Just as the British and Russian armies were in a deadlock on Kurgan Mountain, the Russian soldiers of the Moscow Corps, Minsk Corps, and Kiev Cuirassier Corps on the left wing of Kurgan Mountain at Telegraph Hill high ground had no idea that an imminent surprise attack was about to descend upon them.

At this moment, the majority of the soldiers from these three corps, under the leadership of their foolish, drunken commander, Admiral Kiriyako, were routinely standing guard on Telegraph Hill high ground, waiting for orders from Prince Menshikov on Kurgan Mountain, while a few soldiers were dispatched by Kiriyako to the cliffs to monitor the French Army on the South Shore.

Meanwhile, a large force appeared on the North Shore of the Alma River near the coastline. This was the assault brigade specially prepared by General Pelissey to capture Telegraph Hill high ground, led by Major General Bosskay of the French Second Division. The brigade was composed of two Zuav Corps, one Sardinian Hunting Corps, and an artillery battalion, which further contained three artillery companies, each with six cannons (four 6-pound Little Napoleon Cannons and two 12-pound Grand Napoleon Cannons), making it fully and well-equipped.

"Go!"

This well-equipped assault brigade, under the command of Major General Bosskay, removed the backpacks from their backs, grouped in threes, swam across the Alma River, and then climbed the cliff under the cover of trees below the cliff.

While the Zuave Soldiers were climbing the cliff, the Russian Empire soldiers monitoring the North Shore were in a careless state, never believing someone could climb the cliff fifty meters higher than the South Shore unless every French soldier had grown a pair of wings.

After the first group of 21 Zouave soldiers climbed the cliff, they immediately hid behind the rocks.

The Russian Empire, responsible for guarding the cliff, did not notice that the Zouave soldiers had quietly crept up. Thus, the first group of Zouave soldiers slowly approached the Russian soldiers at the cliff edge undetected and drew the daggers from their waists, slashing them forcefully at the necks of the Russian Empire soldiers.

The sharp daggers severed the vocal cords and blood vessels of the Russian Empire soldiers, with blood continuously gushing from the throats of the suffering Russian Empire soldiers who wanted to raise the alarm to their comrades but found themselves unable to utter any sound.

The 40-man Russian squad monitoring the cliff was directly wiped out by the ascending Zouave Corps. After eliminating the Russian soldiers at the cliff edge, the first squad immediately signaled to the following troops climbing below the cliff.

The following troops were able to continue climbing, while Admiral Kiriyako on Telegraph Hill high ground remained utterly unaware of what was happening here.

About half an hour later, the alcohol-reeking Kiriyako remembered that it had been a long time since the Russian Empire at the cliff edge had reported to him.

The drunken Admiral Kiriyako approached the Moscow Corps leader, inquiring why there had been no news from the cliff edge.

"Should I go check it out?" The Moscow Corps leader asked Admiral Kiriyako.

"Be quick!" Kiriyako nodded, agreeing to the Moscow Corps leader's request.

After the Moscow Corps leader left, Admiral Kiriyako took another swig from the nearly empty wine bottle and staggered back to the cabin, collapsing on the table.

Following Kiriyako's instructions, the Moscow Corps leader quickly led a 20-man squad to the cliff edge to investigate. As the Moscow Corps leader was within 300 meters of the cliff, a bullet "whizzed" from behind a rock in the distance, shooting towards the leader's eye.

Taken by surprise, the leader was hit directly in the eye by the bullet, whose massive kinetic energy pierced through the leader's brain.

The bullet took only 2 seconds to eliminate this commander, whom the Russian Empire had spent heavily to "forge."

The leader fell heavily to the ground, and the Russian soldiers nearby quickly raised their guns, looking around for the fellow who shot the leader.

Before these Russian soldiers could locate the murderer, a second wave of bullets struck them in the chest.

Over twenty Russian soldiers and one leader were entirely annihilated in about two minutes, with only a few iron-cast bullet heads left at the scene.

The culprit was over 400 meters away from these Russian Empire soldiers.

...

The sound of gunshots from afar gave the Russian Empire officers deployed on Telegraph Hill a sense of unease. Upon hearing the gunshots, the Minsk Corps leader rushed to Admiral Kiriyako to report the commotion at the cliff edge and boldly proposed his guess.

"Admiral, do you think it could be the Allies climbing up the mountain?" The Minsk Corps leader asked Kiriyako.

"No! Impossible! How could they climb up such a high cliff?" Unworthy of the useless name, Admiral Kiriyako decisively denied the correct answer and, putting on a wise demeanor, proposed his guess, "Besides, their main force is already under our surveillance (Guard Division)! Even if a few troops climbed up, it's futile. I bet those soldiers at the cliff edge are using smoothbore guns to attack the soldiers across the shore again; they're always doing some useless work!"

"Is that really the case?" The Minsk Corps leader was still skeptical, suggesting to Admiral Kiriyako that he lead troops to the cliff edge to check things out; if nothing had happened, it would be even better. If something really had happened, they could also prepare early.

"I've already sent others over there! You don't go anymore!" Admiral Kiriyako impatiently looked at the leader in front of him, "Your task now is to hold the line! As soon as Prince Menshikov needs you, you should go up immediately! Got it?"

