Chapter 273 28 Days of Delay

The Ottomans and Germans were almost unprepared in the Dardanelles.

This is what General Winter told Charles, and he excitedly sent a telegram to Charles:

"Your plan worked, Colonel."

"The intelligence we have learned is that the vast majority of the more than 100 artillery pieces installed by the Ottoman Empire in the Dardanelles are old artillery pieces from more than ten years ago, and there are no more than 20 new artillery pieces that can pose a threat to battleships."

"At the same time, the enemy lacks supplies, artillery shells, and mines. There are many mines, even Russian mines. They were deployed by Russia in the Black Sea. Because the mines were broken, they drifted down the river to the Sea of ​​Marmara and were picked up by the Ottoman Empire." To "use it again."

"The Ottomans and Germans have obviously been fooled. They have no preparations in the Dardanelles. Our victory is in sight!"

However, the situation of the war was not as optimistic as General Winter imagined.

Lieutenant General Cardon's "refueling tactics" constantly gave the enemy opportunities to rest and replenish their supplies, and even allowed the defenders to learn how to fight.

Charles watched as the great opportunity he created was wasted by the stupid commander of the British Royal Fleet, but there was nothing he could do.

In the end, even the British couldn't stand it anymore.

The British Admiralty sent two telegrams to Vice Admiral Carden: "If the fleet suffers losses due to the attack, or even the entire combat operation fails, the responsibility will be borne by the Lord of the Admiralty. You only need to consider your mission and the enemy in front of you! "

The meaning of the telegram is very clear, feel free to type, if you lose, it’s your boss’s fault, if you win, it’s yours.

But Lieutenant General Carden was still unable to face the war head-on. The next day, he left his post due to health reasons and went to the rear to recuperate.

Before leaving, he recommended Rear Admiral Roback to take over the command, but Rear Admiral Weems was more qualified than Rear Admiral Roback, and the fleet argued for another three days.

It was not until Major General Roback was urgently promoted to lieutenant general that the matter was resolved.

At this time, it had been 28 days since the fleet arrived in the Dardanelles Strait and fired the first shot.

…

Charles's eyes turned dark, and he sent a telegram to General Winter: "This battle has been lost, and the wise choice is to withdraw the troops."

General Winter rushed to Charles's office that afternoon. He looked very haggard. He seemed to have been running around because of the war in the Dardanelles.

Charles brought General Winter into the conference room, and before he could sit down, he told him with certainty: "No one will continue a feint attack for 28 days. No matter how stupid the Germans are, they can guess that the focus of our attack is the Dardanelles Strait. ”

"You are right, Colonel." General Winter looked frustrated: "No matter how much we bluff in the north, it will not help. The Germans are transporting a large number of torpedoes to the Dardanelles Strait, as well as artillery and artillery shells."

"So, you still have illusions about this battle?" Charles asked.

In principle, as long as the Ottoman Empire has enough mines, the British fleet will never be able to pass the Dardanelles.

General Winter looked at Charles with expectant eyes: "I want to know if you have any other ideas? For example, we might be able to actually land in the north..."

Charles shook his head: "It has been nearly a month, General. We have been letting the Germans think that we are landing in the north, and they are fully prepared in the north."

This was the aftermath of a trick within a trick. It was originally intended to misunderstand the Germans, but now it eliminated the possibility of landing from the north.

Charles slowly advised General Winter: "The only thing you can do now is to tell them to stop. If you give the enemy a month to prepare, and even use actual combat exercises to help the enemy train a large number of soldiers who know how to defend the strait, in There is only one possibility for defeating the enemy in this situation: the Ottoman Empire surrenders voluntarily. "

General Winter frowned and sighed: "You may be right, Colonel. But, I can't convince them. The Lord of the Navy believed that the failure to win before was due to the cowardice of General Carden, but now it is replaced by Major General Roback... …”

Charles interrupted General Winter: "The Dardanelles Strait has also been equipped with German-made mines, and they are more numerous and more advanced than before. Major General Roback probably doesn't know this. He doesn't even have command experience. ”

General Winter's face was ashen. After a long time, he nodded seriously: "I'm going to try. If the Minister of the Navy is allowed to launch an attack, it may be a disaster!"

With that said, General Winter left in a hurry.

Originally stationed in Ypres, he always took the train to and from, but now he went straight to the airport. He wanted to seize the time to return to England to talk to the Lord of the Admiralty.

However, Charles knew that he could not convince the Admiralty.

The Lord Admiralty once made a bold statement: "If we lose the attack on the Dardanelles, I will go to the front and become a soldier!"

Therefore, he cannot easily admit defeat, even if he knows that victory in this battle is basically impossible.

Sure enough, the day after General Winter returned, the Allied fleet launched a general attack on the Dardanelles.

The staff officers of the City Defense Headquarters cheered when they heard the news, and they all talked about it:

"Show them how awesome you are!"

"That's 18 battleships. They should have destroyed the Ottoman Empire long ago."

"I bet they can break through the strait today."

…

18 battleships, including Britain's most advanced super-dreadnought battleship "Queen Elizabeth".

But the performance of these battleships surprised everyone: they could not hit the target when moving, when the weather was bad, or when the distance was far.

Only when the weather was calm and clear could they shoot at close range!

The performance of the fleet made people feel disappointed and depressed.

Now, they thought it was time to be proud.

Gallieni had some worries in his eyes. He glanced at Charles and asked in a low voice: "Is this your plan?"

Charles could only smile bitterly.

The war seemed to be going well. This was the first time that warships and minesweeping were carried out at the same time during the day.

Although the battlefield situation was not seen, the intelligence seemed to be able to depict the battle scene:

Both sides fought fiercely, and the battleships and other warships simultaneously bombarded the enemy's fortresses and artillery groups.

Battleships with heavy armor and huge cannons changed positions in the blue waves, firing at enemy artillery positions under enemy fire. Large and small cannons roared in unison. In the thick smoke and flying dust, the fortress was shrouded in a huge fireball.

On the hills on both sides of the strait, the cannons of the Ottoman Empire camp roared in response. The mobile artillery that was originally only active at night had to face the attack of naval guns during the day.

The Allied destroyers and minesweepers rushed to the front in the water columns that rose to the sky. They had to clear obstacles for the battleships to advance.

At this time, a telegram brought good news: "Our army hit the enemy's ammunition depot!"

The command center instantly burst into cheers, and everyone felt that this battle was not far from victory.