Chapter 287 V Beach Landing Battle
Charles did not learn of this until he arrived at the anchorage five days later.
The anchorage was built next to a deserted island more than 30 nautical miles away from the Dardanelles. Through exploration, the British discovered that the water here was deep and there were no reefs.
The most important thing was the discovery of a spring on the deserted island.
This meant that the fleet could restock its fresh water locally without having to have it shipped from Malta.
(Note: Malta was a British colony at that time and became independent in 1964)
The British even sent engineers to the island to build roads, transport and store water, and then distribute the water barrels to small boats for transportation every day.
When he first arrived at the anchorage, Charles was almost frightened by the scene before him:
Under the flying and howling seagulls, there are hundreds of ships of all sizes. Transport ships, trawlers, and minesweepers are on the outer layer, forming a large circle like a harbor, with various types of warships in the middle.
There were also destroyers patrolling the periphery. Charles' fleet was intercepted by a destroyer several nautical miles away. They were allowed to pass only after turning on the signal lights and boarding the ship to confirm their identities.
Finally, Charles' fleet was arranged to anchor in the designated area under the leadership of a destroyer.
After all, Britain is an old naval power and everything about it seems very professional. But in sharp contrast, having been powerful for so long, it has developed an incurable bureaucratic style, which is the main reason for its defeat.
Charles and Tijanni first boarded the battleship "Suffren", which was the flagship of the French fleet and on which Rear Admiral Gueprat was.
Major General Geprat was a middle-aged man with a beard. He looked very steady. When he saw Charles, he shook hands with him calmly and said simply, "Welcome, Colonel."
Then he looked at Tijani and said, "Long time no see, Tijani. I didn't expect that we would meet on the battlefield."
Tijani laughed and introduced him to Charles: "This is Uncle Geprat. If I hadn't insisted on joining the army, I would be his subordinate now."
Charles understood that this was a relative of Tijani.
Rear Admiral Geprat took Charles and Tijani to his office on the island. He looked towards the Dardanelles while holding a cup of coffee. “We just tried to land on V Beach, but unfortunately, we failed again.”
"British?" Tijani asked.
Charles had the same idea.
"No." Major General Geprat shook his head, and then a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes: "I thought you knew that they were reinforcements sent by France just like you."
Ciel looked confused.
Tijani said, “Ugh.” “We didn’t even know this unit existed.”
Major General Geprat hesitated, then smiled bitterly and shook his head.
He understood that this was a power struggle within the French army and they wanted to defeat Charles.
These bastards are still thinking about infighting at this time.
But how good can the navy be?
Major General Geprat did not elaborate on this aspect. He directly led the topic to the landing battle: "This landing operation was commanded by Major General Honoré. They brought two coal ships to assist the landing, each carrying 2,000 people."
As he spoke, Geprat flipped through the documents and found a photo, handing it to Charles: "This is the kind of ship."
When Charles looked, he saw that there were several exits next to the coal ship, which could be considered an innovation in that era.
Tijani came closer to take a look and smiled slightly with a hint of mockery on his lips.
"I hope you won't land using this kind of ship as well." Major General Geprat said with some worry in his eyes.
"No, that's not the kind of boat I use," replied Charles.
Major General Geprat relaxed after hearing this answer. He took a sip of coffee and nodded, "Very good!"
Unexpectedly, Tijani added: "We brought a similar one, but it's much smaller!"
Major General Geprat was stunned. He looked at Tijani and then at Charles, with a look of despair on his face.
"It didn't work?" Charles asked knowingly, he wanted to know more information.
Major General Geprat hummed and replied solemnly:
"They stranded this boat on the coast of V Beach and used two barges as bridges between the landing ship and the beach under cover of fire."
"Then the troops landed along this passage one company after another."
"However, when we were preparing to open the ramp after the beaching, we encountered fierce shooting from the defenders. The enemy has already replenished its forces at V Beach, and it is estimated that there are more than a thousand people at this time."
"After finally getting down the ramp, the soldiers became targets for the enemy to shoot at. At least half of them were trapped inside the ship and unable to get out."
…
Tijani looked at Charles with some worry.
Charles knew what he was worried about. Charles' landing craft was somewhat similar to this landing ship converted from a coal carrier.
If anything, the Shire's landing craft could get soldiers ashore faster.
Charles held up the photo to Tijani and said, "On the surface they look the same, but in fact they are very different. You can think from the enemy's perspective."
Tijani pondered for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully:
"You are right, Colonel."
"If I were defending the enemy from the shore, I would be able to see the collier from a long distance because it is so big."
"Also, I can make a preliminary judgment of its approximate landing location based on its direction of travel."
"After this, it will take at least ten minutes to prepare for landing..."
As he spoke, Tijani turned his gaze to Major General Geprat.
Rear Admiral Geprat replied: "No, it took more than half an hour to prepare it. As I said, the enemy fired heavily at it with artillery and machine guns. They had to connect the barge to the hull under a hail of bullets."
Tijani hummed, "More than half an hour. This is enough time for the Ottomans to bring in machine guns from other directions. By the time they can finally land, the enemy's firepower will be able to completely block them."
Ciel nodded slightly, that was what he wanted to say.
The key to landing operations is the word "speed".
If you always think that once the springboard is opened, the enemy's machine gun bullets will rain down on the interior of the landing craft, and even a god cannot stop it.
The biggest advantage of Charles' landing craft is that it can choose to suddenly drop people off at any time and any place, and the people are already on the shore before the enemy's firepower has time to organize.
However……
Tijani seemed to have thought of this, saying, "The Ottomans already know that the focus of our landing is V Beach, which means..."
Charles looked at Tijani meaningfully, and they both understood each other tacitly.
Major General Geprat suddenly gained some confidence in the two young men in front of him.
Although he could not understand what they said, he felt that they were much more reliable than Major General Honoré. At least they could analyze the enemy situation and the direction of the war.
(End of this chapter)
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