CHAPTER 305: CHAPTER 305 INDEED, ONLY 10 MINUTES HAVE PASSED

The news of Shire’s successful landing soon reached Paris.

The Merit Newspaper once again took the lead, devoting a large section to report on Shire’s successful capture of Sector "A" and its strategic significance, exclaiming:

"The whole battle lasted only two hours and ten minutes, with just over three hundred casualties, the troops completed the capture of the ’A’ sector line."

"The entire defensive line is 6.1 kilometers in a straight line, but the winding trenches might actually be about 8 kilometers, meaning the troops’ advance speed was nearly 4 kilometers per hour."

"That’s almost our walking speed."

"They just walked from one end to the other and told the enemy, this place belongs to us now."

"Only Shire could do this, along with his troops!"

...

The French people were not overly concerned about this.

Their expectations for Shire had grown higher, and such victories were already anticipated by them.

Their thought was: If Shire went, only a defeat would surprise the French people.

They were more interested in the landing crafts and ships Shire had used in the battle.

But the Merit Newspaper and other papers didn’t mention a word about it. Needless to say, this was again a result of Gallieni imposing wartime censorship on the media.

When Gallieni applied to the government, he said: "They are still playing a role in the battle for Sector ’A’. If we expose them now, the enemy will immediately know what they are, how they perform, and might even figure out their flaws. This could negatively impact the war or even be dangerous, so control is essential!"

This made perfect sense, and the government readily agreed. Moreover, the control was not just on the media but also on the Wells shipyard.

However, people still learned snippets from other sources, which only fueled their curiosity:

"I heard that Shire developed a ’tank’ for this landing operation that can operate both on sea and land?"

"Yes, the Ottoman Empire’s newspapers reported it, attributing their defeat to this."

"It’s also in the German newspapers, and I heard there’s also a landing craft that can deliver soldiers directly to the shore?"

"If ’tanks’ can operate both in the sea and on land, isn’t a landing craft a minor issue?"

...

People enthusiastically discussed and wildly speculated about what this amphibious tank might look like.

Only Dejoka and Camille were worried.

Camille read the newspaper over and over, hoping to find every word about Shire, to analyze whether Shire was on the island.

"He should be on the warship, right?"

"For such a battle, all he needs to do is command from the warship, just like he commands others from the City Defense Headquarters."

"A staff officer is meant to make plans; he doesn’t need to personally lead the troops into battle, right?"

...

Dejoka just kept nodding in agreement and comforting her, but he knew the truth was far from that.

The news that Shire personally went to the battlefield had already been widely reported in the newspapers, everyone knew it, and praised Shire’s bravery. Neighbors discussed privately:

"Shire has made so many achievements; he doesn’t need to go to the battlefield, and no one would blame him."

"Yes, and Shire is also a wealthy capitalist, he could enjoy his riches for a lifetime. But he still went to the battlefield."

"It’s an act of bravery; he didn’t avoid the war because of his ’special’ status. He’s different from others!"

...

The reason Camille didn’t know was that Dejoka spent a hundred francs to create a "custom" newspaper for Camille, and also asked the neighbors not to mention this matter in front of her.

Shire can solve his own problems, Dejoka thought, he would defeat all enemies and return alive!

...

However, Shire wasn’t as optimistic on the battlefield.

After the 105th Regiment successfully captured the Sector "A" line, there was at least a period of extreme danger.

"This is like pulling a tooth out of a tiger’s mouth." Shire foresaw this when making the plan: "This is unbearable for the enemy; they might concentrate all their forces to attack us, attempting to wipe us out before we can establish a foothold!"

Facts proved that Shire was right.

The battlefield had just been quiet for half an hour when the artillery began to roar. At least a hundred heavy howitzers bombarded the Sector "A" line.

These were artillery pieces the Ottoman Army had moved in to blockade the Dardanelles Strait. Not long ago, they had used them to duel with the Allied battleships, and now they were using them to bombard the Sector "A" line.

This was the most memorable and fearful experience Shire had gone through. Years later, whenever he recalled this moment, he would shiver.

The artillery noise was deafening, and the entire ground was shaking.

In the dark, damp tunnels, the air was gradually replaced by the choking smell of gunpowder from the shells, the dirt overhead was shaken down, falling "rustling" onto their collars, then slipping into their clothes and bodies like bugs.

But Shire had no time to care about these; he felt like he was pressed under an overturned bell, with dozens of hammers pounding on it outside.

At first, he could hear each explosion, feeling the intervals between them, but soon the explosions became one continuous roar.

Not long after, Shire couldn’t even hear the explosions, only a "buzzing" sound in his ears, his consciousness seemed to struggle to leave his body, and his limbs were so numb they were out of control.

Finally, the shelling stopped.

Shire thought the bombardment lasted at least an hour. He stumbled out of the tunnel, touched his face, and confirmed that he was still alive.

Tijani followed behind, coughing a few times in the smoke, cautiously poking his head out of the trench to take a look, saying: "We’re very lucky, a few days ago the enemy launched a major attack on ’S’ Beach, they must have used many shells in that battle!"

Shire’s head was still dizzy, Tijani’s words seemed to be heard but also seemed not to be, as if he was talking to someone else.

After a while, Shire reacted.

"S" Beach?

Yes, the Ottomans wanted to eliminate the isolated "S" Beach first, and then besiege the other beaches.

They used many shells in that battle...

Wait a minute!

Shire looked at Tijani in surprise: "You mean if it wasn’t for the attack on ’S’ Beach, the bombardment this time would have lasted longer?"

"Of course!" Tijani nodded calmly: "Otherwise, how could it be just ten minutes of shelling!"

"Ten minutes?" Shire’s expression stiffened, a twitch appeared at the corner of his mouth. Are you kidding me?

He took out his pocket watch for a look, and the smile disappeared from his face, indeed it had only been ten minutes.