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Prologue [Chapter 862] Thousands of artillery fire, destroying Istanbul!  (Down)

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    Thousands of artillery fired together to level Istanbul!  (Down)

    (0862)

    For the preparations of the European coalition forces, the White Army also has sufficient response methods.

    "The White Army has never been worried about the land battle.  No matter what kind of fortified city it is, it is nothing but scum in front of the White Army.  In an era without 155mm howitzers, the White Army's explosive team was indestructible.  With the arrival of the 155mm howitzer, the White Army's ability to attack critical areas has become even more powerful and indestructible than before.

    But there is something deadly about Istanbul.  To the east is the strait.  This caused a little bit of difficulty for the White Army Army.  Due to the obstruction of the sea water, they could not launch attacks at will as usual.  They had to cross the strait with the help of the navy before they could continue their attack.

    Of course, this is not a problem.

    The White Army Navy will definitely provide strong support.

    ¡­¡­

    Aegean Sea, a nice name, always makes people think about it.

    In fact, the Aegean Sea is indeed beautiful.  The sea water here is crystal clear, the blue sky here is pure and tranquil, the islands here are full of poetry and painting, and the people here are warm and hospitable.  Everyone who comes to the Aegean Sea will be overwhelmed by its charm.

    However, in 1637 AD, people around the Aegean Sea were in extreme panic.  Because, a large number of White Army warships appeared in the Aegean Sea.  The black muzzle unabashedly indicates to the people around you that it is best not to do any unfriendly actions, otherwise, you will be severely punished.

    As an important supply base of the White Army at the southern end of the Aegean Sea, Crete is almost entirely filled with soldiers of the White Army.  There were combatants and engineers from the Navy, and people from the Marine Corps.  When Chen Xinhai, the first deputy commander of the White Army Navy, set his headquarters in Crete, it turned into a huge military camp.

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

    The Eighth Fleet was mobilized from the rear.  Judging from the designation, it is not a newly formed fleet.  Its qualifications can at least rank in front of the Ninth Fleet.  However, the Eighth Fleet has been operating in the waters around Australia since its formation.  Its mission is to assist the Marine Corps in occupying Australia and controlling Australia's main strongholds.

    At that time, there were no troops stationed in Australia, only some indigenous people.  After the armed merchants invaded, the natives were defeated.  Subsequently, large numbers of immigrants arrived and took control of Australia regionally.  The Eighth Fleet, which is responsible for the escort mission, has actually never experienced fierce battles.  Obviously, this is not a pleasant thing to do.

    After the Eighth Fleet completed its mission, it was transferred to the Mediterranean.  This is their first time entering a real battlefield.  Unfortunately, they arrived too late to catch up with the series of naval battles in Madeira.  Since entering the Mediterranean, the Eighth Fleet has been unable to catch the battle. It is eager to make contributions and is advancing very quickly.  As a result, by accident, they became the vanguard of the White Army Navy and headed directly into the Aegean Sea.

    The narrow and dangerous Dardanelles Strait has no blocking effect on the navy of the white army.  The few remaining Ottoman Imperial warships were eliminated by the Eighth Fleet after three and five were divided into two.  To be honest, any battleship of the Eighth Fleet can deal with the entire Ottoman Empire's navy.  It's not that the White Army's navy is too powerful, but that the Ottoman Empire's navy is really not worth mentioning.  The Ottoman Empire has never paid much attention to its navy.

    The Eighth Fleet, as the vanguard, successfully entered the Sea of ??Marmara and appeared in the waters south of Istanbul.  The black muzzle can blow Istanbul to pieces 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-coated marines following the Eighth Fleet also occupied Izmir.  A large number of engineering teams followed to expand it into a large and efficient port.  Soon after, a large number of merchant ships docked at the port of Izmir, unloading a large amount of military supplies.

    At the same time, the artillery unit of the White Army also set off for Istanbul.  The two battalions led by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong were still at the forefront.  Lei Hu and Xu Canhuai were both among them.  They destroyed the Ottoman reinforcements in Aleppo and dealt another heavy blow to the Ottoman Empire.  Later, they rested in Aleppo and replenished a large amount of military supplies.?Now, they can finally launch a direct attack on Istanbul.

    Istanbul is a strange city.  It is bisected by the Bosporus.  There is a large piece on the east side of the strait, and there is also a large piece on the west side of the strait.  There is no doubt that the cities on the east side of the strait were quickly captured by the White Army Army.  The defenders in the east were unable to block the artillery fire of the White Army, and completely collapsed in less than two hours.

    Then, they set up their cannons and launched a bombardment to the west of the strait.  The Bosporus is a very narrow strait.  The widest part is only two or three kilometers.  The narrowest place is only seven or eight hundred meters.  This is no obstacle at all for a 105mm howitzer with a range of more than ten kilometers.  The cannons mounted on the east bank can easily dump heavy shells into the middle of the city to the west.

    The army's bombardment is much more powerful than the navy's bombardment.  The Army first used 105mm howitzers to conduct bombardment, plowing through all military targets within the effective range.  Afterwards, all the buildings within the effective range were plowed over.  After the back and forth shelling, Istanbul's West City was in ruins.

    Soon after, large-caliber 155mm howitzers also arrived on the front line.  Their arrival has plunged Istanbul into even greater suffering.  A single shot of a 155mm howitzer can affect an area the size of half a football field.  What's even worse is that their range is even longer, more than twenty kilometers.  Istanbul, which had already been bombed beyond recognition, was bombed beyond recognition again.

