Chapter 550 Change the Plan

The sudden bombing came and went quickly. It ended in more than an hour before and after, leaving only a mess.

After confirming safety, Major General Ozgul walked out of the headquarters, looking at the billowing smoke rising all over the city, and hurriedly ordered: "Quickly organize firefighting, the food and ammunition warehouses must be preserved."

The accompanying young officer replied, "Yes, General!"

After speaking, run immediately to convey the order. During the bombing just now, the exposed telegraph and telephone lines were unfortunately damaged and have not been restored in time.

At this point, Major General Ozgul has no illusions about defending the enemy outside the country.

Relying on artillery to prevent the enemy from landing, the question is what to do with the enemy in the sky? Without addressing the threats overhead, they were left passively beaten.

No matter how well-defended the position is, if there is a wave on top of it, it will still collapse. The number of casualties is still being counted, and Major General Ozgul has no courage to face it.

Holding his beloved binoculars, he glanced at the battlefield at first glance, and Major General Ozgul knew that the losses were absolutely heavy.

In just over an hour, the airship brigade slanted hundreds of tons of bombs on their heads. If the naval shells were added, the number would be even greater.

For the small port of Ava, so much ammunition is enough for a big explosion. Not to mention the heavy damage to the port facilities, the key is that the fortifications were destroyed.

Time passed by, and in the evening, the casualty report appeared in Major General Ozgul's hand. A thin piece of paper in his hand seemed to weigh a thousand pounds at the moment.

Forced to suppress the uneasiness in his heart, Major General Ozgul quickly reviewed the loss.

More than half of the artillery was lost, 686 people were killed, 1,468 people were injured, and 315 people were missing. Most of the artillery forts were devastated, one-fifth of the material was lost, and one-third of the buildings in the city suffered varying degrees of damage. Some casualties...

The strength of a regiment has just been wiped out. Don't look at the number of wounded and think that it can recover in the future. In fact, with the medical conditions of the Ottoman army, the casualty rate of the wounded is generally not less than 40%.

Simply put, resist yourself. If you are lucky, the wound is not inflamed or festered, then you can save your life, or you can just let it go.

"Battlefield ambulance", where did the Sudanese government find so many medical staff? Even if there are healthcare workers, they don't have enough medicines.

In this day and age, medicines are more expensive than human life. For example, penicillin, which can only be produced in a laboratory, is dozens of times more expensive on the market than an equivalent amount of gold.

Affected by chemical technology, large-scale industrial production cannot be realized, and small-scale production can only be carried out by manpower, with an annual output of less than 20,000 pieces.

This amount of output is not enough for Austria itself. When it flows into the international market, it naturally becomes sky-high. 1,000 Aegis has been fired on the black market, and there is still no market for it. How could the Sudanese government provide it to the soldiers?

Wounded on the battlefield, still look forward to *** bless it! Most soldiers can only perform simple bandaging, which also tests luck, basically use whatever cloth is in front of them.

If you are unlucky, there is no sterilized gauze, and you can tear a piece off your clothes and you can make do with it. A group of big-headed soldiers, but they don't know so much professional knowledge.

After reading the report, Major General Ozgul released his hands, let the document in his hand fall, and sat down, as if he had been pulled away from his soul.

After a while, Major General Ozgul slowly came over and sighed deeply: "Alas!"

Shaking his head: "Immediately send someone to report the situation we encountered to the top, request domestic reinforcements, and remind the country to be careful of enemy airships."

Airships have been around for many years. Because of the cost-effectiveness, they have low practical value and are rarely seen in life.

If it wasn't for his love of reading newspapers, Major General Ozgul might not have known that this thing existed, let alone used it in war.

But this is all in the past. After this battle, airships will soon appear in the armies of various countries. In this regard, everyone's learning ability is still very strong.

Countermeasures, sorry, this is beyond the capabilities of Major General Ozgul. It is estimated that after a few more bombings, the experience and lessons may be summed up.

...

