The army marched at the second hour of the night on July 21. Official documents say that 17,000 Russians won the victory at Cahul.


At the beginning of the 5th hour, the troops crossed Trajan's Shaft. At a critical moment, Rumyantsev's intervention played a huge role. Having stopped the fleeing soldiers, he re-built the square of the Nephew, while the 1st Grenadier regiment under the command of Brigadier Ozerov repelled the furious onslaught of the Janissaries. The restored square rushed at the enemy, who was also attacked by the cavalry of Saltykov and Dolgorukov.


Repnin moved around the enemy. The battle lasted from the beginning of the 5th to half of the 10th hour, when the Turks fled, abandoning the camp, all property and 140 guns.


The pursuit of the enemy, who retreated along the Cahul valley in the direction of the former Turkish camp (and further to Kartaly against Isakchi), was successfully carried out by the Baur corps.


The Turks accepted the offer to surrender. Some of them tried to escape on the ships sent by the vizier, but Baur directed artillery fire at them, sank some of the ships and captured the remaining people on the shore.


Despite a number of defeats, Turkey, however, did not want to make peace. This forced Russia to continue the struggle and to move the theater of military operations beyond the Danube in 1773. The solution of this important task was entrusted to Rumyantsev, although the offensive plan did not meet the views of the field marshal. As a real politician, he perfectly understood all the difficulties of the enterprise. His army was understaffed, scattered over a large area.


It was impossible to get significant reinforcements: only a few regiments arrived from Russia during the entire period. No more than 25,000-30,000 could be allocated for the Danube offensive, while it was necessary to first occupy the strong Danube fortresses of Rushuk and Silistria (protecting the direction to Shumla) or, at least, leave observation corps near them. Under these conditions, Rumyantsev did not expect much success from the operation.


Prior to the offensive, the army reserve of about 12,000 people was located in Moldova with the field marshal's headquarters in Iasi. Saltykov's division, about the same size, was stationed in Wallachia, and Weisman's division (4,000 men) was located near Izmail. Communication between both divisions was maintained by a 3-4-thousandth detachment under the command of Major General Potemkin. The fortresses of Khotyn, Bendery, Akkerman, Kilia and Brailov were occupied by small garrisons. https://olimpobet-peru.com