Ten thousand cannons were fired at once, and Istanbul was beaten! (Part 2)

(0862)

The White Army also has sufficient solutions to prepare for the European Union.

The White-Clothed Army had never been worried about land attacks. No matter what kind of city it was, it was a scum in front of the White-Clothed Army. In the era without 155mm howitzers, the White-Clothed Army's explosion team was invincible. After having 155mm howitzers, the White-Clothed Army's offensive capabilities were only stronger and more invincible than before.

However, there is a deadly place in Istanbul. To the east of it is the strait. This has caused a little difficulty for the White Army. Due to the barrier of sea water, they cannot launch attacks as casually as usual. They must go through the strait with the help of the navy before they can continue to launch attacks.

Of course, this is not a problem.

The White Navy will definitely support it strongly.

...

The Aegean Sea, a very nice name, is always a lot of imagination.

In fact, the Aegean Sea is indeed very beautiful. The sea water here is clear, the blue sky here is pure and quiet, the islands here are full of poetry and painting, and the people here are hospitality. Everyone who comes to the Aegean Sea will be fascinated by its charm.

However, in 1637 AD, the people around the Aegean Sea were in extreme panic. Because a large number of white-clothed military warships appeared in the Aegean Sea. The black muzzles were unconcealed and told the people around that you should not make any unfriendly actions, otherwise you will be punished extremely severely.

As an important supply base for the White-Clothed Army at the southern end of the Aegean Sea, almost all of Crete are soldiers of the White-Clothed Army. There are naval combatants and engineers, as well as personnel from the Marine Corps. When Chen Xinhai, the first deputy commander of the White-Clothed Army Navy, set up his command on Crete, this place became a huge military camp.

As the vanguard of the White Army Navy, the Eighth Fleet's warships have controlled all the islands in the Aegean Sea, including several small islands closest to Istanbul. The warships under the Eighth Fleet even had a fierce artillery battle with the defenders in Istanbul for a time. In the end, the defenders' cannons were completely destroyed.

The Eighth Fleet was transferred from the rear. In terms of number, it is not a newly formed fleet. Its qualifications can at least be ahead of the Ninth Fleet. However, the Eighth Fleet has been operating in the waters around Australia since its establishment. Its mission is to assist the Marines in occupying Australia and controlling the main strongholds in Australia.

At that time, Australia had no army garrison, only some indigenous people. After the armed merchants occupied it, the indigenous people were defeated. Subsequently, a large number of immigrants arrived and controlled Australia in different regions. The Eighth Fleet, which was responsible for the escort mission, had not experienced fierce battles. Obviously, this was an unpleasant thing.

After completing their own mission, the Eighth Fleet was transferred to the Mediterranean. This was their first time to enter the real battlefield. Unfortunately, they came too late and did not catch up with the series of naval battles in the Madeira Islands. Since entering the Mediterranean, they have never been able to catch up with the Eighth Fleet, which was fighting in battle, and they are eager to make contributions and move forward very quickly. As a result, if they are not careful, they become the vanguard of the White Army Navy and directly enter the Aegean Sea.

The narrow and dangerous Strait of Dardanelles has no effect on the White-Clothed Navy. The remaining Ottoman ships were dismantled by the Eighth Fleet. To be honest, any warship of the Eighth Fleet can deal with the entire Ottoman navy. It’s not that the White-Clothed Navy is too powerful, but that the Ottoman navy is really not worth mentioning. The Ottoman Empire has never attached importance to the navy.

As the forefront, the Eighth Fleet successfully entered the Marmara Sea and appeared in the southern waters of Istanbul. The black hole muzzle could blow Istanbul at any time. The appearance of the Eighth Fleet successfully divided Istanbul into two, completely cutting off the connection between the East City and the West City. The defenders could only fight on their own.

In order to ensure the logistics supply needs of the army, the White Marine Corps, which followed the Eighth Fleet's operation, also occupied Izmir. A large number of engineering teams followed up and expanded it into a high-efficiency large port. Soon after, a large number of merchant ships docked at the Izmir port and unloaded a large amount of military supplies.

At the same time, the artillery troops of the White Army also set out towards Istanbul. The two battalions of troops led by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong were still in front. Lei Hu and Xu Canhuai were both among them. They wiped out the reinforcements of the Ottoman Empire in Aleppo, causing another heavy blow to the Ottoman Empire. Then, they rested in Aleppo and supplemented a large amount of military supplies. Now, they can finally launch an attack on Istanbul directly.

Istanbul is a peculiar city. It is divided into two by the Bosphorus Strait. There is a large piece on the east side of the strait and a large piece on the west side of the strait. There is no doubt that the city on the east side of the strait was soon captured by the White Army. The defenders in the east could not stop the artillery fire of the White Army. In less than two hours, they completely collapsed.

Then, they set up the cannons and launched a bombardment to the west of the strait. The Bosphorus Strait is a very narrow strait. The widest place is only two or three kilometers. The narrowest place is only seven or eight hundred meters. This is not an obstacle for a 105mm howitzer with a range of more than ten kilometers. The cannons on the east coast can easily pour heavy shells into the middle of the city to the west.

The army's artillery was much more powerful than the navy's artillery. The army first used 105mm howitzers to bombard all military targets within the effective range. Then, it plowed all buildings within the effective range. After the round-trip shelling, the western city of Istanbul became ruins.

Soon after, large-caliber 155mm howitzers also arrived at the front line one after another. Their arrival put Istanbul in even more severe suffering. The 155mm howitzers, half of the football field, would be affected by one shot. What's more, their range was longer, exceeding twenty kilometers. Istanbul, which had been blown out of recognition, was once again bombed out of recognition.

