Chapter 273 28 Days of Delay

The Ottomans and Germans were barely prepared in the Dardanelles.

This is what General Winter told Charles. He excitedly sent Charles a telegram:

"Your plan was a success, Colonel."

"The intelligence we have obtained is that most of the more than 100 artillery pieces equipped by the Ottoman Empire in the Dardanelles are old-fashioned artillery pieces from more than a decade ago, and there are no more than 20 new artillery pieces that can pose a threat to battleships."

"At the same time, the enemy was short of supplies, shells, and mines. There were many mines, even Russian mines, which were laid by Russia in the Black Sea. Because the torpedo cables broke, they drifted downstream to the Sea of ​​Marmara and were "picked up" by the Ottoman Empire for reuse."

"The Ottomans and Germans have obviously been fooled. They are completely unprepared in the Dardanelles. Our victory is in sight!"

However, the battle situation was not as optimistic as General Winter had imagined.

Lieutenant General Carden's "refueling tactics" constantly gave the enemy opportunities to rest and replenish, and even allowed the defenders to learn how to fight.

Charles watched helplessly as the great opportunity he had created was wasted by the foolish commander of the British Royal Fleet.

In the end, even the British couldn't stand it anymore.

The British Admiralty sent two telegrams to Vice Admiral Carden: "If the fleet suffers losses due to the attack, or even the entire combat operation fails, the responsibility will be borne by the Admiral. You only need to consider your mission and the enemy in front of you!"

The meaning of the telegram is very clear. Just play with confidence. If you lose, it’s your boss’s fault. If you win, it’s yours.

But Lieutenant General Carden still could not face the war. The next day, he left his post and went to the rear for recuperation due to health reasons.

Before he left, he recommended Major General Robeck to take over the command, but Major General Wims' qualifications were higher than Major General Robeck's, and the fleet argued about this for three days.

The problem was not resolved until Major General Robeck was urgently promoted to Lieutenant General.

At this time, it had been 28 days since the fleet arrived at the Dardanelles and fired the first shot.

…

Charles' eyes went dark. He sent a telegram to General Winter: "This battle has been lost. The wise choice is to withdraw the troops."

General Winter rushed to Charles' office that afternoon. He looked haggard and seemed to have been busy with the war in the Dardanelles during this period.

Charles brought General Winter to the conference room and told him with certainty before he even sat down: "No one will continue the feint for 28 days. No matter how dumb the Germans are, they can guess that the focus of our attack is the Dardanelles."

"You are right, Colonel." General Winter looked frustrated. "Now no matter how much we bluff in the north, it will be useless. The Germans are transporting a large number of torpedoes to the Dardanelles, as well as artillery and shells."

"You still have illusions about this battle, then?" asked Charles.

In principle, as long as the Ottoman Empire laid enough mines, the British fleet would never be able to pass through the Dardanelles.

General Winter looked at Charles with expectation: "I want to know if you have any other ideas? For example, maybe we can really land in the north..."

Charles shook his head. "It's been nearly a month, General. We have been making the Germans think we are landing in the north, and they have been fully prepared in the north."

This was the aftermath of a plan within a plan, which was originally intended to cause misunderstanding among the Germans, but now it had cut off the possibility of a landing from the north.

Charles persuaded General Winter slowly, "The only thing you can do now is to stop them. If we give the enemy a month to prepare, and even use actual combat exercises to help them train a large number of soldiers who know how to defend the strait, and we can still defeat the enemy under this circumstance, there is only one possibility: the Ottoman Empire surrenders voluntarily."

General Winter frowned and sighed: "You may be right, Colonel. But I can't convince them. The Minister of the Navy believes that the previous failure to win was due to General Carden's cowardice, and now it has been replaced by Major General Robeck..."

Charles interrupted General Winter and said, "The Dardanelles has also been replaced with German-made mines, and they are more numerous and more advanced than before. Major General Robeck is likely unaware of this. He doesn't even have any command experience."

General Winter looked ashen, and after a long moment, he nodded heavily: "I'll try. If we allow the Navy Minister to launch an attack, it could be a disaster!"

With that, General Winter left in a hurry.

Originally stationed in Ypres, he had always taken the train to and from the airport, but now he went straight to the airport. He had to hurry back to England to talk to the Secretary of the Admiralty.

However, Charles knew that he could not convince the Lord Admiral.

The Navy Minister once made a bold statement: "If the attack on the Dardanelles fails, I will go to the front line as a soldier!"

Therefore, he could not easily admit defeat, even though he knew that it was basically impossible to win this battle.

Sure enough, the day after General Winter returned, the Allied fleet launched a general attack on the Dardanelles.

When the city defense headquarters staff heard the news, they cheered and talked about it:

"Show them some power!"

"That's 18 battleships. They should have flattened the Ottoman Empire long ago."

"I bet they can break through the channel today."

…

18 battleships, including Britain's most advanced super dreadnought battleship "Queen Elizabeth".

But the performance of these battleships surprised everyone: they could not hit the target while moving, they could not hit the target in bad weather, and they could not hit the target at a long distance.

Only when the weather is calm and clear can you shoot at close range!

The fleet's performance plunged people into a state of disappointment and depression.

Now, they think it's time to be proud.

Gallieni looked worried. He glanced at Charles and asked in a low voice, "Is this your plan?"

Ciel could only smile wryly in response.

The battle seemed to be going well, as it was the first time that warships and minesweeping operations were carried out simultaneously in daylight.

Although we did not see the battlefield, the intelligence seemed to be able to depict the combat scenario:

The two sides fought fiercely, and the battleships led other warships to bombard the enemy's fortresses and artillery groups at the same time.

The battleships with heavy armor and huge cannons changed their positions in the blue waves, and fired at the enemy's artillery positions at close range under the enemy's artillery fire. Large and small cannons roared in unison, and in the thick smoke and flying dust, the fortress was shrouded in a huge fireball.

On the hills on both sides of the strait, the cannons of the Ottoman camp roared in response. The mobile artillery that had originally only been active at night now had to face the attack of naval guns during the day.

The Allied destroyers and minesweepers were at the forefront of the rising water columns, trying to clear obstacles for the battleships' advance.

At this time, a telegram brought good news: "Our troops hit the enemy's ammunition depot!"

The command center suddenly erupted in cheers, and everyone felt that victory was not far away.

(End of this chapter)