Chapter 298 That’s Ciel
The sound of artillery fire was heard on the Gallipoli Peninsula. At the end of the Saros Gulf was a small town called Bolayel. Most of the civilians had moved away because of the war, and most of the people coming and going were soldiers, logistics troops, and wounded carried down from the front line.
The headquarters of Sanders, commander of the Ottoman Empire's Fifth Army, was located here. He chose a very ordinary small house and hid in the valley to avoid artillery fire.
(The person in the center of the picture above is Lemann von Sanders, a German general who served as a military adviser to the Ottoman Empire and commander of the Fifth Army)
Sanders stood in front of his desk, staring quietly at the map in front of him, his brows furrowed.
Prior to this, the Ottoman army was only evenly matched with the enemy.
But after the U-21 submarine was sunk, the Allied battleships could cooperate with the enemy landing forces without hesitation to attack the shore, and the balance of victory would once again tilt towards the Allies.
"We can't fail." Sanders muttered to himself: "If the Dardanelles falls, the war will end with our failure!"
But what can be done now?
Sanders considered several options in his mind:
Torpedo ship.
It seems that it can only attack at night. This has almost no effect on the Allied offensive, as they mostly attack during the day and set up barbed wire defense at night.
submarine?
The remaining five submarines could only carry out missions in the Sea of Marmara and the Strait due to their small size and poor endurance, and were unable to deal with enemy battleships operating in the Aegean Sea.
Well, there is only one way...
Sanders ordered his staff: "Order the troops to be divided into two groups, one for harassment at night, and the other for attacking during the day!"
"Yes!" the staff officer responded and passed the order on.
Less than half an hour after the order was issued, Colonel Bahar, commander of the 20th Ottoman Division, rushed into the command post.
"General, I think your order is inappropriate." Colonel Bahar, who had studied in Germany, spoke German, not fluently but firmly: "This is our land, we are familiar with everything here, I think we should deal with the enemy during the day, and the best time to attack is at night!"
"Really?" Sanders asked calmly, "So, how are your night attacks going during this period?"
Bahar was silent instantly.
The Allied forces had the advantage in firepower. They built trenches and put up barbed wire. Once the Ottoman army launched an attack, they would fall in large numbers under their machine guns.
At this time, the front line was littered with the corpses of Ottoman soldiers. Many of them had begun to rot and stink, but they still could only lie there.
After hesitating for a moment, Bahar said: "Even so, we cannot attack during the day. The enemy's naval guns will cause large-scale casualties to our troops..."
"It is precisely because of the battleships that we allow you to attack during the day." Sanders interrupted Bahar.
Bahar looked at Sanders in confusion. Isn't this sending Ottoman soldiers to die?
Sanders didn't rush to explain. He asked, "What is the current situation of the fortifications on the high ground you are stationed on?"
"The trees have been blown flat by the enemy." Bahar replied: "The fortifications we worked hard to build every night were always blown up by the enemy the next day. Even the land was blown apart and could not be put together..."
Sanders said nothing, just stared at Bahar quietly.
Bahar seemed to understand that they could not hold the high ground during the day because the enemy would first bombard the high ground several times with naval guns, and would do so even more in the future.
Sanders then added:
"When I say attack, I don't mean for you to charge at the enemy's position."
"Instead, we should disperse and build fortifications in front of the enemy to confront them, 500 meters, 400 meters, or even closer!"
"As long as we are close enough, the enemy's ship guns will be ineffective, understand?"
Bahar suddenly realized that there was a problem with the accuracy of the naval guns. They would often deviate from the target by several kilometers when firing at sea.
Once the Ottoman army built fortifications in front of the enemy instead of staying far away on the high ground, the enemy's naval guns would not dare to fire for fear of accidental injuries.
"Understood, General!" Bahar nodded.
"Wait!" Sanders stopped Bahar who was about to leave: "You are already the commander of the Third Army!"
Bahar looked stunned; he had often opposed Sanders and thought the two disliked each other.
"Don't get me wrong." Sanders understood Bahar's expression and explained, "I still don't like you, but this is a war, and you are the most suitable candidate for the commander of the Third Army."
Bahar nodded in understanding, then stepped forward and saluted Sanders.
Sanders looked at Bahar's back and nodded slightly. It was undeniable that he was an excellent soldier.
He once led more than 500 people to block the attack of 8,000 Allied Australian and New Zealand troops, and he always fought on the front line. Now we need commanders like him who lead by example.
…
After Bahar returned to the defense line, he immediately adjusted the deployment of troops. He dispersed the troops originally concentrated on the high ground, placing them here and there.
On the surface, there doesn't seem to be an obvious line of defense, but once the enemy launches an attack, they will emerge from every corner.
"Sanders should have had this idea," Bahar said, "to make it difficult for the enemy's naval guns to find their targets, while keeping their eyes on the enemy's infantry."
This style of fighting is a real test of the quality of the army.
When the soldiers are dispersed and there are no officers watching them, those with weak willpower are likely to desert.
But Bahar was not worried about this, because the Ottoman army was defending their homeland and the soldiers had the determination and courage to fight.
After doing all this, Bahar drew a detailed map of the troop deployment and reported it to Sanders.
…
Sanders looked at the map sent to him and nodded with satisfaction.
This commander was not chosen wrongly. He fully understood his spirit and implemented it.
However!
Can this stop the Allied attack?
That's Charles, he always gives people a fatal blow unexpectedly!
As if in response to Sanders, there was a sudden burst of fierce artillery fire, which shook the ground and caused broken soil on the roof to fall down with a coughing sound.
Sanders thought to himself that this was not good. He could tell that it was a bombardment from large-caliber naval guns, and there were quite a few of them.
The enemy would use naval guns to carry out large-scale bombings for only one purpose: to prepare for landing.
Could this be where Charles landed?
How dare he choose this place?
impossible!
However, the facts are in front of us:
The naval guns bombarded Bolayel one after another. There was fire and thick smoke everywhere. The land was shaking as if it was about to be lifted into the air. The houses collapsed like shattered porcelain, but the screams were completely drowned out by the sound of the guns.
The staff officer ran to Sanders in panic, leaned in close and shouted, "General, the enemy fleet has entered the Gulf of Saros and landed just northwest of us!"
(End of this chapter)
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