Chapter 714 Oman is no longer safe
"I'll try my best!" Zidsailayan was cautious and did not give a heroic answer.
"The counterattack requires the combined efforts of the entire army. We will do our best to create the necessary environment for you. Don't worry about anything else. Just focus on the plan of the 29th Army." John Connor hesitated and finally patted Zidselayan on the shoulder. "Just treat the counterattack as the last battle."
"Do you think he can do it?" Brown waited until Zidselayan left before walking in leisurely and asking, "This is a surprise attack that has never happened on the battlefield before. Although we have a huge vehicle transport capacity and consultants assigned to the company, all of which are supported by the United Company, it is still worrying to what extent these Middle Eastern Christians can do it."
"As long as they get there, it doesn't matter even if they set all the cars on fire. Don't you understand the boss's character? He usually thinks about how to make money, but at the critical moment, he always treats money as firewood." John Connor shrugged and said, "We can't lose. Once the Black Gold Company is wiped out, not to mention our fate, the United Company will also lose its private armed forces to deter other companies. Although our boss never respects anyone's life, he will not be indifferent to this matter."
"My idea is this. There are still a dozen cargo ships in the port that have not left. We can use them to land behind the British Indian Corps." John Connor turned around and pointed his finger at a location one hundred kilometers behind the British Indian Corps.
"That's not a place to land, unless you just sit there and watch the ship run aground," Brown said with a frown.
"What else? Should we ask the boss?" John Connor said nonchalantly, "It's already this late, why are you still concerned about some ships? We can't get out of the Persian Gulf anyway, so we might as well use them."
"Okay!" Brown nodded. "I believe the boss won't care about this. He has invested so much money."
"No, no." Sheffield emphasized twice, "As long as we can win, everything else is just a passing fad. It's not shameful to win with sufficient support. Burn it all and I'll replace it. Don't think about how much it costs. No matter how much you spend now, it's less than what I'll spend on ransom in the POW camp. I don't want to see that day."
At the Eighth Army Headquarters in Kuwait, the counterattack plan had been known to all commanders. John Connor, wearing military boots, paced back and forth, making thumping sounds, and finally stopped and said, "Let's take a rest today. Everyone knows that we were not soldiers before we came to the Middle East. Now I want to explain the current situation from the perspective of ordinary people. For thousands of years, Christians in the Middle East have been surrounded. We should understand what it means to have a land of our own. We will launch a full-scale counterattack at 12 noon tomorrow."
"General Zidselayan, you only need to use those cars as a means of transportation. If time is insufficient, you can burn those cars to prevent the enemy from attacking when building the defense line. It doesn't matter."
At noon on January 17, 1916, at various military positions in Kuwait, all the consultants of the Black Gold Company who were assigned to level up were doing the same thing, checking the time. When the time reached noon, more than 600 artillery pieces on various positions made earth-shaking noises, and under the leadership of 20 310mm railway guns, they launched artillery fire on the British and Indian Corps on the periphery.
Four hours earlier, the 29th Army in Basra had started the first motorized march in human history with all its vehicles. The soldiers of the Eighth Army had lived near the Persian Gulf for many years and would not be embarrassed to get lost. Compared with the British Indian Corps that came from afar, this was completely a local battle.
The long-held grievances of the soldiers of the Eighth Army were finally vented, and amid the deafening shouts of killing, countless helmets and blue uniforms gathered into a huge wave, instantly submerging the bullet-riddled front positions of the British Indian Corps. The Eighth Army had never laid mines while defending, and the attacking British Indian Corps had no intention of causing trouble for their attack, so the road was smooth.
Half a minute later, the artillery of the British Indian Corps began to fire sporadically. The few machine guns were completely unable to stop the ferocious Eighth Army's charge. The shells and bullets were like small grains of sand thrown into the water, barely causing a few ripples before being swallowed up by the surging waves.
The Eighth Army, which took up the Japanese army's Banzai charge, quickly defeated the two Indian infantry divisions at the forefront of the British Indian Corps with the momentum of a tiger descending from a mountain. By the time the Bengali cavalry, which had been beaten to pieces by the artillery fire, began to recover and launch a counterattack, it was too late.
"Specifically attack Indians. Hit them hard when you see any troops with beards and turbans. This is the key to our breakthrough!" Commanders at all levels regarded the Indian troops, which made up the majority, as the breakthrough point for this counterattack.
The sound of machine gun fire was deafening, and the infantry in the front row were busy repeating the actions of pulling the bolt and pulling the trigger. Bullet shells soon piled up under the machine gunners' feet, and before the infantry had time to load the second row of bullets into the magazine, the Eighth Army's charging column had already arrived in front of them.
The Indians' pitifully few artillery pieces were used to their full potential, with shells falling on the advancing troops. As the neat columns passed by, bodies were scattered all over the ground. The blue waves in the eyes of the Indians were getting closer and closer, and the soldiers of the Eighth Army finally entered the firing range of the Indian soldiers. After the machine guns and rifles sounded, the neat attacking columns suddenly dispersed, and the soldiers began to charge in a skirmish column, and the machine guns of both sides began to shoot back and forth.
In the wilderness without any trenches or shelters, any bullet could easily end the enemy's life. Gradually, the Eighth Army's counterattack troops overwhelmed the trapped Indian soldiers in terms of momentum, organization and firepower. The two and a half infantry divisions and two regiments of Bengal cavalry that the British Indian Army had assembled here with great difficulty finally could not hold on. The already scattered defense line began to waver, and some soldiers began to retreat, which then turned into a collective retreat.
In an environment like the desert Gobi, what will be the outcome if we retreat?
