Chapter 217 Bombardment

In order to reduce casualties, after weighing the pros and cons, Colonel Ferard had no choice but to agree with the opinion of Staff Officer Hydris and ask for help from the fleet.

In the command cabin of the Trikupis, Contoliotis met with Staff Officer Hydris who returned to the flagship overnight in a rubber boat.

After learning that the Marines encountered an enemy occupying a favorable terrain during the landing and needed the firepower support of the fleet, he fell into deep thought.

Hydris looked at the silent naval commander with trepidation, and felt uneasy in his heart.

The Greek warships that make up the rapid response fleet are all the elite of the Greek Navy in recent years, all new warships, and the absolute main force of the Greek Navy.

In the daily exercises, although these warships were operated by naval soldiers, they also conducted a small amount of live-fire shooting training, and more simulated tactical exercises.

The reason is that the training cost of the navy is too high.

Putting aside factors such as warship maintenance and the salaries of high-quality naval personnel, let's just talk about the 12-inch (about 305 mm) main guns equipped by the Invincible-class battlecruisers in the Greek Navy.

The two Invincible-class battlecruisers in the Greek Navy, Trikoupis and King George, are each equipped with eight quadruple-mounted 12-inch guns, all of which are imported from the UK.

The purchase price of each gun is 80,000 pounds!

The equivalent of Greek drachmas is two million!

What does it mean?

The annual income of a Greek worker is about one thousand drachmas.

What is the life of such expensive guns?

The life of each gun is about 100 to 110 rounds.

In other words, such expensive guns will be scrapped after firing a hundred rounds.

When a 12-inch gun fires a shell, the loss of the gun itself is about 20,000 drachmas, which is the annual income of 20 Greek workers.

Using such expensive artillery to deal with the Ottoman island garrison of about a few hundred people on Lemue Island is really a bit like using a big cannon to kill a mosquito.

The imaginary enemy of the two Invincible-class battlecruisers is the two pre-dreadnought battleships imported from Germany by the Ottoman Navy. There is no need to waste the expensive life of the artillery.

The Greek Navy is far from being extravagant enough to use the main guns of the battlecruisers to deal with land targets.

Kontoriotis hesitated and said, "Is it necessary?"

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Seeing the commander's hesitation, Hydris explained, "The caliber of the guns of the destroyers in the fleet is less than 150 mm. When used for shelling the opposite shore, even if high-explosive shells are replaced, the effect is not significant when the enemy is prepared."

The larger the caliber, the more powerful the artillery.

The caliber of the Invincible-class main gun reaches 305 mm, and the weight of the shell reaches 300 kg. It is naturally easy to use it to deal with the Ottoman army lurking around Mudros Bay.

Kantoriotis analyzed all the intelligence gathered and thought of the order sent by the Athens General Staff at home, which required the strategic requirements of blocking the Dardanelles and offshore shipping in Asia Minor as soon as possible.

According to intelligence, the Ottoman side was under great pressure from the Balkan Alliance in the direction of Macedonia due to its backward domestic transportation and limited land transportation capacity after the war, and urgently needed to mobilize personnel and materials from the Asian part of the Ottoman to the European part.

The port city of Thessaloniki has been blocked by the Greek Navy since the war because it is far away from the control area of ​​the Ottoman Navy. Naturally, the Ottoman ships dare not enter Thessaloniki from the Thermaic Gulf.

However, these ships are close to the coastline. After coming out of the Dardanelles, they can still transport materials and personnel to Macedonia and support the Ottoman army in the Macedonian region along the coast of Thrace all the way north.

After all, the Ottoman Navy still has a certain deterrent power. Before the rapid reaction fleet annihilates or severely damages the main Ottoman fleet, the Greek warships approach the coastal area of ​​Thrace to fight, which is very dangerous.

Therefore, the safety of these Ottoman supply ships that sailed closely along the Ottoman coastline was still guaranteed.

The General Staff naturally did not want to allow more Ottoman soldiers to enter Macedonia, because this meant that the power of the Asian part of the Ottoman Empire was likely to be used against the Greek army.

It was the Navy's top priority to occupy the strategically important Lemue Island as soon as possible so that the fleet could free up its hands and carefully guard against the main Ottoman warships.

Therefore, even if it cost some money, it was okay.

After thinking this through, Kontoriotis agreed to the fire support request of Staff Officer Hydris.

After 1,500 Marines spent the restless second half of the night on the cold coast of Mudros Bay, the sky finally brightened.

At about 6:00 in the morning, the fleet received an order from the commander to target the main gun firing points of the two Invincible-class battlecruisers, and the entire fleet bombarded the coast of Mudros Bay to provide fire support for the Marines.

At 6:10, the entire fleet of ten warships, two battlecruisers, and eight destroyers fanned out around Mudros Bay to complete the attack preparations.

The two Invincible-class warships opened fire first. The eight 12-inch twin turrets installed on the two war beasts were aimed at the target, and the fierce and sturdy gun muzzles were facing Mudros Bay diagonally. After a deafening chorus of loud noises, the muzzles exhaled thick smoke mixed with orange-red flames.

"······"

The 300-kilogram high-explosive bomb, with a strong sound of breaking through the air, drew several bright arcs in the air.

After a brief silence, a dozen brilliant sparks rose from the hills and woods of Mudros Bay.

After several main gun shells exploded, the conspicuous target indicated the direction for other destroyers, and eight destroyers also tilted the metal storm towards the enemy position.

After hearing the sound of artillery firing, Ferard hurriedly took a telescope and observed the situation of the hills and woods where the enemy troops were hiding.

The strong air force aroused by the explosion of the shells blew away all obstacles that hindered the advance of the Marines.

The flying wood chips, broken stones, and messy weeds mixed together, causing chaos in Mudros Bay.

During the one-hour bombardment, the jungle around Mudros Bay was subjected to carpet-style intensive bombing, explosions occurred one after another, and the dust in the sky blocked the sight and enveloped the entire position.

Fedra looked at the fierce bombardment in front of him and estimated in his heart that the violent air waves generated by the explosion of the 305mm caliber naval gun using high-explosive shells would seriously injure soldiers even if they were not directly hit by shrapnel and were hiding in bunkers.

At about seven o'clock in the morning, the fleet's bombardment stopped. Half an hour later, the dust covering the position disappeared and the true appearance was revealed.

Colonel Ferard took a breath of cold air.

Originally, there were sparse trees and a few exposed rocks in the dense grass around Mudros Bay.

After the bombardment, it was a mess. The trees and grass disappeared completely. The ground was covered with a layer of grass and wood debris. The messy rocks were completely exposed. The entire position was ravaged by artillery and was unrecognizable!