You Shall Return Like Lightning (2)

Alandar Mustafa Pasha's guess about Bagration's troops was basically correct. Bagration's troops had made a light march, and they did not carry many supplies. After a whole day of fighting, their ammunition was indeed running low. His position also made it very difficult, if not impossible, for the Russian army to send supply convoys to him.

However, General Bagration's army was less short of ammunition than Alandar Mustafa Pasha had estimated. This was mainly due to two reasons. First, the battlefield was under Russia control, meaning the right to loot the corpses after the battle belonged to the Russia. Although the Turkey' first-day attack was primarily aimed at using these small foes to deplete Bagration, these foes generally carried relatively little ammunition. But even with less, there was still some, like longhorn beetle larvae—small, but still containing some protein after the head is removed.

So, after clearing the battlefield, the Russia still managed to acquire some ammunition. Additionally, the main force charging forward was the poorly trained and demoralized longhorn beetle larvae—oh, no, the Janissaries. (The Janissaries were once the most powerful and fearsome army of the Ottoman Empire, once enjoying the same reputation as a certain army in an Eastern country. "If they number less than ten thousand, they are invincible; if they number ten thousand, they are unstoppable." However, nowadays, this army is encountering similar problems to that Eastern army. But frankly, the Janissaries are still considerably stronger than that Eastern army; at least they can still be used as auxiliary troops, and even, under the supervision of their comrades, they can still charge into the Russia positions. They aren't as fond of art and peace as that Eastern army.)

If the Janissaries were to engage in a firefight, even with heavy casualties, they could hold out for a while. If the Russia were to engage in a firefight with them, they could still accomplish some of the task of depleting the Russian army's ammunition.

But Bagration quickly realized what kind of people were attacking. So he gave his men this order, "Let them get close, don't fire, and when they get close, shoot them down with your bayonets!" In fact, the Russia army's long-standing creed—bullets are idiots, bayonets are heroes—was instilled by the Janissaries.

As it turned out, bayonets were indeed the best way to deal with the Janissaries. The Russians waited in the second trench for the Janissaries to approach the first trench. When the Janissaries got close to the first trench, they threw a round of Grenade haphazardly, which made the Russia, including Bagration, feel the pinch.

"Damn you! Don't litter! Those are all mine! They're all mine!"

Then, the Russia dug their trenches in a peculiar way; the second trench was only about ten meters away from the first. Before the smoke from the Grenade explosions had even cleared, Ivans and his men, bayonets at the ready, charged forward, yelling. And then, naturally, the Janissaries turned and ran, and Ivans chased after them, stabbing them repeatedly. After they finished, they would crouch down and search the corpses to see if anything had come out.

In general, the Janissaries don't drop many items, and what they do get are mostly low-end, unremarkable goods. Even those with prefixes are usually labeled "inferior," "damaged," or "broken." For example, Grenade are mostly Turkey -made. (During Selim III's reforms, the Ottoman Empire Turkey, with France assistance, built arsenals and began producing new weapons. However, due to poor management, rampant corruption, and shoddy workmanship, the products were not only of poor quality, often labeled "broken" or "damaged," but also expensive. These were naturally given to the Janissaries.) Even cheap, knock-off Britain goods with "inferior" prefixes are rare, and genuine "Bonaparte's Little Melon" with "super-strong" prefixes are practically impossible to find.

However, something is better than nothing. So after a day of fighting, the Russia's ammunition losses were actually not particularly high.

The next morning, as soon as the morning mist dissipated, Alandar Mustafa Pasha dispatched his most elite troops to launch a decisive attack on Bagration's Russian positions. He left behind the Janissaries, who had been terrified the previous day, and a contingent of supervisors to oversee their defense against Kutuzov's army. Then, he led his elite force of 30,000 men in an assault on Bagration's positions.

Upon seeing the clothing of the Turkey opposite him, Bagration knew that the decisive moment had arrived. He delivered a passionate speech to his soldiers, telling them that this would be the most decisive battle, and that if they could annihilate the main force of the Turkey in this battle, then the great cause of recapturing Constantinople, restoring Rome, and returning the old capital would be within their grasp.

This was addressed to the noble officers in the army. For them, the sight of the double-headed eagle banner flying over Constantinople was certainly very appealing. But for the other commoners, it held little attraction. They had no idea what Constantinople was, what their relationship was with the Senate and the Rome people, or even the meaning of the Tsar's double-headed eagle banner. The glory of the Senate and the Rome people couldn't inspire them.

So Bagration then addressed them. "Constantinople is the holy city of Christ, home to the most important Orthodox church—St. Hagia Sophia, the seat of the universal Patriarch, the place of glory for God and the Virgin Mary. But ever since those wicked pagans conquered Constantinople, they have turned this glorious church into a pagan, blasphemous temple of the Crescent and the Star!"

Devout believers, what a humiliation this is! Even the Virgin Mary weeps for it! Consider this: if we had the opportunity to liberate them, to expel those wicked heretics from our Father's temple and restore its glory, but because of our weakness we failed to stop them and thus missed the chance to restore God's holy land, then in the future, when we are old and dead, and our souls arrive at the gates of heaven, facing St. Peter who holds the keys, will we have the face to step through the gates of heaven?

