Chapter 485: Chapter 479: The Revamped Ottoman Army
After Selim Pasha finished introducing himself, Marshal Saint Arno and Commander Lagren immediately realized the reason Selim was appointed as the leader of the Ottoman Empire’s divisional forces: most likely, His Majesty the Sultan of Constantinople feared Omar Pasha’s immediate surrender, which led to his son’s appointment to command the Ottoman Empire’s support troops.
If Saint Arno and Lagren’s guess was correct, the real commander appointed by the Ottoman Empire was not this somewhat foolish-looking young man before them, but most likely Omar Pasha in Silistra Fortress.
As it turned out, Selim Pasha’s next words confirmed their speculation. He said earnestly, "Commander Lagren, Marshal Saint Arno, I know you both look down on these troops, but this is already the best we can offer. The Ottoman Empire’s forces are engaged in a fierce battle with the evil Russian Empire in Silistra, Rouen, and the Caucasus. We no longer have enough troops... Moreover, I am not the true commander of this army; my father is the general commander of these troops. I hope to join forces with you two esteemed elders to contribute towards resisting the Russian Empire."
Saint Arno and Lagren exchanged a glance before Marshal Saint Arno cleared his throat and asked, "Your name is Selim, isn’t it?"
"Yes, Your Excellency the Marshal!" Selim Pasha responded to Saint Arno with a humble attitude.
"Tell me, how many troops under your command are capable of fighting?" Marshal Saint Arno asked Selim Pasha pedantically, "I mean, troops that can engage in battle with the Russian army!"
After pondering for a few seconds, Selim Pasha responded, "Your Excellency the Marshal, among the troops I command, only 20,000 soldiers can barely engage in combat with the Russian Empire, of which 4,000 are cavalry!"
"20,000!" Saint Arno muttered, nodding.
Although this army was far short of the 80,000 he had expected, 20,000 troops that could somewhat fight still met Saint Arno’s psychological expectations for the Ottoman Empire.
If Omar Pasha had not desperately fought the Russian Empire at Silistra Fortress, thereby salvaging part of the Ottoman Empire’s image, the Ottoman Empire might have been dismembered in advance by England and France due to its incompetence.
It is precisely because of the valiant fighting of the Ottoman Empire in the Caucasus and at Silistra Fortress that it held unification value in the eyes of Jerome Bonaparte and Albert.
Saint Arno’s attitude toward the Ottoman Empire was also based on the premise that the Ottoman Empire still had some capable forces.
"Immediately distinguish between your troops that can still fight and those that are substandard!" Marshal Saint Arno commanded Selim Pasha, "As for the remaining troops (Saint Arno paused, frowning slightly) do as you see fit!"
"Yes!" Selim Pasha saluted Marshal Saint Arno.
"Act quickly!" Saint Arno waved his hand, not forgetting to urge.
After Selim Pasha left the tent, Marshal Saint Arno showed a faint bitter smile to Commander Lagren and said, "I never thought that out of 300,000 troops, only 20,000 could fight! I really don’t know how Silistra Fortress’s forces haven’t been crushed by the Russian Imperial Army!"
Commander Lagren nodded empathetically and then asked Marshal Saint Arno whether they should dispatch an officer to investigate the Ottoman army to prevent Selim Pasha from deceiving them with inferior goods.
Sharing the same lack of confidence in the Ottoman Empire army, Marshal Saint Arno agreed with Commander Lagren’s opinion. Commander Lagren dispatched his adjutant, Captain Kingscott, along with Marshal Saint Arno’s adjutant Brigadier General Troche, to conduct an on-site investigation at the Ottoman Empire camp.
Thus, influenced by the "begging army" of the Ottoman Empire, the plans for the allied forces to set off on the 25th had to be postponed.
Time flew by, and evening had arrived in the blink of an eye.
The Varna Plain was exceptionally quiet under the night sky. Having completed a day’s investigation, Captain Kingscott and Brigadier General Troche came to Marshal Saint Arno’s tent.
"Commander Lagren, Marshal Saint Arno, I swear these Turks are the most brilliant liars..." Captain Kingscott, having barely held it in earlier, immediately reported to Lagren and Saint Arno upon entering the tent: "If they tell you there are 300,000 troops, just one investigation will reveal there are fewer than 20,000..."
Captain Kingscott’s report successfully made Commander Lagren laugh heartily, pointing at Marshal Saint Arno, who also showed a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.
With a puzzled expression, Captain Kingscott looked at Commander Lagren and Marshal Saint Arno, not understanding what was so funny.
Then Commander Lagren explained to Captain Kingscott that his conclusion was exactly the same as what Marshal Saint Arno had said in the tent that morning.