    This kind of powerful weapon weighs ninety kilograms in shells alone. Every time a shell is fired, it is a nightmare for the defenders of Istanbul.  There was a loud rumble and a loud crack of the earth, and the surrounding buildings were razed to the ground.  Even if it was originally in ruins, it will become even more ruins.  The broken stone fragments also greatly increased the power of the cannonball.  Everyone within a hundred meters radius is under serious threat.  Any enemy who tries to hide within the range of the heavy artillery will suffer a hellish ordeal.

    Basically, after several hours of shelling, the buildings and fortifications near the coast of Istanbul were completely destroyed.  The 155mm caliber howitzer has a range of more than 20 kilometers, basically covering most of Istanbul.  Even though Istanbul was one of the largest cities in the world at that time, after being bombarded by 155mm howitzers, it was so desolate that it was impossible to recognize its true appearance.

    ???????????????????? While the army in white clothes was shelling, there were also the navy in white clothes who were unwilling to be left alone and went into battle shirtless.  The 75mm naval gun of the White Army Navy has a short range and is not powerful enough.  However, the advantage lies in flexibility.  Navy warships can search for targets to attack along the coastline.  Those targets that were not discovered by the 155mm howitzers were cleared by the White Navy warships in a one-on-one targeted manner.

    The effective range of naval guns is about eight kilometers.  In other words, within an eight-kilometer coastline, any target discovered by a white-coated navy warship will be ruthlessly destroyed.  Under the joint artillery bombardment of the white army and navy, there was no target in Istanbul that could escape the destruction of the artillery fire.

    Starting in February 1637 AD, the Eighth Fleet continued to bombard Istanbul.  Subsequently, the Ninth Fleet, the Fifteenth Fleet, and the Eighteenth Fleet arrived one after another and joined the shelling.  Later, more fleets arrived and joined the lively bombardment.  For a time, Istanbul became a target for the white-coated navy. All fleets and warships were bombarded here as a memorial.

    The Sea of ??Marmara, which was originally quite large, seems to be unable to accommodate so many warships.  There were so many warships, and so many merchant ships.  There was no other way, so the naval engineering team had no choice but to continue working hard.  Subsequently, the ports around the Sea of ??Marmara were expanded one by one by the White Army's naval engineering team as logistics supply bases.

    Among them, the larger port was Brusa (later Bursa).  Broussard is surrounded by mountains and sea, with beautiful scenery and many historical monuments.  If you search carefully, you can find the atmosphere of several different dynasties in this ancient city.  If we want to talk about the ancient capitals of several dynasties, Broussa can be considered one.

    In real history, Brusa was once the capital of the Byzantine Empire, and after the rise of the Ottoman Empire, it once served as the capital of the Ottoman Turkish Empire.  Under the Ottoman Turkish Empire, apart from Istanbul and Damascus, it was the largest city.  Before the arrival of the White Army, this ancient city still had a population of 300,000.  This is very rare in the era of war and chaos.

    It is estimated that he has witnessed many dynasty changes in history and has enough psychological endurance.Due to their strength, the Brusa people were not so resistant to the arrival of the White Army.  They are not particularly resistant to eliminating their religious beliefs and converting to other religions.  All this is very different from other towns.  Because the local residents made wise choices, Broussa suffered almost no harm and is still thriving.

    In May 1637 AD, Gao Jie and Mao Shisan arrived at the front line one after another.  They unanimously set up frontline headquarters in Broussa.  Their arrival marked the beginning of the White Army's final general attack on Istanbul.

    ¡­¡­

    The continuous bombardment by the white army navy brought huge disaster to Istanbul.  Not to mention that the entire city was destroyed, the casualties of the European coalition forces were also very high.  Under the 155mm howitzer, the human body is not much stronger than an ant.  Anyone within the killing range is likely to suffer severe damage.

    At this moment, the European coalition forces are facing a huge test.

    Will we continue to fight in Istanbul?  Or should we withdraw back to China as soon as possible?

    ¡°If they continue to stay in Istanbul, they will continue to withstand endless and indiscriminate bombardment by the army and navy artillery fire of the White Army.  No one knows when the shelling by the White Army will end.  At present, it seems that the shelling of the White Army has no intention of ending at all.  If they stay here, they can only continue to suffer casualties and seek death.

    ¡°However, if we just retreat back like this, without Istanbul as the intercepting front line, the White Army Army will swarm in and launch attacks across Europe.  By then, the Western powers would be in big trouble.  No one knows what the situation will be like in the future.  The only thing that is certain is that the situation will not be very optimistic.  Chances are, it could get really bad.

    Everyone¡¯s eyes were finally focused on a few key figures.  One is King Gustaf of Sweden.  One is the Frankish King Louis XIII.  One is Archduke Seiler III of Prussia.  The three of them are the main leaders of the European coalition forces.  Generally, the military operations of the coalition are decided by the three of them through discussion.

    Purely in terms of the combat effectiveness of the army, the French army has the largest number and its combat effectiveness is relatively strong.  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 each other and wars have broken out frequently.

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

    It¡¯s a pity that the number of European troops has always been a tragedy.  Their population base is too small, and the number of troops they can mobilize is never very large.  Even after repeated mobilizations, France only mobilized less than 100,000 troops.  The Archduke of Prussia had less than 40,000 troops.  Gustav's army was less than fifty thousand.  Including the troops dispatched by other countries, the total number of European coalition forces is actually less than 300,000.

    !#

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