Transmigrated as the Crown Prince

Another reason why Yannick did not want to attack Greece was the Battle of Crete, which was known as the "graveyard of German paratroopers".

The Greek island of Crete blocks the exit of the Aegean Strait and is the only maritime route from Western Europe to the Middle East. The northern end of the island is hilly, and the rest is mountainous. The highest point, Mount Edie, is 2,456 meters above sea level. There is a simple road along the hilly land at the northern end, and there are only pedestrian paths in other areas, making it inconvenient for troops to maneuver. There are more than 80,000 residents on the island, concentrated in Marama, Chania, Souda, Rethymnon, Iraclin, Nikolaos, Sitia and other places. The capital is in Chania. There are currently three airports on the island: Iraclin Airport, which can take off and land all types of aircraft; Marama Airport, which can only take off and land fighter jets; Rethymnon Airport, which has not yet been completed.

In order to carry out the airborne mission on Crete, the German army in the original time and space deployed 20,000 airborne combat personnel, more than 500 transport aircraft, 100 bombers, and 100 gliders. The German army established an airborne campaign headquarters with the 4th Air Force as the main body. It consists of the 11th Airborne Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Stuart, which mainly conducts ground operations; the 8th Air Force, commanded by General Richthofen, which mainly conducts air fire support; and which is led by General Schuster. The Southeast Fleet of the Navy under command (70 ships of various types) provides cover from the sea to support airborne operations. The airborne operations were commanded by General Leer, commander of the 4th Air Force, and the ground operations were commanded by Major General Sussman, commander of the 7th Airborne Division.

On May 14, 1941, all participating German troops assembled in the airborne departure area near Athens. On the 18th and 19th, the German Air Force conducted frequent bombings on targets on the island.

Churchill, on the other hand, intended to hold on to Crete. There are 20,000 defenders on the island (about 80,000 British troops and 40,000 Greek troops), 6 tanks, and 35 aircraft. In late April, Wavell, commander-in-chief of the British forces in the Middle East, appointed Major General Freiberg, commander of the New Zealand Division, as commander-in-chief of the island defense forces, and Brigadier General Purdick, commander of the 4th Brigade, took over as division commander. Subsequently, the island-defending troops adjusted their troop deployment based on the intelligence.

On May 16, the British army shot down a German reconnaissance plane over Crete and learned that the German army would launch an airborne assault on Crete within the next 48 hours. The troops defending the island were put on full alert on May 17.

During the 12-day battle, 15,743 Allied Army personnel were killed, wounded, or captured, the Navy suffered 2,011 casualties, and the Air Force lost 46 fighter planes.

Germany's losses were more severe than other wars in the past 39 years. In the Balkan campaign more than a month ago, the German army had only 5,650 casualties and missing persons, while the losses of the airborne troops alone in Crete were as high as 7,000. (The figures from different sources are very inconsistent. For example, some people claim that the 7th Aviation Division had 3,250 killed or missing, 3,400 wounded, and the Parachute Assault Regiment alone had 700 killed or missing).

What saddened the top brass of the German army was not only the loss of thousands of well-trained paratroopers, but also the loss of more than 350 fighter planes, more than half of which were transport aircraft. Crete was therefore called the "graveyard of German paratroopers." . So much so that the German army never used airborne attacks on a large scale in future military operations, and only used paratroopers as elite infantry in ground battles. Although it also created classic defensive battles such as the Italian Cassino Defense Battle, compared to them The airborne training he received was really overqualified. You know, had it not been for the ace paratroopers with tenacious fighting will in Crete, other Western countries and even ordinary German army troops might have surrendered if they had suffered such casualties, let alone The final victory was achieved.

The Crete airborne operation was the world's first independent combat operation by airborne troops. Through this airborne operation, all countries have realized that it is absolutely necessary for land troops to maneuver through the air, and have established large-scale airborne operations.

Yannick did not want these precious paratroopers to make unnecessary sacrifices. As long as Greece could truly abide by its neutrality and not collude with Britain, he did not intend to pay attention to Greece.

As for another country in the Balkans, Yannick decided to intervene.

The Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918-1945) was a monarchy located in the Balkan Peninsula. It was established by the Serbian Karageorgiwi dynasty in order to unify the southern Slavs. It started in areas such as Roethea and Boch, and continued until the invasion of Nagoya and the establishment of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by Tito. Its territory included today's Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia, as well as Slovenia and Croatia, Serbia's Kosovo. It was initially called the "Kingdom of Serbia", later changed to the "Kingdom of Serbia-Croatia-Slovenia", and finally named the "Kingdom of Yugoslavia" in 1929.

Prince Paul, who is now in power (the leader of the regent trio after the death of the old king) is a pro-Germany and promised to cooperate with Germany and signed the agreement. In the original time and space, Prince Paul also signed the same agreement. After the agreement was signed, a military coup took place in the capital Belgrade, led by General Dushan Simovich, the commander-in-chief of the Yugoslav Air Force, who arrested the current government officials and established the Peter II, who was only 18 years old, came to power for the king.

And this group of fools soon discovered that they lacked support, because the United Kingdom at that time was too overwhelmed to take care of itself and was simply unable to support them. Germany, on the other hand, is watching eagerly from the side. They have almost no capital to fight against Germany. If they declare the agreement invalid, they will only further anger Germany. Therefore, they immediately issued a statement that they would continue to be loyal to the previous agreement signed by Prince Paul.

However, it turned out that this approach was meaningless, and Mustache's anger could no longer be quelled. At the same time, this capricious approach also caused chaos within Yugoslavia. People and officials were unable to distinguish the difference between the current government of Peter II and the previous government of Prince Paul, resulting in low morale. Those in government agencies and the military, Prince Paul's disciples and former officials, have developed distrust of the current government, and their hearts are more inclined to the Germans. Therefore, since the beginning of the war, the morale of Yugoslavia's military and civilians has been at a low point. From a morale perspective, they have failed.

This time, Yannik's special forces secretly dispatched in advance raided the secret discussion base of General Dushan Simovich and others, killing most of the high-ranking military officials who were preparing to participate in the coup on the spot, and arrested Peter II and placed him under house arrest. , became a foreign version of Liu Xie. Therefore, Yugoslavia at this time was still in the hands of the pro-German faction.