Chapter 878: Artillery Bombardment of Infantry Attack (First Update, Please Subscribe)
Since entering modern times, what has determined the final outcome of wars between countries?
Is it a military contest on the battlefield?
Or diplomacy beyond the battlefield?
Or is it the production and mobilization in the rear?
All of these are indispensable to winning the war. Sometimes, diplomatic activities are even more important than the battlefield. When the British envoy visited Washington to lobby Washington to join their alliance, on the other side of the continent, the British provided Brazil with a loan of up to 6 million pounds.
"We believe that this loan will help the Brazilian Empire's resistance. The expansion of the Ming Empire must be stopped..."
The British ambassador to Brazil's solemn words seemed to tell everyone that the British Empire's support for Brazil remains unchanged. In fact, what is the most fundamental reason for this?
"The Ming Empire's ambitions for Brazil are limited!"
At the British Embassy in Rio de Janeiro, Ambassador Luke Means said this in a rather proud tone.
"From the current perspective, the Ming Empire seems to want to defeat the Brazilian Empire on the battlefield as soon as possible, forcing them to make concessions on the issues of Uruguay and Paraguay, thereby ending the war with Brazil and investing their power in the Mediterranean."
"Yes, sir."
Major George nodded in agreement.
"This is also the reason why they did not withdraw their fleet from the Mediterranean. They must do their best to maintain the alliance. In the past few years, they have been able to gain a lot of benefits in many places and force us to make concessions. The most fundamental reason is the existence of the Imperial Alliance. It makes other countries consider their interests, so they will definitely do everything they can to maintain the alliance."
This is not just his personal judgment, but a guess based on various signs and even intelligence as evidence.
"That's right."
Ambassador Luke said, pulling out a cigar box from a drawer.
"Come and try these cigars, which I personally selected in Cuba."
Luke said after taking a cigar and lighting it.
"Yes, that's right. This is why we support Brazil. We don't have much power to invest here now, but we can support and arm Brazil so that they can contain the Ming Dynasty. Not only can the Ming Dynasty not send their troops to the Mediterranean and Turkey, but we can even make them withdraw their troops in Africa back to America. America will attract all their strength. Only in this way can we fully fight against the French and Russians and prevent their expansion in the Middle East."
Who is having the hardest time right now?
Of course it is the Great Britain. Ever since Russia declared war on Turkey, the British Empire has fallen into an unprecedented situation. They found that they were simply unable to stop Russia's expansion in Turkey. If they had only been facing Russia in the past, everything would have been fine. But now, even the French seem to be joining in, as well as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. With the three of them joining forces, Britain really has no choice but to be cowardly... What else can it do if it doesn't be cowardly?
Is it possible that the British Empire will go directly into battle and sacrifice everything it has for Turkey?
This kind of all-in gambling is not the habit of the British Empire. Those who always go all-in gambling basically fail in the end.
"If Russia occupies Istanbul, the Suez Canal will be threatened, and the route to India will also be threatened..."
India...that's the most important colony of the British Empire!
"But, sir, how can we stop Russia's attack on Turkey now?"
George asked, somewhat confused.
"Even if the Brazilians can stop the Ming here now, how can we stop Russia?"
George's words were a bit heart-wrenching, and they were very painful. The war had already broken out for four months. Russia's pace seemed unstoppable, and facing the Russian attack, there was not much the British Empire could do.
Ambassador Luke said in response to George's question.
"What we need is a victory. The Turks must use a victory to prove that they have the ability to defeat the Russians. Otherwise, even if we send a fleet to Istanbul, the Imperial Alliance Fleet will not give up their mission. We will have to face a fleet that is much larger than ours. So, pray to God. We now need Turkey to win a victory. Only in this way can we make the Imperial Alliance realize that Turkey is difficult to defeat!"
It wasn't just the British who were praying, the Russians were also praying there. What were they praying for? Of course, when the Pleven Fortress could be conquered!
Pleven Fortress!
As early as July, the Russian army had arrived at the Pleven Fortress, but their attack was not smooth. Although the Ottoman army was not as large in number as the Russian army, its weapons were not inferior to those of the Russian army, and were even slightly more advanced. In addition, the geographical advantage of the Pleven Fortress meant that even with a large number of people, the Russians could not do anything to the small number of defenders. Moreover, the defender Osman Nuri relied on the surrounding natural conditions to build a defense system consisting of fortresses, trench lines and fortresses, allowing him to make full use of his superior weapons.
On July 20, 7,500 Russian infantrymen rashly entered the town and were severely beaten by the Turkish troops ambushed in the town. The defenders in the fortress used Gatling machine guns to severely damage the Russian army. In less than 20 minutes of fighting, more than half of the Russian troops were killed or wounded, while the Turkish casualties were only a few dozen.
It was from that day that the Gatling machine gun became the nightmare of the Russian army.
"…On the 30th, we launched another attack, but faced with their powerful firepower, our attack did not make any progress…" "This powerful firepower was entirely composed of Gatling machine guns."
On the train to the front line, when the staff officers were introducing the situation at the front to His Majesty the Tsar, the Russian officers around him would always inadvertently turn their eyes to Li Bin, not because he became famous in the battle of Pushkar Pass, but because they all knew very well what powerful firepower referred to - the Type 5 Gatling machine gun manufactured by the Ming Dynasty.
This three-barreled Gatling gun weighs only 30.5 kilograms, uses lead-acid batteries as power, has a firing rate of up to 900 rounds, and can be mounted on a gun mount or a tripod. It is light and easy to carry. Once it was introduced in December 1873, it attracted worldwide interest, and Turkey was one of the earliest orderers - they purchased more than 600 at a time. Except for a small number of those machine guns used to suppress domestic uprisings, most of them were installed on fortresses.
Unfortunately, the Pleven Fortress was equipped with as many as 70 Gatling guns, which could kill you 900 times. Although the Turkish army had only 50,000 people, 70 Type 5 Gatling machine guns would definitely kill you!
What is a field of corpses?
Just look at the Pleven Fortress!
In the attack on the 30th, the Russian army lost more than 15,000 soldiers, almost two-thirds of the attacking force, most of whom were caused by the Type 5 machine guns.
What is an accident?
Taking your life for 900 is an accident among accidents!
Facing machine guns, especially fortresses with machine guns, everyone is very troubled! In another world, the Russians relied on a few machine guns on Hill 203 to make the Japanese human bomb attack a joke.
Facing so many machine guns, the reason why the Russians suffered so "small" losses was because the human bombs were not brave enough!
"We must capture the Pleven Fortress as soon as possible. We have already spent too much time there..."
When Tsar Alexander II spoke, he would always cast his eyes on Li Bin inadvertently.
"Your Majesty, our soldiers are brave, but courage cannot stop bullets. Intelligence shows that the defenders of Pleven now have more than 130 machine guns. And those Turks are damn cowards. They only put their rifles in the gun holes and fire without showing their heads to observe. Every time we attack, we suffer heavy losses..."
When General Skobelev mentioned that the Turks were cowards, Li Bin almost laughed out loud. This is cowardice, and this is clearly a good tactic.
However, Alexander II still noticed Li Bin's unintentional smile, so he spoke.
"Major, if it were the Ming army, how would you attack the fortress?"
"Your Majesty, this is a very simple question."
Li Bin said seriously.
"Bomb it! Your Majesty, didn't you already move the heavy siege artillery over? The cannons bombard, and the infantry attacks! After the cannons bombard, the infantry attacks. Your Majesty, what's the problem?"
(End of this chapter)
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