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The Battle of Ctesiphon (Turkish: ''Selman-ı Pak Muharebesi'') was fought in November 1915 by the British Empire and British India, against the Ottoman Empire, within the Mesopotamian Campaign of World War I. Indian Expeditionary Force D, mostly made up of Indian units and under the command of Gen. Sir John Nixon, had met with success in Mesopotamia since landing at Al Faw upon the Ottoman Empire's Declaration of War on November 5, 1914. One of the primary reasons for initiating the campaign in Mesopotamia was to defend the oil refinery at Abadan at the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab. Adopting a forward defence policy, the British army under General Townshend fought off a series of small Ottoman forces. Then after a year of a string of defeats, the Ottoman forces were able to halt the British advance in two days of hard fighting at Ctesiphon. ==Battleground== Ctesiphon lies on the Western bank of the Tigris River in the barren Iraqi desert, about upstream from Basra, north of Kut al-Amara, and south-east of Baghdad. It is a good defensive position located in a loop of the Tigris river. At the town there are ruins, the remains of the capital of the Parthian and Sassanid Empires. The Ottoman forces had formed a well-camouflaged and formidable line of trenches crossing the river. There were two lines of trenches; there was also a ancient wall south of the main line, used for observation by the Ottoman forces. The Ottoman forces consisted of approximately 18,000 men and 52 guns. The overall commander of the Ottoman army in Mesopotamia was Khalil Pasha. The commander in the field for the previous nine months was Colonel Nureddin also called Nur-ud Din Pasha, but the Ottoman army was as of October under the command of Baron von der Goltz, a well known German general, military historian and, for 12 years, a modernizer of the Ottoman army. Baron von der Goltz was old but he was an expert on military matters and had a deep understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the Ottoman army. General Goltz was still making his way to Mesopotamia and it was Nureddin who was in charge at the battle and the British believed he was still the commander. This may have been a factor in the course of events as the British – with considerable justification based on previous experience – thought poorly of Nureddin's skills as a general. Nureddin had four divisions. The 35th and 38th Divisions were predominantly Arab. The 38th Divisions' prewar garrison had been Basra, and the 35th's was Mosul. Nureddin also had the 45th and 51st Divisions, newly raised divisions, which were predominantly Turkish.〔Edward J. Erickson, ''Ottoman Army Effectiveness in World War I: a comparative study'' (Routledge, New York, 2007), 68–74.〕 They were made up of a mixture of active and reserve soldiers.〔 He had about 18,000 total infantry. The British force consisted of the 6th (Poona) Division, at a strength of around 11,000 men. Some British troops had been left behind to garrison the recently captured town and river junction of Kut. The British advance past Kut was slow, partly due to the bad weather and wet ground and partly due to General Townshend's reluctance to advance further. But the Commander-in-Chief of British forces in the region, General Nixon, ordered Townshend to take Baghdad. So, he commenced his march up the Tigris river. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Ctesiphon (1915)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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