Chapter 811

The battle of Constantinople had been going on for so long that it was unknown how many corpses were left in the corners of the city. They didn't have the time to deal with them and directly started to rot.

Both warring parties only cleaned up the corpses in front of them, but they couldn't care less about the houses in the corners of the city.

The hot summer had arrived. In August, the whole city of Constantinople was filled with a rancid smell, and the atmosphere was depressing and terrible.

The artillery fire was still roaring, leaving only the ruins of the walls on the ground, telling the story of the past years. In order to conquer this city, the Russians had paid too much of a price.

Menshikov had long stopped looking at the casualty reports that were sent to him every day. Thousands of people were killed and wounded every day, and he had long become numb to it.

The name "Constantinople's meat grinder" had spread all over the world. As long as there were Europeans, the cruelty of this war was spread all over the world.

If someone calculated it, they would find that the Russian Army's losses here had exceeded the sum of the two Bulgarian battles. But the Russians were still fearless.

It was because the outer defensive line of Constantinople had been completely breached. After paying tens of thousands of tons of ammunition, these fortifications were all turned into ruins.

The street battles had already begun, and now both sides had entered the stage of fighting with their lives on the line. The exchange ratio between the two sides gradually dropped from the initial 5: 1 to 4: 1, then 3: 1 … and now it was only 1.3: 1.

A middle-aged officer said in a deep voice, "Your Excellency, our cannon fodder troops have been wiped out, and the Bulgarian guerrillas have also suffered heavy losses.

At present, there aren't many young men left in the The Balkans. I'm afraid it's very difficult to replenish our forces now. "

Of course, there weren't many of them left. Up until now, the ones who suffered the most losses were the local people.

The Osman and Russia also caught able-bodied men to fight. The British and French didn't catch able-bodied men, but the Osman did it for them.

The The Balkans had a total population of more than 10 million, but how many young men were there? How could they withstand such a torment?

Before attacking Constantinople, the Russians mostly caught able-bodied men to do hard labor, and the tactic of driving people to besiege a city was rarely used by the Russians.

The situation changed after they reached the city. The Russians had no choice but to use a large number of cannon fodder because of the heavy casualties.

Menshikov replied in a cold voice, "Got it. Take as many as you can. When the cannon fodder is all dead, we'll take the lead.

The enemy can't hold on any longer. As long as we conquer this last city, we'll win the war!

Order the Military Law Department to strictly enforce the military law. Those who don't show up in the face of battle will be killed, those who talk about retreating will be killed, and those who disturb the morale of the troops will be killed!

There was no other way. The war was not only related to the fate of Russia, but it was also related to Menshikov.

If he could not conquer Constantinople, it would be better for him to die on the battlefield. Otherwise, many people would want to tear him apart.

From a purely military point of view, Menshikov was a fool. He fought the war in a daze and didn't care about the casualties of the army.

In order to continue the war, the Russian Army relied on strict military law. In order to establish his authority, Menshikov did something big. He executed the nobles who violated the military law on the spot!

The number of noble officers who had died in his hands was no longer one or two. In total, there were dozens of them.

If they conquered Constantinople, then everything would be fine. He would be the national hero of Russia, and the nobles who were executed would be synonymous with cowards. Even the families behind them would be despised.

If they didn't conquer Constantinople, the situation would be different. In history, Nicholas I Of Russia couldn't bear the consequences of losing the Crimean War, let alone Menshikov.

Menshikov didn't want to live long enough. He didn't want to die with such a bad reputation, so he fought with all his might. No matter who they were or how powerful their background was, as long as they dared to violate the military law, they would be killed.

"Yes, Commander!" the middle-aged officer replied solemnly.

It wasn't just Menshikov. The fate of the high-ranking officers of the expeditionary army was tied together. The war against Constantinople was different. If they lost here, they wouldn't be able to live a good life.

…

On the Crimean Peninsula, before the British and French could celebrate after gaining the upper hand, a bolt from the blue struck. In July 1854, a cholera outbreak broke out in the French barracks.

The hot weather and unhygienic environment made the plague break out before the British could react. It spread from the French barracks to the British barracks.

The flies and mosquitoes on the Crimean Peninsula became the best helpers for the spread of the virus. A large number of Allied soldiers started vomiting and diarrhea, then died in their tents.

The public places of the Allied Army were filled with filth, and the hygiene system was useless. The number of patients increased rapidly, and the plague was out of control.

By the beginning of August, 500 British soldiers had died in the Varna region. The death toll of the French army rose to more than 60 a day.

This was only the beginning. The sudden outbreak of the plague had not been discovered at first. The plague had spread to other areas along with the flow of people.

The people of Constantinople

On an empty field not far from the dock, a dozen or so French soldiers were resting. Suddenly, one of them started vomiting, which caught everyone's attention.

A young man asked with concern, "Alphonse, what's wrong?"

The man who vomited replied weakly, "I don't know. I just suddenly felt a little nauseous and wanted to vomit."

