What made Rock unbelievable was that when Rock was appointed commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, the British War Department had no plans for the Battle of the Dardanelles, and had only one clear goal to capture Constantinople.

However, there is a Marmara Sea with an area of ​​square kilometers between Constantinople and the Dardanelles. Even if the Marmara Sea is the smallest sea in the world, it is not a lake. The Marmara Sea is 170 miles long and 50 miles wide. After passing the Marmara Sea, it is the Bosphorus Strait where Constantinople is located. The British Ministry of War only determined that the purpose of the battle was to occupy Constantinople. As for where to land on the Garibaldi Peninsula, how to occupy the Dardanelles, how to control the Marmara Sea, and even how to attack the Bosphorus, the Ministry of War has no clear plan.

The reason for such a strange situation is that in addition to the hasty initiation of the Battle of Dardanelles, the lack of attention to the staff is also one of the reasons. The British War Department now has only a few hundred staff members, and Rock's command center has more than 300 staff members, divided into twelve combat rooms, responsible for all aspects of the Battle of Dardanelles.

Sand table production is one of the tasks of the General Staff, and the biggest touch on this is Ian Hamilton. Thinking about Ian Hamilton's understanding of the Dardanelles was limited to a travel manual. Not to mention the sand table, there are not even photos of the Dardanelles defending positions.

Military-related photos cannot appear in the travel manual.

The staff of the Southern African Expeditionary Force were still very rigorous. Every road, every river, every bridge, and even mountain paths were made very exquisitely.

As Rock's chief of staff, Ian Hamilton worked hard for John Fisher to introduce all staff of the General Staff to the combat plan designed by John Fisher for nearly a month.

This work has begun from the day Rock was appointed commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force.

"Achilles' Heel! This plan is very good!" John Fisher highly praised Rock's plan. According to British tradition, Rock named the entire plan "Achilles' Heel".

Achilles' heel means Achilles' heel. Legend has it that Achilles' heel is the only place in Achilles' body that has not been soaked in the water of the Styx, so it is the only weakness of Achilles' body. In the Trojan War, Achilles was shot into the ankle by a poisonous arrow and died.

Interestingly, the Trojan War took place in the Dardanelles Strait, and the ruins of the city of Troy are on the south side of the Dardanelles Strait.

In Rock's plan, the weakness of the Ottoman Fifth Army lies in the poor logistics of the Ottoman Empire, so attracting the Fifth Army to the south side of the Garibaldi Peninsula, then landing from behind the Fifth Army, cutting off the logistics of the Fifth Army, becoming the top priority of the entire battle.

To complete this huge plan, the close cooperation between the Mediterranean Fleet and the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force is required. If the Mediterranean Fleet cannot control the Dardanelles, then Rock's plan will not be able to be launched.

"Control the Dardanelles is not easy, but it is easy to cut off the Ottoman Empire to provide support to the Fifth Army through the Dardanelles. Just sink all the Ottoman ships! No matter how many shells there are in the fort, they will always be exhausted!" Although John Fisher was old and his thinking was still agile, he immediately grasped the key to the problem.

"Yes, we want to sink all Ottoman ships near the Dardanelles. We cannot let any ship leave the port. The Fifth Army has less than 90,000 people. We have 200,000 people now, and more troops will arrive one after another. As long as the Fifth Army is annihilated, our way to Constantinople is a smooth road." Rock was still very proud. Like another battle of the Dardanelles Strait, which was like a flying time and space, the "Achilles Heel" was obviously more perfect, more reasonable, and more huge.

When Rock was overwhelmed with a domineering spirit, Ian Hamilton was in a bitter mood.

When he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, there were less than 100,000 mobs in the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, and there was nothing else. The navy, which should have been the greatest advantage, was also led by a general who had just started the war and "resigned due to illness" and had a dark future.

Now Rock is the commander-in-chief of the Expeditionary Force, and the rabble-like troops are integrating, with elite troops from southern Africa continuously flowing. The Southern African Expeditionary Force is now recognized as the most elite unit of the Allied Power. Kitchener has sent a telegram to Frenzi that without the cooperation of the Southern African Expeditionary Force, the British Expeditionary Force will not be allowed to launch any attack.

During the attack launched by Hag in March, the British Expeditionary Force lost 40,000 people in a week. Not only did it not capture Ghent, it led to the retreat of the front to Ypres, and Frenzi was on the verge of being dismissed.

Rock vaguely had a premonition that the reason why Frenzi had not been dismissed yet was because there was no result on the Dardanelles Strait. If Rock could lead the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force to win the battle of the Dardanelles Strait, then Frenzi would not be far from being dismissed.

