Chapter 306 Go around

Sanders paced back and forth in the office anxiously. An hour and a half had passed, and the situation of the 69th Infantry Regiment's defense line was still unclear.

The planes sent for reconnaissance were shot down before they reached the nearby airspace. One of them took a look from a distance and reported that there was indeed fighting and vehicles on the second line of defense, but they believed that it was only a local small-scale battle.

Later, Sanders realized that it was because the enemy was always advancing along the trench, and the scale of the battle was always maintained at one enemy infantry battalion of five or six hundred people facing two or three hundred people in one section of the trench.

This may seem like a small-scale battle, but in reality it was large enough to shake the entire Gallipoli and even change the outcome.

Just as Sanders was considering various possibilities, Staff Officer Quinn ran into the headquarters in a panic, his voice becoming hoarse with fear: "General, we have investigated clearly that the troops landing in the direction of Annia Village are the enemy's main force, not a feint attack!"

Sanders suddenly stopped and looked at the staff officer in shock.

Before he could ask, Quinn explained, "We happened to catch a deserter from the 69th Infantry Regiment. He said the enemy has tanks and is attacking along the trenches. They may have crossed the center line and are near the village of Bukia."

"Tanks?" Sanders was skeptical. "How could they have tanks? How could tanks land?"

Quinn shook his head helplessly: "I don't know, General. But Bahar said so too. He also said that it might be Ciel's troops!"

Sanders swallowed hard. If it was Charles's troops, that would explain it. This might be another new invention of his.

Without hesitation, Sanders quickly walked to the map and focused his eyes on the second line of defense.

Quinn immediately found the location of Bukia Village and pointed it out: "Here, only three miles away from the other side of the coast."

Sanders' face instantly lost color. It was too late. At the enemy's speed of advance, it might only take twenty minutes to travel three miles.

When the reinforcements arrive, they will face the enemy's complete defense line and machine guns. Even if they have ten times the number of troops, they may not be able to take it down.

"Where is Bahar?" Sanders asked. "Where is he?"

The staff officer immediately called Bahar, who soon replied in a surprised and delighted voice: "General, Bahar has brought his guard company to reinforce Bukiya Village!"

Obviously, this was Bahar's own decision, disobeying Sanders' orders.

But Sanders did not blame him. Instead, he shouted excitedly: "Well done, this guy saved the entire line of defense! No, he saved the Ottoman Empire and saved the war!"

…

Bukiya Village is a small village with only thirty or so households. The second line of defense just passes to the west of it, only a hundred meters away.

At this time, the small village was deserted, with houses collapsed by shells and broken fishing nets blown by the sea breeze everywhere, making people feel very desolate.

Suddenly, with a burst of rapid and rhythmic footsteps, a team of fully armed Ottoman soldiers ran into the village, followed by several cars loaded with ammunition.

It was Bahar who came. He jumped out of the car, looked around and issued a series of orders:

"Titan, you lead a platoon to occupy the eastern high ground."

"Kenmaller, your platoon is responsible for defending the trench. Organize all the soldiers of the 69th Infantry Regiment and mobilize the soldiers behind the trenches!"

"Everyone else, follow me and use the house to organize defense!"

…

"Colonel!" The company commander asked timidly as he ran after Bahar: "I heard that the enemy has tanks, but we have nothing. How can we stop them?"

"Use your body, Buglang!" Bahar answered without hesitation: "You are in front and I am behind you. Is there any problem?"

"No, Colonel!" the company commander replied hastily, "No problem."

"Very good!" Bahar stopped in front of a pile of rubble and shouted to the others: "Everyone, pay attention. I am not asking you to fight. I am asking you to die under the enemy's gun. If you die, someone else will take your place! Do you understand?"

"Understood, Colonel!" the soldiers answered loudly.

Bahar gave them the determination to die.

Because he knew that if he did not risk his life in this battle, the enemy's tank tracks would run over all the bodies of the people and then block the throat of Gallipoli.

The soldiers had just found their own cover when bursts of gunfire came from the west.

Soon, many defeated soldiers retreated from the defense line.

Bahar waved his hands and shouted at them: "Come here, everyone, come here!"

When the soldiers ran into the defense line, Bahar shouted at the frightened soldiers: "Pick up your weapons, soldiers! Otherwise, you will not die at the hands of the enemy, but I will shoot you now!"

The defeated soldiers could only follow others in groups of three or four and set up their rifles with the help of the earthen houses.

The enemy came quickly. Within just a few minutes, several "tanks" appeared from behind the hill.

Bahar raised his telescope and breathed a sigh of relief. This "tank" had wheels instead of tracks.

"Attention." Bahar ordered loudly: "Aim at the wheels of the 'tank' and listen to my orders!"

The soldiers raised their rifles and aimed their sights at the wheels of the "tank".

Following Bahar's order, gunshots rang out and the "tank" instantly became crooked and could not move.

The soldiers cheered. They had not expected that this kind of "tank" would be so easy to deal with. Some of them excitedly shouted to Bahar: "It worked, Colonel, we stopped them!"

Bahar just snorted coldly. If the opponent was Charles' army, this would only be the first step.

Sure enough, the next second, the sound of artillery fire rang out, and mortar shells exploded one after another in the village, raising radiating smoke and dust.

Then, a group of French soldiers in red trousers shouted and charged towards the village.

…

The 105th Regiment hit a wall. Its forward momentum was blocked in the village of Bukiya for more than ten minutes. It suffered more than a hundred casualties but there was no sign of a breakthrough.

Tijani squatted in the trench, quickly spread out the map, pointed to a point on it and said to Charles: "We are here, only three miles away from the end point. If we move fast, we can occupy the entire defense line in just ten minutes. But the village of Bukia was occupied by the enemy first, and the defense is very tight!"

Charles was silent for a while, then he stood up and climbed up the trench. He carefully stuck his head out and used a telescope to observe the village of Bukia 500 meters away.

Machine guns formed crossfire, and the only commanding height nearby was also under their control. All the defeated soldiers and troops in the trenches in the rear were pulled up to reinforce this line of defense. It had become a tough nut to crack, and even if all the troops were piled up there, it might not be possible to break through successfully.

After retracting his head and thinking for a moment, Charles ordered: "Go around, I bet the trench behind is empty and unguarded!"

Tijani looked at Charles in surprise, as if to say, how can you be sure?

The Third Crusade is about to begin, the protagonist becomes Jesus' brother, Jerusalem is resurrected online, and how to seize the family property is demonstrated. Old man, it's time to explode the gold coins!

(End of this chapter)