1890 King of Southeast Asia

Time goes back to January 26th.

On the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, a fleet of hundreds of ships of various types was sailing rapidly to the northeast, with the St. George flag and the blue, white and red tricolor flag flying on the ships indicating their identities.

After the failure of the previous few days, Admiral Sackville Carden, commander of the British and French joint fleet and commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, believed that the failure was caused by the lack of cooperation from the army.

After all, it is well known that when naval warships and coastal defense batteries are bombarded, the warships always suffer.

Therefore, Admiral Carden pulled the army in this time, preparing to take the Gallipoli Peninsula in one battle, thereby controlling the Dardanelles, and further attacking Istanbul, while relieving the siege of the allies, avenging the previous shame.

For this revenge operation, Carden mobilized almost all of his connections. On the one hand, he transferred eight old battleships from the British Army, and on the other hand, France also sent half of the main naval forces-three new battleships.

Together with the previous ones, the total number of battleships of the British and French joint fleet reached 16, plus a battlecruiser.

Sixteen battleships, even if more than half of them are old-fashioned battleships, can be called a fleet that can destroy a country.

It can be said that on the sea, even the United States may still be defeated by this fleet with eleven old-fashioned battleships, five new-fashioned battleships, and one battlecruiser.

Of course, Japan's militarism does not count. It exhausts the country's support for the army, and there is not much opposition in the country.

In Europe, the capitalists have already changed the king. If it is a few years later, the workers will hang the capitalists and the king together.

Such a fleet that can destroy a country, going to fight the Ottoman Empire, which cannot even have a complete set of supporting warships for two main battleships, is normally a heavy blow.

But isn't it abnormal now?

On the morning of January 26, after a fruitless attempt to seduce at the entrance of the Dardanelles, Admiral Carden divided the fleet into two.

One is composed of five new-fashioned battleships and a battlecruiser, and the other is composed of eleven old-fashioned battleships, divided into one and two squadrons.

The first squadron went east to attack the entrance to the Asian part, and locked the entrance and exit of the strait to prevent the Ottoman Empire from sending out its fleet.

At the same time, the second squadron went west to attack the Gallipoli Peninsula in the European part.

On the surface, the main force of the navy, five new battleships and one battlecruiser, were concentrated at the mouth of the strait, as if this was the main attack direction.

The three Courbet-class battleships of the new force had a total of thirty-six 305mm naval guns, plus the original twenty-eight, a total of sixty-four 305mm naval guns, forming a huge firepower advantage.

In fact, this was Admiral Carden's bait, hoping to attract the Ottoman Empire's mobile forces to concentrate on the southeast side of the Gallipoli Peninsula and the Asian part.

In this way, eleven old battleships were equipped with forty-four 305mm naval guns.

At first glance, the number of cannons was small, but the eleven old battleships were also equipped with one hundred and thirty-two 152mm rapid-fire guns.

The six cruisers and a dozen destroyers were equipped with eight 234mm large-caliber guns and more than one hundred 120mm rapid-fire guns.

If the 76 guns were added, the total number of guns would exceed six hundred.

Small and medium-caliber guns can provide necessary cover for beach landings, while medium and large-caliber naval guns can cause devastating damage to fortifications.

Carden's goal was not to rely on the navy to gain an advantage, but to cooperate with the navy and the army to win the entire battle.

Only if this battle was won and the Gallipoli Peninsula was successfully captured, he would not be held responsible for the sinking of a 100,000-ton warship in one day.

In fact, the well-informed Carden had received a telegram from his friend that London was discussing changing the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, which was why he was so anxious.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

The devastating artillery group of the National Destruction Fleet began to bombard, extending from the southwest side of the Gallipoli Peninsula to the north, sweeping all the fortifications on the coast.

This bombardment lasted for a whole day, and a total of more than 10,000 tons of ammunition were fired. It sounds like a lot, but if it were replaced with 305mm main gun shells, it would only be 30,000.

An average shell weighs 350 kilograms, and the propellant is 80 kilograms, so there are only a little more than two shells per ton.

The smaller the caliber of the artillery, the faster the firing rate. For example, a 76mm rapid-fire gun, the warhead plus propellant is 10 kilograms, and it can fire dozens of rounds a minute, which is also hundreds of kilograms.

So, war is a game of burning money.

On the afternoon of January 26, the fleet retreated to the open sea and began to replenish ammunition at sea in the afterglow of the sunset.

In the early morning of the 27th, the first and second fleets joined forces and bombarded the three landing points on the southwest side of the Gallipoli Peninsula for an hour.

At 7 o'clock in the morning, the Marines rushed ashore on transport ships and small boats, and the British and French coalition forces, or the world coalition forces, rushed towards the fortification area with black smoke.

A number of senior officers of the British and French coalition forces, including General Hamilton, were very optimistic because this bombardment was unprecedented.

Seventeen large warships, hundreds of 305mm naval guns, bombarded one place for an hour, and basically no fortifications could defend it.

And under the huge power of large-caliber shells, no one could survive.

The reality was actually not far off. The beachhead and the blocking positions set up by the Ottomans were completely wiped out, and almost all of the hundreds of Ottoman defenders inside were killed.

But going further in, two kilometers later, the fortifications on the hills of the Gallipoli Peninsula, including the artillery batteries, were not greatly affected.

After the last Balkan War, the Ottoman Empire had accumulated a lot of supplies. Without the war, these supplies were temporarily useless.

Adhering to the principle of waste utilization, the Ottoman Empire began to build fortifications, and because of a guilty conscience (owing money, the Turkish Straits were collateral), it began to strengthen the defense of the Gallipoli Peninsula.

Moreover, due to the training of the new army, the relationship between the Ottoman Empire and Germany improved rapidly, and Germany also sent people to participate in the construction of new fortifications.

However, the Germans' plan was more ambitious, and the Ottoman Empire did not have so many materials. It only strengthened the defense of various commanding heights and built bunkers and underground bunkers.

At this time, the Ottoman Empire's garrison on the Gallipoli Peninsula had only two divisions with more than 30,000 people, one of which was transferred after the last attack by the British and French fleet.

The British and French troops transported here had a total of 200,000 people, which was six times the number of the defenders, and their firepower was far stronger than that of the Ottomans.

However, these people were all new soldiers.

On the 27th, the first batch of more than 3,000 people who landed easily seized the beachhead, but they didn't know that the real difficulties had only just appeared...