"Boom..."

"Boom..."

Inside the artillery positions, the artillery regiments of the artillery brigades and infantry divisions, which had already arrived, were shelling the walls of Mosul with light and heavy artillery of various calibers.

Although Mosul is the third largest city in Mesopotamia, under the bombardment of more than 200 artillery pieces, not only the ancient walls with hundreds of years of history, but also the entire city has been turned into a sea of fire... The Turkish defenders of Mosul and the inhabitants of the city could only endure in the city, enduring the feeling that the sky was collapsing..."O Allah..."

Holding his wife and children in his arms, a Turkish man muttered as he watched a distant house being smashed under artillery fire.

The coalition forces outside the city did not know the situation of the people inside the city, and in fact they were not interested in knowing. Because this time their mission is to take Mosul, and they don't need to think about the rest yet.

What's more, now they are fighting abroad, if it is at home, maybe they are still interested in discussing the issue of civilian casualties, but if it is abroad... For Jiang Baili and other generals, as long as there is no organized massacre, then the casualties of civilians do not need to be considered, after all, they are not a peaceful organization like the Red Cross, and the most important thing for them is to destroy the enemy..."Division commander, it doesn't make sense to continue bombing like this, do you want to let the artillerymen use the newly pulled artillery shells from the country?!" ”

Just when the generals of the coalition forces outside the city were watching the effect of the artillery bombardment with binoculars, the general of a cavalry unit came up to Nan Yuanchao and said to him.

"Newly pulled cannonballs..."

Of course, Nan Yuanchao knew what the newly pulled cannonballs his subordinates were talking about, but after thinking about it, he still shook his head and said.

"No, the number of shells in this batch is too small, and the buildings in Mosul are all stone buildings, so the effect is not as good as ours, so let's use them when it is important..."

The new type of artillery shell that Nan Yuanchao mentioned is the artillery incendiary bomb that the arsenal has just developed... In terms of power alone, the incendiary bomb is definitely not as powerful as the aviation type, after all, the size and weight are there. A 500 kg and a 280mm caliber are only 260 kg, no matter how you look at it, the power cannot be the same.

However, there are many advantages in artillery shooting, such as projection ability, the efficiency of artillery shooting is definitely faster than that of aircraft throwing, and it can also reduce the consumption of aircraft fuel and the possibility of accidents, which has many benefits, so in the end, the arsenal also developed this kind of incendiary bomb.

However, although it is an incendiary bomb, the current arsenal is only the most rudimentary, and although the effect on European stone buildings is okay, it is definitely not as powerful as when it is used against Asian wooden buildings.

In addition, the transportation line from Asia to Europe is too long, and this time an entire artillery division did not bring many such shells from China, so Nan Yuanchao also wanted to save some.

After all, there are not many Turkish troops in Mosul on the other side, and the rest are all ordinary people, so the enemy army can't use incendiary bombs―――――― not to mention that there are too many civilians in the city, and it is too cruel to use incendiary bombs, and it is easy to be attacked by public opinion.

You know, incendiary bombs and regular artillery shells are completely different things...―――――――― Nan Yuanchao's subordinate didn't pay much attention to it after being rejected by Nan Yuanchao, and just continued to look at Mosul Dao, who had already ignited the flames in the sky.

"In half an hour, the infantry began to attack..."

"yes..."

It is said that it is half an hour, but it is indeed half an hour.

In the half-hour shelling, the walls of Mosul were almost completely leveled, and the people and defenders in the city also suffered heavy casualties, although the Turks also had a few guns in Mosul, but they felt very stressed in front of the more than 200 light and heavy artillery of the coalition army, and many of the artillery on the city walls were covered by the coalition artillery groups before they even fired, and those who survived had already accompanied their companions to hell before they could fire a few shots. As for outside the city? After watching the drama for a long time, the coalition forces outside the city were already waiting for the shelling to end..."Boom..."

As the last cannon shot stopped, the entire battlefield fell into an eerie silence, and it was only after a few minutes that the coalition infantry units, which had been preparing for a long time, rushed towards Mosul, which had no walls left..."Kill!! ”

With Mauser rifles already loaded with bayonets, two regiments of infantry rushed towards Mosul in sparse skirmishers.

In Mosul, the very few defenders who survived the artillery bombardment also began to return fire with committee rifles and a few Mauser G98 rifles, and in one corner there was a Maxim machine gun that suddenly spat out tongues of fire, causing some losses to the attacking coalition forces.

However, this machine gun only existed for two or three minutes, and it was already covered by a company of artillery..."What now......... What to do now........."

The governor of Fushi, who miraculously survived, looked at the attacking coalition forces, and could not keep his shock as before, and looked at the coalition forces below in a panicked manner.

The governors were like this, and the faces of the defending generals were also not good-looking, after all, the current situation in Mosul was indeed not good.

