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Chapter 1160 Trench Warfare 4
The speaker was the Ottoman navy general whose warships were sunk by the Ming navy a few days ago. Although he was defeated miserably, it did not mean he was stupid. Tabar Pasha saw this a long time ago and it was confirmed today.

General Ali was right. If they did not retreat, Faao Port would be cut off. With the combat effectiveness shown by the Ming army, it would be difficult for the more than 2 defenders of Faao Port to break through the defense line after losing their preset positions.

If these more than 2 Guards Corps and Sipahi cavalry suffered serious losses, every city along the way to Beirut in the west and Tabriz in the north would not have such a powerful army guarding it, and there would be a vacuum.

The most correct choice at this time is not to fight a decisive battle in Faao Port where the advantage is already obvious, but to look further ahead, preserve the manpower as much as possible, and continue to resist with all your strength starting from Basra.

The war between countries does not depend on the outcome of one or two battles. The current advantage of the Ming army does not mean that it will always be the advantage. When the environment and conditions change, the strength and weakness are likely to change.

When the Mongolian army marched westward, they were invincible in capturing cities and strongholds, but they were unable to move forward after reaching Baghdad. No matter what the reason, when the enemy is too strong to confront head-on, delaying time often has a miraculous effect.

However, it is not easy to retreat. Now the battle lines of both sides are stuck together, and neither side can escape easily. If they retreat, they may end up in defeat. In that case, it is better to fight to the end.

If you want to evacuate the main force safely, you must abandon some people to cover the rear. Who will take on this task? It is not reliable to rely on assignments. If anyone hears that he has been abandoned and has to fight to the death against a powerful enemy and cover others' escape, it is impossible for him to accept his fate willingly.

The safest way is to deceive, not to tell the truth at all, to find an excuse to appease the confused troops on the front line, and then to secretly withdraw the troops in the rear.

To put it in a nice way, this is called considering the overall situation, but in fact it should be called betraying the brothers who fought side by side. But no matter how bad the reputation is, Tabar Pasha, as the commander of the army, must make this decision. It has nothing to do with personal grudges, nor is it about being afraid of death. It is as simple as doing one's job.

The trench battle lasted until dark, and the two sides still had no winner. The Ming army broke through the two layers of trenches of the Ottoman defenders and almost took over all the front positions. However, there was a trench network several hundred meters deep between the city wall and the Ottomans were really good at digging, almost catching up with rabbits.

"Why did so many die? Didn't I tell you not to charge and fight hard?" But Hong Tao was a little unhappy, not because the war was progressing slowly, but because his heart ached after hearing about the casualties.

In just one day, more than 300 people from the Warrior Battalion were killed and more than 200 were injured and temporarily lost their combat effectiveness. The Warrior Battalion only had 3000 people in total, and one-sixth of them were lost in one day. If the battle continued like this, I'm afraid they wouldn't reach Baghdad before the vanguard troops I led would be wiped out.

"I am guilty and willing to accept the punishment." Facing the emperor with a stern look on his face, Zhao En had no choice but to kneel down and confess his guilt.

The plan was well designed in advance, with several people working in groups. Some were responsible for long-range strikes, some for medium-range killing, some for short-range fire coverage, and some for replenishing fire and reloading ammunition. However, things quickly got chaotic once the fighting started.

It was impossible to issue orders in the trenches that were crisscrossed and deeper than a horse's head, let alone coordinate and cover each other. Many times, even though we knew that the enemy might be hiding around the corner, there was nowhere to hide and we had to go ahead anyway.

As a result, a powder can was thrown out, and several people were either injured or disabled. Or a corpse suddenly jumped up and stabbed at them unexpectedly.

If the Warrior Battalion had not been armed with more advanced weapons, they would have probably been driven out of the trenches before noon when facing the Ottoman Guards Corps, which was several times larger than themselves and fought to the death.

"...Is the injury serious?" From this angle, Hong Tao saw that the clothes from the back of Zhao En's right arm to the shoulder were burnt, and there was also a small piece of hair on the back of his head. "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern. I'm fine. I was just burned by the Ottoman gunpowder can."

Zhao En didn't dare to tell the truth. The injury was not serious, just some blisters on the skin, but it was also a loss of life. The messenger who had followed him for more than four years was killed in the explosion. If he hadn't thrown himself down, he would have confessed everything.

"I'm not blaming you. Not only are you innocent, you've also made contributions. Together with all the warriors who participated in the charge, you were awarded the honor of being the first to reach the summit. I just think that the daily training is not perfect enough. If it was more targeted, maybe fewer people would have died.

Go bandage and disinfect the wound first, then tell Wang Chengen in detail what you learned today. Every failure is a lesson for me. I will let the Warrior Battalion take over Basra first. If there are any more serious losses, I will punish them!"

Seeing Zhao En's miserable state, Hong Tao felt embarrassed to ask for more. It was true that combat experience was gained with blood, but the cost could not be too high. Whether there was any improvement or not would soon be revealed.

"As Admiral Zhao said, the Ottoman Guards are the strongest opponent I have ever encountered since I joined the army. In comparison, the Spanish army lacks some ferocity, and the Mongols lack some skills.

This shows that the rumors are true. It is indeed unique that a country can fight against European countries for a hundred years without losing. I have asked the Army Statistics Department to focus on collecting data and summarize it after the war. "

Army Governor-General Chief of Staff Ding Shun was deeply touched by what he heard. He went to the front line many times to supervise the battle that day, and saw many wounded soldiers who were evacuated. After asking questions, he also learned a lot of details of the battle.

Judging from his decades of experience, this battle was very special. He had never encountered a similar opponent before. The opponent had both experience and willpower, was good at using hot weapons, and was particularly fierce. He should indeed learn from this.

"Your Majesty, the Ottomans have escaped!" Just as the king and his minister were about to discuss the details of the battle in depth, the voice of a signalman came from outside the tent.

"What did you say, the Ottomans escaped?" Without waiting for Ding Shun to react, Hong Tao rushed out.

"Reporting to the Grand Marshal, the Navy just sent a battle report that the task force encountered a large number of enemy troops when landing. The enemy did not want to fight and bypassed the landing point and headed west.

After interrogating the prisoners, we learned that the Ottomans had been quietly withdrawing since dark, and the task force encountered the last few groups.

The signalman strictly followed the military regulations, and did not show much etiquette when meeting the emperor, and also changed the way he addressed him. As he spoke, he handed over a piece of paper.

"They fled after only one day of fighting. This is incredible!" Ding Shun was shocked when he heard that the Ottoman defenders had fled. He had thought that the enemy would flee, but he had never thought that they would flee so quickly.

Although the Ming army captured part of the trench network and destroyed some artillery, the Ottoman defenders did not show any signs of defeat. Giving up so easily in the first battle would have a great impact on morale. Even if they wanted to retreat, they had to fight to the end and then run away when they were defeated, so that they could explain to all parties.

(End of this chapter)