CHAPTER 303: CHAPTER 303: CAPTURING SHIRE ALIVE

"I can’t be sure!" Shire answered bluntly, "But we can only take a gamble now!"

With that, Shire squatted back down in front of the map and, after a brief contemplation, laid out a battle plan: "Continue the frontal assault to keep the enemy’s attention. There are six amphibious landing craft arriving. Arm them and cover the second echelon as they advance along the road."

"Advance along the road?" Tijani exclaimed, looking at Shire in disbelief. Is this too obvious?

Before this, amphibious landing craft had also gone up the road, because the road was very close to this defensive line.

But only because the troops had taken over trenches to provide necessary cover did they dare to do so.

"The amphibious landing craft only have front armor that can stop bullets, Colonel," Tijani reminded, "If the enemy has defenses on the road, even just a platoon, we could suffer heavy casualties..."

"Do you think the enemy has time to deploy forces on the road?" Shire interrupted Tijani, speaking with confidence, "No, General. They have just arrived and have hastily organized their defenses, and they don’t have enough forces to extend to the road."

Seeing Tijani still hesitating, Shire added, "We must act quickly, or the enemy will soon fill this gap!"

Tijani gritted his teeth, nodded, and said, "I’ll follow your plan. After all, you’re Shire!"

Shire sighed inwardly; Tijani was competent in many aspects and had comprehensive knowledge of amphibious operations, but he lacked boldness.

In this situation, not taking a risk was certain death; taking a risk offered a glimmer of hope. What was there to consider? Hesitating for even a second was a crime!

Fortunately, he hadn’t wasted much time. With one order, the assault team was formed: two infantry companies of over four hundred men, led by a Captain named Alphonse to execute the maneuver.

Tijani also provided Alphonse with a backup radio for ease of communication.

Shire instructed, "Don’t worry about anything after breaching the enemy line. Occupy the trench all the way to the seashore, understand?"

"Understood, Colonel!" Alphonse answered.

After Alphonse and his troops departed, Tijani said, "Don’t worry, he is the best Major of the 105th Regiment. He knows what to do."

Shire was speechless; it seemed that even you, the regiment commander, didn’t know what to do!

...

Bahar lay quietly behind the ruins, observing the advance of the French Army.

In his impression, the French Army always charged at the enemy under artillery cover, heedless of life and death, fighting in dense formations.

However, the soldiers before him were somewhat different. They advanced in a skirmish formation, using everything they could as cover. Sometimes they lay in shell craters, sometimes behind trees.

Once sheltered, they would raise their rifles to shoot, covering the advance of another group.

This alternating advance tactic took Bahar by surprise, for it rendered the three Maxim Machine Guns he had brought almost unusable. Whenever they opened fire, the enemies were already in cover.

Thus, although the battle was fierce, the enemy’s casualties were minimal. Instead, the defending Ottoman Army sustained significant losses to enemy mortars, with two of their machine guns destroyed after being exposed.

As expected of Shire’s troops, Bahar silently praised, no wonder they advanced here so quickly.

However, with each passing moment, Bahar felt more at ease.

Clearly, the situation was favoring the Ottoman Army.

"My goal isn’t to win against you," Bahar muttered as he put away his binoculars, "I just need to hold you off until reinforcements arrive, then I win!"

Bahar turned around and saw more and more troops coming in as reinforcements.

It was the 69th Infantry Regiment. At one point, they stayed in the trenches, unsure of what to do. They knew the enemy was coming and could tell from the gunfire that the enemy was on the flanks.

However, they hadn’t received any orders to leave their posts, so they could only grip their rifles and wait.

Thus, they all repeated the experiences of others: one or two hundred men facing an enemy offensive of five or six hundred, their line collapsing until they fled.

Much like dominoes, one pushing another, nearly the entire defensive line was shattered by Shire with little effort.

Until Bahar arrived and promptly adjusted the defensive direction.

Watching the soldiers reinforcing the line with two heavy machine guns, Bahar let out a sigh of relief, his taut nerves gradually relaxing.

This battle could almost be concluded.

Shire failed to capture the entire defensive line; victory belonged to the Ottoman Empire.

Then Bahar wondered, could Shire be with this force? If they could encircle the enemy’s landing force, could they capture Shire?

Bahar’s eyes lit up with anticipation as he looked toward the enemy.

If they could achieve this, it would not only be a victory in this battle but also elevate the waning Ottoman Empire to new heights!

"Attention everyone!" Bahar shouted with vigor, "Shire is right ahead, defeat them and capture Shire alive!"

For a moment, the soldiers were stunned, then their morale soared. One after another, they shouted, "Defeat the enemy and capture Shire alive!"

Their shouts even drowned out the gunfire, reaching the other side.

...

The translator relayed the shouts to Tijani, who looked at Shire with a half-smiling expression, teasing, "I’m envious, Colonel, you’re so popular wherever you go!"

"Should I wave at them?" Shire responded.

Tijani laughed heartily, "They wouldn’t recognize that’s Shire’s hand."

Shire peeked over at the battlefield and said to Tijani, "It’s time to start!"

Tijani nodded, turned to the signalman, and ordered, "Begin the operation!"

The signalman immediately used flags to signal Alphonse, who was prepared on the road.

...

At this time, the Ottoman Army continued fighting valiantly.

Perhaps knowing Shire was on the other side, they even began counterattacking the French Army.

The Ottoman Army certainly had the means to counterattack: Bahar’s guard company, the rallied stragglers, and the reinforcements from the rear trenches, giving them nearly a thousand men and a numerical advantage.

At the same time, Bahar believed that the counterattack would boost morale, as it signaled to everyone that victory was within reach.

However, just as Bahar launched his assault, the sound of machine gun fire erupted from the direction of the road.

Turning to look, he saw a unit advancing along the road under the cover of "tanks."

They moved quickly; the "tanks" must have been going at a speed of over ten kilometers per hour, with soldiers running frantically behind them.

The machine guns on the "tanks" furiously fired at the soldiers blocking their path, quickly breaking through and advancing to the side and rear.

Bahar cursed inwardly, realizing the trench behind him had been emptied.

The enemy just needed to enter the trench, and then they could organize a defensive line behind him...