On June 25, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force finally received 20,000 rounds of artillery shells. This batch of artillery shells was specially allocated by Kitchener for the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was originally going to be sent to Belgium in order to urge Roque to head toward the Bosporus.
Launching an attack, Kitchener did his best.
The Mediterranean Fleet also received a batch of artillery shells, which were sent by the Home Fleet. The commander of the Home Fleet, John Jellicoe, had been John Fisher's subordinate and assistant before the outbreak of the World War.
Roque was not idle during this period. The annihilation of the Fifth Army did not frighten the Ottoman Empire. The Second Army was still furiously attacking the positions responsible for the 13th Division, but this had lost its meaning. The entire Fifth Army
After being destroyed, all the troops besieging the Fifth Army have been mobilized. The British 29th Division suffered heavy losses and needs a month to rest and recuperate. The ANZAC now has four divisions, two divisions have been disabled, and two divisions can still participate.
In the battle, the 501st Division and the 502nd Division suffered little losses in the previous stage of the battle. Roque did not put all the reserves into the battle in the first stage of the battle, and now even has the ability to rotate the frontline troops.
After annihilating the Fifth Army, Roque adjusted the front line and ordered the defensive forces to retreat slightly to the mountainous areas. He used the rugged terrain of the mountainous areas for defense to attract the Second Army to invest more troops.
Zanders is not stupid. The Garibaldi Peninsula is 80 kilometers long, the widest is no more than 20 kilometers, and the narrowest point is only five kilometers. The Mediterranean Expeditionary Force landed at Bolayère, completely eliminating the Fifth Army's retreat.
cut off, thereby encircling and annihilating the Fifth Army.
After Roque ordered the troops to withdraw the defense line to the mountainous area, a nearly 30-kilometer-long blank area appeared behind the attacking Second Army. If the Second Army continued to invest troops, then the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force would just repeat its old tricks, then the Second Army would
The offensive force will repeat the tragedy of the Fifth Army.
Therefore, when the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force retreated to the mountainous areas, Zanders also retreated the troops' defense line to the Kavak line, also relying on the mountainous areas to establish defensive positions.
Roque is really sorry. If Zanders had ordered the troops to retreat one day later, the Mediterranean Fleet and the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force would have been ready to land. Now everything has to be pushed back. Zanders hopes to have a decisive battle with Roque in Kavak.
, Roque was not in the mood. After taking the Dardanelles Strait, the Mediterranean Fleet could freely enter and exit the Dardanelles Strait, and the Sea of Marmara was also under the control of the Mediterranean Fleet. Instead of confronting Zanders head-on, Roark directly
Launched an attack on the Bosporus, forcing Zanders to withdraw his troops from Kavak.
"Although the Second Army is powerful, the entire Sea of Marmara and the Ottoman Empire are empty of strength. We can choose any place to launch a landing operation. The logistics supply of the landing force will be carried out by sea, and the supply of land transportation lines will be abandoned. I will
The tactic is called the leapfrog tactic. It seeks the weakness of the Ottoman Empire to launch an attack, disrupts Zanders' defense system, and makes the Second Army exhausted. In the end, Zanders will have to choose to stick to the Bosporus. This is very important to us.
The most advantageous way to attack." Rock personally introduced the next attack plan at the joint meeting. The leapfrog tactic came from the Pacific Theater during World War II and is generally considered to have been invented by MacArthur.
Now MacArthur is still serving in Veracruz, Mexico. Roque has no psychological barriers to using doctrine. As the commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Roque is being promoted to the ranks of famous generals. What can he do if he doesn't have anything to offer?
After listening to Roque's introduction, the generals participating in the joint meeting all applauded enthusiastically, and finally looked at Roque no longer with envy, jealousy, and hatred, but with more respect and admiration.
Soldiers still have to rely on their strength. If Roque had performed poorly in the previous stage of the battle, he would have returned to France in despair and continued to be the commander of his Southern African Expeditionary Force.
Now no one dares to deny Roque's role, and no one dares to replace Roque's position. The British Royal Navy has a large number of talents, and the army has very few capable generals. In France, France's Franco and Haig performed the same.
Smith Dorling, the only cool-headed man, has resigned, Kitchener has also lost power and is gradually being sidelined. Rock is the only bright spot in the British Army.
The commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, John Fisher, and the deputy commander, John Drobek, also applauded enthusiastically. John Fisher turned his head and said something softly to John Drobek, who smiled and shook his head in admiration.
