Chapter 423 The Push Inland
A week into the Gallipoli Campaign, the situation had drastically shifted. The combined forces of the French, Spanish, and Italian armies, numbering around 300,000, were making significant advances northward. Their objective was clear: to capture the Dardanelles Strait, a strategic move that would allow their navy to enter the strait without facing the deadly Ottoman batteries.
The French Army, constituting 70 percent of the coalition forces, was at the forefront of the offensive. Known for being the best and most experienced in the world, their expertise in modern warfare was evident in every maneuver and strategy. In contrast, the Ottoman Fifth Army, consisting of sixteen divisions and totaling 315,000 soldiers, was fighting with fierce determination. Despite their high numbers, many of these soldiers were inexperienced in facing such a modern and well-equipped enemy.
The coalition forces, leveraging their superior training and equipment, had managed to push the Ottomans back, capturing key positions along the strait. The intense week-long campaign had seen heavy casualties on both sides, but the relentless advance of the coalition was slowly turning the tide.
On the ground, the difference in skill and experience was palpable. The French-led forces moved with precision and coordination, their tactics clearly outmatching the Ottomans' more traditional approach to warfare. The Ottoman soldiers, while brave and resolute in defense of their homeland, often found themselves outmaneuvered and outgunned.
The coalition's success in clearing the Ottoman batteries along the strait marked a significant turning point. With the path now clear, the French, Spanish, and Italian navies prepared to enter the Dardanelles, a move that would further tighten their grip on the region and bring them one step closer to their ultimate goal of capturing Constantinople.
As the Allied navies prepared to enter the Dardanelles Strait, the Ottoman Empire deployed its last strategic weapon: the fleet of ten Russian-made submarines. These submarines, some of the most advanced in their class, were tasked with a critical mission: to hunt down and attack the Allied warships and supply ships.
The submarines, operating under the cover of the strait's depths, were virtually invisible to the enemy. Their crews, trained in stealth and precision, navigated the treacherous waters with a singular focus - to disrupt the enemy's naval superiority.
The first engagement occurred just as the Allied fleet began its transit through the strait. An Ottoman submarine, positioned strategically beneath the water, identified a large Allied supply ship. The submarine's captain, a veteran of naval warfare, maneuvered his vessel into an attack position. With the ship in his periscope, he ordered the firing of torpedoes.
The torpedoes, propelled by their own engines, raced through the water towards their target. The crew inside the submarine held their breath as they tracked the torpedoes' progress. Moments later, the silence was broken by the sound of a distant explosion. The supply ship had been hit, its hull ruptured by the powerful impact of the torpedoes. The ship began to list, water flooding its compartments, as chaos ensued on board.
Taking advantage of the confusion, the Ottoman submarine quickly dove deeper, disappearing into the dark waters. The element of surprise was on their side, and they used it to full effect, striking quickly and then vanishing before the Allied forces could mount a counter-attack.
This hit-and-run tactic became the standard operation for the Ottoman submarines. They targeted the most vulnerable ships in the Allied fleet, causing significant disruptions to their supply lines and inflicting considerable damage. The Allied forces, realizing the threat posed by these unseen attackers, began deploying countermeasures. They sent out destroyer ships equipped with sonar, trying to detect the submarines before they could strike.
However, the Ottoman submarine captains, aware of these countermeasures, adapted their tactics. They began coordinating their attacks, using the terrain of the seafloor to their advantage, hiding among underwater features to evade detection. The dance between hunter and hunted grew more intense, with each side trying to outmaneuver the other in a deadly game of naval warfare.
The coalition forces made it imperative that the submarines that were sinking their ships be eliminated. And so the number of destroyers rose to thirty, twenty of them were French, seven were Italian, and three were Spanish.
The French destroyers, leading the charge with their advanced naval capabilities, employed a systematic approach. They worked in unison, forming tight patterns over the suspected locations of the submarines, releasing depth charges in coordinated salvos. The Italians and Spanish, though fewer in number, complemented this strategy with their own vessels, effectively covering the strait's breadth.
As the depth charges detonated underwater, their success was marked not only by the violent eruptions of water but also by the debris and oil that started to surface. The Ottoman submarine captains, skilled as they were, found themselves outmatched in this new phase of warfare. The advantage of stealth was negated by the precision and persistence of the destroyer fleets.
In this game of cat and mouse, the Allied destroyers honed their tactics. They began to anticipate the likely routes and hiding spots of the submarines, using their sonar data to predict movements. This proactive approach led to a significant increase in the detection and neutralization of the lurking submarines.
The loss of each submarine was a severe blow to the Ottoman's naval capabilities. Not only did it reduce their ability to strike at the Allied fleet, but it also demoralized the sailors and commanders who had placed their hopes in these advanced vessels. The realization that even their most sophisticated weapons could be countered so effectively was a stark reminder of the technological and tactical gap between the two sides.
With each passing day, the waters of the Dardanelles Strait became increasingly perilous for the Ottoman submarines. The Allied forces' concerted efforts to eliminate the underwater threat were paying off, tilting the naval balance even further in their favor. This shift in naval power was crucial, as it allowed the Allied fleets to focus more on supporting the ground troops and less on the constant threat of submarine attacks.
And on April 28th, all submarines of the Ottoman Empire were sunk. There's only one hurdle left to complete this campaign, and that is knocking out the Ottomans by capturing Constantinople and forcing the Sultan to make peace with the allied forces.
This development reached Napoleon's eyes and ears, seeing and reading the reports. He nodded in satisfaction.
"Your Imperial Majesty, it seems that deploying three hundred thousand men against the Ottomans might have been more than necessary. Our losses were barely twenty percent of our forces," Armand commented.
Napoleon, with a contemplative expression, responded, "No, the number was appropriate. Consider this: had we sent only 100,000 men and sustained the same rate of casualties, we would have lost sixty thousand. That's a sixty percent loss rate, which, in any military terms, is staggering. Viewed from this angle, such a loss would undeniably be seen as a disastrous outcome, wouldn't you agree?"
"You're right…" Armand nodded understandingly.
"Now what we have to do is wait for the Ottomans to fall, I'll be looking forward to the report of the Battle of Constantinople."
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