CHAPTER 300: REVISED: CHAPTER 300 INFORMATION BLOCKADE

Boraye Town, Ottoman Fifth Army Command.

When Sanders heard that the enemy had landed from the direction of Annia Village, he was completely dumbfounded.

"How could they land on that stretch of the sea?" Sanders looked at the staff officer with a face of astonishment, then paused and asked seriously, "Are you sure you got it right?"

Sanders thought it was a false report, which had happened before in Gallipoli, as some new soldiers tried to use this to tell their superiors they were busy to avoid real combat.

"No, General." The staff officer answered confidently, "It has been confirmed that the enemy has indeed landed. The third infantry battalion stationed there has already fled, and the situation is unclear at the moment."

Sanders stared at the map silently for a while and then made a judgment: this could be a feint by the enemy.

Given his current level of knowledge and the limitations of the era, it was not surprising he’d think this way.

Due to the sudden incident, the third infantry battalion didn’t even have time to call before they were defeated.

Some soldiers of the third infantry battalion scattered and fled, but they couldn’t transmit information in time. In these times, finding a telephone was difficult, especially in the poor and desolate mountains of the Gallipoli Peninsula.

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

"Annia Village is full of reefs." Sanders regained his composure, "The enemy can’t land there on a large scale, they probably used the darkness before dawn to send a small assault team in wooden boats."

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

"Yes." Sanders nodded, "They want us to reinforce Annia Village so they can launch a sudden attack in another direction."

Thinking of this, Sanders didn’t hesitate and ordered, "Let Bahar send a battalion for reinforcement. The other troops stay put and keep a close eye on other directions, ready for combat!"

"Yes, General!" the staff officer responded.

The staff officer was about to leave to convey the orders when Sanders called him back: "Send a reconnaissance plane to scout, see what’s going on!"

Sanders was a bit uneasy. If the enemy’s landing in Annia Village was genuine, it would deal a fatal blow to the defense of the Gallipoli Peninsula.

...

Bahar was already overwhelmed with the defense of Annia Village.

He commanded a corps of three infantry divisions with over 50,000 men, but the available reinforcements for Annia Village were extremely limited.

The other forces were either too far away or guarding the coastline.

The former was like distant water that doesn’t quench present thirst, the latter was like robbing Peter to pay Paul, possibly exposing more of the coastline to the enemy.

Bahar looked at the map and considered for a moment, then muttered to himself, "The only timely reinforcement available is the Guard Battalion of the army group. Let them hold the line until reinforcements arrive!"

Just as Bahar was about to call the army group headquarters, the phone rang.

It was the staff officer Quinn, who, like Bahar, was from Salonika and would chat with him often.

"The General thinks it’s likely a feint, Colonel." The staff officer’s tone was calm, "We just need to send a battalion to reinforce, other places should stay put and not lose our footing."

"I don’t think so." Bahar interrupted the staff officer, "Their attack speed is incredibly fast, it can’t be a feint!"

Bahar made this judgment based on the continuous loss of contact with the second defensive line: first, the third infantry battalion, then the second infantry battalion... they all had the same situation, the phones couldn’t get through.

Soon, the phones in those positions got through again. They said everything was normal, but Bahar still felt something was wrong.

Similar situations kept happening behind the defensive line; some places were connected while others suddenly got cut off, confusing Bahar completely.

"Take it easy, Colonel," the staff officer analyzed, "You know the situation of the sea area around Annia Village. The reefs there make sustained landing operations impossible for the enemy. They can’t get continuous supplies, so it can only be a feint."

Most of the rifles used by the Ottomans were German Mausers, which were not compatible with French rifle ammunition.

Thus, the staff officer’s analysis made sense: if the French couldn’t continuously send supplies during the day, the enemy’s landing troops would fire fewer and fewer bullets until they ran out of ammo and supplies.

"I heard they have tanks!" Bahar emphasized, his tone a bit tense, "Charles’ tanks, it could be Charles’ troops..."

The staff officer laughed, "Colonel, I’d like to know how tanks landed?"

"They..." Bahar froze.

He heard those tanks could drive directly out of the sea, which he himself didn’t believe, and it’d be a joke if he said it aloud.

Seeing Bahar not answering, the staff officer continued to order, "Do as the General said, transfer a battalion from the 70th Infantry Regiment for reinforcement, and watch for the enemy’s other movements!"

"Yes, sir." Bahar responded sullenly.

...

This was part of Charles’ attack plan: to end the battle as much as possible before the enemy could react.

War often revolved around information. If the enemy knew nothing, they couldn’t respond effectively.

This was difficult to achieve in modern times, but it was possible during WWI with extremely backward communication equipment.

(Note: It was also achievable in WWII. The blitzkrieg was a rapid penetration when the enemy’s situation was unclear.)

Charles’ means of information blocking were roughly threefold:

"First, the sky. The enemy will send reconnaissance planes for scouting," Charles turned his gaze to General Winter.

General Winter understood, "No problem, I’ll have the Royal Ark assist you in the operation. Its seaplanes will shoot down anything the enemy has in the sky."

"Not only that, General," Charles added, "I hope they can scout the conditions ahead of the attack line and then transmit the intelligence to us."

"Of course!" General Winter nodded.

He was confident about this, as the Ottoman Empire had only a dozen reconnaissance planes, and they hadn’t even had a chance to mount machine guns.

"Second, the land." Charles turned his gaze to Tijani: "Our attack speed must be fast, as long as our speed is quick enough, the enemy can’t transmit accurate intelligence."

"Understood, Colonel." Tijani stood tall, "We will maintain the attack speed until we see the sea on the other side!"

Finally, Charles said, "And the phones inside the defensive line. We need some people who can speak Ottoman."

Hamilton interjected, "I’ll handle this; we’ve prepared many translators!"

As Hamilton spoke, his face showed a bit of embarrassment.

These translators were originally meant for interrogating prisoners or communicating with the locals, but so far hadn’t been put to much use.