Chapter 317 Army Landing
Edward Shen, also known as Billy Shen, was even made into a movie about his deeds.
However, because of Shen Billy's Chinese identity, his heroic deeds were soon forgotten.
After the war, he didn't even have a formal job and made a living by doing manual labor and odd jobs. He finally died of poverty in a cheap hotel he rented at the age of 57, with only 5 shillings as his only inheritance.
Charles needs someone like this by his side, someone with keen insight and faster-than-ordinary reaction ability, and even a sixth sense developed from long-term hunting.
With him around, if another enemy suddenly appears, Charles won't have to do it himself.
Thinking about this, Charles turned to Richard and asked, "I just happen to need a guard, Colonel."
“Of course no problem.” Colonel Richard responded hurriedly, but then hesitated, he glanced at Billy Shen: “But he doesn’t know French, it seems unsuitable to be your guard…”
Billy Shen rushed forward, his tone a little nervous: “I can learn, Colonel, it’s not a problem. And there doesn’t seem to be much to learn, just simple communication.”
Colonel Richard turned his gaze toward Charles.
Charles agreed immediately: "No problem, we have no shortage of translators."
So the matter was settled.
On the way back to the western defense line, Charles asked Shen Billy through the translator: "You seem very reluctant to stay in your own unit?"
“Yes.” Billy Shen did not deny it, he looked indignant: “I did better than many people. Maybe you think I am bragging, Colonel, but I am telling the truth. The instructor is also a rookie in my eyes. If he is my enemy on the battlefield, I can easily kill him. However…”
Billy Shen glanced at his military rank.
No further explanation was needed, Charles immediately understood what was going on: discrimination, double standards, and unfair treatment.
With his special skills, he should have been able to lead a team or even organize a special forces unit, but until now he is still a corporal.
Shen Billy seemed to know that he would have no future in the Australian army, no matter how well he performed, so he thought of trying his luck with Charles in the French army.
Ciel smiled.
If it were someone else, he might still not have a chance to succeed, because France also had the same problem, but it just so happened that he ran into Charles.
You're lucky!
…
On this day, the Ottoman army did not launch an attack just as Charles had guessed.
But Tijani seemed very annoyed. He walked around the headquarters, saying:
"Originally we were surrounding the enemy, but now the enemy is surrounding us!"
"The front and rear defense lines are only about 200 meters away from us. No matter which direction we attack, the enemy's artillery fire can hit our backs, and the machine guns can shoot at our backs."
The second line of defense held by the French army was roughly composed of two trenches in the east and west, which were more than 100 meters apart.
If the French army jumped out of the trenches and attacked the enemy in the west, the enemy in the east would, as Tijani said, fire machine guns and artillery at the backs of the charging French army.
Such a charge would obviously not work and would probably be even more disastrous than an attack by the Ottoman army.
"General." At this time, the communicator came in and reported: "General Winter sent a telegram. He said that the colonel's guess is very likely correct. The seaplane detected that the enemy was practicing grenade throwing with wooden sticks."
Tijani said "hmm", took the telegram, glanced at it, and handed it to Charles, his brows frowning even deeper.
Charles took the telegram and read it, then said indifferently, "This may be a good thing."
"Good thing?" Tijani looked at Charles in confusion: "How can this be a good thing?"
Charles did not answer directly. He pointed to the "A" corner on the west side of the defense line and said, "We can boldly guess that the enemy on the west side has deployed its main force in front of our defense line in order to avoid the bombardment of the battleships."
"No, Colonel." Tijani looked up at Charles: "This is not a hypothesis, but a fact. It is obvious that the main force of the enemy is right in front of us!"
The enemy on the west side did not build a single trench, but a complete line of defense consisting of three trenches.
Even if each trench requires 2,000 men to defend, there are 6,000 troops in these three trenches.
That must be the main force of the enemy in corner "A", both in terms of quality and manpower.
"Then." Charles pointed to the east side of the defense line on the map: "Why don't we land from here?"
"You must be crazy!" Tijani looked at the point Charles pointed out: "If we want to land here, the transport ship must go deep into the Gulf of Saros and withstand the attack of the enemy's coastal defense artillery on three sides!"
Previously, the landing troops were fighting from west to east in order to keep the transport ships away from the "death zone" in the Gulf of Saros. But now Charles said that they wanted to land at the eastern end of the defense line, which was simply suicide.
However, Charles replied calmly: "I did not say the fleet landed."
Tijani was confused: "But if there is no fleet, how can we land?"
"The Army." Charles said firmly, "Ourselves!"
Tijani laughed. "On our own? That's the sea, Colonel. Can we swim across it..."
Before he could finish his words, he suddenly realized, "You mean, amphibious landing ship?"
Charles smiled but said nothing.
Tijani stared blankly for a long time with his mouth half open, then suddenly sat down and stared at the map, then exclaimed:
"God, the enemy's defense line is too close to us, only two or three hundred meters away."
"They thought this line of defense was in front of us and we definitely couldn't get around it."
"They forget that we have amphibious landing ships that can bypass their defenses from the sea and attack their flanks or even their rear."
"By then, their flanks will be attacked from two or even three sides..."
Tijanyi excitedly hugged Ciel's shoulders and shook him.
"That's great, Ciel, you're a genius!"
"The results of the previous landing battle will repeat themselves, and the enemy will unknowingly make the same mistakes."
"These fools, they didn't even think that amphibious landing ships could land from the flank!"
…
Charles was speechless for a moment. Didn't you expect the same thing?
This may be due to people's stereotypes. Everyone thinks that amphibious landing ships like the Charles are used for landing from sea to land.
They didn't expect that this thing could have another form: from land to sea, and then from sea to land.
That's why Charles said "Maybe this is a good thing."
If the enemy had not built such a line of defense to try to compress the French army's living space, the "A" corner would be several square kilometers, and the defenders would be scattered in various terrains. Even if Charles wanted to penetrate, he would not know where to penetrate, and once he penetrated, he would be surrounded by the enemy.
Now, the enemies are concentrated in front and distributed linearly, which creates a great opportunity for Charles!
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
