Chapter 700 Amphibious Landing
In early September, just after the end of this naval battle, Churchill's large-scale plan involving amphibious landings, ground warfare and Arab status was implemented with the support of the British Cabinet. The 300,000 British and Indian troops in Egypt crossed the Sinai Peninsula to attack the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, which was still firmly controlled by the Ottoman Empire. The goal was to occupy the prosperous Syrian region and threaten the core area of the Ottoman Empire.
As for the other part, the British Expeditionary Force and the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, they were stepping up preparations to launch an unprecedented amphibious landing operation, aiming directly at Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, piercing into the heart of this dying empire, ending the fighting on the Asian battlefield, and once again encircling the Allied Powers.
Another British Indian Army with a total of 165,000 troops stationed in Oman is also in the process of mobilization.
This trend was immediately reported to slave owners in the country by John Connor in Kuwait via telegram.
"In terms of the current Ottoman Empire's territory, the value of the Syrian front is greater than that of Mesopotamia in the Two Rivers Basin. In terms of preparation, the British army based in Egypt is far stronger than the British and Indian Army in Oman. So the fierce competition must be on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean. Of course, we cannot underestimate the danger." Sheffield said to Jesra, holding a cigar in his mouth. "It is impossible to judge the specific actions of the British army now, but the Arabs are an unstable factor. This can remind Jemal Pasha. Our task here is very simple. I don't care when the British and Indian Army in Oman will take action. Anyway, my territory must not be lost. As long as the British and Indian Army leaves Oman, it can be regarded as an invasion of Kuwait."
"Boss, are we over-defending? If we provoke a conflict first, will Kuwait be in greater danger?" Jesra frowned and said with some concern, "After all, the British are still powerful."
Sheffield frowned and looked deeply at the bodyguard leader, whispering, "Even if my own father stands on the side of the British, I will not hesitate to fight. Tell John and Brown that once the British and Indian Army leaves Oman and heads north, I will pay ten dollars for each Indian corpse. The price is clearly marked, and the money will be paid according to the number of corpses. Isn't it like sending a shipload of wood? Just act according to the original plan!"
Generally speaking, during the period of World War I, the value of the eastern coast of the Mediterranean was far greater than that of the Persian Gulf region, as can be seen from the deployment of British military forces.
After all, the only oil found in the entire Persian Gulf region is in Iraq, which is currently the only operating oil well in the Persian Gulf region, and now the local oil wells have been occupied by the Ottoman Empire.
Sheffield delivers motorcycles and trucks in batches every month, and has already taken fuel issues into consideration. In fact, good quality oil can be directly injected into the tank without processing. The consequence of doing so is that the engine life is greatly shortened, but for United General, it is completely affordable.
In the Ottoman Eighth Army Headquarters in Kuwait City, Persian Gulf, John Connor glanced at the telegram, looked at his companions and said with a wry smile, "The boss is getting impatient and issuing a bounty order. This reminds me of the history before independence."
"Indian scalp bounty? I wonder if it has the patent approval of the Queen of England?" Brown knew what John Connor was thinking of. Before the independence of the United States, Britain had issued an Indian scalp bounty in the name of the Queen to provide legal support for the expulsion of Indians.
This is not to shift the blame to the British, the fact is that the United States did not do these things. It just completely inherited the practices of the colonial period.
"Patented or not, the boss usually doesn't go abroad, and I believe he won't care. Anyway, for the United Company, ten dollars a life is not a lot of money. Even if you count the hundreds of thousands of British and Indian troops in Oman, it's less than two million!" John Connor shrugged and said, "Order the Eighth Army to be on alert. There is news from the Third Army of Jemal Pasha that the British and Indian troops in Egypt have crossed the Sinai Peninsula and are trying to seize Syria. We have to be careful here too."
The southern territories of the Ottoman Empire are currently under pressure from two main fronts. The Levant Front is where the British army set out from Egypt and marched northward to capture Syria on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean.
Mesopotamian Front: British troops transferred from colonies such as India attacked northwest and gradually captured the Mesopotamian region.
Churchill's idea was to place the main force of the British Indian Corps on the Levant Front. Once the Levant Front was victorious, the Ottoman Eighth Army, which was mainly composed of Christians and entrenched in the Mesopotamian region, would counterattack the Ottoman Empire.
