Chapter 310: Grenade Defense
With a sharp whistle, the Ottoman forces launched their charge.
There were two directions:
To the west of the defense line were the 65th Infantry Regiment and the 3rd Militia Regiment, trapped in the "A" corner, with a total force of over seven thousand men.
To the east was the emergency-deployed 70th Infantry Regiment, with more than three thousand men.
The enemy attempted to crush Charles' forces by attacking from both sides.
Charles crouched behind the parapet of the trench, watching all of this through his binoculars.
This was the first time he had directly faced an enemy charge.
Before him, the enemy soldiers were everywhere, wearing fez hats. They were roaring and charging forward with murderous intent, like a tide of red crashing toward the defense line. The bayonets gleamed in the sunlight, as if thirsting for the enemy's blood.
A thought flashed through Charles' mind. He realized that he might be the "invader," while these enemies, charging with their chests out, were the righteous forces trying to drive the invaders from their homeland.
If this were a scene in a movie or TV show, the victorious ones should be the Ottomans.
But Charles quickly dismissed this thought. He knew it was just a deceptive fantasy.
War was about reality. If the righteous army always won, the Mongols could never have conquered such vast territories.
The enemy was getting closer. When they were within two hundred meters, Charles could even see their mustaches, curved like sickles, through the binoculars.
Tigani was lying a few meters away from Charles, and only now did he shout, "Fire!"
The staff, who had long been prepared, immediately blew their whistles.
Almost simultaneously, gunshots erupted along the defense line. The rifles fired with "bang, bang" sounds, and the Maxim machine guns raked the enemy with a relentless sweep. Bullets rained down on the enemy forces like a storm.
The advancing Ottoman troops seemed to be blocked by an invisible hand and suddenly stalled. Blood and screams followed, and the soldiers at the front fell in all sorts of strange positions.
However, the Ottoman forces paid no heed. When the front ranks fell, the rear ranks still shouted and surged forward, faster and faster, almost sprinting like in a 100-meter dash.
Several times, Charles thought they were about to break into the trench, but under Tigani's orders, the grenade barrage sent them stumbling backward.
This was Charles' suggestion to Tigani.
Before the enemy's attack, Tigani had been frowning while holding the intelligence delivered by the seaplane.
"The enemy seems to have gathered over ten thousand men, Colonel, with an unknown number of artillery," Tigani's voice carried a hint of fear. "They've managed to assemble such a large force in such a short time, and they're attacking from two directions. Our forces are severely outnumbered."
If the enemy had only attacked from one direction, a force of 3,000 could defend a six-kilometer line, but with attacks from both sides, the defenders would need to double in number.
If one side couldn't hold, the 105th Infantry Regiment would face total destruction.
Charles thought for a moment and asked Tigani, "General, have you noticed that the Ottoman soldiers have a very low helmet coverage rate? Most of them wear those... cylindrical hats."
"They're called fez hats, Colonel," Tigani said, a bitter smile curling his lips, his tone self-mocking. "Still, their helmet coverage is far higher than ours."
At this time, France still did not have helmets. The soldiers wore red military caps, which they even had to cover with cloth caps to make themselves safer by hiding the conspicuous color.
Charles gave a soft "Hmm." "What I mean is that grenades might be very effective against them."
The enemy had no helmets, and no tactics or awareness to avoid grenades. Clearly, this was the perfect moment for grenades to shine.
Tigani, with a look of helplessness, glanced at Charles. "Colonel, have you considered this? Grenades can only be thrown about 50 meters, and doing so would be dangerous."
Charles understood Tigani's point.
In this era, the goal was to eliminate the enemy beyond their firing range, especially for defenders. It was considered taboo to allow the enemy to get close, because once they breached the trench and close-quarters combat began, the defenders would lose their advantage.
And 50 meters—if the enemy were quick, they could cover it in just a few seconds and be upon you before you could react.
Charles responded, "Then we need to place a barbed wire fence about thirty meters out to slow the enemy's advance."
Tigani murmured in agreement, thinking for a while before nodding thoughtfully. "Good idea. If there’s a wire fence about thirty meters out, the soldiers at the front will instinctively slow their pace. But the enemy from the rear will maintain their charge. They will be funneled into a tight mass around fifty meters and will be sitting ducks for our grenades!"
This was also the reason why Tigani had waited until the enemy was 200 meters away before opening fire. He was eager to test this new tactic on the battlefield.
An advocate of military strategy, he seemed not to have considered that if this experiment failed, the likely outcome for him and the 105th Infantry Regiment could be death.
Fortunately, the tactic proved effective in combat.
(If the Ottomans had grenades, this tactic would obviously be ineffective, as they could throw grenades into the trench from this distance as well.)
The Ottoman charge slowed considerably in the face of the barbed wire. The soldiers in the front ranks, running through a storm of bullets, hastily unbuckled their knapsacks.
This was the best way to deal with barbed wire during this period—spread out the blankets and throw them over the wire, allowing comrades to step on them and rush towards the enemy trench.
However, grenades with smoking fuses tumbled through the air, rolling toward the enemy.
Some Ottoman soldiers recognized the grenades, but they were untrained and had no idea they should drop to the ground to avoid them. Instead, they ignored them and kept charging forward.
"Boom! Boom!"
...
In the midst of explosions, Ottoman soldiers were thrown to the ground in droves.
Many were only injured, some with their heads shattered, others with shrapnel cutting through their bellies, and some blinded by the blast. They writhed on the ground, crying out in pain.
Charles felt a chill in his heart. He had never witnessed such a brutal scene so close. The suffering and brutality intertwined with screams, creating a vision of "hell on earth."
But the soldiers did not see it this way.
To them, this was "victory," "strength," "safety."
Their morale surged. They raised their rifles and aimed at the stunned, still capable enemies, firing at point-blank range.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
...
A series of gunshots rang out, and Ottoman soldiers fell one by one, clutching their wounds, collapsing into pools of blood.
Finally, the enemy withdrew, like a receding tide.
And in front of the trench, the bodies of Ottoman soldiers lay scattered. Some were still crawling, covered in blood.