Make France Great Again

Just as Nicholas I was following Gorchakov's orders to prepare for a decisive battle on the Crimea Peninsula, Prince Menshikov was supervising the Russian Imperial soldiers constructing defensive positions on a height near the Alma River.

As for why Prince Menshikov was constructing defensive positions near the Alma River, this matter must be traced back more than a week previously.

At that time, Prince Menshikov was leisurely sitting in the command post of the Sevastopol Fortress, waiting for news from the Caucasus Region (Prince Menshikov also served as Governor of the Caucasus). Instead, what he received was a report from the Cossack Cavalry Corps under his command informing him that the Anglo-French Army had already landed near Kalamat Bay.

Upon receiving the news, Menshikov was first shocked by the landing of the Anglo-French Army. In Menshikov's view, the best strategy for the Anglo-French Army should be to continue heading north; why were they coming to the Crimea Peninsula?

Finding that he could not make the Allied Forces leave the Crimea Peninsula, Menshikov had no choice but to ask the commander of the Cossack Cavalry Corps about the number of Allied Forces.

"They built many tents near Kalamat Bay, stretching as far as the eye can see! At least 70,000 to 80,000!" The commander of the Cossack Cavalry Corps reported to Menshikov in rather unrefined Russian.

"Stretching as far as the eye can see? 70,000 to 80,000?" Menshikov muttered to himself, realizing that he had only about 50,000 troops under his command (all stationed at the Sevastopol Fortress), he felt immediate pressure.

With only 53,000 men under his command, Menshikov had no possibility of launching an offensive.

To restrain the Anglo-French Army from advancing further south (Kalamat Bay being south of the Sevastopol Fortress), Prince Menshikov gathered his staff officers to ask for their opinions.

After two days of intense discussion, it was decided to deploy the defensive positions along the Alma River.

The reason being that the terrain on the south shore of the Alma River is higher than that on the north shore; the Russian Empire only needs to destroy the bridges leading to the south shore of the Alma River at the right time. For the Allied Forces to cross, they would first have to swim across the Alma River, then engage in climbing, and finally reach the heights on the south shore.

During the time the Allies were swimming and climbing, the Russian Empire's troops could easily bombard the Allied soldiers.

Of course, Prince Menshikov himself was also aware that, considering the number of troops at his disposal, holding the defensive positions was a matter of great relief; counterattacking would have to wait until reinforcements arrived.

Thus, Menshikov wrote a letter of appeal to Nicholas I, exaggerating the (self-perceived) number of Anglo-French forces (140,000) while also stating his determination to live and die with the fortress.

Although the letter did not directly seek assistance from Nicholas I, every sentence conveyed an appeal to Nicholas I for help.

After writing the letter, Menshikov handed it to a subordinate adjutant, instructing him to ensure it reached Nicholas I. To prevent the letter from being intercepted, Menshikov also specifically ordered the adjutant to detour through the Caucasus before returning to St. Petersburg.

The adjutant, upon receiving the letter, hurriedly rode away from the Sevastopol Fortress. Menshikov then summoned his two Vice Admirals, Kornilov and Nasimov.

Prince Menshikov asked Kornilov and Nasimov how they should resist if the Anglo-French Fleet sailed into the Sevastopol Fortress.

"Your Excellency the Governor, the best course of action now is to sink ships!" Vice Admiral Kornilov immediately responded to Menshikov.

"Sink ships?" Menshikov looked at Kornilov in confusion and asked, "Are we the ones sinking ships, or are the Anglo-French sinking ships?"

"Of course, it's us sinking ships!" Vice Admiral Kornilov answered Prince Menshikov, "We can sink all the ships docked at the port entrance, then the Anglo-French Fleet won't be able to get in!"

Prince Menshikov nodded in satisfaction; Kornilov's method was indeed an effective approach for the Russian Empire at present.

Once the decision was made, Prince Menshikov immediately ordered Kornilov and Nasimov: All ships docked within the Sevastopol Fortress harbor, except for warships, were to be sunk.

As soon as Prince Menshikov's orders were issued, Kornilov and Nasimov sprang into action, commandeering all civilian vessels and troop transports docked at the Sevastopol Fortress, then sinking them at the fortress entrance.

The Sevastopol Fortress port was barely sealed off. With that worry alleviated, Prince Menshikov continued to dispatch more troops to the Alma Heights.

Except for 10,000 men left within the Sevastopol Fortress for fortification protection, the remaining 43,000 were concentrated on the Alma Heights to construct defensive works. The commotion initiated by the Anglo-French Army at Kalamat Bay was ignored by him, though he did deploy a small number of Cossack Cavalry to inspect the actual number of Allied Forces at Kalamat Bay. During this period, the Cossack Cavalry clashed briefly with the British Light Cavalry.