As for whether Rock can serve as the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force by then, it still needs an opportunity to hand over the expeditionary force that determines the fate of Britain to a colonial soldier or a colonial soldier who is not a white one, it depends on how determined London is to win.

Or how much pressure the German army has put on London.

That night, Rock hosted a banquet at the Expeditionary Force Command to host John Fisher, Chief of Staff Ian Hamilton and Logistics Director Sidney Milner.

Chefs from southern Africa and France and Italy carefully prepared dishes for John Fisher. John Fisher was obviously not in the mood. Now John Fisher and Rock are more familiar with each other, and the two communicate more deeply.

"The oil in Port Elizabeth is very important to us, so we must ensure the smooth flow of the oil pipeline! The French are eyeing Damascus and must stop France's ambitions from outside Damascus!" John Fisher had a clear understanding of the role of oil. During John Fisher's presidency of the British Navy, the internal combustion engine powered by oil gradually replaced the steam engine fueled by coal.

Like southern Africa, France's ambitions for Damascus are well known.

After another world war in time and space ended, Britain overturned McMahon's promise to the Hashem family and tried to establish a brand new country in Damascus, but this idea was destroyed by the French.

In 1920, the World War had just ended. France invaded Damascus and drove away the king Emil Faisal, who had just been a month old, forcibly occupied Damascus. Later, through the League of Nations established after the World War, Damascus was confirmed as a ruling area of ​​the League of Nations.

From John Fisher's standpoint, it is not in the interests of Britain to control Damascus in the hands of Southern Africa. However, compared with the French occupation of Damascus, the occupation of Damascus in Southern Africa has become a better option.

"The French have no chance. They are too busy to take care of themselves now and they don't care about Damascus at all." Rock's dissatisfaction with France deepened. When Heg launched an attack, Xia Fei was not idle, and also ordered the French troops to attack the German positions.

As a result, the French army suffered even heavier losses, with nearly 90,000 people in one month. It is precisely because compared with the French army, the casualties of the British Expeditionary Force seemed acceptable, so Frenzi could still stay in the position of commander-in-chief of the Expeditionary Force.

"The only question now is whether your troops can complete this huge plan!" John Fisher emphasized that his exclamation mark is indeed more than the full stop.

Britain is a traditional maritime power. Even though it has the largest colony in the world, it has never been a mainland country. The title of "World's No. 1 Army" is like a mobile little red flag. After France takes Germany, it has nothing to do with Britain.

In the "Achilles Heel" plan, Rock had to use more than 250,000 troops, so John Fisher was really worried whether Rock had the ability to command 250,000 troops.

Before the outbreak of the World War, the total strength of the Royal Navy was only 191,000. Later, the million-dollar army recruited by Kitchener had nothing to do with John Fisher.

"No problem. Victory of landing operations requires brave and skilled soldiers, timely logistics support is required, and the cover and cooperation of a strong navy is required. We all have these. The only hidden danger lies in the cooperation between the various troops-" Rock's confidence is not that strong. If the Mediterranean Expeditionary Forces were all composed of southern African troops, Rock would not have any concerns. The situation is very complicated now, and coordinating the cooperation between various troops is Rock's most important task during this period.

"In the face of victory, we must unify all our thoughts!" John Fisher was determined. He would leave Cyprus tomorrow, meet with the Mediterranean Fleet, and start his work.

In order to coordinate the connection between the Mediterranean Fleet and the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, John Fisher left his adjutant William Eisenhower with Rock. Rock also allowed the more calm Patton to follow John Fisher to the Mediterranean Fleet. The two of them will establish a stable channel of contact, which will be more conducive to the cooperation between the fleet and the ground forces.

On April 5, after nearly two months of preparation, the Battle of Dardanelles finally began. Six divisions of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force landed in five different places, all landing sites were on the Garibaldi Peninsula. Rock gave up the other side of the Dardanelles and placed all the main attack targets on the Garibaldi Peninsula.

This is also an adjustment based on the arrangement of the Dardanelles defenders. The Fifth Army must defend the Dardanelles. It is impossible to defend only one side of the Dardanelles, but instead spread the troops evenly on both sides of the Dardanelles. At most, some more troops will be arranged on the Garibaldi Peninsula.

Now Rock completely gave up the south side of the Dardanelles and concentrated his efforts to launch an attack on the Garibaldi Peninsula. The defensive forces arranged by the Fifth Army on the south side of the Dardanelles were wasted and could not provide any help to the Garibaldi Peninsula.

What Rock did not expect was that although the General Staff had made as detailed combat plans as possible and although Rock had given detailed orders to each unit, there were still problems with the battle just beginning.

The ANZF is in trouble.
Chapter completed!