The Lord Admiral did not think about what would happen if Britain could not defeat the Ottoman Empire on land? Churchill really did not think about this problem. Even the Russian Empire, which was besieged by the Allies, could humiliate the Ottoman Empire? How could the British Empire lose to such an opponent!
The slave owners were not as confident as the Navy Minister. The Ottoman Empire had a population of only about 30 million, including those not counted, and less than 25 million on paper. It mobilized 2.8 million troops during World War I. The Ottoman Empire's determination to join the war was definitely not what Churchill had imagined, that one battle would make the Ottoman Empire withdraw from the war.
The Ottoman Empire had almost lost all its territory, and even the Sultan of Constantinople was guarding the border. In its dying struggle during World War I, the force of its counterattack was extremely swift and could have definitely made the British bleed.
During the war of 1915, there were two things that left a deep impression on the British. One was that the Zeppelin airship formation began to frequently carry out air raids on London, and the other was that the Germans used poison gas on the battlefield for the first time, causing huge casualties to the Allied soldiers.
But Churchill would not have imagined that poison gas bombs were not only in stockpile by the Germans, but also by the mob entrenched in Kuwait. Not only that, they also had gas masks to protect themselves.
Compared to the Battle of the Dardanelles in real history, Churchill in this time and space was delayed by nearly half a year due to harassment from the Italian Navy, but he was more fully prepared. In terms of manpower, he had the support of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and the Indian Army Corps, and a million troops had been deployed in the Middle East. The commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, Sackville Carden, personally carried out an amphibious landing against the Ottoman Empire.
The 300,000 Allied forces were ready, and even the French, who were already in a precarious situation, sent two divisions to join the war. From this point of view, the French and the Russian Empire were very similar. Once they got excited, they would show reckless spirit, but would regret it when they calmed down.
Mediterranean Fleet Commander Sackville Carden commanded the British and French fleets to bombard the vicinity of the landing site to clear the way for the upcoming large-scale landing.
On the night of September 25, a large number of Allied troops boarded ships in Alexandria and embarked on a life-or-death journey. The first attack was led by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, while the British and French troops landed at other locations and then joined forces to attack Constantinople.
Unlike in history, this time the landing was discovered by an Italian warship just after it began. The Italian cruiser that discovered the huge fleet quickly fled and informed the Allied commander of the movement of this huge and unusual fleet.
The signs of this Dardanelles campaign were too obvious, and the previous naval battle could be understood as a clearing. Late at night the next day, the British and French fleets bombarded the positions in the Dardanelles. On land, the Ottoman army abandoned their positions and retreated inland after being suddenly attacked. The British assault force was the first to rush to the coast without encountering any resistance.
German military adviser Otto von Sanders was awakened in the middle of the night. He came to the headquarters and looked at the battle map for a while. He judged, "What a bold battle plan. Which layman came up with this?"
"General, did you see anything?" Enver Pasha asked carefully.
"The Allies want to conduct an amphibious landing near Constantinople, directly capture the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and force you to withdraw from the war! The naval battle that broke out with the Austrian and Italian fleets before was a precursor to this landing operation." Otto von Sanders answered meticulously, "But such a risky plan doesn't seem to exist in reality. I want to know which genius came up with such a crazy plan."
Although Otto von Sanders was far away from the landing site and could not hear the huge sound of naval guns, he could imagine how lively the atmosphere was there. He decisively ordered, "We now have two choices. The first is to counterattack the landing troops before they gain a foothold and drive them into the sea. The other option is to let them land and occupy an unstable landing point that would be a pity to give up, and fight a war of attrition."
"Of course I would choose the first one. No one wants to have fighting next to their capital." Enver Pasha gave his opinion, "Let's drive them into the sea."
"Okay, immediately mobilize the surrounding garrisons for support, and at the same time activate the defense system and organize a defense line outside the range of the ship's guns." Otto von Sanders quickly made arrangements, "If we can't do the first option, the second option is also acceptable!"
After a night of fierce fighting, the Allied Powers, who were better prepared than in history, were not repelled and firmly occupied the beachhead. A steady stream of Allied troops landed on the land of the Ottoman Empire under the cover of naval guns.
The next day, Otto von Sanders had to tell Enver Pasha that this might be a protracted war. At the same time, he had already mobilized the Fifth Army to reinforce. "The advantage is still on our side. Judging from the current landing position, the second option is more in line with our judgment."
(End of this chapter)
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