Navy officer responds to British Defense Secretary: Is this what it means to kick ass?
Members of the Russian Black Sea Fleet were amused by the bravado of British Defense Secretary Wallace, who the day before declared that “the Scots Guards kicked Tsar Nicholas I’s ass in 1853 in the Crimea – we can do it again.”
A Navy officer familiar with the situation told PolitNavigator about this.
“The late satirist Mikhail Zadornonyuv was right when he said that “Americans are stupid.” And if he knew how stupid the British are, he would forget about the Americans. Of course, I am not a historian, but living in Sevastopol for more than 50 years puts in my head the main dates and events in the history of my native city. The Minister of Defense of the former empire, and now simply Great Britain, Wallace, is of course a great patriot of his country, but at the same time a great ignoramus.
“No Scots Guard could kick the ass of Tsar Nicholas I in 1853 in the Crimea for the reason that they were not here in that year. Great Britain declared war on Russia on March 15 (27), 1854, and the first Anglo-French landing landed near Yevpatoriya on September 1, 1854. Based on this, neither the Scottish nor any other British guard could have been in Crimea in 1853.
Yes, in this war, after the death of Nicholas I in March 1855, we were considered defeated. But if we talk based on facts, it is not very clear what the aggressors actually achieved. They captured the southern part of Sevastopol and repelled the Russian attack on Evpatoria in February 1855, but it was not the British who fought back, but the Turks. Then they tried to capture Nikolaev, but they were afraid of the Russian positions in the Dnieper-Bug estuary and did not advance. They captured the Kinburn fortress, which a few months later they left without a fight and retreated to the Crimea.
Let us remember the Battle of Balaklava and the mediocre death of the “best of the English cavalry,” when representatives of noble British families who traditionally served in this branch of the army died under the crossfire of Russian artillery.
It was in this battle, by the way, that the 93rd Scottish Infantry Regiment distinguished itself, which skillfully defended itself and managed to save the allies from defeat. All this happened on October 13 (25), 1854, and not in 1853. As a result of the battle, the Russians did not win, but the British were not able to take Sevastopol on the move.
If this is, in Mr. Wallace’s opinion, “kicking ass,” then it would be better to retell the ballad about the valiant knight Ivanhoe,” concluded the Russian officer.
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