After several days of deployment, the defensive positions on the Alma Heights were beginning to take shape effectively.

Meanwhile, on the side of the Anglo-French forces, Menshikov roughly gauged their number to be about 90,000 to 100,000.

Of course, this is excluding the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire.

After all, in the eyes of Prince Menshikov, the offensive capability of the Ottoman Empire should be considered below zero, much like the Kingdom of Sardinia which is also seen as quite mediocre.

If these two forces do not lower the average level of Britain and France, that would be quite impressive.

Although the Anglo-French alliance army is currently three times his number, Menshikov was still confident he could hold on until reinforcements arrived amidst their offensive.

In order to defend the final barrier of the Sevastopol Fortress, Menshikov specially disassembled some of the heavy artillery deployed in the Sevastopol Fortress and positioned them at the high point of the upstream of the Alma Heights.

However, on the cliff facing the sea, Menshikov did not arrange any deployments, believing the area was too steep for anyone to climb up through there.

Nearly a hundred cannons and naval guns, under Menshikov's command, were placed at various strategic positions. Once everything was ready, the highly confident Menshikov decided to dispatch a small force to conduct a probing attack on the Anglo-French alliance army. The Cossack Cavalry Corps, along with the Seventeenth Division under Menshikov (with a full complement of 10,000 men, actually numbering 6,000), became the main force of this probing attack.

The allied forces, which had been stationed at Kalamat Bay, began their march south after receiving provisions from Yevpatoria.

A large force set forth in grand procession, with the forces from the French Empire on the far right near the sea. Three divisions (First Division, Second Division, Guard Division) and two brigades (Zuav Corps) formed a column nearly 7 kilometers long and started marching.

Standing to the left of the French Army were the Sardinian Army, the Ottoman Army, and the British Army, meaning that the French Empire's army was at the innermost part of the allied forces, while the British Kingdom's army was at the outer side of the allied forces.

Incidentally, the proposer of this formation was not Marshal Saint Arnaud, but Commander Lagren. The purpose of Lagren adopting this strategy was to make amends for the poor impression their landing had left on the allied forces.

The mighty sea power of the British Kingdom displayed such incompetence in landing operations, it was truly astonishing.

Not far from the shore, supply ships and medical ships from Britain and France proceeded alongside the allied forces, providing them with optimal support.

A very large supply convoy followed the dense formation, also offering timely support to the allied forces.

Of course, most of these supplies were "borrowed" from nearby Tatar farms by the allied forces.

Among the four logistics convoys, the French Empire's convoy was the most orderly, while the most chaotic wasn't the notorious Ottoman Empire but the affluent British Kingdom.

The logistics convoy of the British Kingdom, alongside bread and wine, also included live animals such as sheep, goats, and bulls, which were also "borrowed" by British soldiers in good spirit from farmhouse owners.

It was precisely because the British Kingdom had a large flock of sheep that the entire allied forces were hindered by Britain, forced to proceed slowly. Coupled with the British Kingdom's inherently chaotic logistical management, their logistics department couldn't effectively control the animals they collected, often resulting in cows and sheep straying from British control and mingling with the Ottoman supply convoy, plunging it into chaos, forcing the entire convoy to halt until it was restored and able to proceed.

The convoy kept stopping and starting, and soon it was noon.

At noon, with the fierce sun high in the sky, the marching troops of Sardinia, the Ottoman Empire, and Britain began to break apart, as some soldiers, unable to bear the thirst, fell out of line.

Meanwhile, on the French Empire's side, thirsty soldiers expertly unclipped the water bottles hanging from their waists, took a sip of boiled water, and then capped the bottles again to continue marching.

By the time it neared one o'clock, the weather had become even hotter, and the majority of British soldiers couldn't bear the heat (the uniforms of the British army remained thick, as the stubborn Commander Lagren did not heed Marshal Saint Arnaud's advice to switch them to summer uniforms), and their pace gradually slowed.

Sweating profusely, Commander Lagren also found Marshal Saint Arnaud and proposed that they take a rest.

"Commander Lagren, if you ask me, you should change your uniforms. I see the young men in your troops are about to collapse from the heat! Look at the state you're in now..." Marshal Saint Arnaud advised Commander Lagren earnestly from atop his horse.

Commander Lagren glanced at the also sweat-drenched Duke of Cambridge beside him, nodded, and said to Saint Arnaud, "I will make this request to London! However, resting is the most important thing right now!"

Marshal Saint Arnaud squinted up at the blazing sun in the sky, then pointed ahead and said to Commander Lagren, "Commander Lagren, just one more kilometer and we'll reach the Bourganak River! Let's rest there!"

"Alright!"