Chapter 304 Information Blockade

The small town of Bolayel, the headquarters of the Ottoman Fifth Army.

When Sanders heard that the enemy had landed from the direction of Aniya village, he was completely stunned.

"How is it possible to land in that sea area?" Sanders looked at the staff with a look of surprise, paused and asked seriously: "Did you make a mistake?"

Saunders thought this was a false report of military intelligence, which happened frequently at Gallipoli, as some recruits tried to avoid real combat by telling their superiors that they were busy.

"No, General." The staff officer replied firmly: "It has been confirmed that the enemy has indeed landed. The third infantry battalion stationed there has fled. It is not clear what the situation is yet."

Sanders stared at the map in silence for a while, and then made a judgment: This might be a feint attack by the enemy.

Given his current cognitive level and the limitations of the times, it is not surprising that he would have such an idea.

Due to the sudden incident, the 3rd Infantry Battalion was defeated before they even had time to make a phone call.

Some soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Battalion scattered and fled, but they were unable to send the message out in time. It was difficult to find a phone in this era, especially when the Gallipoli Peninsula was a poor and desolate mountainous area.

Therefore, all Sanders knew was that enemies were landing in the direction of Anyia Village.

"Anyia Village is full of reefs." Sanders' face returned to calmness: "It is impossible for the enemy to land on a large scale in that direction. They are likely to use the darkness before dawn to send a commando there using a small wooden boat. Attack."

"Their purpose is to divert our attention?" the staff officer asked.

"Yes." Sanders nodded: "They want us to reinforce Anyia Village so that other directions can launch a sudden attack."

Thinking of this, Sanders did not hesitate and ordered: "Ask Bahar to transfer a battalion for reinforcements, keep the other troops stationary, and pay close attention to other directions and prepare for battle!"

"Yes, General!" the staff officer responded.

Just as the staff officer was about to go down to deliver the order, he was stopped by Sanders again: "Let the reconnaissance plane conduct reconnaissance and see what's going on!"

Sanders was a little worried. If the enemy's landing in Anyia Village was true, it would cause a fatal blow to the defense of the Gallipoli Peninsula.

…

At this time, Bahar was already very busy with the defense of Anyiya Village.

The Third Army under his command has a total of three infantry divisions with more than 50,000 people, but the number of troops that can reinforce Anyia Village in time is extremely limited.

Other troops are either too far away or guarding the coastline.

The former cannot quench the thirst of the near by water, while the latter is to demolish the east wall to make up for the west wall, which may expose more coastline to the enemy.

Bahar looked at the map and thought about it for a while, then murmured to himself: "The only ones who can provide timely reinforcements are the group army guard battalions. Let them rush to the defense line to block the enemy. It will be safe when the reinforcements arrive!"

Thinking that Bahar was about to call the army headquarters, the call from the headquarters came.

The speaker was Staff Officer Quinn. Both he and Bahar were from Salonika, and they would usually chat a lot when they met.

"The general said that it might be a feint attack by the enemy, colonel." The staff officer said in a very calm tone: "We only need to send one battalion to reinforce, and the rest of the troops will stay put. We cannot disrupt the position..."

"I don't think so." Bahar interrupted the staff: "Their attack speed is very fast, unimaginably fast, it can't be a feint attack!"

Bahar based his judgment on the fact that the second line of defense lost contact one after another: first the 3rd Infantry Battalion, then the 2nd Infantry Battalion... Their situations were exactly the same, and none of the calls could be reached.

Soon, the calls to these locations were answered again, and they replied that everything was normal, but Bahar always felt that something was wrong.

The same situation happened one after another behind the defense line. Some places were accessible and some were suddenly interrupted, which confused Bahar.

"Relax, Colonel." The staff member analyzed: "You know the situation in the sea area of ​​Aniya Village. The reefs there determine that the enemy's landing operation in that direction is unsustainable. They cannot get continuous supplies, so it can only be a feint attack. "

The Ottoman Empire mostly used German Mauser rifles, which did not share the same ammunition as French rifles.

Therefore, the staff's analysis makes sense: if the French cannot continue to send supplies during the day, the enemy's landing troops will lose less and less bullets until they run out of ammunition and food.

"I heard they have tanks!" Bahar emphasized, his tone a little nervous: "The tanks invented by Charles, they may be Charles' troops..."

The staff officer laughed: "Colonel, I want to know how the tank landed?"

"They..." Bahar was stunned.

He heard that the tank was driven directly from the sea to the shore. Even he didn't believe it. If he said it, he would only be treated as a joke again.

Seeing that Bahar did not answer, the staff officer then ordered: "Do as the general said, transfer a battalion from the 70th Infantry Regiment to reinforce, and pay attention to the enemy's movements in other directions!"

"Yes, obey the order." Bahar replied in a muffled voice.

…

This was part of the Charr's plan of attack: to end the battle as quickly as possible before the enemy could react.

War is often fought over information. If the enemy doesn't know anything, he won't be able to respond effectively.

This is difficult to do in modern times, but it was possible in World War I when communication equipment was extremely backward.

(Note: This can also be done in World War II. Blitzkrieg is to implement rapid penetration when the enemy's situation is unknown)

Shire's means of blocking information generally have three directions:

"First, the sky. The enemy will send reconnaissance planes to conduct reconnaissance." Charles turned his eyes to General Winter.

General Winter understood: "No problem, I will order the Royal Ark to cooperate with you in the battle. Its seaplanes will shoot down everything that can fly into the air."

"Not only that, General." Charles added: "I hope they can detect the situation in front of the offensive line and pass the intelligence to us."

"Of course!" General Winter nodded.

He was very confident about this. The Ottoman Empire had only a dozen reconnaissance planes, and they had not yet been equipped with machine guns.

"Second, the land." Charles turned his eyes to Tijani: "Our attack speed must be fast. As long as our speed is fast enough, the enemy will not have time to pass accurate intelligence."

"Understood, Colonel." Tijani puffed up his chest: "We will keep the speed of attack until we see the sea on the other side!"

Finally, Charles said: "There are also telephones within the defense line. We need some people who can speak Ottoman."

Hamilton took over: "I will take care of this. We have prepared many translators!"

Hamilton's face was slightly embarrassed when he spoke.

These translators were originally intended to be used to interrogate prisoners or communicate with local people, but have not been of much use until now.