August 23, 1877 is the hardest day of the defense of Shipka.
From 9 (21) to 11 (23) August 1877, on Mount St. Nikola (today Mount Stoletov), Mount Shipka and Orlovo Gnezdo, the troops of Suleiman Pasha met the Russian-Bulgarian detachment of Gen. Nikolai Grigorievich Stoletov.
After the battle of Stara Zagora, Suleiman Pasha directed his army (27,000 regular troops - without the bashibazouk, and 34 cannons) to cross the Shipka Pass. The movements of the Turkish troops remained unknown to the Russian command and it was expecting them elsewhere.
It was not until August 7 (19) that Gen. Stoletov reported that the entire corps of Suleiman Pasha was built against Shipka, that his forces were enormous, but that his fighters - the thirty-sixth Oryol Infantry Regiment and five Bulgarian militia companies - 5,500 people with 27 guns - would fight to the end and that reinforcements "are extremely necessary".
On August 9 (21) in the morning, the troops of Rejeb Pasha launched an attack against the positions on Mount St. Nikola, and the leading units of Shakir Pasha advanced against Orlovo Gnezdo. The situation of the defenders of the pass was also worsened by the lack of water. The Turkish infantry kept the only water source under constant fire - a stream at the eastern foot of Mount St. Nikola.
In the defense of the Shipka Pass, the Bulgarian volunteers fought heroically. Repelling 7 attacks on the first day, the Russian-Bulgarian detachment suffered 250 killed and wounded.
The decisive and most difficult battle began on August 11 (23). At dawn, the Turks opened artillery fire on the entire position. Around 10 a.m., the Turks received reinforcements. By noon, all Turkish attacks had been repelled, but the situation remained difficult. The cartridges and shells were running out. At 5 p.m., the critical moment arrived. The corpses of more than 1,380 defenders lay on the slopes. Everyone, including the seriously wounded, threw themselves into battle.
Superstitious fear gripped the Turks as corpses flew towards them.
At the last moment, help arrived. Gen. Radetzky arrived with two hundred Cossacks and a platoon of mountain artillery. Shipka was saved, but Suleiman Pasha's army failed to unite with Mehmed Ali Pasha's troops and assist Osman Pasha, who was defending Pleven, and together push the Russian Danube Army north of the Danube River.
During the 3-day battle, the losses of the Shipka detachment amounted to 3,100 Russian soldiers and officers and 535 Bulgarian volunteers, while the losses of the enemy amounted to more than 8,200 people. The Turks went on the defensive.