German Red Prince

Page 149

Reports from the front lines indicate that the French army has been quiet for a long time, which makes the front-line commanders feel uneasy. Normally, the French would harass them every few days, but this long period of silence is quite unusual.

Intelligence reports indicate that France has begun to reinforce its troops in the Zovara region, amassing a considerable force, and it's unclear what plans they are developing.

The French's sudden troop increase is understandable. The Ottomans wanted to end the war quickly and break the stalemate, and the French shared the same idea.

The reason for reinforcing the Zuwara direction was very reasonable. The French were planning a general offensive. The frontline commander asked Kemal if he could send more troops to defend Zawiya and fight a tough battle with the French.

Kemal looked at the map and began to think as he continued to withdraw troops from the Ottoman mainland to reinforce the Zawiya direction. The French now wanted to fight a major war with him. Were they going to risk their lives?

Kemal was aware of the costs of war. The French were taking a huge gamble; if they lost, they would lose everything. He wanted to fight the Ottomans to the death here. Was he really so sure he could break through the Zawiya defenses?

The Ottomans have held out in Zawiye for three months, and their defenses are quite complete. Do the French really have that much confidence that they can break through Zawiye?

The French would never think that simply. Kemal knew what the French were thinking, and there was always something fishy about it.

Kemal glanced at Tripoli behind Zawiya, and a sense of familiarity suddenly washed over him: Tripoli, Gallipoli?

He looked at the map and began to analyze. Was the French really thinking so simply? Was their confrontation with the Haussmanns in Zawiyj a cover for another plan?

By drawing the main Ottoman army to Zawiya, and then landing from the rear, the Ottoman army was encircled from both sides, thus rendering the entire North African campaign a failure for the Ottomans.

Did the French intend to land in Tripoli? Kemal couldn't be sure, but he had his own intuition.

The Gallipoli campaign left a deep impression on him, and perhaps the French have the same thoughts now. Both sides suffered losses in that battle, but Britain and France failed strategically as a whole.

The pain they inflicted left a deep impression, and large-scale amphibious operations were never used again after that. Perhaps the French were trying to exploit this mentality this time?

Because of their previous failure, the Ottomans thought they wouldn't launch a landing operation. But instead, they deliberately targeted a rebel and caught the Ottomans off guard.

"The Zawiya direction should prioritize defense. Some troops should be transferred to Tripoli to strengthen the defenses of Tripoli and prevent a surprise attack from the sea."

Kemal had made strategic plans, and he happened to have purchased new weapons from Germany. Although they didn't get along, they were friends at the business table.

Kemal just bought some equipment from the Kingdom of the Rhine, and this is a good opportunity to try it out.

296. Supervisory Team

At the port of Tripoli, a group of dockworkers were busy unloading various equipment from cargo ships. This equipment did not come from the French Commune, but from the Kingdom of the Rhine.

Because the French Commune was a socialist country, there were many restrictions on trade with the Ottoman Empire.

The French Commune helped the Ottomans to contain the French Republic, not to aid their proletarian brethren.

This war was originally a war between imperialist powers. In principle, the French Commune should not have intervened, as it did not conform to their policy requirements. However, it was indeed a good opportunity to contain the French Republic, so as to save them from the disgusting mess of this fly excrement.

Although the French Commune and the Ottoman Empire reached a trade agreement, it contained many restrictions. For example, the weapons sold by the French Commune to the Ottoman Empire could only be light weapons, with most of the equipment being infantry weapons and very few heavy artillery pieces.

As for tanks, forget about it. All the Ottomans could buy were outdated French tanks, the kind that people would rather leave in warehouses to break down than drive.

Under these circumstances, although the Ottomans were able to barely maintain the front lines, they were still at a disadvantage compared to the French Republic.

The things they bought from the Kingdom of the Rhine were all high-quality goods, such as the Panzer I tank. Although it wasn't very powerful and would be destroyed by a single shot, heavy equipment was scarce on the North African battlefield, and several Panzer I tanks often chased after the Ottoman army.