"Brigadier General Troche, what are your thoughts!" Marshal Saint Arno turned his gaze to his adjutant.
As a brigadier general, Troche obviously had insights different from Captain Kingscott. He did not repeat what Kingscott had said but instead conducted an in-depth analysis of the Ottoman Empire’s weapons and personnel, concluding that Selim Pasha might only have about 18,000 to 19,000 men capable of fighting, with the rest mostly being temporary recruits.
"Marshal, Commander, I hope we can allocate some of the command personnel from the British and French Armies to help the Ottoman Empire reorganize their forces. Only then can the Ottoman Army have the initial capability to confront the Russian Empire!" Brigadier General Troche reported in a firm tone.
"This..." Marshal Saint Arno hesitated for a moment before asking Commander Largren, "What do you think?"
"Why not call Selim over and consult his opinion?" Commander Largren tentatively suggested.
"That sounds reasonable!" Marshal Saint Arno nodded in agreement.
Immediately, Marshal Saint Arno ordered the soldiers standing guard outside the tent to invite Selim Pasha in.
The soldier who received the order hurried to the Ottoman camp to invite Selim Pasha. After a while, when Selim Pasha arrived at the camp, Marshal Saint Arno candidly pointed out the problems within the Ottoman Empire, expressing the hope that Selim Pasha would allow the British and French commanders to enter the Ottoman Army to transform it.
Faced with the requests of Saint Arno and Largren, Selim Pasha nodded in agreement without hesitation.
Thus, under the directive of the joint command, the basic command personnel from the British and French armies went to the Ottoman Army to help reorganize their forces.
After wasting nearly more than a week, the streamlining of the Ottoman Army was finally completed by March 6.
After streamlining, the Ottoman Army was compressed from its original "300,000" to 19,000 men, consisting of 15,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry. The equipment, originally old smoothbore muskets, was replaced with Minie Rifles, each soldier carrying 60 Minie Bullets.
This was a light infantry scheme tailored for Selim’s troops by Saint Arno’s staff department, and the Ottoman Empire High Gate Government paid for the costs of replacing this equipment.
[PS: The High Gate Government’s funds were borrowed from French bankers by mortgaging the "ownership" of certain islands. In a way, this was a sort of left-hand-to-right-hand operation.]
The Ottoman Army, now equipped, no longer had the appearance of a beggar army, and each Turkish soldier wore a smile.
Looking at this newly transformed army, Selim Pasha was equally filled with confidence.
However, Selim Pasha did not realize that this shiny new army was, in fact, a disposable force, much like the Beiyang Army.
If Valerovsky and Canning hadn’t pressured the Ottoman Empire High Gate, the High Gate Government would never have gone to such great lengths to arm this force.
Every "new style" Turkish soldier cost two to three times more than the previous "beggar army," making it impossible for the Ottoman Empire’s current finances to sustain the expansion.
On the evening of March 4, when the last Ottoman force had been reorganized, the French Commander of the joint command, Marshal Saint Arno, summoned General Largren of the British Expeditionary Army, the Sardinian Kingdom’s Minister of War La Marmora, and the Ottoman Empire’s Acting Commander Selim to the camp, tasking them with the assignment of relieving Silistra Fortress.
Selim Pasha, upon receiving the order, showed an eager expression, as he was already impatient to head to the Silistra Fortress vicinity to combat the Russian Empire.
Under Marshal Saint Arno’s command, 20,000 Sardinian soldiers and 19,000 Ottoman soldiers were all mobilized, while Britain and France respectively dispatched 10,000 and 30,000 troops to follow suit.
The combined allied forces totaled 79,000 men, capable of repelling the Russian Imperial Army around Silistra alongside the 40,000-50,000 soldiers in the fortress.
However, since the army was overly massive and the Varna region lacked railways, maintaining the allied forces’ supplies solely through local requisition was impossible. To sustain such a large-scale army’s logistics, requisitioning animal power (such as horses and mules) from Varna and its surroundings was essential.
Requisitioning animal power took a long time, and up until now, the total number of animals obtained by the allied forces was only 60% of the planned total. A large-scale rapid march was impossible, so they could only promptly deploy combat-capable regiments to the Varna region while hastening the collection of animal power, aiming to reach Varna in batches within a week.
Under Saint Arno’s orders, rapid response units like the French Empire’s Zuav Corps, the Sardinian Kingdom’s Hunting Legion, and Britain’s Scottish Rifle Corps were dispatched ahead to the Silistra region to support Silistra Fortress, with the main force following in succession for reinforcement.