The Gospels say, "Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for my sake will save it." If we, today, let those pagans go free because of cowardice, weakness, or fear of losing our lives, how will we be qualified to enter the gates of heaven in the future?

Therefore, for the sake of all the saints, for the weeping Virgin Mary, and for the salvation of all our souls, I implore you, I command you, to summon all your courage and zeal, and fight to the death against those evil heretics!

In this battle today, no one is allowed to retreat a single step! If a squad leader retreats and runs away, any soldier may shoot him; if a platoon leader retreats and runs away, any soldier may shoot him; if a company commander retreats and runs away, any soldier may shoot him; anyone, including myself, who retreats and runs away, may be shot by any soldier!

Russia generally have a low level of education, so religion has a significant influence in Russia; the lower the social class, the more devout they are. If Bagration had addressed the France, his speech would have been met with laughter, and they would have seen him as a clown deliberately trying to amuse them. It would have been like Yukio Mishima's later speech on his balcony to Self-Defense Forces officials advocating for the revival of Bushido. For later generations of Russians, the era of "smoke rising from the Miluo River" was over; for the France, Crusader zeal was a thing of the past.

However, in Russia, this kind of rhetoric was still very persuasive, and the soldiers were greatly encouraged by the speech. Bagration was very pleased to see everyone's high morale, so he pressed his advantage and promised them, "If we win this battle, everyone will get Volta. If we liberate Constantinople in the future, I will drink with you all for three days and three nights!"

Immediately, the entire army erupted in a deafening shout of "Hurrah!"

Then the Turkey charged straight at them.

The intensity of today's battle far surpasses that of yesterday. The fighting spirit and skills of the Turkey army today are far superior to those of yesterday's Janissaries. Under the cover of artillery fire, they charged forward like a tidal wave, enduring Russian artillery bombardment.

Because of limited time and resources, the Russian defensive positions were not perfect and offered limited defensive advantages. As a result, the Turkey were able to breach the Russian positions almost every time they attacked. The Russians almost always had to resort to hand-to-hand combat to drive the Turkey back. Ammunition consumption was also far greater than the previous day. In the most critical moments, Bagration even charged forward himself, holding a revolver in one hand and wielding a saber in the other.

However, the situation was equally dire for the Turkey. They charged forward time and again, only to be driven back by the Russia time and time again. Not only were their soldiers suffering heavy casualties, but what was even more critical was that the Janissaries were becoming increasingly unable to withstand Kutuzov's attacks. Just now, these men even deserted, resulting in the loss of a crucial high ground to Kutuzov.

Kutuzov could simply drag the cannons to this high ground and unleash a barrage of fire on the surrounding targets, much like Napoleon dragging his cannons up the Pratzen Heights during the Battle of Austerlitz in another timeline. At that point, the Turkey army's lines would definitely be breached before they could break through the Russia lines.

To avoid this terrible situation, Alandar Mustafa Pasha had to redeploy the troops that were originally intended to follow up on Bagration's position to try and recapture the hill. But this move itself meant that today's assault was unlikely to succeed.

As the Turkey army began its chaotic retreat, Bagration immediately noticed the change in the situation. He stood up from his horse, looked out at the retreating Turkey, and saw that Turkey banners were askew and their ranks were in disarray. He immediately ordered his Cossack cavalry to launch a full-scale attack.

The Cossacks shouted "Hurrah!" and spurred their horses forward, brandishing their sabers as they charged toward the retreating Turkey. The Turkey cavalry had been redeployed to the rear to counter Kutuzov's attack, so for the time being, the Turkey had no other cavalry to deal with the Cossacks.

However, if the infantry is prepared, cavalry, especially light cavalry like the Cossacks, poses a limited threat. After all, rifles have a much greater range and accuracy than the Cossacks' own revolvers, which are often labeled "inferior," and their sabers are only 90cm long. But the Turkey were unprepared to defend against cavalry; their formation was chaotic, and their attention was focused on Kutuzov. By the time they realized the Cossacks were charging, it was too late to react appropriately.

However, these Turkey were indeed elite; these infidels trained by the France fired a volley before the Cossacks charged. This volley killed many Cossacks, but they did not have the opportunity to fire a second volley.

The Cossacks roared and, using the speed of their horses, hurled oversized Grenade at them before charging forward, brandishing their sabers.

This volley of Grenade disrupted the already disorganized Turkey formation, and then the cavalry charged forward. Cavalry captain Melekhov extended his saber, and using the speed of his horse, gently dragged a Turkey to the ground; then he leaned to the left and with a slash, felled another Turkey who was fleeing with his back to him.

Driven by the cavalry, the Turkey were thrown into chaos, running back haphazardly. The Cossacks deliberately controlled their speed, herding them like Sheepdog driving a flock of sheep. They caused the fleeing soldiers to crash into other Turkey troops, dragging them in as well, and causing the out-of-control, chaotic rout to snowball.

To avoid his entire army being drawn into the conflict, Alandar Mustafa Pasha had no choice but to halt the retreat and open fire on the fleeing troops charging into the enemy lines, thus repelling the Russia counterattack. However, this also meant that he could not send reinforcements to the rear in time.

Kutuzov used this time to consolidate the defenses of the high ground, and now, it can be said that the overall situation is settled.