This kind of killer, which weighs ninety kilograms, is a nightmare for the defenders of Istanbul. With a rumbling sound, the sky collapses and the earth cracks, and the surrounding buildings are razed to the ground. Even if they are originally ruins, they will become even more ruins. The broken stone fragments greatly increase the power of the shells. Within a radius of 100 meters, they are seriously threatened. Any enemy who tries to hide within the range of heavy artillery will be tested like hell.

Basically, after a few hours of shelling, the buildings and protective fortifications near the coast of Istanbul were blown away. The 155mm caliber howitzer, with a range of more than 20 kilometers, basically enveloped most of Istanbul. Even if Istanbul was one of the largest cities in the world at that time, after being bombarded by the 155mm howitzer, it was still full of evil and could not recognize its true colors.

Moreover, while the White Army was bombarded, there was also the White Army Navy who was unwilling to be lonely. The White Army Navy's 75mm naval guns had a short range and were not powerful enough. However, the victory was that they were maneuvering and flexible. Navy warships could search for targets that could be attacked along the coastline. Those targets that were not discovered by 155mm howitzers were all eliminated one-on-one fixed-point clearance by the White Army Navy's warships.

The effective range of naval guns is about eight kilometers. In other words, within the eight kilometers of coastline, any target discovered by the white-clothed naval warships will be ruthlessly destroyed. Under the joint shelling of the White-clothed Army and the Navy, Istanbul has no target at all and can escape the destruction of artillery fire.

Since February 1637, the Eighth Fleet has continued to shell Istanbul. Then, the Ninth Fleet, the Fifteenth Fleet and the Eighteenth Fleet have successively arrived and joined the ranks of shelling. Later, more fleets have arrived and joined the ranks of lively shelling. For a time, Istanbul has become a target of the White-Clothed Navy, and all fleets and warships have to be bombarded here for the souvenir.

The Marmara Sea, which was originally quite large, seemed to be unable to accommodate so many warships. There were many warships and so many merchant ships. There was no way, so the naval engineering team had to continue working hard. Subsequently, the ports around the Marmara Sea were also expanded one by one by the White-Clothed Naval Engineering Team as a logistics supply base.

Among them, the larger port is Brusa (later Bursa). Brusa is surrounded by mountains and seas, with beautiful scenery and preserves many historical monuments. If you search carefully, you can discover the atmosphere of several different dynasties in this ancient city. If you want to talk about the ancient capital of several dynasties, Brusa can be regarded as one.

In real history, Brusa was once the capital of the Byzantine Empire. After the rise of the Ottoman Empire, it was the capital of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Under the rule of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, it was the largest city in addition to Istanbul and Damascus. Before the arrival of the White Army, this ancient city had a population of 300,000. This was very rare in an era of chaos and turbulent storms.

It is probably because the dynasty changes that have been witnessed in history and have sufficient psychological endurance. The Brusa people were not so resistant to the arrival of the White Army. They were not particularly resistant to the elimination of their religious beliefs and converting to other religions. All of this is very different from other towns. Because the local residents made wise choices, Brusa was almost completely harmed and was still in a prosperous situation.

In May 1637 AD, Gao Jie and Mao Shisan arrived at the front line one after another. They all set up Brusa in the front line command. Their arrival marked the beginning of the final general attack of the White Army on Istanbul.

...

The continuous artillery bombardment of the White Navy brought great disaster to Istanbul. Not only was the entire city destroyed, but the casualties of the European Union were also very large. Under the 155mm howitzer, the human body was not much stronger than an ant. As long as it was within the range of killing, it could suffer severe damage.

At this moment, the European Union is facing a huge test.

Should we continue to fight in Istanbul? Or should we withdraw our country as soon as possible?

If they continue to stay in Istanbul, they will continue to be subjected to the endless bombardment of the White Army and Navy artillery fire. No one knows when the White Army's artillery bombardment will end. At present, it seems that the White Army's artillery bombardment has no intention of ending. They can only continue to end their casualties and seek deaths.

However, if you retreat like this, without Istanbul, the intercepting front, the White Army would flock in and launch attacks across Europe. At that time, the Western powers would be in trouble. No one knew what the situation would be like in the future. The only thing that is certain is that the situation would not be very optimistic. It is possible that it would become very bad.

Everyone's eyes were finally focused on several key figures. One was King Gustav of Sweden, the other was King Louis XIII of Frank, and the other was Grand Duke of Prussia Sele III. The three of them were the main leaders of the European Union. Generally, the military operations of the coalition were decided by the three of them.

In terms of the combat effectiveness of the army, the French team has the largest number and relatively strong combat effectiveness. In the history of Europe, France has always regarded itself as the king of land. This is one of the basic reasons why France and Germany have repeatedly fought for and wars broke out.

This time, France and Germany were also competing in secret. In addition to Louis XIII personally led the army, there was another important figure in the French team, that is, Cardinal Richelieu, the 50,000 Crusaders and the Knights Templar brought by Richelieu, were all devout Catholics. Their combat power was also quite powerful.

Unfortunately, the number of European troops has always been a tragedy. Their population base is too small, and the number of troops that can be drawn has never been large. Even after repeated mobilization, France only mobilized less than 100,000 troops. The Grand Duke of Prussia only had less than 40,000 troops. Gustav's army was less than 50,000. With the troops dispatched by other countries, the total European coalition forces were actually less than 300,000.

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Chapter completed!