My Italy

The British Empire's Mediterranean Fleet was preparing with such great fanfare in Alexandria that anyone in Italy who was not blind could sense it.

Not to mention that the intelligence agencies of Italy and Austria were eager to keep their eyes on their warships, so while the Mediterranean fleet was still being prepared, the news was transmitted to the port of Taranto, where the combined fleet was based.

Faced with the changes in the British Mediterranean Fleet, Lieutenant General Leifer, as the commander of the combined fleet, certainly paid great attention to it, and he immediately summoned the commanders of each formation and the captains of each ship to hold a meeting.

After some discussions, Leifer decided to let the combined fleet also carry out pre-war preparations.

So in the port of Taranto, the combined fleet was also busy. The officers and soldiers prepared the warships and replenished ammunition and other supplies.

However, the United Fleet has not moved yet. They are still waiting for the Mediterranean Fleet to make a move before taking action.

However, although the Combined Fleet did not take action, it could force the Mediterranean Fleet to take action first, because the competition for it has already begun in Malta.

Marsaxlokk Bay is a bay in the southeast of the island of Malta, only five kilometers away from Valletta, Malta's most important port. However, due to the terrain, the coastal defense fort located in Valletta could not provide effective support.

Therefore, the bay has also become the most important landing site for the Italian Marine Division 1.

On the sea, small boats were lowered from loading and unloading ships one after another. This is the world's first landing craft Barracuda-class landing craft. After being launched into the water with the help of the crane, these landing craft immediately plopped towards the ships carrying landing officers and soldiers.

On these ships, Marine officers and soldiers climbed up the rope ladder to the landing craft one by one. After being loaded with officers and soldiers, these landing craft rushed towards Marsaxlokk Bay. On these landing craft, Marine officers and soldiers held weapons in their hands. Sitting in the boat nervously.

A landing craft can accommodate a platoon of officers and soldiers, so under normal circumstances, the person who appeases these officers and soldiers is the second lieutenant and platoon leader. These platoon leaders used different methods to appease the soldiers, some were encouraging, some were insulting, and some even directly attacked them.

No matter what these low-level officers do, it is to relieve the pressure of the soldiers and allow them to calm down on the upcoming battlefield. Only by calmly responding to various situations can soldiers have the best chance of survival.

While the landing craft was rushing towards Marsaxlokk Bay, tall and mighty warships on the sea were aiming their guns at the coastline for bombardment.

With loud noises, powerful artillery shells roared toward the British position in Marsaxlokk Bay.

"Collapse~"

A huge explosion hit a certain section of the trench, and when the smoke cleared, a large crater more than ten meters wide appeared. As for the garrison officers and soldiers in this trench, there is no need to look for them, they have already been vaporized. Only some pieces of clothing and weapons were scattered within a few dozen meters of the surrounding area, silently telling the story of its horror.

Experienced officers and soldiers can tell at a glance by its power that this is at least caused by a giant gun of more than ten inches (254 mm). Faced with the attack of such giant artillery shells, there is no need for you to run, because you can't. The only thing you can do is to pray silently, praying that the cannonball will not fall on your head, otherwise you will end up in heaven.

The tragic experience in the pit was not the only one at this time. Warships from the reserve fleet were constantly projecting firepower to the position and its surroundings.

Although these warships have lagged behind the times, under the threat of the lack of coastal defense cannons, these warships lined up one after another and fired continuously, shrouding the coastal defense positions in Marsaxlokk Bay in gunfire.

In fact, it would be wrong to say that there is no threat. Battery C in Valletta Port can obtain a reserve fleet in terms of range with its 305mm coastal defense gun.

But how to put it, due to terrain reasons, the C turret cannot be aimed directly. Someone needs to mark it and then use the map mark to counterattack with artillery.

However, the technical requirements for indirect bombardment of more than ten kilometers are extremely high. Even the officers and soldiers on the elite battleships of the Italian Navy would have difficulty doing it, let alone the officers and soldiers of its coastal defense artillery, so the effect of the bombardment is impressive. (The best batch will be transferred to battleships, and then they will be diverted to small and medium-sized warships, and then other battleships. Only the worst batch will be reserved for coastal defense artillery. This is the consistent practice of various navies)

"Boom~"

A violent explosion sounded from one side of the artillery formation, and the huge water splash caused experienced officers and soldiers to estimate that it was caused by artillery shells of more than 300 mm.

