CHAPTER 298: CHAPTER 298: TANK, THAT IS A TANK

The darkness before dawn, the western side of the second line of defense at Saros Bay Borayer, the sea wind was howling, the cold was biting.

Although it was already April, the temperature in Gelibolu was still around 7 degrees.

Especially since it started to drizzle, making the soldiers of the 69th Infantry Regiment of the 17th Division of the Ottoman Empire, who were stationed here, shiver with cold.

"Damn it!" Captain Kadir of the 3rd Infantry Battalion, huddled in a makeshift fortification, couldn’t help but complain, "Can’t they send us some raincoats or clothes?"

Deputy Battalion Commander Isa replied, "Captain, all our vehicles and draft animals are transporting ammunition, no one can take care of us!"

Kadir made a sound of acknowledgment.

He knew this. The sound of gunfire and artillery from the front line was intense, ensuring the supply of ammunition was the foremost priority, everything else had to take a backseat.

But, why didn’t anyone tell them to make some preparations before coming?

"Captain!" A soldier, hunched over, ran up to Kadir and asked, "Can we make a fire to keep warm? Otherwise, we’ll freeze to death before the enemy arrives!"

Deputy Battalion Commander Isa immediately rejected this excessive request, "No, Mehdi, the firelight will expose our position."

Kadir hesitated for a moment, then approved the request, "Okay, but keep it to a minimum, one fire per infantry company. Also, be sure to cover it up!"

"Yes, Captain." The soldier responded hastily.

The deputy battalion commander quickly stepped forward to stop him, "Captain, this might be inappropriate..."

"Don’t worry, Isa." The commander gestured around and said, "Look at this place, no one would land here, let alone we are the second line of defense!"

The deputy battalion commander looked at the beach and sea a hundred meters to the left and thought that the commander made sense.

The beach at Annia Village was full of reefs, even medium-sized fishing boats had to be cautious, not to mention the enemy’s warships.

However, the deputy battalion commander was still a bit worried, "I heard they invented a kind of landing boat..."

The commander chuckled and said, "You mean that coal-carrying boat that landed at Helles Point? Don’t worry, it won’t get in either!"

The deputy battalion commander was speechless. A coal-carrying boat might get in, but it would have to know the route.

However, suddenly a few shells whistled through the sky, followed by explosions near the trenches.

Kadir’s face changed, and he quickly ordered loudly, "Extinguish the fire, extinguish the fire!"

He thought the fire had attracted artillery fire.

The soldiers, realizing what was happening, hastily used their entrenching tools to cover the fires with dirt, then gasped for breath as they lay by the trench edges, looking toward the direction of the artillery sound.

Before the soldiers could understand what was happening, the artillery began to fire continuously. Amid the lightning-like flashes of the artillery fire, more than ten warships appeared on the sea, spewing tongues of fire at the shore one after another.

Kadir wasn’t nervous. He knew these warships couldn’t land here unless they were crazy!

...

"Boom boom boom!"

"Boom boom!"

The sound of the artillery became more intense, the coastal defenses were submerged in flames and smoke.

It was the French Fleet that was firing, deploying two battleships this time: the "Gaul" and the "Charlemagne."

More than a dozen destroyers also participated, their mission was to clear as many obstacles and fortifications on the beach as possible, especially the barbed wire.

While the artillery was preparing, landing boats and landing craft, fully loaded with armed soldiers, were already on the move.

A total of forty landing boats and landing craft were advancing towards the coast at top speed against the sea wind.

...

Only then did Kadir realize he was wrong.

Through his binoculars, he saw rows of small boats approaching on the sea amidst the artillery fire, and he felt a sense of doom. These small boats were fast and shallow-draft, the reefs might not be able to stop them.

After a short hesitation, Kadir quickly shouted amidst the sound of artillery, "Organize the defense, they are landing here!"

But no one heard his shout. The soldiers, completely unprepared mentally, were already showing signs of collapse the moment the shells began to explode.

Soon, the shelling began to move back.

Running all the way, Kadir started dragging the soldiers from the ground and placing their guns on the trenches.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, but by this time the sun had already risen halfway, and the sunlight illuminated the Annia Village beach on the left side of the defense line.

To his shock, Kadir found that the defensive line was not facing the beach, and the enemy was disembarking from these strange boats and spreading out on the beach.

Kadir made a quick decision and immediately jumped out of the trench, running ahead and waving his arm while shouting, "3rd Infantry Battalion, follow me!"

The bewildered soldiers might have been influenced by their commander’s brave actions. Clutching their rifles, they jumped out of the trenches and followed Kadir towards the beach.

It seemed to be a race to see who could deploy their troops faster.

Kadir believed he still had a chance. Although they had lost the initiative, as long as they could hold off the enemy, reinforcements would arrive wave after wave and push the enemy back into the sea.

The key was not to let them gain a foothold on the coast, or it would be very troublesome!

However, Kadir soon realized he had underestimated the opponent.

On their way to the beach, the enemy’s gunfire and artillery had already started.

The guns were Maxim heavy machine guns on the landing craft, their bullets pouring towards the 3rd Infantry Battalion like a tide. Amid the whistling sound, soldiers fell into pools of blood one after another.

The artillery were mortars, with shells exploding among the troops, throwing soldiers into the air before heavily slamming them down.

Kadir had to lie on the ground, frightened by the enemy’s rapid organization of such fierce firepower. Was this a landing battle? It was a positional warfare right from the start!

Kadir’s chest heaved violently. He remembered the German instructor mentioning this kind of small-caliber infantry gun, invented by Shire, widely used in the French Army.

But the enemy attacking Gelibolu rarely used this kind of artillery. They were either colonial troops or the British Army.

Could it be, this was Shire’s unit?

This realization made Kadir feel grave, but he still gritted his teeth and shouted, "Defend on the spot, stop them!"

Hearing the command, the soldiers lay on the ground and aimed their rifles at the enemy.

However, an even more unbelievable scene took place: the landing boats that should have been sailing in the sea began to drive onto the beach, advancing like cars, covering the infantry as they charged at them.

The soldiers were stunned, and Kadir’s mind went blank.

What kind of equipment was this? It could move on both sea and land?!

"Fire, fire!" Kadir ordered loudly, carrying a hint of panic, something he had never felt before. He hoped that bullets could stop these monsters.

The soldiers mustered their courage and fired a volley at the landing boats, but found that the bullets only sparked on the boats, which continued to advance steadily, covering the enemy infantry as they got closer.

"Tanks, those are tanks!" someone shouted in panic.

This shout caused the 3rd Infantry Battalion to collapse completely. Not knowing who started first, they all got up and fled in the opposite direction, leaving Kadir’s shouts in vain.