CHAPTER 295: CHAPTER 295: BOREL

The conference room of the "Queen Elizabeth" was filled with officers from both the navy and the army, including British officers such as General Winter and General Hamilton, alongside a few French officers like Shire, Tijani, and Gai Pratt.

General Hamilton was the commander of the British landing forces.

During Admiral Robek’s tenure, he believed that "local operation" commanders like Shire didn’t need to meet and exchange views with overall commanders like Hamilton, considering it a waste of time.

Therefore, this was the first meeting between Hamilton and Shire.

(Above: Ian Hamilton, during the Dardanelles campaign, served as the British Mediterranean Expeditionary Force commander, directing the army’s landing operations)

Hamilton looked refined, perhaps due to his literary aptitude; he was known as the "Poet General" for writing poetry.

But at this moment, he appeared weary and anxious, and there was no trace of poetic charm.

General Hamilton seemed quite critical of Shire "getting rid" of Admiral Robek. As soon as he entered the conference room and sat down, he asked with a challenging tone, "So, are you finally going to proceed with the landing, Colonel?"

"Yes, you could say that," Shire replied.

"When?" General Hamilton inquired, with a hint of reproach in his voice, "This time, there won’t be any submarines, correct?"

"Of course, General," Shire responded indifferently, "Tomorrow, as always at dawn, attack at first light."

The reason for always choosing this time frame was because dawn was particularly advantageous:

Allied forces, with their naval advantage, could prepare for the assault while it was dark, such as having the landing troops climb onto the landing crafts and even move these crafts near the landing zone without being detected by the enemy.

"Excellent!" Hamilton nodded with satisfaction, "Then I’ll order the troops at W Beach and S Beach to greet you. I hope you can be on time this time."

Saying this, Hamilton stood up to leave, as if the meeting could conclude there.

Previously, landing operations followed a similar pattern: set the time and place, exchange communication codes among the troops, and the rest could be discussed after a successful landing.

But Shire stopped Hamilton, "General, the issue is I don’t plan to land at V Beach."

Hamilton was stunned and sat back down, looking puzzled at Shire, "Not at V Beach? Then where do you plan to..."

"Bolayers," Shire answered.

Hamilton laughed, "No, that’s impossible! We can’t land at Bolayers; it’s suicide!"

(Above: The location of Bolayers, on the southern shore of Saros Bay, in the strategic choke point of the Gallipoli Peninsula)

Shire didn’t speak, waiting for Hamilton’s analysis.

Sure enough, Hamilton spread his hands to both sides:

"Don’t you think so? We’ve already analyzed this before!"

"I know Bolayers is a strategic location. Landing there can choke off the throat of the Gallipoli Peninsula and cut off the Ottoman supply line."

"But the Ottomans know this too. They have stationed over a division’s worth of troops there, more than ten thousand men, and they have coastal artillery!"

"Additionally, if the fleet is to land at Bolayers, it must enter Saros Bay. We risk being attacked from three sides!"

The officers nodded in agreement.

It was evident that Saros Bay was a narrow space, roughly U-shaped, with a width of only a dozen kilometers.

If warships entered this area, they would be in a very passive situation, facing three-sided artillery fire. Even heavily armored battleships might not withstand it.

General Winter also began to doubt Shire’s plan.

"I’ve read the battle report, Colonel." General Winter frowned slightly, "We’ve launched a feint against Bolayers before, giving the Ottomans time to prepare. Don’t you think we should change the location..."

"Precisely because of the previous feint," Shire interrupted General Winter, "It will make the Ottomans believe we won’t attack there."

Hamilton’s mouth twisted in mockery, "So, how do you plan to resolve the issue of the fleet being attacked from three sides?"

Shire leisurely stood up, pointing at the map, "The key to the plan is timing. Our fleet will enter Saros Bay before dawn to bombard Bolayers and withdraw at first light. Meanwhile, the landing troops will land at the break of dawn..."

If the fleet fights in darkness, it doesn’t have to worry about being attacked from three sides.

"Easier said than done," Hamilton interrupted Shire, "Landing at dawn, how can you ensure such a short time window for the landing? If it fails, you will face fatal blows!"

Shire turned his gaze to Tijani.

Understanding, Tijani stood up and distributed the pre-prepared landing craft diagrams to the officers.

As he handed them to Hamilton, Tijani explained, "This is a landing craft invented by Shire, General. It can carry 32 fully armed soldiers at once. We have 20 of them. This means we can land more than 600 people in a few minutes."

Seeing the diagram, Hamilton’s expression instantly became serious.

The diagram was clear, showing the process from infantry climbing down the rope ladder to the landing craft, proceeding at 9 knots towards the landing beach, landing ramp lowering, soldiers charging ashore to attack.

After pondering, Hamilton hesitated and said:

"This alone might not be enough!"

"As General Winter mentioned, the enemy is already prepared at Bolayers, with defensive lines established, and we can’t timely transport our equipment and supplies ashore."

Tijani took out another bundle of documents to distribute, this time they were about the landing craft carriers.

With a confident smile, Tijani explained while distributing, "You’re right, General. That’s why we also have landing craft carriers. We’ll use them to transport materials ashore; we’ve even added frontal armor, 11MM thick to block bullets!"

The officers exclaimed in surprise upon receiving the blueprints. It depicted a bizarre vessel with automobile wheels.

General Winter looked at the blueprints and asked in disbelief, "Is this a sea-land amphibious vessel?"

"Yes." Tijani nodded:

"It has always been a significant challenge to transport materials during landing operations, a considerable challenge, gentlemen."

"Usually, materials must be lifted from transport ships to wooden boats, then transported to the shore by these boats, and then carried manually."

"But with this kind of vessel..."

Saying this, Tijani raised the blueprint in his hand.

Everyone understood that with this sea-land amphibious landing vessel, materials could be transported ashore in one step, and it could be used as an automobile after the landing.

More importantly, with a mounted machine gun and a few soldiers, it could participate in the landing operations and provide protection and covering fire for the landing troops!

Such a thing really exists?