My Italy - Chapter 671 The Battle of Corsica (Part 1)

Bastia is the main port in the north of Corsica and is known as the two pearls of Corsica along with Ajaccio in the south. But even for Pearl, the number of people in the two ports did not exceed 40,000.

The reason is very simple, that is, the land in Corsica is barren. 4/5 of the island is composed of mountains and hills, and only the coastal areas have small plains. This also leads to the population of Corsica being only more than 100,000. It has long been the poorest department in France.

Corsica was not satisfied with this. They believed that they were not taken seriously by Paris and had a strong feeling of being dependent on others. This also led to the Corsican independence movement never subsided. This also made Italy never forget Corsica. Before, it did not dare to think about it because of its lack of strength, but now it is taking advantage of the war to seize the island no matter what.

Borgo is a town on the small plain south of Bastia. It has long sandy beaches and is a very suitable area for landing. Therefore, the French army deployed a division of troops to garrison here.

In the entire Corsica, the French defense force only has one corps and three divisions with more than 40,000 troops.

Being able to place a division in Borgo shows how much attention is paid to this place.

Because this place is the most suitable area for landing in Corsica, and not far from it is the port city of Bastia. In addition, it is only 100 kilometers away from Livorno, Italy, which makes Borgo the easiest place to land in Corsica.

Although the French army attaches great importance to Borgo, Corsica’s military strength is limited, so it can only put one division here at most.

At this time, the officers and soldiers of the division were suffering.

“Shoulder, be careful to avoid.”

The observation post on the position was shouting, and a whining sound came from the air.

At this time, the French officers and soldiers hiding in the shell-proof cave were praying silently, praying that the shells would not fall on their heads.

“collapse!”

A huge explosion came from nearby, and the French officers and soldiers hiding in the gun cave also felt a huge vibration.

At this time, everyone was thankful that they had escaped disaster, but their suffering was not over yet, and the bombardment had not stopped.

On the sea, warships were constantly bombarding Borgo Beach and the depths. This is the reserve combined fleet formed by Italy and Austria, and more than half of its warships are here.

Its equipped 75mm, 120mm, 150mm, 200mm, 280mm, 305mm, 350mm and other artillery guns are constantly firing at the Borgo front line.

The bombarded Borgo front line was so thick with explosion smoke that the airship making corrections in the air was unable to observe the shelling on the ground.

The coastal defense fortifications deployed by the French army in Borgo are mainly composed of 170 mm naval guns disassembled from battleships (eight), and a small number of 240 mm naval guns (two). However, most of these coastal defenses were ineffective. In front of the airship and the pre-dreadnought, these guns were named one by one.

Some people may ask, since Borgo is an extremely important place in Corsica, why there is so little artillery. The French navy was at a disadvantage and had too many key areas to defend. Although Corsica faces Italy, its strategic position is not high. Since France was at a naval disadvantage against Italy, the issue of coastal defense in France’s Mediterranean coastal areas has been put on the agenda.

When it comes to coastal defense, France focuses on its homeland, especially Marseille, Toulon, and Nice.

Taking Marseille as an example, its coastal defenses have the same new 305mm guns as the Guba class. Eight of these guns are deployed in Marseille. In addition, there are 39 240mm and 170mm artillery pieces, which can be said to be armed to the teeth.

Borgo’s coastal defense is not as good as that of Marseille or other local areas.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the reserve combined fleet composed of ex-dreadnought battleships smashed Borgo’s coastal defenses to pieces.

At this time, on the battleship Genoa, as the supreme commander of the capture of Corsica and the commander of the Italian Sixth Army, Admiral Bartlett was carefully observing the effects of the bombardment.

The result was not bad, he ordered after leaving the telescope at this time. “Order to have the Second Marine Division begin landing immediately.”

At this time, the Corsica combat force was formed. In addition to the six divisions of the Sixth Army, it was also equipped with a professional landing force, the Second Marine Division.

Under the order of General Bartlett, the officers and soldiers of the Second Marine Division began to lower their landing craft and prepare to land on the beach.

For this landing in Borgo, the navy prepared 138 landing craft, which was enough to deliver a regiment of personnel and equipment ashore at one time.

