Dominate the Country

Rostov is an ancient city located at the eastern end of the Sea of ​​Azov. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, and its history dates back to 862 AD. In the 10th century, Rostov was one of the centers of Rostov-Suzdal. From the 11th century to the early 13th century, it entered the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality. Since the early 12th century, it has been called Great Rostov. From 1207 to 1474, it was the center of the Rostov Principality. There are hundreds of cultural relics with a history of more than 500 years in the territory.

This is a very important city in the southern region of Russia. Rostov is located southwest of Tsaritsyn, close to eastern Ukraine. After all, it is located on the eastern coastline of the Sea of ​​Azov.

After the Chen Han army entered the Caucasus, a large number of Russians were driven away by the Chen Han army, and many officials and nobles also fled here. As a result, Rostov, a "big city" with 50,000 to 60,000 residents, was overcrowded. Many respectable officials and nobles could not find a house that suited their status, and had to live in hostels.

But thanks to the invisible tacit understanding between the Chinese and the Ottomans, and also thanks to the heroic Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Russian armed forces in Rostov, including those urgently recruited militias, are less than 5,000 people. And most of them are untrained peasants and city police, with only less than a thousand remnants and Cossacks. With such a force, if the Ottomans cross the Crimean Peninsula and enter the Sea of ​​Azov from the west coast of the Black Sea, Rostov's Russian armed forces will be vulnerable!

So thanks to the tacit understanding between the Chinese and the Ottomans, in addition to fighting endlessly on the Crimean Peninsula, the Ottomans fought in the Ukrainian region on the west coast of the Black Sea, and the east coast of the Black Sea - that is, the Kingdom of Persia and many small principalities in the Caucasus, as well as the Caucasus region of Russia, were all tacitly regarded by the Ottomans as China's sphere of influence. Of course, after the outbreak of the Crimean War, some of the Black Sea Fleet's naval warships were stationed in the Kerch Strait, the entrance to the Sea of ​​Azov, which was also an important factor in Rostov's stability.

The troops of the Russian Caucasus Military District have been exhausted, and the forces in the Vladikavkaz Fortress are the main forces of Russia in the Caucasus. The rest are a mob like Rostov, and such an army can't even organize a war of 10,000 people. Because when the commander dispatches troops, they will become chaotic.

Petrovich, the governor of the Russian Caucasus Province, fled to Rostov, where he survived a cold winter without any danger. Then the ice and snow melted, the earth rejuvenated, and spring came. Alexander led the army to the east, and the army led by Barclay also killed to the Black Sea.

Petrovich thought he didn't need to worry anymore, the darkness was over, and the light was coming. God knows how excited and inspired he was after seeing the 8,000 Cossack cavalry led by Platov; God knows how safe he felt when he learned that the headquarters of Admiral Mikhail Andreich Miloradovich was located in Donetsk [a city in eastern Ukraine] not far from Rostov. At that moment, he firmly believed that Russia would definitely survive this crisis.

But before Petrovich received the good news from Platov, a piece of news from hell spread all over Rostov like a flying bomb - an Ottoman fleet broke into the Sea of ​​Azov and forced its way through the Kerch Strait.

The part of the Black Sea Fleet warships originally stationed in the Kerch Strait was requisitioned to the Crimean Peninsula half a month ago [Criminus Peninsula].

The Ottoman Navy, which had not appeared for half a year, took advantage of this loophole. They had destroyed the city of Kerch and attacked Genichsk...

This news was simply a nightmare for the Russian soldiers and civilians in Rostov.

In particular, there were rumors that the Ottomans had slaughtered people in Kerch and Gnichesk, and military discipline was extremely bad. The two cities had completely turned into ruins after the Ottomans left, and corpses could be seen everywhere. This exacerbated Rostov's fear!

At dawn today, more civilians left the city. Those who could leave had basically left the city. No one wanted to stay here and be slaughtered by the Ottomans. The rest were people who had no way to leave, especially officials of the Tsarist government and their families. In order to show the Tsarist government's determination to hold on to Rostov and to calm people's hearts, Mikhail Andreich Miloradovich, deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Southern Army and commander of the Third Army in Donetsk [only a hundred kilometers away from Rostov], has issued a death order to Petrovich. No official of the Tsarist government is allowed to leave his post without permission. Those who leave their posts without permission will be regarded as deserters and shot immediately, without even having to go through a military court trial.

