The battle on the left wing of Inkerman Mountain officially began.

As the Russian Imperial Army charged recklessly forward, the Sardinian marksmen quickly pulled the triggers.

The round-nosed Minie bullets, propelled by gunpowder, spun rapidly as they shot out of the barrel, covering nearly a hundred meters in an instant, heading straight for the Russian soldiers.

Slavic men who were shouting "Ura" a second ago fell to the ground the next, blood gushing from their chests.

In the blink of an eye, nearly a hundred Russian Imperial soldiers were killed, and dozens more suffered various degrees of gunshot wounds.

This was an unbearable loss for the vanguard, which only had just over a thousand troops to begin with.

Many Russian Imperial soldiers began retreating without following the officers’ orders, and Oliver Kaine’s face lit up with joy upon seeing this.

At this moment, he had long forgotten about the Russian Imperial artillery, single-mindedly focused on achieving victory. In his eyes, if he could annihilate the invading enemy forces in front of him, all his previous mistakes would be wiped away.

If luck was on his side, he could even be promoted and prosper.

After all, the enemy on the other side was none other than the Russian Imperial Army!

Even if the Russian Imperial Army was beaten by the British and French armies, it didn’t change the fact that they were still the world’s third best.

After all, no country had been able to defeat the alliance of Britain and France so far.

If the army he led could defeat the Russian Imperial Army, then the Sardinian forces could boast of being the world’s third military power.

Moreover, even if they couldn’t encircle and annihilate the enemy, could the Russians really stop the Sardinian forces from retreating?

After weighing the pros and cons, Oliver Kaine drew the command sword from his waist and shouted: "Long Live Sardinia! For the King!"

The Sardinian marksmen officers under his command understood immediately upon hearing Oliver Kaine’s call that this was the signal to charge.

"Long Live Sardinia! For the King!" the Sardinian officers shouted in unison, then led their troops in an attack against the Russian Imperial Army.

The battle site wasn’t on an open plain, but in the wooded mid-slope of Inkerman Mountain’s left wing.

Therefore, neither the attacking side nor the retreating side could launch attacks in traditional line formations.

Both the Russian and Sardinian sides could only use small groups to attack in packs or engage in skirmish line tactics, but skirmish lines tested the individual quality of each soldier, and careless actions could result in friendly fire from rear ranks shooting the front ranks.

Historically, when the Russian Imperial Army attacked the British forces on Inkerman Mountain from Sevastopol, such friendly fire incidents had occurred.

Fortunately, this Sardinian army had the best individual soldiers in all of Sardinia, and, forced to use skirmish lines, they deftly avoided their comrades in front while loading bullets.

About twenty seconds after the Sardinian army initiated their charge, the second round of shooting began.

The retreating Russian Imperial soldiers fell again, over fifty more casualties, while the Sardinian side, from the start until now, suffered about twenty deaths or injuries.

However, the morale of the spirited Sardinian troops was soon to face a setback.

After this Sardinian army engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Russian Imperial Army, they truly understood what being a top Great Power entailed.

The Russian Empire, whose morale was on the brink of collapse, realized that the Sardinian Kingdom had forsaken its advantages to engage in close combat with them.

The resilient nature of the Slavs, who lived in inhospitable climates and battled against nature each year, was quickly reawakened in some Russian Imperial soldiers, who stopped their retreat and launched a desperate counter-charge against the Sardinian Kingdom.

Caught off guard, the Sardinian marksmen had to engage in melee combat with the Russian soldiers, and due to physical disparities, the Sardinian forces were at an inherent disadvantage.

In no time, dozens of soldiers from the Sardinian marksmen battalion were stabbed to death by the Russian Imperial Army.

The morale of the marksmen battalion dropped slightly, while the Russian soldiers, witnessing this scene, shouted "Ura" excitedly.

Then, disregarding the officers’ orders, they turned to fight against the Sardinian soldiers, and soon the Russian Imperial Army and the Sardinian Army were embroiled in a fierce melee.

The Brigadier General, in charge of commanding the vanguard, gave a helpless smile upon seeing this situation. He then dispatched his adjutant back to the headquarters at the foot of the mountain to report the vanguard’s situation to Commander Soyilov and request reinforcements.

After explaining the situation, the Brigadier General also rode into the fray.

Seeing this, the adjutant had no choice but to ride towards the headquarters at the foot of the mountain. About ten minutes later, the adjutant arrived at the entrance of the Russian Imperial headquarters.

