Chapter 319 Sniper Company
Although there are amphibious landing ships to support them, Charles's combat plan of attacking from the flank is still subject to great uncertainty.
Charles pointed to the sea in the east and said, "Once the enemy finds our amphibious landing ships in time, they may suppress them from all directions with machine guns and artillery fire, which will be devastating to the amphibious landing ships."
Tijani nodded in agreement: "There are also machine guns deployed by the enemy on the defense line. There are machine guns on both sides of the defense line. They will form a two-sided attack on our attacking forces."
If the frontal attack is defeated by the enemy, the infiltration troops will be killed even if they get into place.
"So," Charles pointed to the middle of the defense line and said, "We should make the enemy think that we are going to launch a counterattack in the middle and divert their attention there!"
"But..." Tijani looked at Ciel in confusion: "How can we let them know?"
Charles smiled but said nothing. Leave it to him. He has the channels.
…
Sanders is pleased with the state of the battlefield, at least for now.
The Australians' attack was fierce. With the support of mortars and grenades, they rushed into the Ottoman trenches several times and engaged in hand-to-hand combat, but were eventually pushed back by Sanders with artillery and reinforcements.
The artillery attacks on the enemy's reinforcements made it difficult for them to continue, but the Ottoman reinforcements continued to arrive like a tide. It was obvious that victory would belong to the Ottoman army in such a battle.
At this time, Staff Officer Quinn hurried out of the command post and reported to Sanders: "General, the enemy is attacking from the flank."
Sanders hummed, assuming that the enemy's flank attack was intended to disperse the Ottomans' limited firepower and make it easier for the Australian army to break through.
However, Quinn added: "They are about to collapse, request reinforcements!"
"What?" Sanders suddenly turned his head and looked at Quinn, his face full of surprise.
I just started playing, why am I about to collapse?
And the flank is not the enemy's main attack direction...
"General!" Quinn handed several telegrams to Sanders, his face pale and his voice hurried: "I believe that the flank is the enemy's main attack direction."
Sanders took the telegram and exclaimed: "Amphibious landing ship? They are using amphibious landing ships to penetrate the flank?"
"Yes!" Quinn replied, "It may be that at the moment when our artillery fires on the enemy, their attack on the flank is launched at the same time!"
Sanders realized that he had fallen into the enemy's "feint to the east and attack in the west" strategy. While his attention was diverted by the large-scale attack in the center, the enemy launched a real "attack" on the flank.
Sanders quickly put away his binoculars and walked quickly to the headquarters. Soon he was running, rushed into the headquarters and asked breathlessly: "What's the situation?"
The staff officers reported one after another:
"The enemy's amphibious landing craft have successfully penetrated the rear of our 3rd Militia Regiment and are launching an attack on it."
"The enemy's two lines of defense also launched attacks simultaneously."
"Their artillery fire was very fierce. It was mortars. There were at least dozens of them concentrated on the flanks. The shells continued to bombard our positions, causing heavy casualties to our troops."
…
Those must be the mortars and artillery shells that the enemy replenished last night, Sanders thought, and secretly regretted that he should have blocked the enemy's supplies, but gave up because he couldn't bear to part with the artillery shells.
"Machine guns!" Sanders ordered loudly, "Replenish the machine guns immediately, and change the direction of the artillery to suppress the enemy on the flank!"
"Yes!" the staff officer responded.
Sanders' response tactics were correct. Long-range artillery fire could suppress enemy mortars, and machine guns could play a role.
In this situation, machine guns must be the king. They can strike the enemy's charges on two lines of defense at the same time. As long as the machine gun firepower is output normally, the safety of the flank can be guaranteed and the Ottoman army can regain the initiative.
However, Sanders underestimated Charles.
At this time, Charles had organized a special force specifically for machine guns: the First Sniper Company, with Captain Shen Billy.
Unlike a company of more than 200 people at that time, the sniper company had only more than 100 people, and all its members were soldiers with good marksmanship selected from the army.
Charles called Shen Billy to him. By then he had learned to call him Colonel in French.
"Your primary target is the enemy's machine guns," said Charles. "Once the battle begins, I hope that not a single machine gun in your defense zone will be able to fire a bullet!"
“Understood!” Billy Shen responded confidently.
"You don't want to ask about other things?" Charles was a little confused. "For example, how big is your defense zone, how many enemies are there, and how many machine guns are there?"
“No, Colonel.” Shen Billy replied: “I believe the task you assigned to me is reasonable, and I don’t need to worry about this.”
Smart guy, Charles thought.
Billy Shen must have realized that this was a decisive battle, and that Charles would not joke with everyone’s lives, so he would not arrange a task beyond his capabilities.
However, even though he was a smart man and had such ability, he still had no way out due to "universal discrimination" in history.
"Besides," Charles said, "you should develop the habit of cooperating with others, Lieutenant!"
"What?" Billy Shen was stunned. He looked at the rank on his uniform and looked at the translator in confusion: "But I am a corporal. Besides, I never cooperate with others..."
He thought it was a translation error.
Charles interrupted him and nodded at a set of equipment piled in the corner of the tunnel: "You are a second lieutenant now. I have sent two sets of French uniforms. If you are willing..."
“Of course, Colonel,” Shen Billy replied excitedly, “Of course I would.”
God, I just joined the French Army and I'm already a second lieutenant. I can wear this uniform to show off in front of those who looked down on me in the past.
The important thing is that this is the French army, a French army that is superior to the Australian army!
“As for cooperating with others.” Xia Er stared at Billy Shen: “No room for negotiation, you must learn to cooperate!”
“Why, why?” Billy Shen’s eyes were filled with confusion and a little unwillingness.
"Two people work together, one is the gunner and the other is the observer." Charles' explanation was simple and clear: "The gunner squints and observes the enemy through the crosshairs, striving for accuracy, but his field of vision is narrow, and it is difficult for him to find valuable targets in a large area in a short time. The observer is equipped with a telescope, specifically for finding targets for the gunner."
Billy Shen said “Oh”: “In this way, the efficiency of two people will be much higher than the simple superposition of two rifles?”
"Yes." Charles nodded. "The gunner can always aim and snipe the enemy without wasting time or being distracted by searching. Any opinions?"
“No problem!” Billy Shen stepped forward and answered.
But he looked skeptical. Would this method work?
What if the cooperation is not good?
(End of this chapter)
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