Compared with the gloomy Ava defenders, the atmosphere of the joint command in Constantinople was much warmer.

Originally, they thought that it would take a heavy price to destroy Ava's shore artillery fortifications. The Russian troops were all ready to start landing from nearby areas and hit them from the land.

Speaking of which, landing from the surrounding area is very simple. In fact, due to geographical constraints, there is no good port, and the ship cannot dock at all. The Russians are ready to get on the bamboo raft.

There is no doubt that this approach is quite dangerous and requires human lives to be filled. Austria has landing craft. Unfortunately, due to insufficient preparation, it was not sent to the Black Sea in time. If it landed from the Mediterranean coast, it would be no problem.

Intentional or unintentional, this question will not be mentioned for the time being. In short, the landing craft will not come for a short time. If the Russians can wait, they will be available after a while.

This kind of boat can be produced by a small shipyard on the Danube. Without considering the service life, inferior goods can be produced in two or three months. Anyway, it is no problem to log in two or three times.

Well now, the enemy's shore artillery has been hit hard, and it's enough to just hit it hard. Even the feint plan that had been prepared in advance was aborted.

The tsarist government urgently needs to occupy

To lead the Black Sea Strait to ensure the smooth flow of this most important foreign trade channel. In order to hand over a satisfactory answer to the country, Admiral Ivanov decided to be very fast.

Before the Ottoman Empire could react, they landed in Ava first. The battle plan formulated earlier is not completely invalid, but the implementation is greatly reduced.

The commander-in-chief of the coalition, Arrest, was very dissatisfied with this kind of unauthorized tampering with the battle plan and ignoring the pre-agreed behavior of the two countries.

Although Arrest is not from the army, the staff assigned to him by the Vienna government are all professionals.

The risk of changing the battle plan was immediately apparent. According to the original plan, as long as the Ottoman Empire landed in weak areas, implemented the scorched earth strategy, and drove the people into the interior, the enemy could be dragged down.

There is no need to fight hard, as long as you continue to destroy, you can win the war. After changing the plan, the Russian army must fight the Ottomans decisively.

The confidence of the Russian army is slow, and the Austrian military does not have such strong confidence in them. The mere 150,000 Russian troops had to fight against hundreds of thousands of Ottoman troops. After losing the human sea tactics, everyone had no idea how strong the gray animals were.

I have to say that the first impression is very important. From the very beginning, Arrest believed that the combat effectiveness of this Russian army was limited. According to Austrian standards, the training of the Russian army is basically unqualified.

...

Arrest sternly reprimanded: "General Ivanov, this battle plan has been jointly approved by the two governments.

Prior to this, both of us had carefully evaluated and selected the most suitable one from among many operational options.

According to this battle plan, the losses of both of us can be minimized, and the war can be won at the least cost. I think this is the common pursuit of everyone. "

Ivanov shook his head: "No, Your Excellency Commander. This battle plan is too conservative. It will take at least three to five months to attack the enemy from all directions to force the enemy to divide his troops, and then attack Ava.

But this was based on the strong defensive firepower of the Ava defenders, which brought great trouble to the landing. Now that the enemy's shore artillery has been almost destroyed by us, we can launch an attack immediately.

Now that the Ottomans have not reacted, we can make a time difference. Even if the enemy has more troops, we have air superiority.

Believe me, no army can maintain its combat effectiveness under the bombardment of airships, and the decaying Ottoman Empire will be destroyed in one stab.

We don't have to argue about these meaningless issues, the victory is ours. General Arester, let us cast our glory together! "

Aleister frowned and said earnestly: "General Ivanov, you are too optimistic. Airships are not invincible, and many special terrains, such as airships in the jungle, are difficult to play.

If a decisive battle breaks out, even if we can win, you will lose a lot. The boys came to war with us, and we had to bring them back as much as possible. "

After a moment of silence, Ivanov shook his head. According to the established combat plan, he wanted to reduce casualties as much as possible.

