Kagul continued

After two nights of gaming and the defeat of the Ottoman cavalry and infantry attacks, I thought that the difficult part of the battle was over.  However, there was still a force facing the Russian squares and the Janissaries manned the ramparts of the Ottoman camp.  On my left the Tartars were still flowing around the squares.  The Cossacks there had reformed and I was tempted into a counter attack.  I managed to conjure up a flank attack on one Tartar unit and beyond that was another which was vulnerable to a flank attack.

As often happens these 'castles in the air' disappeared when the dice return you to reality.  Against the odds my Cossacks were defeated and driven from the field.  This left the squares with no support and they were harried by archery.  Two more squares succumbed to the fire, breaking and running for the sanctuary of the Russian camp.

Meanwhile I had more pressing matters to concern me.  The Ottoman infantry attacked again.  Ignoring their casualties, they closed to melee the front face of the reformed square.  It was a tough fight, the Ottomans, supposedly lower grade fighting men, more than held their own, even against my grenadiers.  Eventually, the Ottoman losses forced them to fall back and then they were charged in the flank by the Russian heavy cavalry.  This proved too much and the remnants ran for the camp.

This seemed like the opportunity to advance with the whole force and attack the Ottoman camp, but those d*mned Tartars intervened again.  Seeing that the Russian attack on the Tartar camp had been defeated before it started, the remaining Tartar units swung to their left to harry the main Russian squares.  These were vulnerable because the bulk of the cavalry had moved to the right to see off the remaining Ottoman cavalry.  Quickly the reserve cavalry, a unit of dragoons, moved to the Russian left to link up with the remaining horse grenadiers.  The Cuirassiers, who had driven off the Ottoman infantry, had to turn about to cover the flank of the Russian centre.  Matters were not helped by one of my cavalry units going into an uncontrolled pursuit and disappearing towards the Ottoman baseline.

So, after three hours action, the main Russian force had manged to advance about 6 inches, had suffered casualties from the Ottoman infantry and artillery and now had it's flank threatened by the Tartars.  Hopefully, the fourth evenings action will see the Russians take on the Janissaries, though there is a lot of work to do before that happens.