Chapter Eleven: The British Counterattack (Three)

  Carden should have been a vice-admiral during the Dardanelles campaign, I wrote him as an admiral in "The British Counterattack" (I), mistake...

  "When I finally decided to join the action plan, I went all out and saw it through to the end."

  Winston Churchill

  On December 27, 1914, the temporary commander of the Anglo-French fleet, Admiral Sackville H. Carden, submitted a memorandum to the Admiralty outlining a four-stage plan for the Dardanelles campaign: destroy all fortifications at the entrance to the strait, clear the strait of mines and land troops, force the narrowest part of the strait, and enter the Sea of Marmara.

  The Naval Staff agreed in principle with Admiral Carden's plan of attack but the British CID had some misgivings about the prospects of the campaign.

  "Now, the Grand Fleet holds command of the North Sea, and it is the duty of the Royal Navy to take back for Britain the seas that belong to her, rather than sending our main fleet to the desolate Dardanelles!" Lord Kitchener, a key member of the Defence Committee and creator of the famous "Your Country Needs You" recruitment poster, was worried.

  "Lord Kitchener was finally persuaded by the First Lord of the Admiralty that seizing the Turkish Straits would be enough to make the British go wild. On 5 January, the Defence Committee instructed the Admiralty to prepare a more detailed plan, 'bombardment and occupation of the Gallipoli Peninsula in February with Constantinople as the ultimate objective'."

  ****

  The Gallipoli Peninsula is located in the easternmost part of the European portion of the Ottoman Empire, with the narrow Dardanelles Strait to the southeast connecting the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea, and the island-studded Aegean Sea to the northwest. The entire peninsula is sixty miles long and four to thirteen miles wide, mostly consisting of barren highlands and narrow mountain ranges, with only one temporary dirt road built before the war running along the length of the peninsula.

  The Battle of Cape Sarych broke the back and morale of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, eliminating any possibility of a Russian invasion from the sea, leaving the Ottoman Empire only with the threat from Britain and France.

  Before the outbreak of World War I, a German advisory mission helped the Turks develop a sound plan for defending the Dardanelles. The financially strapped Turkish government, under the guidance of the German mission, built a series of forts equipped with a limited number of heavy guns on the Gallipoli Peninsula. After the Battle of Cape Sarych, some of the fortress guns from the Bosphorus were dismantled and transported to the Dardanelles to strengthen the defenses of the Gallipoli Peninsula.

  By the end of 1914, the fortifications at the entrance to the Dardanelles had been augmented with over thirty-two guns, the largest being 11-inch (280 mm). Along the Asiatic coast from the entrance to the Narrows, the Turks had built a series of forts and batteries totalling more than one hundred guns, the largest being 8.2 inches (210 mm). The Narrows themselves were defended by ninety-four guns, the largest being 14 inches (360 mm).

  This was not the whole of the land defense plan, and after the German Army Advisory Group inspected the combat environment on the Gallipoli Peninsula, a mobile and flexible defense strategy was formulated: The steep coastline of the Gallipoli Peninsula is not suitable for landing, and there are not many beaches. After retaining the basic troops in each fortress group and fort group, the howitzers pulled by animals and the main force of the Turkish Fifth Army trained by the German army served as mobile forces, guarding the few beaches that were suitable for landing, preparing a defensive counterattack feast for the British and French armies.

  As the year 1915 entered January, the Allies' offensive against the Dardanelles became increasingly clear. German naval advisor Lieutenant Gansser Rautenberg was ordered to perfect the maritime defense system of the Gallipoli Peninsula.

  Influenced by the asymmetric warfare theories of Wang Haiting, Lieutenant-Colonel Lü Tiande did not blindly expand the minefield. In his view, although the Turkish fortresses had a unique geographical advantage, they lacked large-caliber artillery. The fortresses deployed at the entrance to the strait could not withstand the 11- and 12-inch main guns of the Allied pre-dreadnought battleships. Therefore, he used mines as cover forces placed outside the maximum range of the Turkish fortresses' 12-inch main guns from the exit of the strait. The minefields in the inner side of the strait and on the Aegean Sea side were deployed within the range of the Turkish light artillery and searchlights.

  At the same time, the minefield at the narrowest part of the strait was strengthened. A minefield was also set up in the waters off Cape Kefalas, where British and French landing fleets might appear. Temporarily converted minelayers, three second-hand destroyers purchased from Germany before the war, and four French-made destroyers were hidden in the strait, ready to be deployed at any time.

  "Great, although the Fifth Army's preparations were terrible, the Imperial Navy Intelligence Department's accurate prediction and the barely sufficient ammunition reserves on the Gallipoli Peninsula are enough to make up for some of the disadvantages..."

  In the winter, the Dardanelles were full of raging winds, turbulent currents and whirlpools. The Cape Helles was covered with withered shrubs and jagged rocks. General Liman von Sanders, who had just returned from the Caucasian front, trudged through the scattered stones in his muddy high boots, his face stern and exhausted.

  "It seems that the High Gate was also prepared for the Battle of Dardanelles."

  "No, General Sanders, this is not the merit of the High Gate. Although the Ottomans never lack brave and loyal warriors, they are too lacking in strategic vision." Enver Pasha, the first of the Ottoman Empire's three giants, tightened his cloak around him, and couldn't help but think of that brilliant but time-worn naval officer who insisted on giving up despite being deeply attached. He then thought of the glorious achievements of that "young man" older than him after the outbreak of war in Europe. The Ottoman imperial general Enver Pasha sighed with some regret: "After all, we still have to thank another German."