A man who looked like an officer said, "Maybe you've caught a cold. Take care of yourself. If you still can't recover by tomorrow, you can go to the military doctor."

Obviously, he only thought that Alphonse had caught a cold. This kind of minor illness was usually endured by the body, and only serious ones would go to the military doctor.

Even though the French army was better at logistics than the British, medical resources were also very scarce. It was also difficult for ordinary soldiers to receive effective treatment, unless they were middle and high-ranking officers.

At this moment, another person said, "I can't take it anymore, I need to go to the bathroom."

After saying that, he ran to a nearby place to relieve himself without looking back.

Such a small episode obviously wouldn't attract anyone's attention. They were reinforcements who had just arrived a few days ago, and were now adapting to the climate of Constantinople.

It was common for people to have adverse reactions due to not acclimatizing to the climate. Usually, they would be fine after staying for a while. If it really didn't work, they could only be repatriated.

However, most people were unwilling to be repatriated because of this, even though the casualty rate of Constantinople on the battlefield was high.

Because their bodies couldn't adapt to the climate, it triggered adverse reactions. Usually, they couldn't return safely, and most would die on the way.

In this era, the sea was not to be trifled with, and the environment on the ships was quite harsh. In a situation where there was a lack of doctors and medicine, once someone fell ill, it was like stepping into the gates of hell.

Looking at the increasing number of people falling ill, the French commander-in-chief, Amable Jean-Jacques Pellissier, finally realized that something was wrong, but it was too late.

Too many Constantinople had died. In order to defend this fortress city, more than 100,000 French soldiers had fallen. More Russians had died, and the civilian casualties in the city were incalculable.

Because of the war, the French army had no way to clean up the corpses in the city. In fact, many corpses were buried by collapsed buildings, and it was impossible to clean them up.

This created a superior living environment for rats and flies. This summer, the number of rats and flies in Constantinople broke a historical record, as if they were the masters of the city.

Pellissier ordered the guards, "Ask Doctor Ambroise to come over and give him this information."

Despite his suspicions, Pellissier still didn't dare to confirm that there was a plague. Until now, he hadn't been informed of the outbreak of the plague on the Crimean Peninsula.

Busy defending Constantinople all day, Pellissier didn't have the energy to pay attention to the gossip. Of course, he might not be able to pay attention to it even if he wanted to.

Since the beginning of the war on the Crimean Peninsula, the allied forces had been plagued by diseases. This was no longer news. After a long time, everyone had gotten used to it.

Moreover, the allied forces on the Crimean Peninsula had confirmed the outbreak of the plague only a few days earlier than Pellissier. The virus had already entered the city before that.

Because of the war, a large number of people died every day. After a long time, people's minds became numb to death. So what if a few died of illness?

…

Ambroise said solemnly, "Your Excellency, I just went to the hospital to take a look. Combined with this data, we can preliminarily determine that the plague has arrived!"

Pellissier's face darkened. The worst situation had still happened. Constantinople was connected to the sea. Whether it was reinforcements or supplies, they could be sent over continuously. As long as he was willing to suffer casualties, he was confident that he could hold on.

There was only one exception, and that was the plague. Humans were fragile in the face of disease. Pellissier could defeat the Russians, but he was helpless against the disease.

"Can you control it?" Pellissier asked with concern.

He was no longer looking forward to controlling it and treating it. In this era, if one was infected with the plague, they could only resign themselves to fate. There was no specific medicine.

Ambroise thought for a moment and said, "I'm sorry, Your Excellency, I can't answer this question.

It depends on the spread of the plague and how many people have been infected by the virus before we can come to a conclusion.

But now is a time of war, and the army is moving too frequently. We don't have enough doctors, and it's impossible to disperse them to the army to treat them. We can't determine which is the common cold and which is the plague.

In fact, from the symptoms, the common cold can also have these symptoms. If it wasn't for the high mortality rate, I would suspect that this is just a highly contagious influenza. "

The reason why the plague was terrifying was because of the speed at which it spread and the high mortality rate.

Pellissier continued to ask, "Can you determine the nature of the plague this time?"

There were also different types of plague, and different types caused different levels of lethality.

Ambroise shook his head and said, "At present, we have too little information to determine the source of the plague and the route of transmission. We can't rule out the possibility of it being a plague.

From a professional point of view, I personally think that Constantinople is no longer suitable to stay.

Too many people have died in the city, and we can often smell rotting corpses in the gutters. War has always been the source of the plague. "

Pellissier said with a wry smile, "Very well, Doctor Ambroise, I'll leave the task of investigating and preventing the plague to you.

As for whether Constantinople are suitable to stay or not, I can't answer you. This isn't just a military issue, but also a political one. "

Pellissier also understood that Constantinople were no longer suitable to stay. Now that the plague had broken out, it was definitely unsuitable to stay.

But the consequences of giving up on Constantinople were too severe. At the very least, he, as the expeditionary army commander, couldn't bear the consequences. He didn't even have the right to speak on this matter.

"Very well," replied Ambroise, "your excellency, then. I can only say that I'll do my best. I can't guarantee the final result! "