In the face of such panic and death threats, not many people could remain calm. Some panicked Tsarist government officials eventually chose to flee, but they did not dare to leave from the main road, nor did they dare to leave openly. Instead, they disguised themselves and mixed into the ranks of civilians and refugees, disguised themselves as civilian refugees, and fled from the highway with their families and property. However, checkpoints have been set up on the highway. Once these fleeing Tsarist government officials are caught, they will be shot on the spot by the army, and their bodies will be hung on the roadside to warn those who are lucky enough to escape.

"Pop!"

Another crisp gunshot, and then, another Tsarist government official who deserted his post was shot by soldiers loyal to His Majesty the Tsar. His body was thrown on the roadside like a tattered sack, and his property was dragged away savagely by the soldiers.

Petrovich was not sure about defending Rostov. He did not doubt Russia's patriotic enthusiasm, but he was extremely short of weapons.

Although Rostov's Russian armed forces had four or five thousand people, more than 60% of them still used smoothbore rifles, and there were twenty or thirty artillery pieces, but only two hexagonal guns.

In this situation, if he still had the confidence to defend Rostov under the attack of the Ottomans, Petrovich would not be a senior civil servant, but a famous general in the Russian army.

So he strictly followed Miloradovich's orders and was meticulous. This was the hope that after he lost Rostov in the future, Miloradovich would be able to say a few good words for him in front of Alexander I because of his obedience.

At the same time, the crying families were also taken away. As for how they would be dealt with, people had different opinions. Some said that these people would also be shot by the army, but some said that the army would only shoot men, and women would be "put in handy" in other ways. If they did not have the support of a strong maternal family, they would most likely use their snow-white bodies to serve the officers and soldiers loyal to the Tsar.

After the gunshots, a carriage that looked very solid on the outside drove from the west to the east. The carriage was loaded with many soldiers with live ammunition, but no one knew what was in the wooden boxes that were covered by the soldiers' bodies.

This carriage was pulled by four heavy pack horses.

A lieutenant officer in front of the carriage glanced at the body that had just fallen not far away, stretched his head to look at the officials' families being taken away by the soldiers, and retracted his head after a few seconds, with a look of disappointment on his face.

Before the shadow of the Ottomans was seen, the Russians in Rostov were already in chaos.

…

Tsaritsyn, the residence of Alexander I.

Just when Rostov was completely nervous, the news reached the Tsar of Tsaritsyn from the Sea of ​​Azov.

For Russia, this news is definitely bad news.

Does this mean that the Ottomans and the Chinese will not only join forces strategically, but also tactically?

This threat is much greater than the destruction of a few cities.

If the Ottomans and the Chinese completely merge in the Caucasus, then no matter how strong the confidence of Alexander I is and how high the courage of the Russian people is, I am afraid that they will not be able to prevent the war from falling to the bottom of the abyss.

Tsaritsyn has become the most important city in eastern Russia, not only because of the arrival of the Tsar, but also because it is the lifeline of hundreds of thousands of Russian officers and soldiers on the front line. Alexander originally had only 3,000 guards, and with the remaining Russian troops in Tsaritsyn, it was not enough to defend the entire lower reaches of the Volga River. This depends more on the Russian militia, even though most of the weapons in their hands are smoothbore rifles.

Yes, with the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, in order to arm the military and civilians as soon as possible, Alexander I distributed hundreds of thousands of smoothbore rifles in stock to local governments and the public in large quantities.

This is true in the West and the East.

So Russia has a large number of militias, but their combat effectiveness is very poor. The gap in weapons makes them lose too many points.

The residence of the Tsarist government, which is also the Tsar’s current palace, is heavily guarded.

Countless dignitaries are waiting for Alexander I’s reception. It can be said that dukes and counts are everywhere, and everyone looks depressed, and many people are whispering to each other.

The importance of the Caucasus region to Russia does not need to be expressed in words. The previous crisis seems to have been resolved with the arrival of Platov. The Vladimir Caucasus Fortress was surrounded by the Chinese for half a year, but it is still in the hands of the Russian army.

The whole situation is leaning towards Russia, although the real overall situation depends on Astrakhan.

But now, the Ottomans have intervened, and the signs that they are joining forces with the Chinese are very clear. This is a huge crisis, which has once again raised the crisis of "losing the Caucasus" in the hearts of countless Russians. Some people even contacted Astrakhan from the Caucasus.

Protov is not too far from Tsaritsyn. The Ottomans only need to land 10,000 or 20,000 people to deeply threaten the Don River and the Volga River, and threaten the safety of Tsaritsyn. At that time, how could the Russian army continue to fight on the battlefield in Astrakhan?