On July 19 and 20, 1877, during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, Russian troops carried out the first attack on Pleven, marking the beginning of the most memorable operation for contemporaries of the war.*
This is recalled on "Facebook" by Alexander Stoyanov.
The Battle of Pleven becomes an epic, but according to all the rules of military art, it should never have taken place. On July 15, the Russians captured Nikopol and parts of their Western detachment advanced southwest towards the key fortress of Pleven. Their goal was to capture the city and secure control over the roads around it, blocking the possibility of the Ottoman forces advancing towards Central Moesia. The task of the Western Detachment was essentially to block the Ottoman troops stationed in present-day Northwestern Bulgaria, isolating them in the area around Vidin.
Unfortunately, this plan failed from the very beginning, due to the complete failure of the Western Detachment to mobilize its vanguard for a decisive offensive along the intended directions. The distance from Nikopol to Pleven (40 km) was covered in 4 days at an average speed of 10 km per day.
Meanwhile, the commander of the Vidin garrison - Osman Pasha, receiving news of the landing at Svishtov, mobilized his available forces and began an accelerated march towards Nikopol. His plan was to prevent the Russians from launching their offensive and to press their western flank until the necessary reinforcements could be received. In just 6 days, the Ottoman forces covered 200 km and on the 19th took up positions around Pleven, ahead of the Russians by several crucial hours.
In addition, Osman Pasha's troops were twice as numerous as the Russians - the Pasha managed to gather about 17,000 soldiers, against about 8,600 on the Russian side. The tragicomedy continued in full force, since both sides were unaware of the enemy's numbers. This led to a paradox - the Russian forces, half as numerous, confident that they were fighting only the Pleven garrison, boldly attacked the enemy positions. The Ottomans, certain that an entire enemy army was against them, remained in passive defense against the much smaller enemy.
The fighting ended on July 20 with about 2,000 killed and wounded on each side (Russian losses were greater - approx. 2,600 - b.a.), without a clear winner being declared. The battle was an undoubted success for Osman Pasha, but given the real balance of forces, the fact that he did not defeat the smaller enemy can be treated as a military failure.
The defeated Russian troops withdrew to regroup and await reinforcements. Thus, a stalemate was formed on the front in front of the Western Detachment, which would continue for the next two months, with the failure of the Second Attack on Pleven (July 30) and the Third Attack on Pleven (September 7-12)
The most popular battle painter of the war - Vasily Vereshchagin leaves us the canvas "After the Battle" as a sad reminder of the failure of the Russian troops.
*Today we are accustomed to associate the battles of Shipka with the clearest image of the war, but for the people of 1877-78 the siege of Pleven remains the most important battle of the struggle between Russia and the Ottoman Empire.