Yes, this was caused by the 305mm coastal defense gun on Turret C from Valletta Port. This huge explosion really startled the officers and soldiers of the artillery formation.

However, apart from being startled, it had no impact on the artillery formation. Because this shell from the coastal defense battery was a bit unreliable in its bullet point, and it deviated from the shelling formation by nearly a kilometer.

Considering that this is indirect shooting and the distance is far enough, coupled with the limited level of its operating officers and soldiers, this is completely normal.

Therefore, the reserve fleet soldiers ignored this low-threatening bombardment and concentrated on bombarding possible shore defense facilities in Marsaxlokk Bay.

As for whether the British army has defense facilities in Marsaxlokk Bay, it certainly does. Italy knew that the harbor was an excellent landing site. Didn't the British troops who had been stationed on the island for hundreds of years not know this?

Therefore, in the Marsaxlokk Bay, there are not many fortifications built by the British army over the past 100 years. However, most of these fortifications and fortresses were built in the past century, so they are already outdated. Only a few fortifications were built by the United Kingdom in the past twenty years.

Among these Marsaxlokk Bay coastal defenses, the most deterrent is the 6-inch (152 mm) coastal defense gun. These shore defense guns are pretty good against small and medium-sized warships, but in front of pre-dreadnought battleships, these shore defense firepower is not as good as scratching an itch.

Therefore, the defenders would rather endure being hit by naval guns than fire. They were waiting for the Italians to come ashore.

As for the landing troops they were worried about, they drove their landing boats towards the coastline.

Okay, the speed of twelve knots is not considered extreme speed, but compared to a wooden boat that requires manual oars and has no protection measures, it is much better.

So soon these landing craft rushed towards the coastline. At this time, the defending British troops saw the Marines who were about to dock, and immediately opened fire. Machine guns, rifles and some small and medium-caliber artillery opened fire one after another.

Then the defenders were surprised to find that, except for the artillery, the machine rifles in their hands had no effect on the square landing ship, and were all blocked by the baffles around it.

And when these landing craft approached on the churning sea, their machine guns were also fighting back.

As soon as the landing craft docked and the hatch opened, the Marine officers and soldiers staying in the cabin rushed out immediately. Because it is more dangerous to stay in the landing craft. At this time, another benefit of the flat-bottomed landing craft was also reflected. Most of the Marine officers and soldiers who rushed out of the landing craft had only knee-deep water when they disembarked. Some even came down directly to the beach. Of course, some were waist-deep and chest-deep.

There is a reason why I specifically talk about this here. Because the resistance of the sea water is not small, in the race against time for landing operations, not only the movements in the sea water are slow, but also the basic movements such as lying down are not possible without cover, and they will only become a living target.

Therefore, if soldiers want to reduce their own risks, the most important thing is to get to the beach as soon as possible.

Therefore, the Marine Corps officers and soldiers who landed were rushing towards the beach one by one.

Even though the British troops were condescendingly firing at them at this time, and their comrades around them were hit and fell from time to time, the Marine officers and soldiers paid no attention to these. At this time, the breakwater on the beach was their ultimate goal.

Of course, it would not be easy for them to do the landing operation alone. Xin Hao and the others also had help. At this moment, eleven destroyers and small cruisers were approaching a thousand meters away from the coastline, and the various naval guns they equipped were constantly tasked with suppressing fire.

Although these naval guns are nothing in the navy, they are a serious weapon for the army. Its 150mm, 120mm, 105mm, 75mm and other types of naval gun firepower provide fire support for Marine Corps officers and soldiers.

At this moment, the various pre-dreadnought battleships that were originally conducting bombardment fired the bombardment that had stopped before landing again. However, they were afraid of hurting friendly forces and no longer attacked the fortifications near the coastline. Instead, they extended their firepower under the guidance of airships. Attack enemy reinforcements.

Since they received the firepower assistance of a large number of warships, the landing Marine officers and soldiers certainly did not miss this opportunity, taking the opportunity to expand the landing site and eliminate the surrounding garrison strongholds one by one.

Of course, in addition to the first batch of landing troops, the second and third batches of landing troops also joined them.

By late afternoon, word reached Rome that the Marines landing on Malta had opened and secured the landing ground.