My Italy

Chapter 252 Landing on the Asia Minor Peninsula

When General Cardorna and Simeone were the defenders of Skopje, they planned to make a surprise move. A fleet appears off the coast of Izmir.

With the appearance of this fleet, the Italian fleet, which was invincible in this war, also appeared in front of the local residents. The local residents of this city, which is said to be the birthplace of Homer, were not at all like the legendary poet who stayed to witness it with their own eyes. They all rushed out of the city with their families.

Facing the wave of escapes in Izmir, the fleet commander Lieutenant General Yagir, who led the escort and fire support, put down the telescope in his hand and said. "Order the fleet to launch a bombardment in half an hour, and tell Lord Grove the news. Let us give those innocent civilians some time to escape."

"The residents of this place should be grateful for the Lieutenant General's mercy."

Rear Admiral Hilma, chief of staff of the fleet standing next to him, praised the commander's kindness. Standing next to them, Lieutenant Colonel Leifer, the captain of the flagship, looked at the two people in front of him speechlessly.

Half an hour is the time the fleet needs to prepare before the bombardment, and how many people can leave the city in half an hour. If it is truly a mercy, then it should be given two hours to show initial results. However, he could only keep these words in his heart. The Ottomans in the city had nothing to do with him, and he had no need to contradict his superiors for this.

The two fleet commanders did not know what Leifer was thinking behind them.

However, the messengers were running very fast. After all, there was no radio in this era, and semaphores, signal lights, etc. were needed to send messages.

While the Italian fleet was still preparing, the officers and soldiers of the Ottoman 79th Division, which served as the defense force of Izmir City, were also in a panic. The division was formed less than two months ago, but it was insufficiently equipped and had not even completed basic training. Otherwise, it would not have been their turn to defend the place and they would have been dragged to the front line in Adrianople.

Facing the unexpected Italian fleet, Major General Hartmut, as the division commander and the supreme commander of the garrison, felt heavy pressure.

Standing on the watchtower with the best position, he looked at the tall and mighty Italian warships outside the harbor, and anxiously asked the chief of staff beside him. "Is the coastal defense fort ready?"

"Not yet."

Hearing this answer, Hartmut put down his telescope and asked in surprise. "Why aren't you ready? What's going on?"

Faced with Hartmut's question, the chief of staff answered. "Because the commander of the coastal defense battery, Lieutenant Colonel Hartmut, took away the key to the ammunition depot, the soldiers of the coastal defense battery have not been able to receive ammunition."

Hearing the chief of staff's answer, Hartmut looked surprised. Could there be anything more ridiculous than this? "Then go find this damn lieutenant colonel quickly."

The arms and ammunition depot is extremely strong due to its special characteristics. Without the key, it would take half a day to open it. As for using other tools or methods, you can imagine the pressure if there are flammable and explosive ammunition behind the door.

"We have sent people to look for him. Some officers and soldiers saw Lieutenant Colonel Hartmut leaving with two girls last night."

Hearing this, Hartmut felt furious. If Lieutenant Colonel Hartmut appeared in front of him now, he would definitely pull out his pistol and kill him on the spot. I really regret that I couldn't tell this guy to get out because of his uncle's relationship as the mayor of the city. Now the retribution is on me.

Although it is hard to say how useful Izmir's coastal defense forts will be, if the Italians knew that they lacked coastal defense deterrence, the consequences would be disastrous.

While the local defenders were searching for the lieutenant colonel throughout the city, the Italian fleet outside the harbor finally made a new move. It was led by three Turin-class battleships, and the other four Duo and its improved classes rushed into the harbor. Upon entering, they immediately focused on the coastal defense fort that posed the greatest threat to them.

"Eight thousand meters..."

"Six thousand meters..."

"Five thousand meters..."

As the observers continued to report the distance between the two, when they reached a distance of five thousand meters, Lieutenant General Yagir, the commander of the fleet, felt strange. In fact, it was not only him who felt strange, but other officers and soldiers of the fleet also felt strange. Why did the enemy No fire was fired. Although according to the intelligence, the city's coastal defense artillery was not enough to cause fatal damage to several battleships, they were all within its effective range and there should not be no response.

Although some did not understand why the enemy fort did not fire, Lieutenant General Yagir thought this was an opportunity. "Open fire. If the enemy doesn't fight back, get as close as three thousand meters away and bombard them."

Following his order, the artillery fleet, composed entirely of battleships of more than 10,000 tons, bombarded the forts one after another.

"Boom boom boom~"

The power of large-caliber naval guns was vividly demonstrated in the bombardment. Each shell blasted a huge crater around the coastal defense fort. Let alone being hit, even if it was not affected, it would be fatal or injured.

However, even if the fleet bombarded them like this, the enemy fort still did not respond. Although the officers and soldiers of the fleet did not know what was going on at this time, it was obvious that they still understood the principle of taking advantage of someone's illness to kill someone. So the fleet then approached the fort while bombarding.

When they entered a distance of three thousand meters, the accuracy of the fleet's bombardment was greatly improved. Several shells landed on the fort and exploded.

"Keep bombarding, don't stop."

Lieutenant General Yagir, who saw such a scene, would not let go of the opportunity. He wanted to completely destroy the enemy's fort. As long as the enemy does not have the cover of coastal defense batteries, it will be easy to capture the city of Izmir.

"An enemy is approaching the fort, bearing 54.12."

While the bombardment continued, sharp-eyed lookouts observed a group of enemies rushing towards the fort, and they were pushing something.

But no matter what they were pushing, now that they were discovered, there was only one outcome.

Soon the two battleships turned their guns and launched a bombardment at the enemy force that dared to rush towards the fort now.

Boom boom boom, after the sound of several shells exploding, a louder boom sounded. Now everyone knew what they were doing, but the result was very fatal to them at the time.

After watching from a distance that all the death squads he sent were wiped out, Major General Hartmut angrily waved his hand and smashed the wall hard.

At this time, it is no longer possible to send death squads, and the next issue that needs to be considered is not just defending the city. This was all the result of Lieutenant Colonel Hartmut. Thinking of this, Major General Hartmut said bitterly. "If Lieutenant Colonel Hartmut reinforces the fort, he will either live and die with the fort, or be shot for desertion. Let him choose."

It was obvious that at this time, Major General Hartmut did not care about anything else. The little Lieutenant Colonel Hartmut simply could not bear the responsibility of Izmir.

I'm sorry, Mantou broke his promise. I'm guilty. I'll make it up tomorrow.

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