Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 659 Crossing the Danube Again (Part 1)
The atmosphere at the Supreme Military Conference, chaired by Tsar Alexander II, was heavy and oppressive. Stoletov's report on the defeat lay on the table, its staggering casualty figures silently testifying to the tenacity of the new Ottoman army.

The Danube River, this giant dragon of Europe, was not as gentle as the poet described in the spring of 1873; instead, it became a blood-soaked chasm between the Russian Empire and its dreams.

“Your Majesty, Your Excellencies,” said General Mikhail Tatishev, the newly appointed commander of Army Group Danube, in a deep voice. He succeeded his predecessor, who had been held accountable for the initial defeat, and shouldered the heavy responsibility of breaking the deadlock. “The setback at Silistra proves that the enemy’s defenses are extremely strong on our intended main attack route. Continuing to commit troops there is tantamount to using soldiers’ lives to fill a bottomless pit.”

“We must change our focus. The lower reaches of Silistra, the Ruse and Turcia directions should become our new focus of attack,” he explained the new operational plan.

The two locations were chosen for their geographical significance. Ruse is one of the most important ports and railway hubs in northern Bulgaria. Capturing it would give the Russian army a stable bridgehead for resupply via the Black Sea-Danube River and allow them to expand southward along the railway line, directly threatening the Ottoman core region in the Balkans. Turcha, on the other hand, controls the entrance to the Danube Delta. Taking it would secure the flank and threaten the Ottoman western coast on the Black Sea.

Moreover, compared to the well-established Silistra fortress area, intelligence indicated that although the Ottoman field defenses along the Ruse-Turcha line were well-developed, their density and strength were slightly inferior, and the garrison was mostly composed of second-line troops, whose morale and stability were considered to be inferior to the elite forces of Silistra.

To secure victory, he mobilized the newly replenished and reinforced 11th and 12th Armies, along with a division of the Imperial Guard as a reserve force, totaling over 150,000 men, thus achieving absolute local superiority. Simultaneously, a large number of engineering units and new, even more river-crossing equipment were secretly deployed to the front lines.

More than 500 artillery pieces of various types were secretly deployed in pre-arranged positions on the north bank of the river, aiming to provide overwhelming firepower to the Ottoman forward positions, command posts, and transportation hubs on the south bank when the attack was launched. A large number of pontoon bridge components, barges, and motorboats were dispersed and concealed in the river and forests, and engineering units conducted repeated river-crossing drills.

In the Silistra direction, the Russian army continued to maintain frequent radio communications and small-scale artillery shelling and reconnaissance operations, creating the illusion that the main force was still in place.

At this point, Alexander II had no choice but to believe; he desperately needed a victory. Therefore, all he left Tatishev with were five words: "Remember your words!"

Tatishev hurriedly took a train back to the front lines. Russia had built a long-distance railway from St. Petersburg to Odessa in 1869, reducing travel time to the front lines to just a few days. Tatishev reported to the Tsar that day and arrived at the Danube front a few days later.

April 18, 4 a.m., the darkest hour before dawn.

Without warning, hundreds of Russian artillery pieces on the north bank suddenly roared in unison! In an instant, the sky and earth changed color. The scorching fire illuminated the surface of the Danube, and countless blinding trajectories, like the whip of death, lashed fiercely at the Ottoman positions on the south bank. A series of massive explosions shook the earth, sending mud, rubble, wood chips, and the wreckage of destroyed fortifications flying into the air. The Russians attempted to use this unprecedented artillery barrage to completely obliterate all life and will to resist on the south bank. The bombardment lasted a full hour. As the artillery fire began to extend deeper, attempting to cut off Ottoman reserve reinforcements, hundreds upon hundreds of boats of all sizes emerged like ghosts from their hiding places on the north bank, laden with Russian soldiers eager for glory or filled with fear, struggling to row towards the south bank. The 11th Army's crossing had begun!

Suddenly, from the seemingly destroyed ruins of the fortifications on the south bank, the Ottoman army's Maxim machine guns and rifle positions came to life! A crisscrossing network of fire, like the scythe of death, relentlessly swept across the Russian soldiers crowded on the beach, who had not yet effectively deployed their ranks. Screams, splashes, and the desperate cries of commanders mingled with the dense gunfire, turning the riverbanks of Ruse into a slaughterhouse in an instant.

It turned out that while the Russian army was adjusting its deployment, Osman Pasha was not completely fooled by the Russian army's deceptive actions. He was well aware of the importance of the lower Danube River, especially the Ruse region, and also anticipated that after the Russian army's main offensive failed, it would likely turn its attention to this area.

Therefore, he ordered the army to construct several continuous field defense lines behind the riverbank, equipped with barbed wire, abatis, and minefields. Only a small number of guard troops were deployed at the forward positions, while the main force was concealed in reverse slope fortifications and reserve positions to avoid heavy casualties from Russian artillery fire.

When the Russian army bombarded the area, although the forward positions were devastated, most of the main force had already retreated to safety. When the Russian vanguard finally managed to brave sporadic sniper fire and set foot on the soft, muddy land on the south bank, they discovered that they had occupied only a death zone that had been repeatedly cultivated.

At the same time, the Ottoman artillery roared into action. Their shells landed precisely on the second and third waves of Russian boats crossing the river, shattering the wooden boats and sending their crews tumbling into the icy, swift current; few survived. Pre-positioned flanking positions in the river bend also proved highly effective, inflicting heavy damage on the Russian boats from unexpected angles.

The Russian crossing operation encountered the fiercest resistance since the start of the war, suffering heavy losses. Many units failed to cross before even reaching the south bank. The few units that managed to reach the south bank were pinned down on the narrow beachhead, unable to move, and struggled to hold on under the precise fire and occasional counterattacks of the Ottoman army, with casualties rising sharply.

On the first day of the offensive, the Russian army suffered another 8000 casualties but failed to achieve a decisive breakthrough. General Tatishev realized that he had encountered an extremely formidable opponent.

In the following days, the fighting entered a more brutal and complex phase. Artillery became the main focus of the battlefield. The Russian army attempted to destroy the Ottoman defenses with overwhelming firepower, while the Ottoman artillery, utilizing its mobility and concealment, employed a hit-and-run tactic, focusing its attacks on Russian pontoon bridges, assembly points, and artillery positions. The Danube River was shrouded in smoke day and night, with explosions echoing constantly.

Every day, both sides shed blood for every inch of land and every foxhole. The Russian army, relying on its vast manpower, continuously poured new troops into this meat grinder. The Ottoman army, on the other hand, relied on its defensive advantages and gradually building confidence to tenaciously wear down the enemy's manpower.

(End of this chapter)