CHAPTER 313: CHAPTER THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN: ARMY LANDING

Edward Shen, also known as Shen Bili, his story was even turned into a movie.

However, because Shen Bili was of Chinese descent, his heroic deeds were quickly forgotten.

After the war, he didn’t even have a formal job, working as a laborer and taking odd jobs. He eventually died impoverished in a cheap rented hotel at the age of 57, with only five shillings as his inheritance.

Shire needed someone like him by his side, someone with keen insight and faster-than-normal reflexes, and even a sixth sense developed from long-term hunting.

With him around, if an enemy suddenly appeared, Shire wouldn’t need to take action himself.

Thinking this, Shire turned his head and asked Richard, "I happen to need a guard, Colonel."

"Of course, no problem," Colonel Richard responded hastily. But he hesitated afterward and glanced at Shen Bili: "But he doesn’t know French, which seems unsuitable as your guard."

Shen Bili quickly stepped forward, his tone somewhat tense: "I can learn, Colonel, that’s not a problem. Moreover, there doesn’t seem to be much to learn, just simple communication."

Colonel Richard directed his gaze to Shire.

Shire agreed promptly: "No problem, we have plenty of translators around."

So the matter was settled.

On the way back to the defensive line on the west side, Shire asked Shen Bili through a translator: "You seem very unwilling to stay in your own unit?"

"Yes." Shen Bili did not deny it, his face full of indignation: "I do better than many others. Perhaps you would think I am boasting, Colonel, but I am stating the facts. The instructor seems like a novice to me, if he were my enemy on the battlefield, I could easily take him down. However..."

Shen Bili glanced at his own rank.

No need for further explanation, Shire instantly understood what was going on—discrimination, double standards, unfair treatment.

Someone with such skills should ideally lead a squad or even organize a special force, but to date, he was still a Junior Sergeant.

Shen Bili seemed to realize that he wouldn’t have a future in the Australian Army, no matter how well he performed, so he considered trying his luck with the French Army under Shire.

Shire smiled.

If it were someone else, they might still have no chance, because France had the same issues. But it just so happened that it was Shire.

Consider yourself lucky!

...

That day, the Ottoman Army indeed did not launch an attack, just as Shire had predicted.

But Tijani appeared very irritated, pacing back and forth in the command post, muttering:

"Originally, we were surrounding the enemy, but now it’s the enemy surrounding us!"

"The front and rear defensive lines are only two hundred meters away from us. No matter which side we attack, the enemy’s artillery can bombard our backs, and machine guns can shoot at our backs."

The second defensive line held by the French Army consisted of two trenches running east to west, more than a hundred meters apart.

If the French Army leapt out of the trenches and attacked the enemy to the west, just as Tijani said, the machine guns and artillery of the eastern enemy would shoot at the backs of the advancing French troops.

Such an attack was evidently infeasible; it could be more disastrous than the Ottoman Army’s offensive.

"General." At this moment, a communications officer came in to report: "General Winter sent a telegram, saying the Colonel’s guess is likely correct. The seaplane reconnaissance spotted the enemy training with wooden sticks for grenade throwing."

Tijani let out a "Hmm," took the telegram, glanced at it, and handed it to Shire, his brow furrowing even deeper.

Shire took the telegram and looked at it, saying indifferently: "This could be a good thing."

"A good thing?" Tijani looked at Shire, confused: "How could this be a good thing?"

Shire didn’t answer directly, he pointed to the "A" corner on the west side of the defensive line: "We can boldly assume that the western enemy, to avoid battleship bombardment, has placed their main force close to our defensive line."

"No, Colonel." Tijani looked up at Shire: "This is not an assumption, it is a fact. The enemy’s main force is right in front of us!"

The western enemy hadn’t built just one trench; they had constructed a complete defensive line consisting of three trenches.

Even if each trench required 2000 soldiers to defend, these three trenches had a total force of 6000 soldiers.

That was definitely the main force of the "A" corner enemy, both in terms of quality and strength.

"Then." Shire pointed to the east side of the defensive line on the map: "Why don’t we land here?"

"You must be insane!" Tijani looked at the point Shire indicated: "If we land here, the transport ships would have to go deep into Saros Bay, facing the enemy’s coastal defenses from three sides!"

The previous landing force attacked from west to east so that the transport ships could avoid the "death zone" within Saros Bay. Now Shire suggested landing on the eastern end of the defensive line, which seemed like suicide.

However, Shire responded calmly: "I didn’t say the fleet should land."

Tijani was puzzled: "But if there’s no fleet, how will we land?"

"Army," Shire stated firmly: "We ourselves!"

Tijani laughed: "We ourselves? But that’s the sea, Colonel. Are we going to swim across..."

He suddenly realized: "Do you mean amphibious landing boats?"

Shire smiled without speaking.

Tijani stood there with his mouth half-opened for a while, then suddenly sat down, staring at the map, and exclaimed:

"God, the enemy’s defensive line is very close to us, just two or three hundred meters away."

"They think that with this defensive line in front of us, we definitely can’t bypass it."

"They forgot we have amphibious landing boats that can bypass their defensive line from the sea and attack their flank or even the rear."

"By then, their defensive line’s flank will face two or even three-sided attacks..."

Saying this, Tijani excitedly grabbed Shire’s shoulders and shook them:

"Brilliant, Shire, you are a genius!"

"The result of the previous landing operation will be repeated. The enemy unknowingly made the same mistake again."

"These fools, they didn’t realize that amphibious landing boats can land from the flank!"

...

Shire was speechless for a moment, thinking: weren’t you the same?

Perhaps it was due to the stereotyped thinking of people; everyone assumed that Shire’s amphibious landing boats were used for landing from sea to land.

They didn’t foresee that this equipment could have another deployment method: from land to sea, and then from sea to land for penetration.

That’s why Shire said, "This could be a good thing."

If the enemy hadn’t constructed such a defensive line to compress the living space of the French Army, the "A" corner would have several square kilometers with various dispersed terrains defended by different forces. Shire wouldn’t know where to penetrate, and any attempt would place him in the enemy’s encirclement.

Now that the enemy concentrated ahead in a linear distribution, it created an excellent opportunity for Shire!