In the Golden Horn Bay, Emperor Yang's old friend Hamid II looked at the fleet entering the military port with tears in his eyes. Two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and twelve destroyers. This was his once huge fleet.
As for the other four battleships, they have all sunk to the bottom of the Black Sea. This heavy blow almost stunned His Majesty the Caliph, who was determined to restore the glory of the Ottoman Empire. His naval strength fell back by ten years overnight.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry about this. The compensation after the victory of the war will allow you to rebuild a fleet that is ten times more powerful." Han Fei comforted him on the side. Of course, he could only comfort him now. Anyway, that's it.
Nothing else was of use. In fact, he was speechless about the Ottomans' IQ. Even an army commander like him felt that Makarov's trap was too low-end, but the Ottoman fleet really jumped into it foolishly.
After entering, it was better now, and the whole battle situation completely collapsed.
Hamid II nodded with a determined expression. He felt much better when he thought of the thirty billion pounds compensation. Although this number was too unrealistic, there would always be tens of billions or even billions after bargaining, even if he could
Even 100 million is enough to rebuild a more powerful fleet.
"Your Majesty, now we must consider whether to continue to hold on to Istanbul or temporarily avoid the enemy's attack." Han Fei said.
The enemy has already landed on the Black Sea. Makarov's plan has been planned for a long time. Of course, Hamid II will not be given time to adjust the defense. Emperor Yang received the news that the Russian army is preparing to launch a landing operation.
But he didn't know that before the naval battle ended, a British division had already set off from the Bulgarian port Burgas under their control. Just as the remaining warships of the Ottoman Navy sailed into the Bosporus, their fleet
It has also arrived at the coastal town of Karaburun, which is only more than 20 kilometers away from Istanbul. The Russian Black Sea Fleet, which was chasing the Ottoman fleet, moved directly there and used large-caliber naval guns to open up a landing site for them. Then more than 10,000 people
The elite British troops quickly landed in small boats and took control of this small fishing port.
Hamid II couldn't help but lamented again. He never expected that the war would reach this point. He originally thought that it would be just a matter of picking fruits smoothly. Who knew that the Allies were so stubborn and capable of fighting that they would actually play Ning?
Even if he refuses to surrender, of course he also knows that the conditions on his side are too harsh, forcing others to a dead end.
Han Fei watched the rich expression changes on Hamid II's face calmly from the side. He was not worried about what irrational choices His Majesty the Caliph would make. This guy would never have the courage to stick to Istanbul, and in fact now
Unless the people in the city are mobilized, no one will defend the city. The Ottoman army is all on the other side of the strait and is in a stalemate with the Russian army on the Sakarya front. The four armies of the Chinese European Army are on the Erdine line.
In the fierce battle with the US-British coalition forces, no matter which direction it is, it is very tense, and it is impossible to send people back to support Istanbul.
Previously, because he was too confident about the navy, Hamid II only retained one brigade of guards in his capital. It was very difficult to expect this small number of people to block a British division, let alone starting from Sevastopol.
An army of Russian troops could arrive in a dozen hours at most. At this time, they could either make a concerted effort to mobilize the entire city to defend the isolated city, or simply run away. The former would risk their lives, while the latter would just go out and hide.
There is no doubt that the winner of this war will be the Allies, which means that in the end the enemy will have to return Istanbul even if it captures it.
His Majesty the Caliph should be very clear on this point.
Hamid II is struggling. Of course he understands this, but if he wants to run away, he will lose his face. If he doesn't run away, he will risk his life. This is undoubtedly a difficult choice for him with great ambitions. At this moment
A harsh whistling sound suddenly came from the sky, followed by more than a dozen huge fireballs exploding in the northern part of Istanbul.
"Where did the shelling come from?" Hamid II exclaimed, his face turning pale.
"Russian battleships on the Black Sea." Han Fei said solemnly.
"Their cannons hit this far?" Hamid II said in disbelief.
"Your Majesty, haven't our battleships tried firing shells directly from the Golden Horn to the Black Sea before?" Han Fei said.
Only then did Hamid II remember that he had actually done this before. It was only about twenty kilometers from the Black Sea coast to Istanbul, let alone battleships. Even his heavy cruisers could cover such a distance. Just as they were talking.
, more artillery shells fell in Istanbul, and the fire and smoke made this ancient city in chaos. At this time, the bombers at the Istanbul Airport also took off, carrying bombs and flying to the Black Sea, but then the Russian artillery also moved its target.
, began to fire at Istanbul Airport. This airport is located in Khademkoy in the west of the city and is completely within the range of Russian naval guns. Shortly after the bomber took off, more than a dozen large-caliber artillery shells fell on this airport. This is also
This means that the airport is no longer usable.