But the problem is that the country can't stand it, the Black Sea Strait is cut off, and the foreign trade of the Russian Empire has been hit hard. If the channel cannot be opened as soon as possible, the loss will be even greater after the autumn grain is stored.

As soon as the war broke out, the tsarist government repeatedly ordered him to speed up. War needs to serve politics, and soldiers must also consider national interests.

Austria can let the war drag on, that is, the longer it drags on, the more Austria can benefit from the Russian-Austrian trade. The profits brought by monopolizing the trade of most of the Russian Empire can almost wipe out the losses caused by the war. Naturally, the Vienna government is not in a hurry.

"Your Excellency Commander, I still insist on changing the battle plan. This is what St. Petersburg means. The economic losses caused by the war are too great for the Russian Empire to drag on."

Arrest hesitated, and at this point, unless he strongly organized, for example: Austrian transport ships and warships did not cooperate, he could only persuade St. Petersburg.

After thinking for a while, he said, "Okay, I will report to Vienna. If the General Staff agrees, we will cooperate with you."

...

The Vienna Palace, Franz, who had not had time to be happy after receiving the merits of the airship bombing brigade, received the news that a "strategic dispute" broke out on the front line.

He knew that the Russians wanted to get through the black pot, but he didn't expect the tsarist government to lose his temper so quickly, and he didn't even care about the casualties of soldiers.

Well, it seems that the Tsarist government never cared about soldier casualties. This question should not have been considered in the first place.

Franz patted his forehead: "What do you think, the Russians are so eager to attack, should we agree or refuse?"

Prime Minister Felix: "Your Majesty, the choice is the same, but I am personally inclined to agree with the Russians.

This war is just a strategic fraud, and the outcome is not so important. If we follow the original plan, we can say that we must win, and it is uncertain whether Ottoman can exist.

Now that the Russians are willing to change their strategy, let them go. If the Russian front line suffered heavy losses, we might as well take the opportunity to end the war. "

Well, in the military, I just don't bother to think about it, and the outcome doesn't matter at all. If this kind of salted fish strategy is spread out, it is estimated that no one will believe it.

Perhaps when future generations study this history, they will be able to uncover the truth by connecting everything together. Of course, by

The possibility of bias is still greater.

Franz turned his attention to the military, and he needed an answer from the military to fully weigh the pros and cons in order to make a decision.

Seemingly aware of Franz's gaze, War Minister Albrecht: "Your Majesty, after changing the battle plan, the Russians' chances of winning in the Asia Minor peninsula are greatly reduced, and even if they can win the war, they will suffer heavy losses.

However, the outcome of the Asia Minor Peninsula campaign does not affect our Middle East strategy.

Now the Sudanese government does not dare to take the risk of increasing its troops in the Middle East, and no one can guarantee that we will not increase its military investment in the Asia Minor peninsula.

If the Russians are defeated, or suffer heavy losses, we can all send troops to feint at any time, and the Sudanese government will not dare to act rashly. "

Franz: "Then tell Arrest, don't care what the Russians want to do, whatever they do, let them do it."

As long as it doesn't affect the Middle East strategy, Franz is not afraid to send troops to deal with the aftermath of the Russians. It's all about money, and it's nothing compared to oil in the Middle East.

...

In Constantinople, after receiving Franz's order, Arrest gave up the fight, and warned in earnest: "General Ivanov, you must insist on landing from the Ava area first, and we agreed.

However, all consequences arising from this are your own responsibility. If the main force of the Ottoman Empire is attracted and the next strategy cannot be continued, don't blame me for not reminding you. "

This is not to shirk responsibility, but to throw the blame reasonably. Since the Russian army changed the pre-negotiated battle plan without authorization, it would naturally take responsibility for it.

Speak clearly now, and you can save a lot of skin in the future. Even if the Russian army suffered heavy losses, they could only swallow tears in their stomachs.

Ivanov happily replied: "Don't worry, Your Excellency Commander. We and the Ottomans are old rivals. It is clear how much strength they have, and there will be no problem."

...