Chapter 890: Dimensionality Reduction and Dimensionality Reduction (First Update, Please Subscribe)
"Tianci, why do we have to fly from Constantinople?"
On the airship, Colonel Nicholas looked at the city on the ground with some confusion. As far as their goal was concerned, there was no need for them to fly over there.
"psychology!"
Yang Tianci said with a smile.
"The role of the airship is not just a weapon, it is also a psychological weapon. Every time we fly over Constantinople, the Turks sound the air raid sirens and flee to the air raid shelters in fear, waiting for the bombs to fall. You can imagine how they feel. The psychological trauma they suffer may even be greater than the bombs themselves. So, even if we just fly a little more, it's worth it!"
Nicholas was stunned by Yang Tianci's explanation. After a while, he spoke.
"Is this what you call the science of war?"
"War itself is the sum of all the sciences, Nicholas."
Yang Tianci smiled.
"As soldiers, all we need is to make full use of the results of scientific research!"
"God! I pray that we will never be enemies!"
Amid Colonel Nikolai's exclamation, a huge fleet of 112 airships had already flown to the Sea of Marmara.
A few hours later, Turkish soldiers on the Dardanelles artillery batteries discovered dense swarms of airships in the sky.
"Sir, airships, lots of airships! They're coming towards us!"
The soldiers' desperate cries rang in Repjie's ears, and for a moment, the artillery position was filled with an atmosphere of fear - the tragic scene of being burned to death by the raging fire emerged in their minds.
The Pleven Fortress was destroyed by an airship!
Lei Pujie just stood blankly on the battery, looking up at the airships flying in a formation in the sky. His mood was extremely complicated.
His mission was to guard the strait and prevent fleets from other countries from entering the Çanakkale Strait.
But what about now?
The Russians did not send their fleet, but they sent their airships.
What now?
He took a look at the 12-inch cannons on the fort. These cannons couldn't hit airships! The firing rate was extremely slow, and it took three to five minutes to fire one round. More importantly, the elevation angles of all the cannons couldn't reach the airships. What was even more tragic was that his cannons were pointing to the west of the strait and the strait. The task of the fort was to prevent the enemy fleet from breaking in from the Aegean Sea. As for the Sea of Marmara, it was an inland sea that protected the strait!
The Russian airships happened to be flying from... the Sea of Marmara. Not only could the cannons not reach them, they were even out of range. The cannons were completely useless!
At least when these forts were built, no one thought that one day they would need to consider threats from the sky.
"Everyone, get into the bunker..."
Amid the shrill sound of air raid sirens, the Turkish defenders hid in bunkers in fear, and then prayed for God's blessing in the bunkers!
At the same time, the Russian airship began to dive.
"What are they doing?"
Repjie, who was observing the airships through a telescope, looked at the airships flying from the direction of the Sea of Marmara with confusion. When the airships approached the strait, they began to descend, and they descended very low. For a moment, Repjie even felt that the airships had turned into ships, and they seemed to be sticking to the water surface.
At this moment, splashes of water exploded on the sea surface below the airship.
"He, what did they drop?"
"Mine!"
Standing on the airship and observing the water surface more than ten meters away, Yang Tianci said.
"Mine as many mines as possible, don't worry about density, all we need is to completely seal off this strait!"
"That's right, as long as the British can't get in, Constantinople will be ours!"
For a moment, the airship was filled with laughter.
Amid the laughter, gunshots suddenly came from both sides of the strait. It was the Turks. Although their cannons could not attack the airships, the Turks still fired at them with rifles. The result was predictable. The bullets only made a few small holes in the airbags and did not affect the overall situation at all.
But in just a short while, hundreds of Russian airships dropped hundreds of mines in the Dardanelles under the watchful eyes of the Turks.
This was the first aerial mine-dropping operation in human history, and the mines dropped were also the most common ones. In order to ensure the success of the mine-dropping, they deliberately flew at a low altitude, almost close to the sea surface, and dropped one anchor mine after another into the Dardanelles Strait.
Almost within an hour after Russia dropped the mines, a merchant ship was sunk in the Dardanelles. By the evening of that day, six merchant ships entering and leaving the Strait were sunk.
In just one night, the narrow Dardanelles Strait turned into a sea of death.
At this time, the British Mediterranean Fleet had just passed Crete, and they soon learned that the strait was blocked by mines.
As a result, the mighty British Empire fleet was dumbfounded. They had never expected such an outcome.
“When can those mines be cleared?”
Without even waiting for the British to get an answer, the next morning, the Russian airship force laid mines in the waters outside the Dardanelles Strait, and then announced to the outside world: "Ships from all countries are required not to approach the war zone. If they are sunk by mines, Russia will not bear any responsibility! Anyone who intrudes without permission will bear the consequences at their own risk!"
It’s your own fault!
This is equivalent to telling the British - even if your warships sink, it has nothing to do with Russia. If you have the ability, just use your warships to force your way through!
This time, it was the British's turn to be dumbfounded. In the next few days, more mines were dropped from the air at the entrances of the Dardanelles on both the east and west sides.
The Dardanelles was completely blocked!
Who is really dumbfounded by this situation?
It was not the commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, but Benjamin. He originally planned to send the fleet to Istanbul. Through the protection of the fleet, the Russians would be discouraged. Then he would use mediation to induce the Russians to give up most of their goals, thus disintegrating the imperial alliance.
But what about now?
The Royal Navy could only watch helplessly in the Aegean Sea.
"Admiral, this...can the airship be used like this?"
"Prime Minister, I can only say that the uses of airships far exceed our imagination,"
Admiral Mision was also helpless. Airships could be used for bombing, transporting troops, etc. but how could they also lay mines?
If war breaks out in the future and other countries' airship forces lay mines in the Royal Navy's path... that would absolutely be a disaster.
Whenever he thought of this, Mision felt a headache. He originally thought that the explosive nature of the airship would greatly weaken its effectiveness. Now it seems that not only can the airship not be weakened, but it must be further strengthened. The uses of that thing are really too wide. As for hydrogen... compared with its uses, it is simply not worth mentioning.
"Prime Minister, I am sure that there must be military experts from the Ming Dynasty in the Russian airship force. Otherwise, it would be impossible for the Russians to master so many new airship tactics overnight."
Mision really guessed it right. When the Ming Dynasty delivered a batch of new airships to Russia, it naturally sent a group of officers to teach the Russians airship tactics. Airdropping mines was just one of them.
"It's not important. What's important is..."
Benjamin didn't continue speaking, he was so upset!
None of this mattered. What mattered was that the Royal Navy fleet could not reach Istanbul, which meant that his plan had also fallen through!
"Can the Royal Navy clear mines?"
Holding on to the last glimmer of hope, Benjamin looked at Admiral Mision.
"We can, but our speed of clearing mines is far slower than their speed of dropping bombs. Even if they don't continue laying mines, we won't be able to clear all the mines in the next three months at least."
It’s over!
Türkiye is finished!
In an instant, Benjamin’s face turned pale, and he opened his mouth for a long time before speaking.
"Damn Ming, it's him, it's him..."
(End of this chapter)
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