Those bombers hurriedly dropped all their bombs on the Russian fleet on the sea and sank a cruiser and two destroyers. After that, they had to turn west to Thessaloniki and land at the airport there.
At the same time, Hamid II also made the same decision to move towards Thessaloniki. Otherwise, after the Russian army landed, they would be unable to run away from the railway. For a time, the whole of Istanbul was in chaos.
The Ottoman palace, the navy and army headquarters, the Chinese European Army headquarters, and various institutions burned documents and packed them up, or took cars and trains, or boarded merchant ships and warships at the port. In short, they all fled for their lives.
Even the Chinese European Army in Erdine was ordered to abandon the defenses of Erdine and retreat southward to defend Thessaloniki.
In this way, Kemal was dumbfounded in Sakarya. What should he do? After the Allies occupied Istanbul, they would definitely use the same flanking landing to intercept his retreat. You must know that he still has a total of 400,000 people.
As for the large army, they were crowded on a small peninsula and had no place to run. Moreover, after learning that Hamid II abandoned Istanbul and fled, the morale of his army was extremely unstable, and a large number of people had begun to surrender to the Russian army.
Fortunately, at this time, there was good news for them. First, China's 21st and 22nd Army Groups arrived in Basra and were marching north along the repaired railway. At the same time, China's 15th Group Army
The 16th and 12th armies conquered Tabriz, the 8th and 12th armies conquered Tehran, and Brusilov, the current top Russian general, was annihilated and committed suicide by drinking a bullet. Next, all four armies will press westward.
Come here, that is to say, if Kemal chooses to stick to Sakarya, then two situations may occur. First, he sticks to the east coast of the Bosporus and the Sakarya defense line at the same time, and attacks him currently.
Three Russian armies were blocking the Anatolian Peninsula, waiting for the Chinese to arrive and completely annihilate this Russian army.
The second one is that he was squeezed to death on this small peninsula by the American and British coalition forces attacking from west to east and the Russian army attacking from east to west. Of course, there was also the fact that he simply chose to surrender to the Russians and wait for the end of the war in a prisoner of war camp.
If he chooses to fight, he will become an immortal hero; if he chooses to surrender, he will become the greatest shame to the entire Allied group, setting a record for the highest number of surrenders on the battlefield. Poor General Kemal is torn between hero and shame.
"Your Majesty, please tell General Kemal that he must hold on to Sakarya. We will use all our airlift capabilities to ensure his supply of supplies. In addition, he only needs to hold on for half a month. Within half a month, our army will include eight
Six armies, including the 10th, 15th, 16th, 21st and 22nd, can definitely arrive for reinforcements. If nothing else happens, the earliest reinforcements can even arrive within ten days." Take the train to retreat to Sasha.
Han Fei of Loniga conveyed Emperor Yang's request to Hamid II.
"Commander, please rest assured that General Kemal will definitely hold on." Hamid II immediately patted his chest and assured him, and then he issued an order to Kemal to hold on to Sakarya, and in order to encourage
This guy's spirit also made him a pasha, and invited his family to his palace as guests. If Kemal dared to surrender, his family would probably not be guests. Not only that, but Sasha was also invited to his palace.
All the families of the main generals on the Carian front were invited to the palace, so that they could feel the emperor's favor and never look back.
However, since China promised to ensure the supply of supplies and reinforcements could be expected within another ten days, Kemal had no choice but to bravely walk towards the top of the mountain where the hero shines. Opposite him, the Russians knew that this was happening.
The guy immediately became anxious after he refused to surrender. Kuropatkin knew very well that if he still couldn't break through this line of defense, it would be his turn to be wiped out. The 400,000 Russian troops from three armies went crazy towards Kai
Mal launched an attack. At the same time, the American and British coalition forces occupying Istanbul did not care to continue their attack on Saloniga. They went all out to attack the east coast of the Bosporus, and also launched an attack on the northern port of Hilai.
Landing on the flank, in short, we must deal with this Ottoman army at all costs and bring the Russian army to the west bank.
China's six armies are also rushing westward from two roads, especially the two armies that took the train north from Basra and are moving westward day and night. However, their railways can only reach Adana, although the Russian troops here have already
Retreating northward, the Russians destroyed almost all the railway facilities that could be destroyed during the retreat. Even if they continued to advance, the Chinese army could only use roads, and the remaining distance was still more than 700 kilometers to the north.
The same is true for the four armies on the road. They don't even have railways. Fortunately, both armies have armored units. Four mechanized groups were formed and fought towards Sakarya in a mighty manner. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature.