Chapter 1573: Situation in Asia Minor
Chapter 1573 The Situation in Asia Minor
"Order! First, immediately send a report to the Chief of General Staff Moltke, requesting the German General Staff to immediately transfer the command of General von Seeckt and his troops to the Eastern Front Command, and at the same time contact Earl Spey , asking him to immediately and fully cooperate with General von Seeckt's troop transport, and the troops will be transported directly to Turkey."
"Second, contact Lieutenant General von Saunders, Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Imperial Army (it is no problem for a German to be the Chief of General Staff of Turkey, this is a historical fact), and ask him to immediately command the German-Turkish coalition forces to retreat to the second line and do a good job. With the preparation of a solid wall and clearing the field, we can only fight the French inside, and it will be very difficult for us to fight outside."
"Thirdly, send a telegram to Prince Leopold, asking him to quickly end the military operations in Ukraine. I ask him to prepare at least 6 Bavarian divisions for me within 2 weeks!" the prince ordered.
The prince was somewhat surprised that the Allies had concentrated so many troops this time. After all, six division-level combat units landed in the first wave, so the number of troops landing in the second wave should not be less than the first wave. This is 12 The strength of the division is already high, although there are units like the Indian cavalry division (the Indian cavalry division really participated in the Turkish battle in World War I in history). But on the whole, it is considered elite, and its combat effectiveness should be equal to that of the Allied Forces on the Western Front.
If there is no major shortage in the establishment of these divisions, then the first wave of six divisions will have at least 60,000 people. (the number of cavalry divisions is very small). Such an Allied Forces can be said to be invincible in frontal battles in Asia Minor. Even if the Turks can It is absolutely too late to immediately draw troops from Transcaucasus and Sinai. So, don't even think about keeping the enemy out of the country.
"By the way, where is that general named Kemal now?" the prince asked.
"He is now the commander of the Eighth Army of Turkey, with the rank of lieutenant general. Of course, this army is at most an army establishment, with 3 infantry divisions, an armored brigade, and some cavalry. There are about 50,000 people. , generally speaking, it is the unit with the highest combat effectiveness in Turkey, but even so, its combat effectiveness is still not as good as that of the ordinary Prussian army on the Western Front at the beginning of the war. They are now deployed near Ankara, almost on the second front we have drawn. In the back position," Caliput said.
"Send a report to Earl Schmidt and ask him to immediately organize a fast and elite force to arrive in Turkey and let him personally command it! As long as the supplies can be afforded and the frontline retains enough troops to withstand the British army, the more support troops the better! This Once we may have to fight a high-level battle with the French." The prince thought for a while and said.
The French finally made a strategically correct choice. The Allied Powers’ offensive in Asia Minor was definitely not a one-line push. In fact, no army could adopt the method of positional warfare and steady advancement when there were other options. During the Napoleonic period, the French also advocated mobile warfare. The reason for the formation of positional warfare in the first battle is that there are too many equipments,
The logistical pressure is too great, and the exceptional situation arises in the absence of mass adoption of motorized vehicles.
The prince is very clear about the strategy of the French, which is to use the period when the main force of the Bavarian Army is in Ukraine to launch a large-scale rapid offensive (probably within a month)! The French don't want to occupy many places, and they don't even need to take down Constantinople!
However, this sharp sword will definitely penetrate the entire Asia Minor region, and at least cut off the railway line connecting the north and the south! If the goal of the French is realized, it will be like breaking the backbone of the Turks with a punch. The food and oil produced in the rich Mesopotamia cannot be transported north, and the southern Mediterranean region (later Israel, Syria, etc.) region) will also tend to collapse due to the inability to receive supplies and equipment from Asia Minor!
Perhaps in the end, when the Bavarian Army solves the Ukrainian problem, the concentrated German army can defeat the opponent. However, the French have won for a long time and have basically defeated Turkey. In order to ensure the safety of this ally, Germany A considerable part of the troops must be deployed in Turkey. In this case, it is tantamount to weakening the pressure on the Western Front in disguise. It also dispersed the German troops. Although it cannot be said that the situation has been brought back, it has changed a lot for the entire battle situation.
Therefore, the prince can be sure that this time the French must have concentrated quite elite troops, both in terms of attack power and mobility, they are absolutely top-notch! The French want to fight a blitzkrieg on this plane, and if Ruprecht wants to defend against this wave of opponents, solid defense alone will definitely not work! Turkey doesn't have that much army nor that much equipment to deploy an adequate line of defense!
After receiving the order from the prince, Lieutenant General von Saunders immediately sent a telegram to the Turkish Sultan. On the one hand, he requested to draw troops from other fronts, and on the other hand, he ordered the Turkish Army to retreat. In the next five days, the British and French coalition forces landed in Edremit and Izmir at the same time, and Lieutenant General von Saunders ordered the troops to withdraw to a distance of 75 kilometers from these two landing points. According to his understanding, in the absence of railways, 75 kilometers is already the limit of the supply of division-level combat units. The supply line of military units will be longer, but it is difficult for the British and French allied forces to establish a complete supply system in such a short period of time. Therefore, he decided to fight the British and French allied forces when the opponent was close to the end of his strength.
The British and French allied forces were not in a hurry to launch an offensive. After clearing the area about 30 kilometers near the landing site, the British and French allied forces temporarily stopped advancing. They were building military depots and airports while hoarding a large amount of supplies. On the 4th day (D4) after landing, the Anglo-French air wing, which had transferred from various airports in the Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea, had already entered the temporary airport. In D7, 70% of the naval artillery provided by the British Navy for the landing force had already been deployed! And when it came to D11, the Allies' second wave of landing troops had already arrived at the landing site!
"The ambitions of Britain and France are a bit big!" Two weeks later, the strategic intentions of the entire Allied Powers had been revealed to the prince! Only now did the prince realize that he had underestimated the British and French allied forces. This time, they planned to achieve two strategic goals at the same time! The strength and quality of the concentrated troops also exceeded the prince's previous expectations! Thus, the highest level of mobile warfare in World War I gradually kicked off in Asia Minor!
The second one is here~~~! Ask for a subscription and a reward~~~!