Boom! Boom! Boom!
Fierce artillery fire bombarded the Turkish Republican Army's defensive lines. Although the Russian 44th Army Corps had only two mountain infantry divisions and one cavalry division under its command, the tens of thousands of men fought with exceptional ferocity on the battlefield. The Turkish 1st Army Corps had already had two infantry divisions crippled by them. Its remaining infantry divisions had also retreated in panic to the third line of defense.
The Turkish 2nd Army Corps was in an even more difficult position. It was under attack from the Russian 45th Army Corps and 46th Army Corps. These two army corps had stronger forces than the 44th Army Corps. Although their total strength was still inferior to that of the Turkish 2nd Army Corps, their formidable combat power had beaten the Turkish 2nd Army Corps until its teeth were scattered across the ground.
At the headquarters of the Turkish 2nd Army Corps in Van, Commander Lieutenant General Muhammad had repeatedly sent telegrams to the 1st Army Corps and Ankara for reinforcements. He desperately stated that if reinforcements did not arrive, the 2nd Army Corps would likely be wiped out within a week.
The sudden change at the front caught the Turkish government off guard as well. President Kemal summoned the government's and military's senior officials to discuss countermeasures. In this timeline, President Kemal was in excellent health and had not died in his fifties as he had in another timeline. Even now, he was still full of vigor. It was precisely because President Kemal remained in office that Turkey's policy had been to follow the German Empire with unwavering resolve.
In Ankara's Presidential Palace, President Kemal's expression was grim. At the Allied Powers' founding conference, he had promised German Emperor Wilhelm III that if the Russian forces