Chapter 267: The Gui Clan took the initiative to contact us! (Second update!)

Before long, the battle here naturally attracted the attention of many German paratroopers.

Soon, a lot of people gathered.

Some of these paratroopers were armed, but some were unlucky and had nothing but bare hands.

In just ten minutes, more than thirty paratroopers gathered, one of whom was a captain named Lehman.

This person has extensive combat experience and has participated in several airborne operations.

When he arrived, he automatically took over command in accordance with wartime military law.

"Next, divide into three platoons, A, B, and C. We need to continue to seize the British air defense positions to open up the situation for the subsequent airborne troops. The support the Air Force can give us is limited." As an officer, Captain Lehman naturally knew a little more than the soldiers, so he pointed to the map and said.

"You three will temporarily serve as the commanders of the three platoons. Is that okay with you?"

"No, Captain Lyman," the three responded at the same time.

"Very good, then let's follow the plan and seize the air defense positions outside the airport." Captain Lehman nodded, and then the three platoons began to head to the British air defense positions according to the plan.

As more and more paratroopers were organized, the British lost more and more anti-aircraft positions.

Faced with the fierce attack of the German paratroopers, the British army was forced to abandon the anti-aircraft artillery positions.

On the other side, after landing, Admiral Student also began to gather his subordinates.

Fortunately, there were quite a lot of paratroopers jumping with him, so he gathered more than fifty soldiers within five minutes.

In other words, Student has the strongest power around the airport right now.

Therefore, they naturally took on the important task of capturing the airport.

But soon, Admiral Student discovered something was wrong.

The British troops on the island began to use artillery to carpet bomb them.

This immediately restricted the paratroopers' movements and made it difficult for them to move.

"Admiral Student, we must find a way to destroy the British artillery positions, otherwise it will be a joke to take the airport." The operations staff pointed out the crux of the problem.

The occasional falling shells put a lot of psychological pressure on the paratroopers.

They have to solve this problem before they can continue to complete their mission.

"Leave the artillery positions to the Air Force. They will solve this problem for us, but right now we must find the British artillery observation post." Admiral Student shook his head and said.

The artillery of this era is not precision guided.

Each artillery bombardment must be guided by artillery observation posts.

Hearing this, the operations staff immediately understood what Admiral Student meant, and then took out a pen and kept marking on the map.

Not long after, he frowned and said.

"Admiral Student, the British artillery observation post should be on Dingli Hill."

It is actually a stretch to call this place a mountain.

Because its altitude is only 244 meters, it is really a stretch to call it a mountain, but it is indeed the only highest commanding point in Malta.

The source of the two rivers on the island of Malta starts from here, which means that you can overlook almost half of the island of Malta.

In particular, the British troops on the island were bombarding continuously with high accuracy.

Therefore, the German combat staff judged based on the impact point of the artillery shells that there should be a British observation post on Dingli Mountain to provide calibration guidance for the British artillery in the rear.

Now they face a choice of either taking out the artillery observation post themselves.

Or wait for the Air Force to destroy the British artillery positions.

The latter is definitely not advisable.

Because what they lack now is time.

While the British army hasn't reacted, we'll seize the airport. By the time the British army reacts, we'll be doomed.

"Are there any paratroopers we can contact near Dingli Mountain?" Admiral Student asked.

He now has too few paratroopers. If he transfers another troop to Dingli Mountain, it will definitely weaken the power in his hands.

"Yes, we just contacted the Lehman team. They have gathered more than 30 people and are currently attacking the anti-aircraft artillery positions around the airport." The combat staff said quickly.

Upon hearing this, Admiral Student was overjoyed and then said.

"Tell Captain Lehmann to take Dingeli Mountain as quickly as possible and destroy the British artillery observation post. I will personally apply for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for them afterwards."

As expected, many paratroopers showed envious expressions when they heard this.

Although the Iron Cross was already common at that time, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was still difficult to obtain.

The application must be submitted by officers at the regimental level or above in the unit, and it may not be successful.

However, if Admiral Student applied personally, it would definitely be successful.

Especially for capturing the island of Malta, such a huge achievement would not be denied to them by the Supreme Command.