For this reason, the Ottomans also began to send people to negotiate with the Kingdom of the Rhine. Although the relationship between the two countries was not very good, they were all friends in business. In any case, the war had nothing to do with them, so the more they fought, the better.

Moreover, their bad relationship was with the German Empire, not the Kingdom of the Rhine. The Ottomans wouldn't negotiate with Wilhelm II because that old man had ruined them. After fighting with the French Republic for so long, it seemed that the German equipment they were using was quite good, and they could get some of it too.

The negotiations went smoothly; who would turn down money these days? The Ottoman team was quickly won over by the Kingdom of the Rhine. The Kingdom's advisors even showed them the kingdom's latest tanks. Although these tanks weren't for sale, showing them them would convince them of the Kingdom of the Rhine's industrial strength.

After showing the group of Ottoman clients around, they saw many new gadgets, and the cooperation was quite pleasant. At least they bought some heavy equipment from them, because after Thorne proposed the design, the Kingdom of Rhine was going to upgrade its equipment, and they were worried about who would buy the old equipment.

The Ottomans were in dire need of these heavy weapons, and since both sides had a need, it was a perfect match. One side was willing to buy and the other was willing to sell. Because the Ottomans had a large demand, the Kingdom of the Rhine offered a discount, which greatly increased the other side's goodwill.

What was unloaded from the harbor were the latest weapons the Ottomans had purchased from the Kingdom of the Rhine, including some brand new ones. People from the Kingdom of the Rhine said that these machine guns were more powerful than any machine guns they had ever made before, but I don't know if that's true.

General Fahreddin is in Tripoli awaiting Marshal Kemal's operational deployment. The French Republic recently reinforced its troops in the Zuwara region, indicating they are preparing for a desperate fight with the Ottomans. This has significantly increased the pressure on the front lines. Fahreddin requested permission from Kemal to send more troops to strengthen the defenses of the Zuwara region.

The deployment of additional troops to North Africa has been a source of discontent domestically. Many believe it's unnecessary to waste Turkish lives there, and the domestic opposition has consistently criticized this issue. Despite Kemal's prolonged campaign, there has been little national unity, and many Arabs have instead defected to the French.

Kemal could not send more troops to North Africa, but could only send as many supplies as possible. He had only a few divisions of regular army under Fahd al-Din, and the rest were militia forces organized from local tribal armies.

In his reply, Kemal did not directly instruct Fahreddin to set up defenses in the Zawiya direction, but instead told him to be on guard against a French sneak attack on Tripoli.

The French action was likely a feint, an attempt to flank them. After all, neither side likes a direct confrontation, and they won't engage in a head-on clash unless absolutely necessary.

Fakhr al-Din was willing to heed Kemal's advice; after all, Kemal was the Ottoman war god. If he had said so, France might very well have already considered this possibility. It was better to be safe than sorry.

"Draw troops to the front line in Zawiya, send Arab militia there. Our troops are stationed in Tripoli for defense. The Arab militia going to Zawiya must make a big show of themselves and let the French know that we have sent a large force to reinforce Zawiya."

Fahreddin ordered his adjutant to let the French know that their main force had been sent to Zawiya, so they could see for themselves whether they were planning a surprise attack on Tripoli.

Soon, news of Ottoman reinforcements to Zawiya reached Pétain, which pleased Darlan greatly. This meant that Ottoman had been tricked, and that all the troops stationed in Tripoli had gone to reinforce Zawiya, which would greatly reduce the pressure on him to launch a landing.

Unlike Darlan, de Gaulle looked worried, not because the number of troops guarding the Zawiyers direction had increased, but because he suspected that something was amiss. Were the Ottoman troops being too cooperative? Did they really intend to challenge the French here?

"Then, everyone, let's get started! I can't wait to celebrate victory."

Pétain gave orders to the two men, as if he could already see the scales of victory tipping in their favor.

With no other option, de Gaulle could only order Catroux to open up the Zawiya pass at all costs this time.

Unlike in the past, this time they must go all out, because de Gaulle believes that the Zawiya direction is likely a decoy and there is still a possibility of a breakthrough, while the Tripoli direction is truly a dead end.