These landing craft, loaded with officers, soldiers and equipment of the Second Marine Division, were rushing towards the beaches on the Borgo front line.

“The enemy is about to land!”

Although the rumbling sound of artillery continued and Borgo was caught in a sea of ​​fire, the diligent observation posts still saw the menacing enemy at the first time.

Following the call of the sentry, the French officers and soldiers who were originally hiding in the artillery cave, regardless of the danger of shelling, rushed out of the artillery cave one after another. They prepared weapons and ammunition and waited for the Italians to come ashore to give them a head-on attack.

At this time, although the French army was waiting for the Italian army to land in their positions, they waited for a precise shelling before the enemy could be seen.

This is a shallow water heavy artillery battleship built by the Italian Navy.

The origin of the shallow-water heavy gunship was invented by the American Civil War. This shallow-draft and equipped with heavy artillery can support offshore warships on land or defend ports, and was subsequently imitated by various countries.

Of course, Italy has also built it, but before that, the main job of this warship was offshore defense. After entering the 20th century, as the Italian Navy became more powerful, the need for firepower ships to support landing operations became particularly urgent.

After some research and development, the Tirana-class shallow water heavy gunship was born. This class is 98.4 meters long and 28.4 meters wide, with a standard displacement of 5870 tons and a full load displacement of 6125 tons. The main engine is a steam engine and the speed is 7 knots. Equipped with 2 305mm main guns, 4 105mm secondary guns and 10 40mm and 20mm anti-aircraft guns.

In order to increase their ocean navigation capabilities, their freeboard is basically similar to that of destroyers. In addition, a piece of the stern of the ship was cut off to form a long forecastle shape. Almost in the center of the hull, a tripod mast was erected, and the top was equipped with an azimuth plate and an observation post for artillery command. Except for a small chimney at the rear of the battleship, there are no large buildings on the ship.

So this shallow water heavy gunship looks a bit flat and looks weird. Weird as it is, its firepower is a disaster for the Borgo defenders. At this time, only three warships of this type were seen sailing directly to a place 2,000 meters away from the coastline, and then used their astonishingly powerful main guns to target the French positions one by one.

No one can remain calm when a giant cannon is aimed at you. The key is that even if you hide from the cannon, it is useless. It has such huge lethality that even if you are hiding in a trench 20 meters away, you will be killed by it.

Then the French officers and soldiers defending the beachhead were unlucky. Accurate artillery shells destroyed the remaining beachhead fortifications one by one. These fortifications that had escaped the previous shelling were now targeted by large cannons at close range and had no chance of survival. possible.

As for the artillery in the hands of the defenders at this time, they did not dare to open fire at all. Once they fired, they would be discovered by the airship in the sky, and then they would be destroyed by counterattack. For this reason, the French army stationed in Borgo lost more than 20 artillery pieces and no longer had the desire to fire. Besides, after the coastal defense artillery was destroyed, can the 75mm rapid-fire guns in the hands of the Army pose a threat to shallow water heavy gunships?

When there was no threat, the three Tirana-class shallow-water heavy gunboats began to roll call unscrupulously. After these beach fortifications were destroyed, the officers and soldiers of the Second Marine Division finally arrived at the beach.

At this time, the French officers and soldiers guarding the beachhead had suffered heavy casualties from the bombing. Only two companies of the original two battalions of the French army were left. Faced with such huge casualties, the beachhead had not collapsed, which shows the firm will of the French soldiers. .

However, will alone cannot change the plight of insufficient troops on the beachhead. Although the French troops on the beachhead have been firing desperately since the Second Marine Division landed. However, the huge difference in numbers and firepower caused the beachhead to be lost after half an hour.

After receiving the news that the frontline troops had captured the beachhead in half an hour, Admiral Bartlet gave up after taking one look. He was not at all worried about taking Corsica.

He preferred that the French army would reinforce Corsica, and for this reason the navy even gave up the siege of Corsica. But it is a pity that the French army is not stupid and has no intention of reinforcing Corsica, even though it is the birthplace of its great man Napoleon.

After seizing the beachhead, after the follow-up troops arrived, the first troops to land continued to advance in depth. At this time, the three shallow water heavy artillery ships were their most powerful artillery unit.