There was no outcome. When the British supervision team appeared, the Indians regained their fighting power and stabilized their position after retreating 20 kilometers. There was no doubt that the encirclement of Kuwait had been broken. If the British Indian Corps chose to retreat at this time, nothing that happened afterwards would have happened.
At the British-Indian Corps headquarters in Oman, a major in military uniform asked the telegraph operator beside him, "Hasn't the plan of the Kuwaiti mercenaries been figured out yet?"
The so-called Eighth Army of the Ottoman Empire was not really an Ottoman army in the eyes of the British, and they still habitually called it mercenaries.
"How can we not understand? We know it very well. They never use coded telegrams, only plain text telegrams." The translator held the telegram report in his hand. "Since the counterattack today, Kuwait has sent only a few telegrams. We intercepted them all, even the nicknames between this mercenary and his boss."
The major took the telegram and looked at the contents. He smiled bitterly and said, "I would rather our opponent have a complete coded telegram system than read these meaningless telegrams, especially those sent from the United States. This rich man is just talking nonsense to the extreme. There is a lot of content, but it is worthless."
"It's just like one of our politicians giving a speech!" the telegraph operator added with a smile, obviously agreeing with what his superior said.
"That's right!" The major shrugged and put down the telegram helplessly. It seems that we can't provide any useful information to the headquarters.
Sheffield in New York was really shot even when he was lying down. Having a way of speaking that ordinary citizens couldn't understand was originally a necessary skill for the upper class. Is this considered a mistake? The fact that these two bastards couldn't understand could only mean one thing: they were really ordinary citizens.
If everyone can understand what you say, how can you show your status in the upper class?
If we look for such a master of rhetoric in history, the Jiajing Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is definitely one of them. Even the slave owners could not think of anyone more powerful than this emperor. Any order issued by the Jiajing Emperor was ambiguous, and even most of the ministers in the court did not understand what the emperor meant, but this was not a good thing for the country.
The slave owner who didn't know he was being ridiculed, because of the time difference, just got to know about this counterattack, and thought he would definitely win, and that it was absolutely false to drive the British Indian Army into the sea. He just hoped that this would happen!
"Is the car ready for our trip to Minneapolis today?" Sheffield asked the head bodyguard with a nod.
"Everything is ready, just like the airship." Jesla nodded. He knew best that his boss's words were not always accurate. When he asked for the car to be prepared, it meant that all means of transportation should be prepared. As for whether it was a car, a train or an airship, it all depended on his mood when he set out.
In the end, Sheffield chose to take an airship to Minneapolis. As long as the weather allowed, the slave owner believed that it was safe to take an airship, at least there would be no worries about car bombs. At such a sensitive time, it was hard to guarantee that there would be no accidents. Five airships took off at the same time, and under the escort of other airships, Sheffield set off leisurely.
"I can't build a train just for myself so that I can travel whenever I want. And it's not the train's problem. There are too many places on the tracks that can be tampered with. Do I have to build a railway for myself and build it wherever I go?" Sheffield was still trying in vain to explain his behavior, and several women nodded in unison.
"We all know that safety comes first!" Evelyn whispered, "Why did the Secretary of War choose Minnesota for the airship brigade demonstration he watched this time?"
"Because it is relatively close to Canada and not close to any major Canadian cities, I wanted to demonstrate from New York and go directly to Toronto and Ottawa. Otherwise, I think the British always disrespect me." Sheffield spread his hands and sighed, "But the Secretary of War disagreed, and with so many airships appearing at the same time, the population near New York is a bit too large, so we chose such a remote... not bad agricultural state."
"My brother has communicated with several companies in the UK. However, your mercenaries are currently fighting with the British Indian Army. The situation may not be optimistic. You should be mentally prepared." Louisa Morgan said, "But don't be too harsh. The situation in the UK has become worse. Zeppelins have been visiting London frequently recently. The UK is not very willing to break off relations with the United States."
"If the Germans weren't here, they would probably come and burn down the White House again. But I believe that after this war, the United States won't have to worry about the British coming to attack us!" Sheffield gloated, "Why do I always speak for the Germans? Because their attack on Britain is really good for us."
"I want the British to compensate me for my losses. No matter what the result of this counterattack is, I will lose a lot of money." Sheffield said indignantly, "They have occupied so many colonies, and they even want to snatch the small Persian Gulf from me. The British are simply greedy. The Germans should just attack them."
Lindley Miller Garrison, the current Secretary of War, was already waiting for Sheffield in the suburbs of Minneapolis. This airship purchase was a purchase that he had facilitated during his tenure as Secretary of War.
Of course, nothing comes for free, and when he leaves office, he will surely receive the friendly gratitude of United.
Compared to the fierce battle in the Persian Gulf, the climate here can be said to be comfortable and the scenery is pleasant. Endless airships are parked in the open space, just like a parking lot for cars. Of course, they are much larger in size and look particularly shocking.
"I can now understand why Londoners were so panicked by the Zeppelin airship," Secretary of War Lindley exclaimed. "Who could remain indifferent to such a scene?"
"So, we must ensure the strength of the United States, while restraining our inner desire to join the war." Sheffield said indifferently. Even if everyone in the United States had the qualifications to call for peace, he was not qualified, and there was still a war in the Persian Gulf.
Boom! The two Courbet-class battleships in the Persian Gulf launched an artillery attack on the important port of Oman. This was the first time that the British Indian Army base in Oman faced a threat from the sea. After 20 minutes of bombardment, the two battleships sailed away. Under the deterrence of the fortress guns, the battleships' bombardment had no effect. It was more like a demonstration, indicating that Oman was no longer safe as the base of the British Indian Army.
There is only one chapter today. I seemed to be blown away by the wind when I was sleeping in the afternoon and I have a headache.
(End of this chapter)
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