CHAPTER 299: CHAPTER 299 LANDING

The 105th Regiment’s landing operation was very smooth.

The scene of machine guns crazily firing at the landing crafts, as imagined, did not appear because this was the area the enemy thought was "impossible to land."

In the past, it was indeed impossible to land here. Unless the Allied forces rowed small wooden boats to the shore, but that would obviously be ruthlessly eliminated on the sea.

Now, with landing ships and landing crafts, everything became simple.

All the landing troops needed to do was land under artillery cover, deploy their forces, and then achieve victory.

Shire stood on the transport ship "Henry," holding binoculars, watching the Ottoman soldiers flee in disarray, and praised, "Not easy, they held on until now."

Tijani nodded in agreement.

On the battlefield, unexpected "accidents" are greatly feared, which would demoralize the troops and make them feel that they are destined to lose this battle.

In this battle, the Ottoman soldiers experienced at least three accidents:

The first was that the Allied fleet actually appeared in front of this beach and bombarded them.

The second was that the Allied forces landed here, and they used landing ships to do it so quickly, deploying their forces and suppressing the enemy with powerful firepower.

The third was the kind of amphibious landing craft.

Tijani could imagine the shock of the Ottoman soldiers seeing the amphibious landing crafts moving directly from the sea onto the shore.

The Ottoman soldiers withstood the first two accidents, but ultimately collapsed at the third.

...

The landing troops did not stop; they attacked along the trenches built by the enemy under the cover of amphibious landing crafts.

The attack was a comprehensive flank assault:

On both sides of the trenches were several amphibious landing crafts, shooting at targets within the trenches with machine guns and rifles from a high angle.

In the middle, a team of soldiers steadily advanced within the trenches, clearing out any remaining enemies.

Following the soldiers, those with the amphibious landing crafts used mortars to suppress the enemy’s machine gun fire.

The Ottoman Army was defeated and disorganized, unable to stop the onslaught of the landing troops even for a moment.

At this time, the landing crafts returned, slowly stopping under the transport ship’s nets, preparing to transport the second wave of landing troops ashore.

Tijani put down his binoculars, turned to Shire, and advised, "Colonel, you don’t have to go ashore. We understand; you don’t need to do this!"

Shire shook his head gently, "No, I must go ashore."

Shire felt somewhat helpless inside.

The tradition of the French Army was that officers should lead the charge in front of the soldiers. Only by doing so could they inspire the troops to attack and eventually achieve victory. This was the core of the French offensive theory.

Although Shire did not agree with the offensive theory, given the current situation, as the staff officer of the 105th Regiment, failing to land would undoubtedly affect the morale of the troops.

On the other hand, French newspapers would soon amplify the matter:

"Everyone in the 105th Regiment landed except Shire, who stayed on the transport ship far from the battlefield."

"Does he still think he can enjoy the ’underage’ treatment?"

"So this is what Shire meant by landing operations. Although he’s in the Dardanelles, he’s not on the battlefield!"

...

Shire sighed inwardly. This was indeed "the chill of standing at a height."

Since he had to land, he shouldn’t hesitate.

He decided to land with Tijani’s command post in the second wave, putting all the rumors to rest!

Thinking this, Shire gritted his teeth, put the binoculars back in the case, tightened his gear, and climbed down the net along the transport ship like the others.

Soldiers looked at Shire’s movements in astonishment:

"God, is that Colonel Shire? Is he going to the battlefield with us too?"

"Unbelievable, I thought he should stay on the ship!"

"I thought so too; he shouldn’t risk himself on the battlefield!"

...

A few soldiers voluntarily climbed beside Shire, carefully protecting him step by step down the net. When they approached the landing craft, several soldiers came up to help Shire down.

Soldiers gathered around, advising in a flurry of voices:

"You shouldn’t come down, Colonel! Your good deeds and the equipment you invented have saved many people; we can’t allow you to risk yourself on the battlefield."

"Yes, you can play a bigger role; fighting is our job."

"If anything happened to you, it would be a loss for France, a loss for the people, and a loss for us!"

...

Acting requires a full performance, thought Shire. Since he had to take the risk, he might as well display some bravery to gain some popularity.

Shire smiled slightly and said in a determined tone:

"No, soldier. Here, there is no Shire, nor any inventor."

"There is only a staff officer of the 105th Regiment. Leading you to the battlefield is what I should do."

"I believe in your victory, so I am fearless!"

Just as Tijani jumped down from the net, he shouted, "Long live France!"

Soldiers, moved to tears, echoed one after another, "Long live France!"

The shouts seemed contagious and quickly spread all around.

Soon, everyone knew Shire was going to land in person. For a moment, destroyers, battleships, and even trawlers and minesweepers burst into cheers that almost drowned out the cannon sounds of the battleships, boosting the morale of the entire army.

...

Truth be told, landing was indeed dangerous.

Because the Ottoman Empire’s artillery had already adjusted and were firing sporadically at Annia Beach.

Some shells fell on the shore, creating huge craters and spraying sand waves like sea waves.

Some shells fell into the sea, sending up fountains of water dozens of meters high.

Although Shire had seen such scenes before, experiencing them in person felt entirely different.

The swaying ship, the pungent smoke, and the cold seawater pouring down made Shire shiver several times.

He even regretted it a bit. What if a shell hit his ship directly? Would all his efforts be in vain?

However, with the situation as it was, Shire could only carry on.

Finally landing ashore, Shire was about to catch his breath, but what greeted him were corpses everywhere, with the air filled with the smell of smoke and blood.

The corpses were both enemy and ally, mostly Ottoman soldiers, fallen in various positions, with severed limbs and bloodied bodies, some even still groaning.

French soldiers, upon landing, mercilessly ended their lives with a shot.

Shire couldn’t help but feel his stomach churn. Although he had mentally prepared himself, he still found it hard to bear.

Tijani, seeing Shire’s pale face, stepped forward to comfort him, "You’ll get used to it, Colonel. I was the same when I first saw this!"