Kutuzov finally knew who the enemy was, but there was no trace of relief in his heart, looking at the smoke billowing Riga, Kutuzov's face could no longer be described as iron-blue.
"Damn, I knew Paul would never let us go" "Your Excellency General, what now, our people can't enter Riga at all, if we don't find a way to keep the Baltic Fleet in the Gulf of Riga, then our hinterland will inevitably continue to be harassed by the enemy!"
Looking at Kutuzov, whose face was very ugly, Kulickov swallowed a mouthful of spit and said in embarrassment, and after listening to his words, Kutuzov, who was about to fall into a rage, forced himself to calm down.
"Immediately send a signal to the army on Saaremaa Island that they must hide themselves, and then take the enemy by surprise when they pass by, and let the 16th Regiment immediately meet the 27th Regiment, and give me the best efforts to rescue the 27th Regiment!"
Although there were still 10,000 horses outside the city of Riga, because of the distance, there were less than 4,000 people who rushed to Riga before and after, and the forces gathered around Kutuzov were only more than 6,000 people.
Both Perenovich and Ushakov gave the order to bombard, as in the dock area of the port of Riga, where only a few shells fell during the initial tentative attack, and there was no shelling at all afterwards.
Of course, the shells that were fired were mainly used to drive away the enemy.
Although Riga is a large port on the Baltic Sea coast, the berths in its port are not enough for all twenty transport ships to dock at once, and of course Ushakov has been prepared for this.
Six of the twenty transports came to a halt on both sides of the harbor dock, and as soon as the transports stopped, numerous dinghys were thrown down from these transports.
And the soldiers on board the ships immediately poured into these dingries at the command of the officers.
When the first wave of Russian soldiers rushed to the pier, they did not encounter any obstacles, and in just half an hour, nearly a thousand soldiers gathered on the port of Riga, and these 1,000 soldiers, under the command of the officer, immediately began to advance towards the surrounding area.
They need to do a good job of defending the subsequent landing force.
"Quick, get all the warships as close to the coast as possible without running aground, I need to provide a safer area for our army boys!"
Receiving the signal that the army had landed ashore, Ushakov immediately gave an order to the fleet that was still on the coast.
You must know that in order to ensure that those transport ships can carry as many soldiers as possible, in addition to the necessary weapons and ammunition, these landing army companies only have a dozen cannons.
And these dozen cannons are all small calibers.
Although Ushakov was satisfied with the results of the previous fleet's attack, he did not think that a few rounds of artillery bombardment by the fleet could destroy the morale of Kutuzov's army in Riga, and the fleet's artillery could only kill and wound as many enemy troops as possible, and it was the landing soldiers who really played a decisive role.
"General, word has come from our outpost that a group of transports has been separated from the enemy's fleet.
And these transport ships have already landed in the port area, and the troops they have laid down are probably close to 10,000 people!
” Kulichkov hurriedly walked up to Kutuzov and said with a serious face, hearing his words, Kutuzov's right hand holding the horsewhip shook and almost fell to the ground.
"What do you say!
10,000 people!
Harlef's idiot, so many warships passed under his nose, and he didn't even notice it.
What a real piece of rubbish!
” Kutuzov was furious, and the Harev he was referring to was the commander in charge of the garrison on the island of Saremaa.
In fact, this Colonel Khaleuf was really unlucky, because when the Baltic Fleet entered the Gulf of Riga, this colonel fell asleep because of the hard work of last night, so it was definitely lying down and shot.
Sometimes, the sentries could not fully estimate the size of the enemy's forces, because it was still dawn, and the sentries on the cliffs on the side of the harbor could only judge the number of enemies based on the torches lit on the harbor and the transports, which would inevitably lead to mistakes.
"Quick, get Ivekov's men up right now.
Tell him that he must come here in two hours, otherwise he will be severely punished by military law, and he also ordered the 16th Regiment to leave it alone if he has not contacted the 27th Regiment, and let them immediately go to the southern part of the city to prepare for defense on the spot, and let the 5th Cavalry Regiment and the 3rd Cavalry Regiment move outside the east gate and the west gate respectively to wait for my order.
I'm going to let these damn guys know that we're not as weak as they think we're going to be!
” "Yes, General!"
