The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Major Kleiman issued several orders one after another after occupying the "Eight O'clock" Heights.

The first order was to garrison the high ground.

Because it is conceivable that the British army will soon attack the high ground to lift the German blockade of the airport. Otherwise, the airport will not be usable at all, or even if it is used reluctantly, the British Air Force will suffer heavy losses.

But this is obviously much better than before. After all, fighting from a high position on the high ground can be regarded as a geographical advantage, and there are many trees and vegetation on the high ground to hide, so it is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

The second order was to disperse the mortars and adjust Zhu Yuan to block the airport.

This is the main task of the 1st Infantry Regiment, and blocking the airport is also the key to the success of the entire operation.

The third order is to send a report to the headquarters to report the situation and ask for help.

The main reason for asking for help was the lack of mortars and ammunition in the hands of the German army.

The 1st Infantry Battalion only carried a total of 24 80MM mortars. Eight of these mortars lost their positions during airborne landings... This is common during airborne landings, especially airdrop equipment. It can be hung on any tree or It is difficult to find any pit you fall into, and sometimes it will even be air-dropped into the enemy's position.

This left the Germans with only 16 mortars in the end. Four more mortars were blown up during the battle, leaving only 12. And it is foreseeable that it will continue to decrease in future battles.

On the other hand, even the artillery shells used to block the airport are seriously insufficient.

It is not difficult to imagine that even if the 1st Infantry Battalion can hold on to the "eight o'clock" heights, if there are no mortars or enough artillery shells to block the airport, then the 1st Infantry Battalion will not be able to play its role.

Therefore, Major Kleiman requested the headquarters to urgently airdrop mortars and artillery shells.

Of course, Rommel knew the seriousness of this matter. Without saying a word, he immediately sent fighter planes to escort five transport planes carrying mortars and artillery shells to the "Eight O'clock" heights.

On the other side, Montgomery also received news of the German army's full-scale attack on Crete.

Montgomery, who has always been described as "calm and unhurried", was now panicking, because the war situation was developing in the direction of total collapse from the beginning...

First, three divisions of Italian troops and the German 90th Armored Division are launching a landing battle in three parts towards Crete, starting from the Greek island of Kythera under the cover of the Italian fleet...

These German and Italian troops were originally on the Italian island of Sicily, but they secretly gathered in the dark night two days ago, and then moved to the Greek island of Kythera via the Strait of Messina at night.

The German and Italian troops implemented a comprehensive radio blockade on Kythera and did not allow any entry or exit from inside or outside the island. Therefore, all communications on Kythera were cut off from the outside world. This made the British completely unaware of what was happening here. What.

Secondly, the three airports on Crete have been basically paralyzed.

Rethymnon Airport has not yet been completed and cannot take off and land fighter planes. Malemai Airport has been occupied by the Germans, and Iraq Airport has been blocked by the Germans.

This put the British army in a completely passive state, because at this time Montgomery did not even know whether to send fighter planes to Crete or not.

It is impossible not to send fighter planes. Air superiority is the key to the island battle. Not sending fighter planes almost means handing over Crete to the German and Italian troops.

Sending fighter planes is very dangerous...

This danger did not come from the German fighters. In fact, Montgomery also knew that the German fighters only had a few minutes in the air over Crete. They could hardly pose a threat to the British fighters and were even a good opportunity for the British to beat the German fighters.

But the problem is...the British fighter planes flying over Crete are almost running out of fuel. They also have to land to refuel, but the airports are all under the control or blockade of the Germans.

"Can we take back Malemai Airport?" Montgomery asked.

"Of course!" Degungan replied: "It's just that what we get will be ruins. The Germans will do everything they can to destroy the airport's facilities and even blow up the runway... Even if they take it back, Malemai Airport will be destroyed in a short time. not available!"

"Then there is only the Iraqi Airport!" Montgomery said: "Order Colonel Smith to recapture Highland 3 at all costs, and at the same time order all reinforcing air forces to replenish fuel and ammunition at the Iraqi Airport!"

"Yes, General!" Degan Gang responded.

This order was quickly carried out.

Colonel Smith concentrated almost all the artillery of more than 70 large and small calibers that could reach the high ground to blast at the "Eight O'clock" high ground.

Then the British 39th Infantry Regiment, which came for reinforcements, also joined the bombardment, and artillery shells rained down on the high ground where the German troops were stationed.

Qinchuan, who was located on the mountain, felt as if the whole mountain was shaking. There were flying sand and rocks everywhere and vegetation lifted high by the bombs.

But in fact, this kind of bombing by the British army did not have much effect, because the German soldiers were hiding in the reverse slope, and they were still on the edge of the mountaintop position... Anyone who has fought in mountain warfare knows that this part is the most vulnerable to artillery shells. Hard-to-reach places:

First of all, direct-fire artillery can be ignored. These artillery pieces with low ballistic trajectories will be blocked by the other side if they are fired low. If they are fired high, they will shoot directly over the top of the mountain to the other side.

It is still possible for direct-fire artillery such as howitzers and mortars to hit this position, but the mountaintop position is like the edge of a knife, and the area affected by the bomb is very small, which means that the probability of being hit by the artillery shell is very small.

So although the British army was bombing hard, the damage they could cause to the German army was very limited.

Then, the British army seemed to want to confirm the effect of their artillery fire, so they sent three infantry companies to encircle them from three directions.

The result is imaginable, and a burst of random gunfire suppressed the British army.

The combat style of the British 14th Infantry Division is a bit like the style of the US military in the Korean War... It looks like a large area is surging up, but after a few bullets, a few people fell back like a tide, and then there was another round of fierce artillery fire.

It should be said that this way of fighting is understandable, because there is basically no shortage of ammunition for the airport, so they have the conditions to use ammunition to pile up.

It’s just that this tactic of using ammunition piles seems to be completely ineffective, because every time a British fighter plane landed at the Iraq airport, a row of mortar shells would be fired from the German position to blow it up.

At this time, another batch of transport planes flew over the airport in a black mass, and then dropped white parachutes one by one amid a shrill whistle of air defense alarms.

"They are our people!" Werner shouted, "They are the Italian 'Lightning Division'!"

The German soldiers couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Even if they didn't believe in the fighting power of the Italians, it was good to have someone to share their pressure.