Watching the soldiers gather and board the ship, de Gaulle sighed. He couldn't persuade Pétain, a rather stubborn man, and perhaps these soldiers would never return after this operation.

......

"We must capture Zawiye this time! This is Marshal Pétain's order! At all costs! If we dare to retreat even a step, the bullets from the supervisory team will not have eyes!"

Hearing the officer shouting above, Mushat didn't care much. He was a conscript from the south, and whether he won or lost was none of his business. All he cared about was surviving on this complex battlefield.

He would fire only three shots in a single engagement: one for himself, one for France, and one for Marshal Pétain. After firing those three shots, he could run away. This was the experience Mushat had learned from every battle.

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

After the shelling ended, the whistle blew, and the group rushed out of the trenches to launch a new offensive against Zawiya. Most of these men were dark-skinned Africans, and the Frenchmen hid behind them, waiting for them to break through the defenses before attacking.

"hiss--"

The sound of machine gun fire erupted from the opposite side. Mushat only heard a short burst of gunfire before a row of men had already fallen in front of him. This startled him. What was this? So many people had fallen before even reaching the front lines?

The cloth-tearing machine displayed its demonic power, reaping lives on the battlefield with frenzy, and nearly half of the people fell in no time.

"Run!"

Mushat was only thinking about escaping. He threw his gun aside and ran back as fast as he could. Of course, the supervisory team behind him was not to be underestimated. They set up machine guns and began to issue warnings. Guns were set up on both sides, but they preferred to run back. Shao Sha was much gentler than this thing.

"Second wave, charge!"

The supervising officer blew the death knell once again, this time issuing a death order: take Zawiya at all costs, even if everyone dies, charge forward.

297. Champagne is opened at halftime.

The Ottoman troops stationed in Zawiya had no idea what had gotten into the Frenchmen these days; they were all acting recklessly.

One group of people died, and another group charged forward; this was already the third wave of attacks.

It has to be said that this new weapon is really powerful. The machine gunner's gun barrel was smoking from all the gunfire, and he had to replace three barrels. This is no machine gun; it's a human-killing machine on the battlefield.

"Hassan, fire there!"

While holding his rifle and firing downwards, Adullah pointed in a direction and said that the French were almost upon them.

"hiss---"

The machine guns roared again, and another batch of Frenchmen who had just reached the front lines fell. The rest began to run back for their lives.

Hassan was numb. He didn't know how many people he had killed that day. He just blindly pulled the trigger. His assistant gunner kept loading ammunition for him. Hassan could believe that he had killed more people in all the battles he had fought before than in this single day.

"Run!"

These black people captured from the south had very low combat effectiveness and almost no fighting spirit. Most of their weapons were machetes, and only a few carried rifles. In any case, these people were meant to be used as expendable resources.

Mushat was sandwiched in the crowd, and he had been hit three times already, but he hadn't been hit yet. This made him want to take a shortcut. He found a corner, smeared blood on his face, and lay down on the ground pretending to be dead.

Soldiers running back must never be allowed to return to the camp, because they would disrupt the camp's order. Their fate was sealed the moment they charged forward: either they would succeed or they would die.

"beep!"

The whistle of the supervising officer rang out again. The sound of the metal whistle was extremely piercing, and in the hearts of every soldier, it was the sound of death.

The machine guns on the position opened fire along with those of the Ottoman army. Just as a group of men fell in front of the enemy's position, another group of men fell in front of their own.

"If you don't want to die, charge forward! Anyone who retreats will surely die!"

The supervising officer shouted loudly on the position, then blew a deadly metal whistle, and another group of soldiers climbed out of the trenches and charged toward the enemy's position.

"General Carter, our charge has made little progress and we've suffered heavy losses."

The adjutant lowered his binoculars. The battlefield ahead was fierce, but they had not achieved much success.

"It doesn't matter. These people are just expendable resources anyway. We still have plenty. Let's organize a few more assaults and completely deplete the strength of the Zawiya defenders before launching a full-scale attack."