  "Oh?" Sanders turned his head, looking at Enzel who was lost in chaotic memories with a puzzled expression.

  "Heidi-Selim!" Enzel didn't keep Sanders waiting for long, a dry mouth uttering a name that was almost associated with the Turkish Navy Deputy Minister.

  ****

  The preparations of the Anglo-French forces were in disarray, and it should be noted that large-scale amphibious warfare was still a new concept in 1915, even for Britain, the world's leading naval power.

  In mid-January, the three main battleships (Agincourt, Erin and Lord Nelson) of the Anglo-French fleet under Admiral Carden assembled in the Aegean Sea, along with fourteen older battleships (Albion, Triumph, Majestic, Magnificent, Albion, Canopus, Cornwallis, Duncan, Exmouth, Glory, Goliath, Hibernia, Implacable and Russell) and seven more on their way as reinforcements (Swiftsure, Vengeance, Lord Nelson, Agamemnon, Prince George, Irresistible and Ocean).

  It turned out that the Balkan people lied without blinking, and Lemnos was indeed a high-quality anchorage. The wide and deep bay there could accommodate all the main forces of the Allies. However, the bay, which was not protected by a cape or breakwater, had waves several meters high and strong winds that made the British swear. Mudros harbour did have port facilities, but the British couldn't wait to open fire and blast the only simple wharf in the small fishing village of Mudros back into the Neolithic era, followed by an urge to rebuild it.

  The British actually wronged the Greek government, although there are many islands in the Aegean Sea, most of them have not been developed. The Greek government, which is neutral but has a bias, can only offer Lemnos Island, which is close enough to the Dardanelles and has anchorage facilities.

  The Anglo-French fleet, with a great deal of fanfare, anchored off the small fishing village, while at the same time, the army assigned to the Dardanelles campaign made its appearance: the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, a French division, and a large number of Indian colonial troops, totaling 100,000 men, assembled in southern France, Alexandria, Egypt, and Suez. The Turks' archenemy, Greece, also contributed three volunteer divisions. However, the army waiting for troop ships at ports was almost idle, neither seeing the busy naval base at Lemnos Island nor receiving orders from Britain, which was confused by multiple fronts. Their commanders had not even been determined yet. As a result, the soldiers could only waste their time in Toulon, Alexandria, and Suez.

  Two weeks after the Defence Committee of the Cabinet had unanimously agreed on landing troops, the commander was finally appointed: General Sir Ian Hamilton, a British Army officer who had distinguished himself in the Second Afghan War, the First Boer War and the Mahdist War for his bravery, charm and intelligence.

  In January 1915, while the British Expeditionary Force and French Army were busy counter-attacking Germany, Sir Ian Hamilton was kept busy organizing home defense, expanding armaments and transporting them to the continent. At this time, a dispatch from the Defense Committee sent him and the naval reinforcement fleet to Dardanelles. All that General Hamilton knew about his mission was "to command an army to cooperate with the navy in operations at the Dardanelles", and all he knew about Turkey came from "the Turkish Army Manual of 1912, a sketchy map of the theater of operations, and a guidebook to Constantinople bought at the last minute in a London bookshop."

  Upon arrival at Alexandria, General Ian Hamilton waited for detailed plans from the War Office, but the General Staff thought the Dardanelles campaign would be a naval affair, with the Ottoman Empire collapsing once the Royal Navy entered the Sea of Marmara. They did not mention specific military strategy; Admiral Carden, preoccupied with his duties as commander of the Anglo-French fleet, insisted that detailed plans for landing operations were an army matter and only sent a few liaison officers to Hamilton. The chaotic preparations of the Anglo-French fleet, the Battle of the South Atlantic against the German cruiser SMS Dresden, and the impending resumption of North Sea patrols absorbed much of the British Admiralty's attention, leaving the naval staff no time to consider the details of landing operations.

  Under all sorts of pressure, General Hamilton had no choice but to take matters into his own hands.

  As it was unclear whether there would be water on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Hamilton ordered his soldiers to scour the markets of Alexandria and Cairo for empty oil tins, water bottles, skin bags, and any other containers. As in London, although inaccurate, all maps and travel guides related to Turkey were bought because they were better than nothing. Due to the lack of trench warfare weapons and tools, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps under Hamilton could only exert their subjective initiative, producing hand grenades, digging tools, and periscopes on their own. Due to the lack of artillery tractors, local donkey drivers and their animals were forcibly recruited for transportation purposes, and General Hamilton left a debt note with the locals, which was signed by Winston Churchill, the British First Lord of the Admiralty, but this debt became long-standing as the First Lord fell from office.

  At the end of January, a reinforcement fleet consisting of seven old battleships arrived in the Aegean Sea. The first battalion of the army had just entered the Lemnos Island barracks. The problem of logistical support for the campaign and pre-war reconnaissance work was still unresolved. General Sackville H. Carden, who had never commanded even a destroyer squadron before, suddenly implemented the first phase of the task - destroying the fortifications at the entrance to the Dardanelles.

  Then, the chaotic and soul-stirring Battle of Dardanelles finally broke out!