Chapter 493: Chapter 487 The Collapsed 1st Division
When Deputy Commander Gorchakov led the Cossack Corps under General Schelder near the Allied Camp.
The scene before them filled them with rage. The First Division of the Polish Corps, nearly ten thousand strong, was being hunted by only a few hundred Bashbozuk Cavalry and refused to turn around to fight back.
The sharp sabers glinted with a cold light as they swung through the air, slashing toward the necks of the Russian soldiers who had their backs turned.
On the chaotic battlefield, the cries of the Russian Imperial soldiers echoed as the tide of battle turned against them. Red blood stained the ground, soaking the earth in its hue.
Watching the Russian Imperial soldiers being slaughtered like helpless chicks, Deputy Commander Gorchakov felt an unprecedented anger and humiliation.
There was a time when their forces would never have ended up unable to face the Turkish army head-on.
"Where is Brigadier General Orlov?" Deputy Commander Gorchakov, mounted on his horse, gritted his teeth audibly, as if bent on tearing Lieutenant General Orlov apart alive.
Seeing Deputy Commander Gorchakov’s expression, General Schelder realized that little Brigadier General Orlov was probably in for a punishment (General Schelder, who had just arrived on the battlefield, was unaware of Lieutenant General Orlov’s sacrifice). Initially, he thought he was merely following the whim of Deputy Commander Gorchakov to inspect Lieutenant General Orlov’s progress, but he never expected Little Orlov to give him such a "gift."
After this battle, Lieutenant General Orlov probably wouldn’t be able to shoulder the task of breaking through, and he would certainly have to take on this task in Orlov’s place.
Thinking about this, General Schelder couldn’t help but feel a sense of joy. He pretended to look around with binoculars, then feigned a response to Deputy Commander Gorchakov: "Deputy Commander, it seems there is no sign of Lieutenant General Orlov on the battlefield! Could he have already left the battle?"
"I don’t care where he is now! He must be held accountable for this defeat!" Deputy Commander Gorchakov nearly roared, then turned to General Schelder with murderous intent and said, "General Schelder, I order you to promptly lead the Cossack Cavalry to support! You must annihilate these damned Bashbozuk Cavalry!"
"Yes!" General Schelder responded solemnly and then led the thousand-strong Cossack Cavalry to bypass the Russian Army and charge into the battlefield from the flanks.
The Bashbozuk Cavalry, who were in a killing frenzy, noticed the large scale of Cossack Cavalry heading towards them, and the majority of the Bashbozuk, under the leadership of the "Kurdish Saintess" Fatima Hanum, turned and left the battlefield.
A few of the Bashbozuk Cavalry, who overestimated their strength, continued to slaughter the Russian Imperial soldiers whose morale had collapsed, and some even launched assaults against the Cossack Corps.
Of course, those Berserker enraptured Bashbozuk Cavalry met particularly tragic fates.
The Cossack Cavalry took only a round to slaughter the Bashbozuk Cavalry that remained in place, then pursued the fleeing Bashbozuk Cavalry under General Schelder’s orders.
The eyes of every Cossack Cavalryman burned with the flames of vengeance. Although they did not know the members of the Polish Corps’ 1st Division, they knew that those fallen were comrades they could entrust their lives to in times of danger. They absolutely could not spare those who wantonly slaughtered their comrades.
Under the Cossack Corps’ frenzied pursuit, another small portion of the Bashbozuk Cavalry was gradually caught up by the Cossack Cavalry.
These Bashbozuk Cavalry, who were about to be caught, were also decisive. Knowing they couldn’t escape, they chose to fight to give their companions a chance to survive.
Their speed deliberately decreased, and the Cossack Cavalry behind them noticed their intention. General Schelder ordered the troops to split.
Part of the Cossack Cavalry shifted to the left and right sides, trying to bypass this group of Bashbozuk Cavalry and continue pursuing the forces led by Fatima Hanum.
The remaining larger force also slowed down with the Bashbozuk Cavalry, and the two sides stopped at a distance of less than thirty meters from each other.
On one side were the Bashbozuk Cavalry, numbering only about a hundred, with unpredictable combat strength. On the other side was the renowned cavalry force, consisting of around five hundred men.
With such a disparity in strength, the outcome was never in doubt.
Looking at the Bashbozuk Cavalry clad in a motley array of garments and unified white turbans, General Schelder addressed them in Turkic language, saying "Surrender for life."
Faced with General Schelder’s persuasion to surrender, the Bashbozuk Cavalry remained silent and instead raised their sabers to show their stance,
The sabers of the Bashbozuk shone glaringly under the setting sun behind them. Realizing the persuasion to surrender had failed, General Schelder sighed slightly, deciding to send this group of Bashbozuk Cavalry back to the embrace of their lord, Allah, in the most gentlemanly way possible.
Schelder also drew his saber, and the Cossack Cavalry followed General Schelder in drawing their sabers. The sunset light on their faces made each Cossack Cavalryman appear exceptionally solemn and dignified.
