Chapter 303 Landing
The landing operation of the 105th Regiment went very smoothly.
There was no scene as imagined of machine guns madly firing at landing craft, because this was an area of the sea where the enemy thought it was "impossible to land".
If it was before, it would be impossible to land here. Unless the Allied forces rowed small wooden boats to the beach, but this would obviously be ruthlessly destroyed by the enemy on the sea.
But now, with landing ships and landing craft, everything has become simple.
All the landing force had to do was go ashore under the cover of artillery fire, deploy its forces, and then achieve victory.
Charles stood on the transport ship "Henri" holding a telescope, watching the collapsed and fleeing Ottoman soldiers, and praised: "It's not easy, they have persisted until now."
Tijani hummed in agreement.
Unexpected "accidents" are extremely taboo on the battlefield, as they will undermine the morale of the troops and make them feel that they are destined to lose the battle.
In this battle, the Ottoman soldiers experienced at least three accidents:
For the first time, the Allied fleet appeared on the beach and bombed them.
The second time, the Allied forces actually landed here, and they did it in such a short time using landing ships. They also deployed their forces and suppressed them with powerful firepower.
The third time is the landing ship that can be used both on land and at sea.
Tijani could imagine the shock that the Ottoman soldiers felt when they saw the amphibious landing ships coming directly ashore from the sea.
The Ottoman soldiers withstood the first two accidents, but eventually collapsed at the third.
…
The landing troops did not stop. They attacked along the trenches built by the enemy under the cover of amphibious landing ships.
The attack is an all-round attack from top to bottom and left to right:
There were several amphibious landing ships on each side of the trench, and they used machine guns and rifles to shoot at targets in the trench from a high position.
In the middle, a group of soldiers steadily advanced through the trenches, clearing out the remaining enemies.
The soldiers following the amphibious landing ship used mortars to cooperate with the landing ship to suppress the enemy's machine gun fire.
The Ottoman army was so badly defeated that it was unable to hold off the landing force even for a moment.
At this time, the landing craft returned and slowly stopped under the net rope next to the transport ship, ready to transport the second batch of landing troops ashore.
Tijani put away the telescope, turned his head to look at Charles, and advised: "You don't have to go ashore, Colonel. We understand that you don't need to do this!"
Ciel shook his head gently: "No, I have to go ashore."
Charles felt a little helpless.
It is a tradition of the French army that officers should lead the charge in front of the soldiers, so as to motivate the soldiers to attack and ultimately achieve victory. This is the core of the French offensive theory.
Although Charles did not agree with the offensive theory, in this environment, as a staff officer of the 105th Regiment, if he could not even land, it would undoubtedly affect the morale of the troops.
On the other hand, the major French newspapers will immediately magnify this incident:
"Everyone from the 105th Regiment has landed. Only Charles remains on the transport ship, away from the battlefield."
"Does he still think he can enjoy the 'underage' treatment?"
"So this is what Charles meant by the landing operation. Although he is in the Dardanelles, he is not on the battlefield!"
…
Charles sighed inwardly, this is what is called "it's lonely at the top".
Since you have to land, you shouldn't be timid.
He decided to land in the second batch with Tijani's command to shut everyone up!
Thinking of this, Charles gritted his teeth, put the telescope back into the box, tightened his belt, and climbed over the transport ship and down the net rope like the others.
The soldiers exclaimed in surprise at Charles' actions:
"My God, is that Colonel Charles? Is he going to fight with us?"
"Unbelievable, I thought he should have stayed on the boat!"
"I thought so too. He shouldn't have risked his life on the battlefield!"
…
Several soldiers spontaneously crawled beside Charles, carefully protecting him as he climbed down step by step. When he was almost at the landing craft, several more soldiers came up to take Charles down.
The soldiers came up and said in unison:
"You shouldn't have come down, Colonel! The good things you did and the equipment you invented saved many lives. We won't allow you to take risks on the battlefield."
"Yes, you can play a bigger role, fighting is our business."
"If anything happens to you, it's France's loss, the people's loss, and our loss!"
…
You have to act the whole part, Charles thought. Since you have to take the risk anyway, you might as well act brave and gain some popularity.
Charles smiled slightly and said firmly:
"No, soldier. There is no Shire here, and no inventors."
"There are only the staff officers of the 105th Regiment here. It is my job to lead you to the battlefield."
"I believe you will win. Therefore, I am fearless!"
Tijani, who had just jumped off the rope, shouted: "Long live France!"
The soldiers were so moved that their eyes filled with tears, and they shouted one after another: "Long live France!"
The shouting seemed to be contagious and quickly spread to the surroundings.
Soon, everyone knew that Charles was going to land in person. The sailors on the destroyers, battleships, trawlers, and minesweepers all cheered loudly, even drowning out the sound of the battleship guns, and the morale of the entire army was high.
…
To be honest, landing is indeed dangerous.
Because the Ottoman artillery had already responded, they fired at Anya Beach one shot at a time.
Some shells landed on the shore, instantly creating a large crater and stirring up sand like waves.
Some shells fell into the sea, stirring up water columns tens of meters high like fountains.
Although Charles had seen such scenes before, the feeling of being in it was completely different.
The shaking ship, the pungent smoke, and the cold sea water falling from the sky made Charles shiver.
He even felt a little regretful. What if the cannonball hit his ship? Would all his efforts be wasted?
But now that things have come to this, Charles can only continue to hold on.
After finally landing on the shore, Charles was about to take a breath when he saw corpses all over the ground and the air filled with the smell of gunpowder and blood.
The corpses included both enemies and our own, mostly Ottoman soldiers. They fell to the ground in various postures, with broken limbs and blood all over them, and some were even groaning.
After the French soldiers came up, they shot them without hesitation, ending their lives.
Charles couldn't help but feel his stomach churning. Although he was mentally prepared, he still couldn't stand it.
Tijani looked at Charles' pale face and stepped forward to comfort him, "You'll get used to it, Colonel. I felt the same way when I first saw this scene!"
(End of this chapter)
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