soldiers died.

Tsar Nicholas I thought he was done for and that the British, French, and Sardinian allies would easily defeat him. But when he looked again, it seemed like he had a pretty big advantage after all.

The Tsar withdrew troops to Crimea and attempted a surprise attack from behind the allied forces to lift the siege of Sevastopol.

For some reason, the Russian vanguard, consisting of two groups of Cossack cavalry, launched an attack on the allied forces’ position all by themselves, without any support. The Scottish division of the British army and the second Prussian division joined forces to counter this attack using a thin line tactic. From above, the long thin line was a mix of red and blue, representing the English infantry uniforms and the Prussian blue uniforms.

The Cossack cavalry were very happy and laughed because the allies had spread out in a long line. They thought it was funny that the allies didn’t form a solid block and were just waiting to be attacked. They charged in happily.

The Scottish division of the British army had more than half of its soldiers equipped with muzzle-loading Minié rifles, while all the soldiers of the second Prussian division had Dreyse needle guns.

The charge of the two groups of Cossack cavalry was brutally countered by the red and blue thin line formed by the English and Prussian allied forces. Only about thirty Cossack Magic Energy Knights managed to charge through, but they were surrounded and beaten to death by the English Magic Energy Knights, and the rest of the cavalry were killed halfway.

The Russian army defeated the Osman’s defensive position on the other side. The British and Prussian allies quickly moved to reinforce, leading to a even more tragic event.

The British commander ordered light cavalry to charge at the Russian artillery position across a wide open field of 1500 meters. The British cavalry was bombarded by hundreds of Russian cannons, some of which were very powerful naval guns that even Magic Energy Knights couldn’t withstand.

After the charge, out of the 3000 British light cavalry, only forty were left standing. None of the survivors were Magic Energy Knights, as regular soldiers tended to hide in fear, while the Knights tried to resist and ended up being hit by heavy artillery fire.

The French cavalry, Russian cavalry, and British cavalry all suffered heavy casualties in the Crimean War. The brutality of the cavalry battles was too much to bear, with the exception of the Prussian mercenary cavalry who avoided direct combat and survived while other countries’ cavalry units were wiped out.

Catherine’s expression shifted from disdain to shock, then to silence.

The era of cavalry has passed. Where should this cavalry commander go from here? What should she do with her cavalry army in the future?

The entire process of the Crimean War was chaotic. Behind the constant clashes between countries, it was due to advancements in weapon technology and outdated tactical strategies.

The Battle of Sevastopol showcased the formidable defense of a level ten fortress, hinting at an era where defense outweighs offense.

The Battle of Balaclava illustrated the decline of the glorious era of cavalry and confirmed the practicality of the long-range skirmish tactics.

The Military Observation Team found that the French army is using a lot of new equipment, including a type of cannon that can be moved back and forth using steam power and laid on tracks, allowing for quick changes of artillery positions.

The French army also invented a portable wired radio station that can be carried by two people and laid out simply by dragging a wire along the way.

The British warships are using a lot of new explosive shells, and there are also several experimental ships with both steam and sail power. The French warships have one ship covered with iron plates on the wooden exterior, which seems to be an experiment as well.

In the "Chef Cook Battle" of Crimea, despite many confusing actions, it provided a lot of inspiration to Prussia. Chief of General Staff Moltke and Cavalry Commander Catherine both started thinking about future tactics and strategies, shining in the subsequent wars of the era.