"Yes." The operations staff responded immediately.

Not long after, Captain Lehman's team received a telegram from Student.

Mission content: capture Dingli Hill and destroy the British artillery observation post.

"This mission is not an easy one." Captain Lehman couldn't help but sigh after reading the mission content.

But for the sake of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, you can give it a try.

"Captain Lehman, with just these few of us, are we going to attack a mountain? The British are not fools." The subordinate hesitated for a while and asked with some concern.

After all, how could the British army not send heavy troops to defend such a commanding height?

How could they possibly complete the mission with just these few people?
"No matter how difficult the mission is, we must complete it. We are the invincible airborne division." Captain Lehman has experienced many airborne operations and encountered various difficult missions.

He was aware of his subordinates' concerns, but at this time he could not say anything discouraging and could only encourage them.

"Yes, Lieutenant Lehman." The subordinate responded immediately.

"Don't be afraid. Even if you die in battle, we will be with you." Captain Lehman patted his shoulder and said with a smile.

On the other side, at the British headquarters on the island, Commander Frank frowned deeply as he looked at the intelligence that was constantly being sent in.

"The German army sent a small team to parachute?" Commander Frank asked puzzledly.

"Yes, according to observation, there are no more than 300 people. We have killed more than 20 German paratroopers. There should be only more than 200 German paratroopers on the island now." The British combat staff hurriedly explained.

Hearing this, Commander Frank was stunned for a moment. Normally, parachuting at important strategic locations would be done on a large scale, with all the chips staked out to take it all in one go.

This was the first time he had encountered such a small-scale parachute drop by the German army, so he couldn't figure out what the German army meant by this move after thinking about it for a long time.

Is it advance reconnaissance?
But isn’t this number too many?

Battle for the island?

It shouldn't be like this!
With just these few people, you want to occupy the entire island of Malta?
Isn't this a joke?
"No one can take Malta away, but in the long run, the victory or defeat of this war is meaningless." The operations staff seemed to see Commander Frank's confusion and hurriedly spoke to comfort him.

Commander Frank shook his head and said, "No, Malta plays a vital role. We will never allow it to be taken away by the German army."

"So what do you mean?" The operations staff was even more confused.

"The German air raids are currently unprecedentedly powerful. The warplanes on the island have suffered heavy losses, with only fifteen fighters left. We must ensure that we have enough air power, so we must immediately send a telegram to the mainland and request more fighter planes." Commander Frank did not answer his subordinates' questions immediately, but began to describe the current problems encountered on the island.

"In addition, several of our grain transport ships were sunk. The remaining few grain transport ships cannot meet the needs of everyone on the island, so from now on, all food will be supplied to the troops first."

The operations staff did not object to Commander Frank's proposal.

Because this was also something he wanted to mention, but he didn't expect that Commander Frank had thought about it in advance.

"Also, the supply of fuel is completely restricted. Except for military trucks, tanks, and motorcycles, no one is allowed to use fuel privately."

You have to know that without fuel, trucks, tanks, motorcycles, and even airplanes will stop working.

Then the British troops on the island had only one choice, which was to surrender.

"In addition, dispatch a regiment to search for these German paratroopers and make sure they are all eliminated as quickly as possible." Finally, after weighing the pros and cons, Commander Frank felt that it would be enough to send a regiment of soldiers to encircle and suppress the enemy first.

After all, there are only 300 paratroopers, so there is no need for a general mobilization.

But we still need to have a plan, otherwise it will be too late when the German army launches a large-scale attack.

However, they have experienced this kind of plan several times in the past two years, so they are used to it.

"Yes." The operations staff responded immediately.

On the other side, Chuichi Nagumo of the Four Nations Naval Fleet led a part of the fleet towards the port of Malta.

The remaining fleet headed for the western Mediterranean to cooperate with German submarines to block the main Allied fleet.

After all, as long as the Allies are not fools, they will soon realize that they have to remove the thorn in their eyes, the island of Malta.

Therefore, the support provided by the Allied fleet is absolutely unprecedented.

"How long will it take to reach the port?" asked Chuichi Nanyun.

Hearing this, the first mate next to him responded quickly.

