The sudden bombardment came fast and ended fast, lasting just over an hour from start to finish and leaving nothing but devastation in its wake.
Once he was certain it was safe, Major General Özgür stepped out of headquarters. Seeing thick smoke rising across the city, he hurriedly ordered, "Organize men to put out the fires! The food and ammunition depots must be saved!"
The young officer accompanying him answered, "Yes, General!"
With that, he immediately ran off to relay the order. During the bombardment, the exposed telegraph and telephone lines had unfortunately been damaged and had yet to be restored.
At this point, Major General Özgür no longer harbored any illusions about keeping the enemy beyond the nation's gates.
They might use artillery to stop the enemy from landing, but what about the enemy in the sky? Unless they dealt with the threat overhead, they could only passively take a beating.
No matter how tightly defended a position was, one wave from above would still bring it crashing down. The casualty figures were still being counted, yet Major General Özgür had already lost the courage to face them.
Holding his beloved binoculars, Major General Özgür gave the battlefield a rough survey and knew the losses had to be catastrophic.
In just over an hour, the airship squadron had poured more than a hundred tons of bombs over their heads. Add the naval shells, and the figure would be even greater.
For a small port like Ava, that much ordnance was enough for a massive demolition. The port facilities had suffered heavy damage, but more importantly, the defensive works had been destroyed.
Second by second, time passed. By evening, the casualty report was placed in Major General Özgür's hands. The thin sheet of paper felt as heavy as a thousand