situation facing the Yıldırım Army Group (YAG),
beginning with battles with English forces around Es
Salt in late March-early April 1918.//
Es Salt is directly west of Amman and
east of the Şeria (Jordan) River.
Attack Signs
Battles at Es Salt (21 March - 2 April 1918):
At this time when we were at our nadir in terms of soldiers, provisions
and ammunition, we could think of nothing else other than how to repel
a likely enemy attack. In order to occupy Syria and achieve its goal,
the enemy would have to attack. And there was no lack of indicators
that an assault was imminent. The English had twice incited the Arabs
in the Şeria (Jordan) River valley to revolt against the Turks, but both
times without achieving success. These were proud moments for us
Turks, fighting like lions to defend the homeland.
In the enemy's first attack, Es Salt was seized and they advanced to the
area west of Amman. However, the 48th Division under the command
of Colonel Asım Bey of Kütahya, mounted a stiff defense with just a
handful of soldiers and blocked the approach to Amman. After a few
days holding out, and with the help of the 3rd Cavalry Division which
arrived from the west side of the Şeria, Es Salt was re-taken. The
English, with their line of retreat in jeopardy, had to immediately
evacuate their troops from the east side of the Şeria River.
But soon afterwards, the enemy attacked again with a larger force. At
that time, the 8th Army Corps was on the east side of the Şeria. The
English came from the left of the army corps to Vadi-i Seyr and from
the right toward Salt and succeeded in surrounding the army corps on
four sides.
Ottoman prisoners on their way to Jericho from Es Salt.
Nevertheless, the army corps, commanded by Colonel Ali Fuad Bey,
held out for a week, despite being cut-off from the outside, and earned
a second victory. Thanks to this stalwart resistance to the enemy's full-
throated pressure, and in spite of facing food and ammunition shortages,
the enemy was forced to retreat when the 3rd Calvary Division and the
24th Infantry Division again arrived from west of the Şeria to save the
day.
After this, a third attack from the Şeria side could be anticipated. In
the event that the attack came from that side, the enemy would be able
to mostly avoid the difficulties posed by Palestine's mountainous
terrain and achieve victory by taking advantage of assistance from
the Bedouins. The 4th Army considered this to be a likely scenario
but this view was not shared by the other armies, which awaited
attacks on their own individual fronts.
In any case, this was not the time to be thinking about re-taking
Jerusalem or pushing back the enemy with a general attack because,
in fact, the enemy was in a superior position in every aspect and had
command of the sea, as well. To expel us from Palestine they could
land troops anywhere along the Mediterranean coast from Haifa to
Iskenderun and threaten our line of retreat. The Yıldırım Army
Group (YAG) was compelled to consider how to deal with this
daunting problem.
//END of PART IX//
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