"It will take about two hours to arrive."

Hearing this, Nanyun Chuichi took a deep breath and then looked at the map again.

"Have the Germans started to move?"

"Yes, German paratroopers landed on the island of Malta an hour ago and should be capturing the airport now," the operations staff explained quickly.

"How many people were dispatched?" Nanyun Chuichi asked casually.

He was simply curious about how many people the German army would send out to capture the airport.

According to his understanding, given the generosity of the German army, wouldn't they have parachuted thousands of people at least at one time?

As a result, the combat staff's words completely stunned him.

"Just 300 people?" Nanyun Chuichi looked at the other party in disbelief. Three hundred people fighting for the airport?

Were the Germans too confident?
"Add fuel to the fire tactics?" Although he was a naval general, he still had the necessary tactical qualities.

It's obvious at first glance that this is a tactic of adding fuel to the fire.

Logically speaking, the German army should not make such a low-level mistake.

"Is it because there are not enough transport planes? Or are there not enough paratroopers?" asked Chuichi Nanyun in confusion.

Not enough transport planes?
It's not impossible. The German army has been fighting everywhere in the past two years, so it's normal for it to suffer heavy losses.

But given the German army's industrial capacity, it should not be short of transport aircraft.

Unless something major happens to the German army.

What could possibly change now?
Life is peaceful on the Western Front!

There were no signs of Allied landings.

The defenders on the Western Front are getting bored with nothing.

The North African Legion is using supplies from Alexandria and is currently in high spirits, winning battle after battle. It is now besieging Port Said, but nothing has gone wrong.

Then the only place where trouble could occur is on the Eastern Front.

Is there something wrong with the German army on the Eastern Front?
Never heard of it!

The current public information is that the German army is still destroying a certain number of Soviet troops every day.

But it seems that not many positions were captured.

There won’t be any real problem, right?

Otherwise, for a strategic battle like the one on the island of Malta, it would be impossible to send only such a small number of aircraft?
Or maybe there aren't enough paratroopers.

Because the German paratroopers suffered heavy losses in previous parachute operations, they had not heard of parachute operations for a long time.

So that's the only number of paratroopers we can send?
This is not impossible.

"It will be difficult for three hundred paratroopers to capture the airport. We must share some of the pressure with them." Nagumo Chuichi was no fool. He immediately understood that they had to share some of the pressure with the German paratroopers on the island.

"Tell all the warships to go full speed ahead and reach Malta Harbor within an hour. I will completely destroy it."

"Hi." The operations staff responded quickly.

Upon receiving the order, the naval fleets of the four countries immediately accelerated and headed towards the island of Malta.

When the naval fleets of the four countries appeared in the port of Malta, the people in the port were completely panicked.

They never expected that the navies of the four countries would appear here.

Without any warning, the naval guns bombarded the port.

For a moment, the port was filled with smoke and wailing everywhere.

When the British commander Frank received the news, he was stunned.

"Are you planning to completely occupy the island of Malta?"

"Damn it, tell Lieutenant Colonel John to eliminate the German paratroopers on the island as quickly as possible. Their goal is to occupy the airport." Commander Frank, who had come to his senses, shouted loudly.

"Send a telegram to the mainland and tell the Prime Minister that we need naval support, otherwise the only way for Malta is to surrender."

After saying this, Frank was somewhat glad that he had given the order before.

The Battle of Malta concerned the great powers, and at this time, Cun Yunsheng in Bangkok also received a telegram from the north.

To be precise, it was a telegram from the Guangxi clique.

"Commander, why would the Guangxi clique send you a telegram for no reason?" Meng Fan asked with a confused look on his face.

You have to know that the two parties don't have much contact, and the sudden use of such intimate words really made Meng Fan a little confused and puzzled.

"It should be related to weapons and equipment. Shancheng has received a lot of American equipment during this period, so these local miscellaneous troops are naturally anxious. Don't forget the guy in Shancheng. He has dismembered a lot of local miscellaneous troops over the years. As a big shot of the Guangxi clique, it is normal for him to have this worry." Cun Yunsheng looked at the telegram and explained casually.

(End of this chapter)