CHAPTER 297: REVISED: CHAPTER 297 FLANK OF THE DEFENSE LINE

War is like the game of Go; in Go, the objective is to secure the most territory with the fewest moves, and in war, it’s about occupying the most space with the least troops.

Especially in landing operations, space nearly means everything.

Without space, the subsequent troops and supplies can’t be brought ashore, and the forces and ammunition will only diminish.

Without space, the artillery, which should be stationed in the rear, can only face the enemy’s rifles on the front line because they have no rear position.

Without space, even if you win ten times, as soon as you lose once, you’ll be driven back into the sea, annihilated, and have to start landing again from scratch.

Shire’s strategy was like occupying the corners in Go; he carved out a triangular landing site of several square kilometers with a nearly straight defensive line from the throat of Borlayare.

General Winter, comparing a document with the map, had a worried expression:

"It won’t be easy to take this line, Colonel."

"This is the second line of defense; the enemy might have a regiment!"

"And the enemy has at least one regiment deployed along the coastal defenses, which means we need to defeat around 7000 men over two regiments to take this line."

General Gephardt added, "And you must act quickly, or the enemy will use their numerical advantage to launch a counteroffensive against you!"

General Hamilton reminded, "Don’t forget the enemy also has 105MM howitzers; they will create a barrage in front of their defensive line!"

...

They each expressed their concerns about the dangers and difficulties of this battle.

Shire, however, was baffled:

"Defeat two enemy regiments?"

"Howitzers creating a barrage?"

"No, our enemy is only one regiment, and there won’t be a barrage. Besides, I’ve always believed we are the numerically superior side!"

General Winter couldn’t help but laugh: "You’re quite humorous, Colonel! We are the landing party, facing an enemy division of over ten thousand men; how do we have numerical superiority?"

Gephardt and Hamilton did not laugh.

Gephardt believed Shire had his reasons for saying so.

Hamilton, reminded by Shire, seemed to have understood something and nodded slightly in agreement!

Before Shire could explain, Hamilton analyzed: "Because our landing site isn’t at ’A’ corner, right?"

Hamilton looked at Shire.

The northern landing beach of Borlayare was a pointed corner; a horizontal defensive line in the middle made it resemble the letter ’A’, hence it was called ’A’ corner or ’A’ beach.

General Winter, puzzled, asked: "Aren’t we going to occupy ’A’ corner? If we don’t land at ’A’ corner, how can we take it?"

Hamilton pointed at one end of the enemy’s second defensive line: "We land here; as soon as we come ashore, we face the enemy’s second line of defense, and it’s the flank of their second line!"

Gephardt and General Winter were instantly stunned and then looked at Shire with shocked eyes.

Shire nodded and answered:

"Why not?"

"We attack this enemy defensive line from west to east; the enemy’s regiment is spread out along this six-kilometer line, and at any given moment, we might face fewer than 100 troops!"

This means the enemy would line up in a long single file, constantly feeding men to face Shire’s landing forces.

"Additionally," General Hamilton added, "once this line is breached, the enemy troops deployed along the coastal defenses will be surrounded, with Shire’s line in front and our naval guns behind... our concern won’t be how to defeat them, but how to handle all these prisoners!"

Hamilton did have some merit, Shire thought. After all, he’s an army general with extensive combat experience.

What Shire didn’t know was that Hamilton felt only dejection.

After decades in the army and countless battles, his strategies couldn’t compare to a young, inexperienced officer’s.

"My God!" General Gephardt, who had been staring at the map, finally understood. He looked up at Shire and exclaimed: "You are a genius, Colonel! What seemed like an insurmountable battle to us, you turned into a nightmare for the enemy with just a change in the landing site!"

...

This battle indeed became a nightmare for the Ottomans and even for Sanders and Bahar.

The troops stationed at Borlayare were the Ottoman’s 17th Division, units of the Third Army, recently placed under the command of Colonel Bahar.

Bahar adjusted the deployments of other units but left the 17th Division unaltered.

He believed the 17th Division was safe and didn’t need to worry about naval bombardment.

The west of Borlayare is Saros Bay; any enemy fleet entering would be bombarded from three directions.

The east side is the Marmara Sea, and the enemy fleet would have to pass through the Dardanelles Strait to reach it, which is impossible as they’ve already failed.

Bahar carefully examined the 17th Division’s deployment map:

An enhanced regiment plus a newly formed Civilian Corps guarding the coastline, one regiment defending the northwest line of Borlayare, one regiment defending the southeast line, and one regiment in the northeast as a reserve, ready to reinforce any of the three lines.

(Note: The Ottoman army followed European organization with two brigades and four regiments per division, with the Civilian Corps being temporarily added.)

Perfect!

If the enemy landed here intending to cut off the supply line, they would face wave after wave of the 17th Division’s attacks.

When the artillery boomed, Bahar, exhausted from a night’s work, was asleep at his desk but was instantly awakened by the sound, recognizing it as coming from the Borlayare direction.

Rubbing his eyes and yawning, Bahar joked: "These fools actually intend to attack Borlayare; they must have a death wish!"

Although joking, Bahar didn’t dare slack off; he stood up, stretched his sore back, and ordered the staff officer: "Order the 11th Division to prepare to support the 17th Division!"

"Yes, Colonel." The staff officer acknowledged and ran to deliver the orders.

The 11th Division was stationed outside the peninsula; Borlayare’s narrow terrain meant it couldn’t support too many troops, as too dense a formation would suffer heavy casualties under enemy naval bombardment.

However, before the order could be transmitted, another staff officer rushed in to report to Bahar in a panic: "Colonel, the 17th Division is requesting reinforcements; they can’t hold off the enemy’s assault!"

"What?" Bahar looked at the staff officer in shock.

The 17th Division was the second line of defense; the battle had only just started. How could they not withstand the enemy’s attack?

"Colonel!" The staff officer explained: "The enemy landed on Annia Village’s beach, and their landing speed is fast. They say there are tanks!"

"Tanks? Impossible!" Bahar was stunned.

(Note: The defenders mistook armored landing craft for tanks.)

The staff officer quickly approached and pointed to Annia Village on the map: "Here, at the flank of the second line of defense!"

Instantly, Bahar’s face went pale. That wasn’t just the flank of the second line of defense; it was the flank of the entire Borlayare line!