"Like Alexandria in front of us, it is a historic city that Alexander the Great ordered to build and named after him. As the Turks called it 'Iskenderun', it was the second largest port in the pre-war Ottoman Empire after Constantinople. What's more, the Hejaz Railway, which runs from Constantinople to Mecca via Ankara, and the Iraqi Railway, which runs to Mosul via Konya, converges in the medieval city of Aleppo, 100 kilometres east of Alexandretta. ”

"Right now, it's the heart of the Ottoman Empire, which has had its head cut off, supporting this Asiatic zombie to survive, and the expeditionary force under my command is the executioner who stabs the last stab in the heart."

Allenby spoke in a sonorous voice, but did not find any sign of approval in Churchill's face.

"Do you remember the lessons of Maralmala?"

Churchill asked again coldly.

Allenby certainly won't forget.

On March 4, 1916, just as Allenby commanded the Straits Expeditionary Force to break through the Dardanelles Strait and was about to land from the rear of the Turkish 5th Army to encircle and annihilate it, the landing fleet anchored on the west side of Marmara Island and the water plane base located next to the island were suddenly attacked by 100 planes of the Chinese Combined Air Force in Turkey.

Although the USS Victory, part of the nearby expeditionary support fleet, took off 24 carrier-based fighters to intercept it, and the anti-aircraft guns deployed near the anchorage and air base also opened fire in a timely manner, it still failed to avoid a heavy blow

Losses: 1 water-plane carrier, 1 water-plane supply ship, 1 dock landing ship, 2 tank landing ships, 7 troop carriers and cargo ships were sunk, 1 dock landing ship, 1 tank landing ship, 3 troop carriers and cargo ships were damaged, more than 6,000 army and navy officers and men, dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, and tens of thousands of tons of combat materials were sunk along with the ship, and more than 50 water planes and carrier-based aircraft were blown up or shot down. 【】【】

The disaster forced the Entente to postpone their plan to land on the Isthmus of Borayare, allowing the remnants of the Turkish 5th Army to escape from the Gallipoli Peninsula and retreat to the Bulgarian border, although this force was soon routed by the peache-picking Russians in the rescue of Constantinople, but it was far from enough to heal the wounds suffered by the British.

After this battle, the Mediterranean Fleet and the Straits Expeditionary Force seemed to have lost the fighting spirit they had when attacking the Dardanelles, and became cautious and suspicious, only to see the Russian army land from the Black Sea side of the Turkish-Bulgarian border and easily capture the almost undefended Constantinople.

The reality of Constantinople, a precious trophy slipping out of the hand, further undermined the morale of the British, and a disappointed Allenby applied for the transfer of the Egyptian expeditionary force in the hope of making amends for the glory of capturing Jerusalem, the holy city of the Three Religions.

A week earlier, Allenby had finally left the headquarters of the Straits Expeditionary Force at Canakkale and arrived in Alexandria on a cruiser

At the same time, he was told that he would leave for Cyprus before the end of the month to command a large-scale landing operation no less than the Battle of the Straits. That's it

However, the shadow of Marmara Island still haunted him, and from the day he received his new appointment, Allenby's main concern was not how to send 100,000 troops to shore, but how to avoid ships transporting these troops being sent to the bottom by Chinese planes before they set sail.

"The tragedy on Marmara Island must not be repeated, and the key is intelligence and coordination, followed by strong air support."

Allenby's sentence is not only a summary, but also a complaint, but also a request.

Churchill looked at the sky with his back and nodded unpointedly: "Yes, intelligence, coordination, air support, these are all important, but the most important thing is the determination of the commander." No matter what measures are taken, it is impossible to absolutely avoid accidents. Or is it strong-willed and courageous? If you want me to say, the most important thing we should avoid is not the repetition of the tragedy on the island of Marmara, but the regrettable reappearance of Constantinople. ”

Without waiting for Allenby to react, Churchill continued: "We will give you as much intelligence support as possible, including trying to convince the enemy that a large fleet of Russian ships will pass through the strait before the campaign is launched, so that Chinese aircraft will honestly stay near the strait - of course, this is only a small ploy with unpredictable effects in a whole set of interactive strategies." ”

"On the eve of the start of the landing operation, the Straits Expeditionary Force and the Russian army

The Caucasian Front will launch an offensive from the east and west with Ankara as the center, and the Egyptian expeditionary force will also go all out to storm the Turkish defense line in Palestine. In addition, the Russian army will assume the posture of landing on the Black Sea coast in the north of Asia Minor, and the Greek army will make the appearance of landing on the Aegean coast in the west of Asia Minor, disrupting the judgment of the other side from multiple directions, making it difficult for the enemy to make up his mind in time to send reinforcements to the real main direction of attack of our army. ”

"The amount of air power to support the landing force will include 150 carrier-based aircraft from the two aircraft carriers of the Mediterranean Fleet, as well as another 250 shore-based aircraft and water planes that will soon be stationed on the island of Cyprus, which is already the largest amount of air combat power that we can assemble in the entire Mediterranean theater, for which we will have to suspend the escort operations of the ship groups in the strait area and partially hand over the task of aviation anti-submarine patrols in the Aegean Sea to the French and Italian air forces."

"Looks like I'm going to have to make it." The smile on Allenby's face couldn't hide the wrestling between Alexander's complex and the feeling of stress in his heart.

Churchill nodded and smiled: "After you have established yourself in Alexandretta, you should march to Aleppo as soon as possible." Occupying it would cut off the Hejaz Railway and the Iraqi Railway, and the entire Ottoman Empire would be divided into three, and at the same time, the Chinese Air Expeditionary Force, which had so far threatened the lines of communication through the Straits would immediately lose fuel supplies from northern Iraq. ”

"After that, the Greek expeditionary force will be in the Aegean port of southwestern Asia Minor - Izmir -

- Landing, the ancient city known as Smyrna in Greece is surrounded by a large number of Greek expatriates. However, this army of at least five divisions will not be satisfied with the simple task of protecting the diaspora, they will march towards Konya and sweep along the coast of the areas that are said to have belonged to the Greek city-state system in Homer's epic time, and you should send a detachment to meet them head-on, and achieve a division somewhere in southern Asia Minor, and capture the main Turkish army on Ankara from the south. ”

"But this is not your main task, after the expeditionary force has consolidated the defense of Aleppo, the main force should quickly move south, capture Damascus, sweep Syria and northern Palestine, and cooperate with the Egyptian expeditionary force to encircle and annihilate the Turkish 4th Army on the Palestinian front."

"And—the capture of Jerusalem?" Allenby couldn't wait to add.

Churchill glanced at General Murray, who was beside Allenby: "That's the mission of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force." ”

"After the conquest of Palestine with the Egyptian expeditionary force, you will command a more powerful expeditionary force to Iraq, and with the coordination of Russian detachments on the Caucasian and Persian sides, capture Baghdad, retake Basra, and drive the Turks and Chinese down the Persian Gulf."

Allenby was suddenly shocked in his heart - the pressure turned out to be bigger than a mountain.

……。

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