The Battle of Zawiya was crucial. General de Gaulle personally instructed that it must be taken at all costs. Therefore, General Catroux attached great importance to this battle and personally went to the front line to command it.

The ones charging forward now are all Black people from the south. The south is far from the French control center, so riots often occur. The government's effective way to control the riots is to conscript men, bringing a large number of young men from the south to the front lines to fill the gaps.

Carter didn't care whether these black people lived or died. They weren't French anyway, so if they died, they died. He didn't care how many died.

Every day, large numbers of Black people are transported from the rear to meet the urgent needs of the war effort; once they are used up today, they are replenished tomorrow.

Moreover, these Black people would take up resources in the military, so sending more of them up would alleviate some of the logistical pressure.

Carter's order led to three more assaults at the front, but there was still little progress, and they still failed to break through the enemy's lines.

Although many people died, the French army was not crippled. The French's real fighting strength was still on the front lines and had not been committed to the battle.

"Organize another offensive, with tanks following up and artillery fire."

After several rounds of attacks, he didn't have many Black soldiers left, and the enemy's ammunition should have been almost used up. He needed to gradually increase his strength.

"General, these shells might hit our own men," the adjutant warned.

"Our own people? Those black people are our own people? Quickly organize the troops to attack."

Carteru appeared extremely impatient; he had plenty of other options, so a few more wouldn't make a difference.

The fourth wave of the attack began, and unlike before, this time tanks followed behind, which gave the charging soldiers a little psychological comfort.

These tanks, purchased from the Kingdom of the Rhine, were quite powerful in terms of overall performance, and they caused the Ottoman army a lot of headaches every time they appeared.

The main armament of the purchased Panzer I tanks was a 20mm autocannon, but some tanks were also modified by the French army to have smaller cannons for use in breakthroughs.

"fire!"

The artillery behind the troops began to fire their cannons at the Ottoman army, bombarding them relentlessly and pinning them down.

Mushat was lying on the ground pretending to be dead when he heard a sound completely different from the usual charges. The tank's visibility wasn't very good, and by the time Mushat looked back, it was too late to run. The tracks crushed his calf and then ran over him. His good luck didn't last.

"Hassan! Fire!"

The defenders of Zawiya were pinned down and unable to raise their heads. When Adullah heard the machine gun fire stop, he quickly shouted.

Turning my head, I saw that Hassan had already been...

The 20mm autocannon shredded it into pieces.

The tank fired again, startling Adullah into quickly moving to a different position; he didn't want to be hit by a machine gun.

The two sides have been locked in a fierce battle in the Zawiya area. Although the intensity of this battle is much greater than before, it has not yielded much result, and neither side has the strength to completely defeat the other.

Khalifadin obeyed Kemal's orders and set up a tight defense in the port of Tripoli. At the same time, the concealment work was done very well, making it no different from usual.

The French landing force arrived quickly. Pétain was known for his caution, and fearing the failure of this risky undertaking, he sent very few warships to escort them.

Fortunately, the weather was good today, with no major winds or waves. I heard that the Ottomans had just transferred a large number of troops from Tripoli to the Zawiya front. This landing went exceptionally smoothly, almost unbelievably so.

These thousands of French soldiers have all landed, yet they haven't seen a single person or heard a single gunshot. Where are the people of Tripoli? Is this a ghost town?

Tripoli was not as turbulent as these people had imagined; it was more like a vacation for them. They did not encounter any resistance as they advanced.

The French army quickly occupied a small section of the beachhead and began to advance inward. The vanguard successfully broke through, and the follow-up troops arrived one after another.

They have already sent a telegram to Darlang, reporting that the landing went very smoothly.

"Come on, Dennis, take a picture of me. We took the beachhead without lifting a finger this time."

Hess stood on the beach, facing the war correspondents. They had captured the Tripoli beachhead, and victory was beckoning them.

"3, 2, ......"

Before the countdown was even over, an explosion suddenly rang out. When Helfadin saw the French landing, he was so excited he almost jumped for joy.

Kemal gave him several most likely landing points, and he chose one to wait at, which unexpectedly led him to the exact spot.