Continuation, read the beginning: Zero World War. Part 1. Interests of the five empires.
They made up a huge amount of plans …
Britain, as often happened at that time, was an active supporter of the seizure of foreign territories. This time, taking advantage of the moment, the Anglo-Saxons decided to profit from the newly formed and endless Russian Empire: "The Aland Islands and Finland are returned to Sweden; the Baltic region goes to Prussia; the Kingdom of Poland must be restored as a barrier between Russia and Germany (not Prussia, but Germany); Moldova and Wallachia and the entire mouth of the Danube go to Austria, and Lombardy and Venice from Austria to the Kingdom of Sardinia; Crimea and the Caucasus are taken from Russia and withdrawn to Turkey, and in the Caucasus Circassia forms a separate state, which is in vassal relations with Turkey "- so-so represented the results of the war by Lord Palmerston.
In addition, Britain and France were dissatisfied with Russia's acquisition of land in Primorye. Their interest extended to China and, as we can see, not only to it. The Far East and Siberia, already then for them, were a tasty morsel. And they couldn't resist trying to get it.
Aivazovsky Navarino battle.
The Allies had a significant advantage in all types of ships, and there were no steam battleships in the Russian fleet at all. At that time, the English fleet was the first in the world in terms of numbers, the French was in second, and the Russian in third.
Using the advantages in the number of warships, the Allies attempted to COVER Russian territories from all sides. Maximum goals: capture and rejection of the Baltic States and the Russian North, as well as the Far East and Eastern Siberia. The goals are minimum: blocking ports, the possibility of transporting supplies and replenishments by water, a threat to coastal territories and the need for the presence of ground forces to prevent the landing (near St. Petersburg). They were going to take the Russian Empire in pincers and tear it to pieces.
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In this regard, I will again express my bewilderment, by the name of our historians of this Crimean war - what is the logic?
Battle of Cape Sinop.
Danube and Black Sea theaters of military operations
Having declared war on Russia, Turkey put forward a 150,000-strong army under the command of Omer Pasha against the Danube Army under the command of General Mikhail Gorchakov (82 thousand people). Gorchakov acted passively, choosing defensive tactics. The Turkish command, using its numerical advantage, undertook offensive actions on the left bank of the Danube. Several attempts by the Turks to occupy bridgeheads ended in defeat and somewhat cooled the offensive impulse of Omer Pasha.
Omer Pasha (photo).
Meanwhile, a battle took place in the Sinop Bay, which became the most striking event of this war. On November 18, 1853, the Black Sea squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Nakhimov destroyed a Turkish squadron under the command of Osman Pasha in the Sinop Bay. The Turkish squadron was heading to the coast of the Caucasus for a large landing. On the way, she took refuge from the bad weather in the Sinop Bay. Here it was blocked by the Russian fleet on November 16.
Nakhimov decided to attack the Turkish fleet. Russian ships entered the bay so swiftly that the coastal artillery did not have time to inflict significant damage on them. This maneuver was unexpected for the Turkish ships, which did not have time to take the correct position. As a result, coastal artillery could not conduct accurate fire at the beginning of the battle, for fear of hurting its own.
Aivazovsky Sinop battle.
During the four-hour battle, the Turkish fleet and most of the coastal batteries were completely destroyed. Only the steamer "Taif" under the command of the English adviser Slade managed to escape from the bay. In fact, Nakhimov won not only a victory over the fleet, but also over the fortress. The losses of the Turks amounted to over 3 thousand and 200 people were captured (including the wounded Osman Pasha). The Russians lost 37 people killed and 235 wounded.
And on the Danube, Russian troops sluggishly besieged the fortress of Silistria, a decisive assault on which was postponed every time for various reasons (the main one was Gorchakov's confidence in the imminent need to retreat, because of the entry into the war of the allies - so soon it happened). After the Russians lifted the siege of Silistria, the Omer Pasha's army made another unsuccessful attempt at an offensive, but was again stopped by the small forces of the Russian troops.
A large Anglo-French landing (70,000 people), which landed near Varna, did not have time to start hostilities, when an epidemic of cholera broke out among the soldiers and the loss of allies from the disease, forced them to completely abandon the conduct of hostilities. At the same time, the Russians, under the threat of Austria entering the war, began to evacuate their units from the Danube principalities, and in September they finally withdrew beyond the Prut River, to their territory. The hostilities in the Danube Theater are over.
Battle of Balaklava.
Azov-Black Sea theater of military operations
The fighting moved to the Crimean coast. In terms of the number of warships, the allied squadron outnumbered the Black Sea Fleet by three times, and in terms of steam ships - by 11 times. Taking advantage of significant superiority at sea, the allied fleet in September embarked on a major landing operation. 300 transport ships with a 60-thousandth landing under the cover of 89 warships sailed to the western coast of Crimea.
A series of battles that took place on the Crimean peninsula revealed the weaknesses of the Russian commanders and confirmed the heroism of our soldiers and population. The allies were successful. Almost all battles, one way or another, had a connection with the heroic defense of Sevastopol. In this area of hostilities, Russia suffered the greatest losses.
Highland Regiment near their barracks.
After the capture of Kerch, the allied squadron (about 70 ships) entered the Sea of Azov. She fired at Taganrog, Genichevsk, Yeisk and other coastal points. However, local garrisons rejected offers of surrender and repelled attempts to land small assault forces. As a result of this raid on the Azov coast, significant stocks of grain were destroyed, which were intended for the Crimean army. The allies also landed troops on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, occupying the abandoned and destroyed Russian fortress of Anapa. The last operation in the Azov-Black Sea theater of operations was the capture of the Kinburn fortress.
Continuation: Part 3. Onslaught to the East.