The Balkan league's reaction to the United Kingdom joining the war was at first surprise and then sheer joy. The governments all unanimously announced recognition of the Kingdom of Egypt and commenced a series of offensives in an attempt to break the few Ottoman forces left in the Balkans. The Serbians and Montenegrins managed to isolate Albania as the marched towards Greece in an attempt to cut off the retreat of the last Ottoman forces outside the Thrace Line. The Ottoman forces sacrificed their rear-guard at the battle of Veles in order for the desperate defence of Constantinople and their empire.
As the Albanians saw the Ottoman forces that had been garrisoning the region leave and the Greeks drew near to their southern borders the nationalists in the region seized their chance and rose up in Tirana and proclaimed an independent state. The Greek forces that were moving to secure Epirus began to increase their pace in order to secure the ethnically Greek North Epirus that some of the more nationalistic Albanians claimed as part of their new nation. The Balkan League and the United Kingdom recognised the state excluding North Epirus the leadership of the new nation withdrew into a constitutional convention for their new state.
-Extract from Dan Snows book The Lion strikes: Britain in the Balkan war
The British intervention in the Balkan war was made up of four strikes against the Ottomans using all three of their Plasma equipped divisions in the war in order to break the Ottomans completely and secure an uncontested victory. The first offensive Operation Shanty was pushing across the Suez Canal and conquering Palestine it was hoped to coincide with an Arab revolt to further divide the few Ottoman forces in the region. The second offensive Operation Monolith would be led by the Grenadier Division and would involve landings at Gallipoli and other locations around Constantinople in order to force a surrender and secure victory with the lowest number of casualties possible. The third offensive Operation Snowfall involved landings at Akçay and had a general aim to cut off the Bosporus on both sides. The final offensive Operation Green Dragon was made of landings in southern Anatolia and then driving north with a general aim of perhaps threating Ankara.
-Extract from the Balkan war: Map by Map
The Arab revolt began on the 26th of July 1912 when Hussein ibn Ali al-Hashimi proclaimed that the Ottomans had betrayed Islam and their duties as the caliphate. The first assault of the revolt was towards Mecca and Medina in order to secure legitimacy for the revolt. The Ottoman garrison in the region gathered their forces at Taif they were equipped with a few pieces of artillery and three machine guns the three thousand men of the Ottoman Garrison knew that if they defeated the Arabs here that the revolt would crumble. This was known by as he now styled himself Hussein I of The Arabs and he began to plan for what the Scottish officer assigned to aid the Arabs called the Arab Bannockburn.
The battle began with the Ottomans opening fire with their artillery on the Arab forces the bombardment did not last long or cause much damage, but it reinforced the need for the Arabs to break the Ottomans now. So, Hussein made use of the fact that Arabs across the peninsula were ready to rise against the Ottomans and sent a small force though a mountain pass to meet up with the Meccan resistance and a plan was formulated. Three days after the Ottoman bombardment the Arabs attacked the Ottomans began a limited bombardment with their artillery pieces and Hussein's trap sprung the Arab nationalists based out of Mecca attacked the Ottomans from the rear capturing their artillery. Following this the Ottomans routed, and Hussein and the Arabs had secured their Bannockburn.
Hussein rode into Mecca at the head of his army and began preparations for his coronation for he believed that the Arabs would rise up as one if they saw a leader for them. The coronation was rushed occurring only two days after Mecca fell yet it showed the will of the Arabs to be free. Hussein walked barefoot from the edge of the city to the central Great Mosque where he knelt before the Imam surrounded by the Tribal leaders of the Arab Revolt. Each of the chieftains asked him a question and then the Imam asked ordered him to swear the Oath of the Arab Kings an oath that forms the foundation of the current Arab Constitution. After all that, the people and the Imam declared as Hussein King of the Arabs, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and servant of Allah. The Kingdom of the Arabs had been born and the Ottoman Empire trembled.
-Extract from Saddam Hussein's book Hussein I: Breaker of chains
I Hussein ibn Ali al-Hashimi do swear in the sight of Allah, and the lords of my people to do my holy duty as King of the Arabs and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. I do this by the will of Allah and the acclaim of my people I shall fight for my nations freedom and I shall not fail nor flag until Allah guides me into the halls of Jannah and my reign ends. I shall follow the will of my people and no corruption shall take me for I am a servant of Allah and the Arab people.
-King Hussein I coronation Oath translated into English
The Palestine campaign was led by Australian Light horse regiments followed by Imperial infantry to secure the fortified positions that the Australians could not secure themselves. The Australians worked with the local Arab population and managed to secure enough supplies to begin raiding deep into Ottoman territories. As they continued raiding the Imperial infantry marched across the Sinai Peninsula towards Palestine with the leading regiment being His Majesty's Jewish Regiment of Kenya an all Jewish force that had been raised the year before when tensions had begun to increase in the Mediterranean. As the Australians ravaged the Ottoman supply lines their last forces in the region gathered at Beersheba to hold strike back at the Australian forces. The Australians heard about their defiance and alongside the fact that their water supply was running low decided to strike at the town.
The Australian force had not been fully equipped with Plasma rifles with around 30% of the regiment not wielding the weapons but those that did had been trained very well over the past few weeks and so felt very able to deal with the weak Ottoman defences with the weapons they had available. When they arrived at the town and saw the defences their confidence became very well placed the Ottomans had more machine guns then at Taif, but no artillery and defences amounted to a few poorly dug trenches and a few sandbags around the Machine guns. The Australians had a very simple strategy open fire with their plasma rifles when they were out of range of the Ottomans returning counter fire and eliminate the machine guns and then charge the town in a full-frontal cavalry charge.
As they opened fire with their plasma rifles the sandbags began to burn and the sand within turned to glass in some cases while in others the sandbags were missed entirely and hit the Machine Guns behind heating the steel up and in three cases melting the barrel. As the Ottoman machine guns were eliminated the charge began. The full force of the Australian Light Horse regiment tore through the Ottoman forces and swept through to the centre of the town as the Union Jack followed by the Southern Cross rose above the train station the Ottoman forces routed. The fall of Beersheba represented the beginning of the end for the Ottoman control over the middle east.
-Extract from Alan Bullock's book Operation Shanty: The Palestinian front.