At this point, Commander Soyilov, who was directing the Fourth and Fifth Army of the Russian Empire, was meeting with the adjutant of the attacking troops of Inkman Mountain summit.

"Commander, our Ekho Hostki Corps, Yakutsky Corps, and Serebryansky Corps deployed on Inkman Mountain have all been subjected to fierce artillery attacks from the French Army on the mountain top..." The adjutant, covered in dirt, informed Commander Soyilov of the battle at Inkerman Mountain.

"Where is the artillery I entrusted to you? Why don’t you use the cannons in your hands to bombard those damned Frenchmen?" Soyilov chided the adjutant.

"Commander, our artillery is no match for theirs! I estimate that they have deployed at least 300-400 cannons on this mountain, most of which should be heavy-caliber artillery.

Moreover, the French have built forts and trenches on the mountainside, and our artillery can’t cause much damage to them!" The adjutant quickly explained to Soyilov.

"300-400 guns?" Soyilov’s eyes widened, showing disbelief as he swallowed and said, "Are those Frenchmen crazy? Deploying so many cannons here!"

"Commander, what do we do now? Should we continue the attack or pause?" The adjutant asked with a worried expression.

Gritting his teeth, Soyilov replied, "Continue to put pressure on the French Army on Inkman Mountain. Also, deploy the Tarujings Corps and Yekaterina Corps over! I just can’t believe it! Can Inkman Mountain be made of iron?"

With nearly 10,000 elite troops attacking Inkman Mountain, if such a massive effort cannot shake the French Army there, Soyilov was at a loss as to how to fight this battle. The orders he received were to clear the French Army on Inkman Mountain at all costs.

Of course, what Soyilov didn’t know was that Gorchakov and his group never expected the 60,000 Russian Imperial troops to be able to take down the forces on Inkman Mountain. In their plan, the Fourth and Fifth Army were merely pawns to distract Inkman Mountain and Fedorovsk, to put it bluntly, these 60,000 men were expendable pieces.

The reason they gave Soyilov the order to attack at all costs was to maximize the prevention of the army’s retreat.

If they had explained their strategic objectives and plans to Soyilov, he would undoubtedly be overly cautious and unable to fully commit to delaying the enemy.

The Russian Imperial generals were most adept at grossly discounting the orders passed down from above, with some armies even ignoring higher-level orders entirely. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

The result was typically that their strategic deployments were utterly shattered by their subordinates, throwing the entire army into chaos.

"Yes!" The adjutant responded helplessly, saluted Soyilov, and left.

Subsequently, a soldier entered the tent to report to Soyilov that the adjutant from the left wing of Inkman Mountain had arrived.

"Let him in!" Soyilov waved his hand and said to the soldier, allowing the adjutant from the left wing of Inkman Mountain to enter.

Upon entering the tent, the adjutant from the left wing reported to Soyilov the situation on the left wing of Inkman Mountain.

"Didn’t I tell you! Don’t engage, don’t engage! What the hell is going on? Do you even see me as your commander?" Soyilov shouted angrily.

"Commander, we had no choice!" The left-wing adjutant responded to Soyilov with a wry smile, "The lower-level soldiers simply don’t follow our orders and act on their own!"

"Where are your whips? Where is your disciplinary unit? Did they get lost?" Soyilov laughed in exasperation, "Should I order the artillery to wipe you and the Sardinian Army out together!"

"Commander, absolutely not!" The left-wing adjutant’s face turned pale at Soyilov’s words.

"So what do you suggest now?" Soyilov asked with a sneer, "Originally, I wanted you to lure the Sardinian soldiers down the mountain and then use artillery to wipe them out! Now look, you are really causing trouble for no reason! Tell me, what do you want?"

"Commander, could you provide us with more reinforcements?" The left-wing adjutant extended an index finger to Commander Soyilov, "1,000! We only need 1,000 people! Our Brigadier General assures that we will win a beautiful battle!"

"A beautiful battle! Thank goodness, it would be good enough if you don’t cause me trouble!" Soyilov complained, "I’ll give you four more infantry legions and an artillery legion, you must clean up those guys on the left wing efficiently! Let them understand that following France doesn’t guarantee you can enjoy the spoils and that you might even get hit! Tell your Brigadier General if he can’t deliver satisfying results, he should be ready to strip off his uniform and get out of the army!"

"Thank you very much!" The left-wing adjutant immediately saluted Soyilov and left.

After the left-wing adjutant left, Soyilov approached the map again, muttering to himself as he stared at it, "It’s all messed up! It’s all fucked up!"