"Charge!"
With General Schelder’s order, the Cossack Cavalry launched an assault toward the Bashbozuk Cavalry.
The Bashbozuk Cavalry, in turn, charged at the Cossack Cavalry force, igniting the battle beside the thicket outside Silestra Fortress.
One by one, the Bashbozuk Cavalry were hacked down by the Cossack Cavalry, and after a round, only less than thirty Bashbozuk Cavalrymen remained alive, with the Cossacks paying a similar price of thirty men.
After catching a brief breath, both sides resumed the second round of combat. This time, all the remaining Bashbozuk Cavalry were cut down by the Cossack Cavalry, and blood flowed from the bodies of the Bashbozuk Cavalry onto the slightly parched ground.
Looking at the Bashbozuk Cavalry who lay dead on the ground before him, General Schelder showed a hint of respect on his face.
Even though they were mortal enemies on the battlefield, if it weren’t for the opposing relations of their two nations, he would still respect those willing to sacrifice their lives for their country.
This made him think of his past self. Back then, Schelder had joined the Russian Imperial Army under the call to defend his homeland, and together with the Russian Empire, fought against Napoleon.
It has only been more than 40 years, and now he has to fight another Napoleon.
However, this time, they do not have the passion of defending their homeland and resisting invasion.
Thinking of this, Schelder couldn’t help but sigh for the current Russian Empire.
He didn’t understand how, in just over 40 years, the Russian Imperial Army had turned into its current state.
Whose fault was it that led the Russian Empire to its current predicament?
Could it really be, as the Decembrists said, that everything faced by the Russian Empire was caused by the Tsar?
Schelder couldn’t help but feel terrified by his own disrespectful thoughts and shook his head desperately to drive the thought away.
Just as General Schelder was lost in thought, the Cossack Cavalry, who had been pursuing Fatima Hanum, unexpectedly returned the way they came.
General Schelder asked them why, and the Cossack Cavalry told him that unfamiliar with the terrain, they lost Fatima Hanum and her followers.
"Ah! It’s not your fault!" General Schelder sighed and ordered the Cossack Cavalry to return to the First Division’s camp.
When General Schelder led the Cossack Cavalry back to the First Division’s camp, he saw Deputy Commander Gorchakov in the open ground of the camp.
At this moment, Deputy Commander Gorchakov was standing in place with a sullen face, and General Schelder hurriedly dismounted and quietly asked the soldiers in the camp what had happened.
The soldiers in the camp whispered to Schelder that Deputy Commander Gorchakov was angered by the losses of the First Division.
When General Schelder asked where Lieutenant General Orlov was, the soldier sadly told Schelder that Lieutenant General Orlov and two brigade commanders had already been taken out by the Allied forces.
The weapons in the hands of the Allied forces had a longer range than theirs, and Lieutenant General Orlov was killed with a shot to the head caught off guard.
Hearing this, Schelder couldn’t help but take a sharp breath, and his previous schadenfreude over Lieutenant General Orlov’s fate turned into sorrow.
If he had been the commander responsible for the attack this time, his ending might not have been much better than Lieutenant General Orlov’s.
Because he himself preferred to stand on the front line even more than Lieutenant General Orlov.
"Alright! I understand!" General Schelder nodded to the soldier.
After handing his horse to the soldier, General Schelder went to Deputy Commander Gorchakov to report their battle outcome.
Hearing that General Schelder had slaughtered the Bashbozuk Cavalry, a reluctant smile appeared on Gorchakov’s face, and he encouraged General Schelder to continue the efforts.
General Schelder casually asked about Lieutenant General Orlov, and Gorchakov informed General Schelder of Lieutenant General Orlov’s death.
"Ah! It’s so unfortunate! Brigadier General Orlov was so young yet..." Schelder said with a somber expression to Deputy Commander Gorchakov.
"It’s not the worst yet..." Deputy Commander Gorchakov further told Schelder that just recently when he was counting the troop numbers, he found that on just the first day, the Russian Empire had already suffered about 5,000 casualties.
Even worse, the officer casualty rate was significantly higher than that of the ordinary soldiers.
"I bet those guys on the other side are deliberately trying to wipe out our command personnel!" Deputy Commander Gorchakov said in a gloomy tone to General Schelder: "The current First Division is about to become an empty division!"
Any army without experienced enough officers will inevitably see a decline in combat effectiveness. The combat effectiveness of the Polish Corps First Division, which lost a large number of mid and low-ranking officers, would not see any major improvement in a short time.
"Should we continue attacking?" General Schelder tentatively asked.
"Attack? With what are we supposed to attack, when the Allies are clearly targeting our lower-level command? As soon as they step onto the battlefield, they’ll face care! And compared to them, our muskets are far inferior in both range and accuracy, how are we supposed to attack?" Deputy Commander Gorchakov said despondently, then sighed to himself, "Withdraw the troops!"