Of course, in addition to the current situation, those flustered officials are also one of the main reasons for the general's ugly face―――――― croaking like a woman is really unbearable.

"Your Excellency, you better take your subordinates to the telegraph office first, go to the telegraph office to urge, let the reinforcements from Baghdad arrive quickly, and I will command the troops here to resist as best they can..."

Although he has experienced many rebellions, the provincial governor, who has never seen this kind of scene at all, is also a little masterless, and when he heard the general's words, he hurriedly said as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw.

"Yes, yes, I'm going to the telegraph office to ask for reinforcements..."

Saying that, the governor ignored the ongoing war, and did not even wipe the dust on his clothes, so he ran directly to the telegraph office with a disgraced face. And the Mosul officials beside the governor saw that their heads had also run away and hurriedly followed, leaving only the defending generals and their subordinates still in place, frowning and looking at the situation outside..."Your Excellency Major General, the current situation is probably not easy to handle..."

Looking at the coalition forces that were already getting closer and closer, one of the general's subordinates frowned and leaned over and said.

Needless to say, the generals themselves knew about it, but looking at the coalition generals outside, they just sighed.

"I know this, but we can only hold on here now, until reinforcements are sent from Baghdad..."

When he said this, the coalition forces were already close to the collapsed walls of Mosul...―――――――――― when he learned that Mosul was being attacked by the Chinese and Russian forces, the German veteran K. von der Goerz, who was commanding the Turkish Sixth Army to encircle and suppress the British reinforcement division near Kut, was also taken aback.

Although Mesopotamia was the territory of the Turks, it is true that the core of Mesopotamia is not in Baghdad, the largest city in Mesopotamia, but in General K. von der Geertz of Kut.

No, because compared to the Turkish generals, the Germans' command skills were too superb. This is true not only in Mesopotamia, but also in the Dardanelles.

If it had not been for the fact that the Dardanelles were in charge of a German commander who had been aware of the British attack a month before the general offensive of the British army and had spent a month arranging in the Dardanelles, I am afraid that the Turks would have had to withdraw from the Central Powers because of the occupation of the capital.

In fact, in history, the Turkish triumvirate Enverpasha launched an attack on the Caucasus, because of the failure of the attack, Enverpasha's prestige was greatly damaged, and in the end it was because of the victory in the Dardanelles that he was able to save everything, of course, everything was only temporary... When he learned that the Caucasian coalition of China and Russia had appeared in Mosul, General K. von der Goerz was also surprised. Because the Turkish regular army in Mesopotamia now has only a Sixth Army, and even with some miscellaneous armies in Mesopotamia, it is only a little more than 100,000 men.

A little more than 100,000 people, it was enough to deal with the British.

After all, in terms of command, the British were clearly inferior to K. von der Goelz, and in terms of the quality of the soldiers, although the quality of the Turks was not very high, and the German and British soldiers were simply far from it, but ... No matter how bad the Turks are, they are much better than the Indians, right?

In fact, in the last few wars, the British have always been the backbone, otherwise if it were just the Indians, I am afraid that K. von der Goelz would have driven them into the sea long ago... However, as the British gradually transferred other troops to Mesopotamia, K. von der Geertz also felt a little more difficult. By this time, the sudden appearance of the Caucasian coalition in Mosul, which was not very different from the dorsal abdomen, did cause great trouble for K. von der Gorz.

"If they cut off the Tigris and cut off the Turks..."

Although K. von der Goerz is 73 years old, he shuddered when he thought about it. After all, to be cut off from Turkey is to cut off the logistics line, and the Tigris River leads to Baghdad, and if the Tigris River is occupied, the Turkish army in Baghdad will also be in trouble.

So after a little thought, K. von der Goelz drew 20,000 men from his Sixth Army and headed north, with the aim of getting the troops to arrive before Mosul fell..."Let's hope we can save their fate..."

Looking at the telegram that Mosul had just sent in his hand, K. von der Geelz said.

It's just that although the Turks set out quickly under the leadership of the German officer, they soon had to slow down. Almost all of the bridges leading to Mosul along the way have been destroyed.

Of course, the extent of the damage to these bridges is not impossible to repair, but this time, in order to get to Mosul as soon as possible, almost all the Turkish troops sent by K. von der Goelz were infantry. As for the cavalry, artillery, and sappers, they didn't bring any of them, so looking at the destroyed bridge, the German and Turkish officers who led the team were somewhat dumbfounded..."Really..."

Looking at the bridge, which had to be repaired, one of the Turkish generals who led the team scratched his head.

But at this time, another German general just said coldly.

"Fix it quickly, or the defenders of Mosul won't be able to hold out for long..."

Saying this, following the gesture of the German officer, a group of German soldiers had already walked up.