Hearing Kutuzov's order, several heralds immediately rushed out of the tent.
Although Kutuzov was shocked by the news of the enemy's landing from the coast and the number of enemies, Kutuzov was not ready to give up just like that, even if the enemy had the support of the guns of the battleships at sea, but he knew that the wood on the sea could not be driven ashore, and Kutuzov was still quite confident in the combat effectiveness of his army on land.
It was a good strategy to use a few regiments to hold back the enemy's forces south of the city, and then two cavalry regiments to sweep the enemy's flanks from both sides, but there were prerequisites, and the premise was that the guns of the Baltic Fleet did not affect the battle in Riga.
Soon, the 8,000 landed Russian troops quickly advanced to the central block of Riga City under the cover of the navy, but from here, the Russian army encountered stubborn resistance, and the rebels of Kutuzov arched out from under the houses that had been bombarded by artillery and rushed to these Russian troops to fight.
"God, these people are really crazy!"
Major General of the Imperial Guard, Gniezhle, who commanded 8,000 Russian landing soldiers, complained, and when he finished complaining, the general immediately shouted: "Signal the Navy to re-use artillery to cover the city south of the central block, and I'm going to shake these rats to death!"
Having received the signal, Ushakov fulfilled the wish of the major general, thirty battleships were organized, and nearly two hundred guns launched three full rounds of bombardment of the area demanded by Gnezhl.
"Your Excellency Marshal, fifteen warships, including the Finland, have sent a signal that their shells are already below the warning line, and they can no longer provide cover for the landing army!"
Ushakov was not surprised to hear this, it was already more than six o'clock in the morning, although it was not yet dawn, but from the time when the vanguard of Perenovich fired the first shell at Riga, more than three hours and almost four hours had passed, and such a long battle was bound to consume a lot of ammunition carried by the fleet, which was expected by Ushakov.
"Let these battleships with insufficient ammunition immediately turn to Saaremaaa Island, I need them to shoot all the shells on Saaremaa Island!"
Hearing Ushakov say this, his adjutant was visibly stunned.
The so-called shells were below the warning line, which meant that the battleship's own shells could only support two salvos of all guns at most, and now Kutuzov asked these warships to attack Saaremaa Island, which seems unreasonable from any point of view.
Seeing his adjutant stunned, Ushakov's face showed anger, as a soldier with the excellent traditions of the empire, Ushakov has always regarded the military as a creed to obey orders, and now his adjutant's hesitation is simply unacceptable in his opinion!
"Adjutant Brie, do you have any doubts about my orders?"
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Although there was nothing strange about Ushakov's words, the expression on his face revealed that he was very unhappy now.
Seeing the expression on Ushakov's face, Brie was taken aback, he naturally knew Ushakov's preferences after following Ushakov for three years, and his hesitation just now obviously violated Ushakov's taboo.
"There is no doubt, Your Excellency Marshal, I will convey it!"
After saying that, Brie hurriedly walked outside.
After Brie left, Ushakov's face showed a sad look, as the commander of the Imperial Baltic Fleet, Ushakov had already given himself all to the sea, what it meant to let a warship with insufficient ammunition attack an island with complete coastal defenses, he naturally knew, but he had no choice at all.
The defenders on Saaremaa Island need to be sent to deal with it, otherwise by the time the Baltic Fleet leaves the Gulf of Riga, the defenders on Saaremaa Island will definitely inflict heavy losses on the fleet.
You must know that the main task of the Baltic Fleet is to escort the 8,000 soldiers of the Guards to land in Riga, and then do their best to help the army occupy Riga.
Those large warships naturally need to be kept to deal with Riga, and for Saaremaa Island, which can threaten the rear of the fleet, it can only be handed over to small and medium-sized warships to deal with, which is a decision made by Ushakov after balancing the gains and losses of both sides.
Fifteen warships including the Norwegian chose to accept Ushakov's order, not only these fifteen warships, but also other small and medium-sized warships attacking Riga knew that if the Norwegian warships could not take Saaremaa Island, they would also embark on the same path at that time.
When the Norwegian and other battleships left the fleet formation, these battleships invariably waved their flags: "The Empire is immortal!
Long live His Majesty the Tsar!
The fate of victory and defeat in the battle is the fate of our generation of soldiers, and the kings are prosperous!
”