Chapter 304 Information Blockade
The small town of Bolayer, the headquarters of the Ottoman Fifth Army.
When Sanders heard that the enemy had landed from the direction of Anya village, he was completely stunned.
"How is it possible to land in that sea area?" Sanders looked at the staff officer in astonishment, paused and asked seriously: "Did you make a mistake?"
Sanders thought this was a lie, which happened frequently in Gallipoli, when some recruits tried to tell their superiors that they were busy in order to avoid real combat.
"No, General." The staff officer replied confidently: "It has been confirmed that the enemy has indeed landed. The 3rd Infantry Battalion stationed there has fled. It is not clear what the situation is yet."
Sanders stared at the map in silence for a while, then made a judgment: this might be a feint attack by the enemy.
Given his current level of cognition and the limitations of the times, it is not surprising that he would have such thoughts.
Because the incident happened suddenly, the 3rd Infantry Battalion was defeated before it even had time to make a phone call.
Some soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Battalion scattered and fled, but they were unable to transmit the information in time. It was difficult to find a telephone in that era, especially in the Gallipoli Peninsula, which was a poor and desolate mountainous area.
Therefore, all Sanders knew was that the enemy had landed in the direction of Annia village.
"Aniya Village is full of reefs." Sanders' face regained its composure. "It is impossible for the enemy to land in large numbers in that direction. They are likely to use the darkness before dawn to send a commando team in a small wooden boat to launch an attack there."
"Is their purpose to divert our attention?" asked the staff officer.
"Yes." Sanders nodded. "They want us to reinforce Annia Village so that they can launch a sudden attack in other directions."
Thinking of this, Sanders did not hesitate and ordered: "Let Bahar dispatch a battalion to reinforce, and the other troops remain stationary, and pay close attention to other directions and be prepared for battle!"
"Yes, General!" the staff officer responded.
The staff officer was about to go down to convey the order, but was stopped by Sanders: "Send the reconnaissance plane to conduct a reconnaissance and see what's going on!"
Sanders was a little worried. If the enemy's landing in Annia Village was true, it would deal a fatal blow to the defense of the Gallipoli Peninsula.
…
At this time, Bahar was busy with the defense of Annia village.
The Third Corps under his command consisted of three infantry divisions with more than 50,000 men, but the forces available to reinforce Anya village in time were extremely limited.
The rest of the troops were either too far away or defending the coastline.
The former is like robbing Peter to pay Paul, which may expose more coastline to the enemy.
Bahar looked at the map and thought for a while, then muttered to himself: "The only ones who can provide reinforcements in time are the Army Group Guard Battalion. Let them rush to the defense line to hold off the enemy. We'll be safe when the reinforcements arrive!"
Thinking of this, Bahar was about to call the army headquarters, when the headquarters called.
The speaker was Staff Officer Quinn. He and Bahar were both from Thessaloniki and they would chat for a while when they met.
"The general said that it might be a feint attack by the enemy, Colonel." The staff officer said calmly, "We only need to send one battalion to reinforce, and keep the rest of the troops in place. We must not panic..."
"I don't think so." Bahar interrupted the staff officer: "Their attack speed is very fast, so fast that it is unimaginable. It can't be a feint!"
Bahar made this judgment based on the successive loss of contact with the second line of defense: first the 3rd Infantry Battalion, then the 2nd Infantry Battalion... Their situations were exactly the same, and none of their calls could get through.
Soon, the calls to these locations were connected again, and they replied that everything was normal, but Bahar always felt that something was wrong.
The same situation happened again and again behind the defense line. Some places were accessible while others were suddenly cut off, which confused Bahar.
"Relax, Colonel." The staff officer analyzed, "You know the situation in the waters around Aniya Village. The reefs there mean that the enemy's landing operations in that direction are unsustainable. They cannot get continuous supplies, so they can only make a feint attack."
The Ottoman Empire mostly used German Mauser rifles, which were not compatible with the ammunition of French rifles.
Therefore, the staff's analysis makes sense: if the French cannot continue to deliver supplies during the day, the enemy landing troops will have fewer and fewer bullets until they run out of ammunition and food.
"I heard they have tanks!" Bahar stressed, his tone a little nervous: "Tanks invented by Charles, they might be Charles' troops..."
The staff officer laughed and said, "Colonel, I want to know how the tanks landed."
"They..." Bahar was stunned.
He heard that the tanks were driven directly ashore from the sea, but he himself didn't believe it. If he told the truth, he would be laughed at again.
Seeing that Bahar did not answer, the staff officer continued to order: "Do as the general said, transfer a battalion from the 70th Infantry Regiment to reinforce, and pay attention to the enemy's movements in other directions!"
"Yes, I obey your orders." Bahar replied in a muffled voice.
…
This was part of the Charr's offensive plan: to end the battle as soon as possible before the enemy could react.
Wars are often fought with information; if the enemy knows nothing, they cannot respond effectively.
This is difficult to do in modern times, but it was possible during World War I when communication equipment was extremely backward.
(Note: This could also be done in World War II. Blitzkrieg was a rapid penetration of the enemy without knowing the enemy's situation.)
There are roughly three ways for Charles to block information:
"First, the sky. The enemy will send out reconnaissance planes to conduct reconnaissance." Charles turned his gaze to General Winter.
General Winter understood: "No problem, I will order the Royal Ark to cooperate with you in the battle. Its seaplanes will shoot down anything that can fly into the air."
"Not only that, General." Charles added: "I hope they can scout the situation ahead of the offensive line and pass the information to us."
"Of course!" General Winter nodded.
He was very confident about this, as the Ottoman Empire had only a dozen reconnaissance planes, and they had not yet been equipped with machine guns.
"The second is land." Charles turned his gaze to Tijani: "We must attack quickly. As long as we are fast enough, the enemy will not have time to pass on accurate intelligence."
"Understood, Colonel." Tijani puffed out his chest, "We will keep up the pace of attack until we see the sea on the other side!"
Finally, Charles added, "There are also telephones inside the defense line. We need some people who can speak Ottoman."
Hamilton replied: "I'll take care of this. We have prepared many translators!"
Hamilton looked slightly embarrassed as he spoke.
These translators were originally used to interrogate prisoners or communicate with local people, but have not been of much use until now.
(End of this chapter)
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