"Understood!" The Minsk Corps leader heard the impatience in Admiral Kiriyako's voice and could only abandon his guesses and dutifully "squat" in the trench.

After the Minsk Corps leader left, Admiral Kiriyako muttered, "So troublesome!" and continued to indulge himself in a drunken stupor.

With the help of Kiriyako, the friend of France, not only did the entire assault brigade (including 18 cannons) successfully climb up, but an infantry brigade of the Second Division also changed their original plan and followed closely up the cliff.

Under the command of Major General Bokeys, 14,000 men from two brigades advanced in the direction of Telegraph Hill.

The commander of the Minsk Corps stationed in the trenches at Telegraph Hill was utterly alarmed upon seeing the French Army advancing towards them in formation. He hurried to wake up Admiral Kiriyako, who was still asleep.

"Didn't I tell you! Wait a little, wait a little! Why don't you listen... if you think you're more capable than I am, then you can take over as Admiral!" Kiriyako's previous impatience turned to disdain, and his tone became harsh.

"Your Excellency, this is not the time for discouragement!" The Minsk commander quickly reported to Admiral Kiriyako: "The French Army is about to attack us!"

Hearing the words "French Army" woke Kiriyako up considerably, and he immediately asked his commander, "Where did you hear this?"

"Do you even need to hear it?" Staring at the clueless admiral in front of him, the Minsk commander was almost in tears: "They are already approaching our positions, expected..."

Before the Minsk commander could finish, an artillery shell barged into Admiral Kiriyako's wooden house.

"Watch out!" The Minsk commander quickly grabbed Admiral Kiriyako by the collar and fled the wooden house.

The next second after Kiriyako fled the wooden house, the shell exploded inside, destroying the wooden house completely.

"This..." Admiral Kiriyako looked in terror at the wooden house that had been destroyed in front of him.

"Your Excellency, quickly give orders!" As the voice of the Minsk commander reached Kiriyako, who had gathered his thoughts, he hurriedly nodded and ordered the Minsk commander to proceed rationally.

After the Minsk commander left, the blood-covered deputy commander of the Moscow regiment appeared before Kiriyako to report the situation of the Moscow regiment.

Currently, the Moscow regiment was fighting very difficultly without their commander (the deputy commander's thoughts), and their muskets couldn't match the range of the French rifles, leaving them unable to hit the enemy while being hit themselves.

Moreover, the French Army had powerful artillery; now their entire regiment of over 3,000 men was being suppressed by the French Empire, and many soldiers didn't dare to stick their heads out of the trenches.

[PS: The Russian Empire organization is quite peculiar, with a division of over 6,000 under-employed men, who also had greatly expanded reinforcements.]

"You are now the commander of the Moscow regiment, you must lead your troops to hold the front line! As for artillery... artillery..." Admiral Kiriyako pondered for a moment and then said, "As for artillery, I will immediately apply to Prince Menshikov! Remember to hold your ground, stay firm, and there will be a way!"

After the acting Moscow regimental commander left, Admiral Kiriyako ran up to the Kiev Cuirassier Corps, ordering them to launch an attack on the French flank, attempting to disrupt the French Army deployment, while dispatching a portion of the cuirassiers as messengers to request help from Prince Menshikov at Kurgan Mountain.

The Kiev Cuirassiers, led by their commander, mounted their horses, with most of them heading to the frontline battlefield, while a few sought help at Kurgan Mountain.

Admiral Kiriyako, holding a champagne glass, also proceeded to the location of the Minsk regiment.

Upon Admiral Kiriyako's arrival at the frontline, the Moscow regiment, initially on the frontline, was forced to abandon its position under the attack of the French assault brigade and huddled into a trench with the Minsk regiment.

Nearly 6,000 Russian Imperial soldiers from the two regiments were packed in the same trench, which originally could only accommodate about 5,000 people. Now, nearly 6,000 (5,763) were squeezed in, making the scene somewhat chaotic.

While the Minsk and Moscow regiments were jostling for space in the trench, roughly 800-900 Kiev Cuirassiers entered from the flank.

Unexpectedly, the French assault brigade, realizing the Russian Empire had placed cavalry on Telegraph Hill ironically, had no choice but to transform their formation from a line to a hollow square, causing small-scale confusion in the entire brigade.

Seeing this, the Kiev Cuirassiers hurriedly drove their horses forward, aiming to strike the French before the assault brigade formed a hollow square.

Upon seeing this, Admiral Kiriyako in the trench hurriedly ordered the Minsk and Moscow regiments to attack the "French" formations.

"But!" The Minsk commander hesitated slightly.

"But what! Quickly follow my orders and attack!" Admiral Kiriyako sternly rebuked his commander.

Having no choice, the Minsk and Moscow commanders followed Kiriyako's orders to provide defense.

The commander of the Kiev Cuirassiers, leading his cavalry charge, likely never expected their first wave of damage would come not from their front opponents but from their comrades behind.

Under Admiral Kiriyako's orders, the Moscow and Minsk regiments began shooting, but they "accidentally" targeted the wrong direction.

The Kiev Cuirassiers, having not yet reached the French Army, already lost about 50 men under the Russian Empire's first strike, with the Kiev cavalry regiment leader also falling among the two hundred men.

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