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"The 501st Division and the 502nd Division have landed in Canakkale. Next, these two divisions will sweep the southern part of the Dardanelles Strait and completely control the Dardanelles Strait in our hands. The fifth and fourth divisions of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps will
The Ninth Division, together with the 13th Division and the 19th Division in Southern Africa, is advancing towards Marmara Island. These four divisions and the French troops that have arrived at Marmara Island in advance will be the main force in the next period. The 29th Division
The First Division and the Second Division of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps suffered heavy losses in the previous stage of the battle. Their mission is to hold our position on the north side of the Dardanelles and clear out the remaining troops on the Garibaldi Peninsula." Luo
Ke continued to introduce that there are only sporadic troops left on the Garibaldi Peninsula, and all the organized ones have surrendered. This task should be easy.
"The troops used for the offensive are a bit small. There are still more than 200,000 people in the Ottoman Empire's Second Army, and the Ottoman Empire is still forming new troops. We still have many difficulties." John Fisher is not optimistic. Rock
The four divisions preparing to go into battle totaled nearly 75,000 men. It was very difficult to capture Constantinople.
"General Fisher, when the battle breaks out, we will have more troops." Rock was already prepared for this.
"Where are the reinforcements?" John Fisher was confused. He also knew the situation of the British Army. Every unit was precious now. When the Battle of Dardanelles broke out, the struggle surrounding the 29th Division was surprising.
The memory is still fresh.
"The Russians, unless they sit back and watch us occupy Constantinople -" Rock indeed has no reinforcements in his hands. Southern Africa's military potential has been squeezed to the limit. It will take time for East India to train more troops.
The troops of the Sultanate of Chi had proved to be useless in the previous phase of the battle. After Kitchener was sidelined, the ANZAC reinforcements would no longer be placed under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force Command, so Roark had to find another way.
.
Hearing Rock's words, John Fisher's eyes immediately lit up.
Before the Battle of the Dardanelles broke out, the Russian Empire had already launched an attack on Constantinople.
The Russian Empire's ambitions for the Black Sea outlet are well known. In order to prevent Greece from participating in the war, the Russian Empire even threatened war.
Now that the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force has occupied the Dardanelles Strait and the Sea of Marmara, and further forward is Constantinople, so the Russian Empire cannot sit back and watch the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force continue to advance. Now it may be ready to attack Constantinople.
Preparations for the attack on Dinburg.
It doesn't matter even if the Russian Empire doesn't cooperate. After controlling the Dardanelles Strait, Roark can deploy more troops for the attack. By then, even without the cooperation of the Russian Empire, Roark will be confident of taking Constantinople.
Dinburg.
Unlike Roque, who was full of confidence, the Ottoman Empire's dignitaries had lost confidence in winning the war after the Fifth Army was annihilated and the Dardanelles was lost.
According to the information Roque received, in recent times, dignitaries in Constantinople have fled Constantinople one after another. Passenger ships crossing the Bosporus have been flowing day and night. The people of the Ottoman Empire are panicked, and the army has not focused its main energy.
In terms of combat, the butcher knife was aimed at the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
Speaking of the Armenians, this is another tragedy. After losing Bosnia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia in succession, the Armenians became the only group that believed in Christianity in the Ottoman Empire.
This issue was not prominent in the past, but after the war in the Balkans, some extreme opinions emerged in the Ottoman Empire. Some people believed that the Ottoman Empire could only be saved by eliminating all heretical doctrines, so the Armenians were unlucky.
This is the first genocide plan targeting a nation since the 20th century. Britain's performance during the Second Boer War was so bad that it did not rise to the level of genocide. The Russian Empire's overall rejection of Jews was also at its peak.
It was nothing more than expelling the Jews from the Russian Empire.
Miraculously, when the World War broke out, there were nearly 100,000 soldiers serving the Ottoman Empire. The loyalty of these armies composed of Armenians became a huge problem, so how to eliminate this hidden danger became a headache for the Ottoman Empire.
question.
Now this problem is no longer serious. The Fifth Army is composed mainly of Armenians.
It is tantamount to the Ottoman Empire eliminating this hidden danger with the help of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force.
During the siege of Damascus, some Armenian troops voluntarily laid down their weapons, which became an excuse for the Ottoman Empire to eliminate Armenians. In the Ottoman Empire now, male Armenians over the age of 12 are being shot collectively, and the fate of women is even more horrific.
, up to now, at least 500,000 Armenians have been massacred on a large scale, and a large number of Armenians have been sold into slavery. In Aleppo and Mosul, Armenians broke through the blockade of the Ottoman Empire forces and fled to Port Elizabeth to seek asylum.
Tens of thousands of people died in the process.
During the siege of Damascus, more Ottomans than Armenians took the initiative to lay down their weapons, but no one cared about this.