Chapter 287: The V Beach Landing Battle
Charles did not learn about this matter until five days later when he arrived at the anchorage.
The anchorage was established near a desolate island located about thirty nautical miles from the Dardanelles Strait. The British had discovered, through reconnaissance, that the waters here were deep and free of reefs.
The most important discovery was that there was a freshwater spring on the island.
This meant that the fleet could replenish its fresh water nearby without needing to send supplies from Malta.
(Note: At the time, Malta was a British colony, and it gained independence in 1964.)
The British even sent engineers to the island to build roads, transport water, and store it. Every day, water barrels were distributed to small boats for transport.
When Charles first arrived at the anchorage, he was almost startled by the scene before him:
Beneath the soaring, crying seagulls, there were hundreds of vessels—transport ships, trawlers, minesweepers—arranged in a large circle resembling a harbor, with various military ships in the center.
Around the perimeter, destroyers patrolled. Charles's fleet was intercepted by a destroyer several miles away, and only after signaling and boarding to confirm their identity were they allowed to pass.
Eventually, Charles's fleet was guided by the destroyers to a designated area for anchoring.
After all, Britain was an old naval power, and everything seemed highly professional. However, in stark contrast to this professionalism was the bureaucratic inertia that had developed due to the prolonged strength of the British navy. This was the main reason for their defeat.
Charles and Tigani first boarded the battleship Suffren, which was the flagship of the French fleet. Rear Admiral Gaplat was aboard this ship.
Rear Admiral Gaplat was a middle-aged man with sideburns. He appeared very composed, and when he met Charles, he calmly shook his hand and simply said, "Welcome, Colonel."
He then turned to Tigani: "Long time no see, Tigani. I didn’t expect we would meet on the battlefield."
Tigani chuckled and introduced him to Charles: "This is Rear Admiral Gaplat. If I hadn’t insisted on joining the army, I would probably be under his command now."
Charles understood immediately—this was one of Tigani's connections.
Rear Admiral Gaplat took Charles and Tigani to the ship’s office. He sipped his coffee while looking toward the Dardanelles Strait and said, "We just tried to land at V Beach, but unfortunately, we failed once again."
"Was it the British?" Tigani asked.
Charles had the same thought.
"No," Rear Admiral Gaplat shook his head, then his eyes flashed with surprise. "I thought you knew. They, like you, are reinforcements sent by France."
Charles was bewildered.
Tigani hesitated for a moment and then replied, "We didn’t even know about this unit."
Rear Admiral Gaplat paused, then gave a wry smile and shook his head.
He understood now—it was an internal power struggle within the French military. They were trying to sideline Charles.
These bastards. Even now, they were still thinking about internal factionalism.
However, how much better was the navy, really?
Rear Admiral Gaplat did not elaborate on this matter; he immediately steered the conversation toward the landing operation. "This landing operation is being commanded by Rear Admiral Honoré. They’ve brought two coal transport ships to assist with the landing, each carrying 2,000 men."
As he spoke, Rear Admiral Gaplat flipped through some documents, found a photo, and handed it to Charles. "It’s this kind of ship."
Charles looked at the photo—it showed a coal transport ship with several exits, which could be considered an innovation for this era.
Tigani leaned over to take a look and smiled faintly, his lips curling into a hint of sarcasm.
"I hope you won’t use this kind of ship for the landing," Rear Admiral Gaplat said with some concern in his eyes.
"No, I won’t use this kind of ship," Charles replied.
Hearing this response, Rear Admiral Gaplat relaxed. He took a sip of his coffee and nodded. "Good!"
To his surprise, Tigani added, "We brought something similar, but much smaller!"
Rear Admiral Gaplat was stunned. He looked at Tigani and then at Charles with an expression of utter disbelief.
"Did it not work?" Charles asked knowingly. He wanted to learn more.
Rear Admiral Gaplat grunted, his face becoming serious as he answered, "They ran aground the transport ship at V Beach. Under cover of fire, they used two barges to form a bridge between the landing ship and the beach."
"Then the troops disembarked one by one along this path."
"But when they tried to lower the ramp to disembark, they were met with heavy fire from the defenders. The enemy had reinforced their position at V Beach, and by now, there were probably over a thousand men there."
"After the soldiers finally made it down the ramp, they became sitting ducks for enemy gunfire. At least half of them were trapped inside the ship and unable to get out."
...
Tigani looked at Charles with evident concern.
Charles knew what Tigani was worried about. His landing craft was somewhat similar to the modified coal transport ships, though there was a key difference.
If there was any distinction, it was that Charles's landing craft could get the soldiers ashore much faster.
Charles raised the photo and gestured toward Tigani. "On the surface, it looks the same, but in fact, there’s a big difference. You should think about it from the enemy's perspective."
Tigani pondered for a moment and then nodded thoughtfully.
"You’re right, Colonel."
"If I were defending the shore, I could see that coal transport ship from a long distance because it’s so large."
"And from its course, I could roughly deduce where it was landing."
"After that, the preparations before landing would take at least ten minutes..."
As he spoke, Tigani shifted his gaze toward Rear Admiral Gaplat.
Rear Admiral Gaplat replied, "No, it took over half an hour to prepare. As I said, the enemy opened fire with artillery and machine guns. They had to connect the barges to the ship while under a hail of bullets."
Tigani nodded. "Half an hour. That’s enough time for the Ottoman forces to redirect machine guns from other positions. By the time they finally landed, the enemy’s firepower could completely seal them off."
Charles slightly nodded—this was exactly what he had been trying to say.
The key to a successful landing operation was speed.
If one kept thinking that as soon as the ramp opened, enemy machine gun bullets would rain down on the landing craft, even the gods couldn't stop it.
Charles’s landing craft had the biggest advantage: they could deploy soldiers at any time and any place, dropping them off before the enemy had time to organize a defense.
However...
Tigani seemed to have come to this realization as well. He said, "The Ottomans already know that our landing focus is V Beach, which means..."
Charles exchanged a knowing look with Tigani. Neither of them needed to speak to understand what the other was thinking.
Rear Admiral Gaplat suddenly found himself feeling a bit more confident in these two young men.
Although he didn’t understand what they were saying, he could tell they seemed far more reliable than Rear Admiral Honoré. At least, they could analyze the enemy situation and predict the course of the battle.