CHAPTER 282: REVISED: CHAPTER 282 FLEET

A week later, the 105th Regiment finally set off.

Due to Wells’s efforts and the green light from the Minister of the Navy, Shire’s reinforcement fleet was quite luxurious.

The fleet consisted of five transport ships, two of which carried troops, and the other three carried supplies, including two respectively loaded with landing craft and amphibious landing ships.

Additionally, there were three destroyers and two Q-ships escorting them.

The so-called Q-ships are armed ships disguised as merchant ships, an invention by the British to deal with submarines.

They had armed ships masquerade as solitary merchant ships at sea.

German submarines encountering these "merchant ships" usually wouldn’t sink them directly with torpedoes, choosing instead a more economical method: surfacing for a close-range attack, at which point the Q-ships would suddenly counterattack the submarines.

But these ships were not very effective in actual combat. After suffering losses once or twice, the Germans no longer fell for such tricks, especially since mass-produced Q-ships all looked quite similar.

Shire was aboard the "Henry" transport ship, and Tijani was also on this ship.

This was Tijani’s suggestion. Before setting sail, he asked Shire with a requesting tone: "Colonel, typically, you should be on the flagship ’Adventure’, a destroyer which is faster and safer. But..."

Before he could finish, Shire understood his meaning: "You want me to train the soldiers with you?"

"Yes." Tijani nodded: "They are army troops, many of whom have never been on a ship before, or even seen the sea, yet they now have to conduct landing operations. The journey to our destination will take five days. I hope to use this time to get the soldiers accustomed to landing craft operations."

"No problem." Shire agreed: "I will be on that ship."

Tijani chose the "Henry" because it was the transport ship carrying the landing crafts.

Before departure, Tijani had already made preparations, placing two landing crafts on the deck. The soldiers practiced in the landing crafts in batches.

But the problem was...

The fleet soon encountered rough seas after setting out, and Shire immediately felt unwell.

Shire had a private room, though it was only a few square meters in size, it had a bed and a desk, with a fixed lamp on the desk, making it a relatively nice environment for a crowded transport ship.

But Shire felt he needed a bucket more.

He never knew what it was like to be on a ship.

Storm clouds gathered and winds howled, making the entire world seem to spin, tilting here and there, with the ship veering at such angles that it seemed it could capsize at any moment.

In his heart, Shire repeatedly told himself:

It’s okay, Shire does not get seasick, Shire cannot get seasick!

But he still couldn’t hold it in, and with a loud "wa" sound, vomited on the floor.

Hearing the noise, his steward Adrian knocked on the door and entered. Seeing the vomit on the floor and smelling the sour stench in the air, he immediately understood.

"One moment, Colonel." He comforted: "It’s alright!"

In no time, Adrian brought a cloth and a wooden bucket, with a small amount of water in the bucket, seemingly to prevent it from spilling.

Shire was incredulous, he asked Adrian with difficulty: "You can clean under these conditions?"

"Of course, Colonel." Adrian answered calmly, busy with his hands while speaking: "Perhaps you don’t know, I am the child of a fisherman, used to life on the ship since I was young. To me, all ships are the same."

Suddenly, Shire felt Adrian’s image become grander.

He was feeling awful, while Adrian could still clean the floor.

Moreover, his actions were very skilled, quickly cleaning up the vomit. Shortly after leaving, he returned carrying the cleaned wooden bucket, placing it by Shire’s bedside, and whispered: "Don’t worry, Colonel, I will keep this a secret for you."

Shire gave a bitter smile: "They will find out eventually, I think it’ll take at least a few days."

"The key is not to fight it." Adrian appeared as a sage: "Relax, feel its rhythm, then tell yourself: I know you’re going this way, I know you’re going that way... you’ll adapt quickly."

Shire tried what Adrian said, and indeed felt a bit better.

Seasickness is essentially a psychological fear.

Additionally, it’s the habit of being on solid ground for a long time; the large sway of the ship becomes difficult to adapt to.

Tijani lived opposite Shire.

Shire believed he knew about this, but he never came out to check. This was another of Tijani’s strengths; he understood human relationships well.

A sleepless night passed, and it wasn’t until the next morning when the seas calmed that Shire began to feel a bit better.

After experiencing a storm, Shire found that slight rocking was nothing, but he still had no appetite for food.

He was exhausted and unknowingly fell asleep.

...

What Shire didn’t know was that while he was on his way to the Dardanelles Strait, a French fleet had already arrived there.

This fleet was dispatched by Xia Fei, carrying two landing crafts converted from coal ships, commanded by Major General Onore, with a regiment of about four thousand infantry.

Upon arriving at the Dardanelles Strait, Major General Onore couldn’t wait to submit a combat application to Major General Gephardt: "I hope to engage in battle as soon as possible, General. We can help the British capture V Beach."

Major General Gephardt was a bit uncertain: "Perhaps you should wait for Shire. He will be here in just a few days, and then we can study the landing plan..."

"No, General." Major General Onore insisted on landing immediately: "We should strike the enemy unexpectedly. Everyone knows Shire is on the way now, the Ottomans and the Germans know too."

This was true; when Shire departed, there were even reporters taking photos at the port and many people came to send him off.

But this was James’s plan. He wanted to launch an attack and achieve victory before Shire arrived.

Because James worried that once Shire arrived at the Dardanelles Strait and took control of the French fleet’s advisory authority, he would quickly discover the "Clyde" and "Sedir" landing ships.

If these two landing ships were used by Shire, his inventions would pave the way for Shire’s success, something he didn’t want to see.

Major General Gephardt couldn’t make a decision on his own, so he sought Major General Robek’s opinion.

But there was no need to ask. Major General Robek was British, and if the French wanted to fight, how could Major General Robek disagree?

He waved his hand, immediately agreeing to Major General Onore’s request, even praising him and using this act of "proactive initiative" to call for others to follow suit.