This time, the Germans sent to Turkey not only some German officers and generals, but also quite a few German teams. For example, now this German [***] officer has accompanied the army with a regiment of infantry.

And after seeing the broken bridge, they were the first to step forward... Although they are all professions, and they are also the best army in the world, they can also do some engineer work―――――― but they are not as fast as professional engineers.

However, this time they did not bring sappers to the front, and it was too late to send people back to Baghdad, so the Germans had to bite the bullet―――――― in fact, they also knew that if this kind of thing was left to the Turks, it would indeed be a matter of little consideration..."Quick, quick, Mosul is waiting for us!! ”

While the Germans were working there, there was a sudden cry in their ears.

When the Germans looked up, the Turks were all standing and looking at them, but they had no intention of coming down to help, and the Germans were also angry with smoke rising above their heads, and they wanted to just throw the shovel aside and then leave it.

But there is no way, who called them the leaders of the allies...", really, I don't know what the people at the top think, they would actually pull this kind of country into the list of allies..."

"That is, to form an alliance with such a country, isn't it holding us back..."

While repairing the broken bridge, more than a dozen German soldiers complained.

But what they don't know is that just twenty years later, the Germans will once again run into a pig-like teammate, and probably one of the most pig-like teammates in history, and that teammate is..."Italy..."

Of course, the Italians were actually teammates of the Germans a few months ago, but maybe because the Germans already had a pig teammate, the Italians turned around and went to pit another teammate... And while the Germans were building the broken bridges, they didn't know that these man-made bridges were not only their only obstacle, but that there was another obstacle to ―――――――― behind... the Germans and Turks were building the bridges while moving north, and at this time, outside the city of Mosul, the coalition forces were also launching a continuous onslaught on Mosul.

It's just that I don't know if the Turks have taken any medicine, the Turks in Mosul are actually quite tough, no matter how the coalition forces launch a fierce attack, they will always be driven back by these Turks.

Of course, while repelling the coalition forces, the Turks themselves suffered a terrible price.

If at the beginning of the war the Turks had at least one brigade of defenders, now the Turks have only more than half a regiment left. And the people of this more than half of the regiment are still decreasing..."I didn't expect the Turks here to be quite persistent..."

After arriving at the second day, looking at Mosul, which had long been in ruins, Nan Yuanchao smiled.

Although I don't know what is going on with these Turks, they are actually stronger than the Turkish army encountered in the Caucasus, but..."No matter how strong it is, it is not as strong as myself, not to mention that there are only so few troops left..."

Behind Nan Yuanchao, two more regiments of soldiers stood up.

In another ten minutes, a new round of shelling will begin, and when the shelling is over, the soldiers of the expeditionary forces of these two regiments will launch a fierce assault ... And looking at Mosul, which has become a ruin, Nan Yuanchao believes that these Turks will definitely not be able to resist today..."Let's start..."

With Nan Yuanchao's order, the artillery group began to bombard fiercely again.

And under heavy artillery fire, the losses of the Turks were also increasing. However, the Turkish defenders in Mosul also have some skills, using the wreckage and ruins of Mosul to make a lot of anti-artillery holes, protecting many of the remaining Turkish defenders from the previous day, otherwise, I am afraid that there are not many living defenders in Mosul at this time... Half an hour later, when the artillery group shot out several base ammunition, the already miserable Mosul turned into a sea of fire again, and looking at the burning Mosul and the wreckage and ruins inside, it also made people wonder if there were any survivors inside... However, these are not what Nan Yuanchao needs to take care of, he has one thing to take care of, that is, to take Mosul before the reinforcements from Baghdad arrive, and attract enough Turks for the British Townsend division in Kut..."Okay, let's start attacking..."

Saying this, Nan Yuanchao put down the telescope again.

And hearing Nan Yuanchao's order, the adjutant on the side also nodded.

"Yes!"

Under the order of Nan Yuanchao, the expeditionary force, which had been preparing for a long time, launched an attack again.

And the Turkish defenders in the city of Mosul also walked out of the artillery holes one by one, but the Turkish defenders who came out of the artillery holes were obviously much smaller than the defenders who hid yesterday... After the coalition soldiers attacked again, the defenders of Mosul, although they also fought desperately, the number of attacking expeditionary forces was too large, and they also had an advantage in equipment and quality. So after fighting for more than an hour, the expeditionary force finally took the third largest city in Mesopotamia, Mosul... At the same time, more than 20,000 Turkish troops, who were moving north, encountered another headache after encountering man-made bridges, that is, elusive cavalry units... These cavalry units would attack while they were marching, while they were repairing bridges, and likewise while they were resting... Under the endless harassment of these cavalry, for three full days, these Turks were still more than 200 kilometers away from Mosul, and at this time, Mosul had already been captured by the expeditionary force for a long time...

(To be continued)