Page 338 - Le Operazioni Interforze e Multinazionali nella Storia Militare - ACTA Tomo I

338 XXXIX Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

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Marshall by Minister of War, and he commanded the 5 Turkish Army during the whole
of Dardanelles War. He believed in the concept of mobile defensive doctrine. According
to this concept, coastal line would have defended by weak forces, but the coastal line
would have been fortified by engineering obstacles; main forces would have been in the
specific areas in order to make counterattack. Commander conducting a mobile defense
take advantage of terrain in depth, obstacles, and mines, while employing firepower and
maneuver to wrest the initiative from the attacker. Besides, “mobile defense orients on
the destruction of the enemy force by employing a combination of fire and maneuver,
offense, defense, and delay to defeat his attack. The minimum force possible is commit-
ted to pure defense; maximum combat power is placed in a striking force that catches
the enemy as it is attempting to overcome that part of the force dedicated to the defense.
A mobile defense requires mobility greater than that of the attacker”. 5

7. The turkish defense plan against the amphibıous operation
The duty of defending the Strait against the attacks that could be directed from the
land belonged to the 5th Army which was formed later under the command of Liman
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Von Sanders. The defense units were six infantry divisions (the 3 /, 5 , 7 , 9 , 11 ,
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and 19 Divisions], the 1 Cavalry Brigade, 64 Infantry Regiment and the 4 . Mobile
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Gendarme Battalion.
The 1 . Independent Cavalry Brigade was charged with the task of observation and
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security in the north of the Saros Gulf, in the coastal line that extends to the town of Enez
and the mobile gendarme battalions were charged with the same task in the interval area,
in the vicinity of Bababurnu of the Southern wing, in the zone of Edremit Gulf.
• In Gallipoli zone, the 5 and 7 Divisions,
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• In the south of Peninsula, the 9 and 19 Divisions,
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• On the coast of the Anatolian side, which are out of the Straits, the 3 and 11 Divi-
sions were grouped.
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• The 5 and 19 Divisions were directly related to the Army Commandership. The 7
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and 9 Divisions were left under the command of the 3 Army Corps, and the 15
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Army Corps was established in the Anatolian side.
8. The biggest present of the Channakkale victory
The biggest gift of the Channakkale Victory to the Turkish Nation is certainly that it
has brought Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK and his military genius into light. At the begin-
ning of the war, his rank was only lieutenant colonel; German high rank officers prepared
the defensive plans of Dardanelles Region and Strait. Marshall (as stated above, his rank
was lieutenant general in the German Armed Forces) Liman Von Sanders commanded
the 5 Turkish Army in Dardanelles War. They believed in the concept of mobile defen-
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sive doctrine. As stated above, coastal line would have defended by weak forces. As a
matter of fact, terrain is traded for maximum effect to divert the attention of the enemy
from the defender’s main force, overextend the attacker’s resources, exposing his flanks,
5 Department of the Army Headquarters, Field Manual 100–5 Operations, Washington, DC, 14 June 1993, p.9-2