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Volume Two: My Country Five Hundred and Sixty-Nine. Bomb Malta!

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    With the end of the "Second Battle of Alamein", the war situation was stabilized.

    The British, who suffered heavy losses, were no longer able to launch a new attack, and they were forced to shift from an offensive posture to a defensive posture.

    And similarly, when Iran has not completely fallen into the hands of the Germans, the German army also has no power to capture Egypt.

    Now, the two sides are bound to enter a relatively long period of confrontation

    Wang Weiyi¡¯s strategic goal has been achieved.

    Stabilize the situation in Africa, then open up the Iranian line, and launch a strategic decisive battle against Russia!

    Then, World War II will go on according to your own vision

    With the change in the war situation in North Africa, according to the orders of Marshal Ernst Brahm, the German offensive against Malta also resumed.

    In fact, Malta is the most important part of the entire African war situation.

    In the autumn of 1941, the supply troops sent by Germany and Italy to North Africa suffered a devastating blow, forcing the German High Command to send another aviation force to Sicily.  In early 1942, with the beginning of the "Second Battle of Malta", fleets sailing to Africa became increasingly safer.

    ??Therefore, there should be absolutely no mistaking the relationship between Malta and North Africa.  The more it intensifies its attack on Malta, the more supplies the German Afrika Korps will have.  The reason why Rommel was able to attack from the Gazala front was precisely because the German army intensified its attack on Malta.

    At that time, it was theoretically concluded that Malta should be occupied by sea and air, but it was not implemented.  In April 1942, after the Luftwaffe launched a large-scale bombing of the island, it was a good fighter, but it was easily let go.  Although Hitler handed over the implementation of the Malta landing operation to Italy, he did not believe that the Italian army had the staying power.  On the contrary, he firmly believed that Rommel would be able to reach the Nile River in one go after quickly occupying Tobruk.  Therefore, he finally gave up the "War Immortal" plan.

    In order to ensure this key battle, Rommel requested that all air forces in the Mediterranean theater be invested in North Africa.  His request was agreed to by Hitler.  However, the German army not only failed to reach Cairo, but stopped attacking Malta and the island quickly increased its strength, causing heavy losses to the sea supply lines that reinforced Rommel.

    In the Battle of Malta, the Luftwaffe's tactics were quite clear, which was to concentrate a large number of bombers on attacking key targets such as enemy airports and ports.

    This is much more effective than the use of countless single aircraft dive bombing that Jeshunek Air Force Chief of Staff stubbornly insists on.  In the early days of World War II, the first "carpet bombing" of military targets was carried out on the island of Malta.

    And now, the bombing of Malta has begun again

    The rain and clouds have disappeared in Sicily, showing a beautiful spring scene.  The Luftwaffe bomber formation flew south across the azure sea with white waves.

    The German bombing of Malta intensified week by week, and the bombing time was divided into dawn, day, dusk and night.  Therefore, the British Mediterranean fortress island always sounds the alarm.  Most of the bombers who came to carry out bombing missions were small groups of bombers.

    Major Gilcrease, the intelligence officer of the British 231st Infantry Brigade stationed in Malta, said: "The Germans were very cautious at the beginning, using only three to five JU88 bombers at a time, escorted by many fighter jets. They invaded up to eight times a day. They  Just bombing military targets like airports and docks.¡±

    The German Air Force dispatched such a small number of aircraft, it is not like in the past that it was unable to use a large fleet of aircraft due to weather reasons.  The advantage of this tactic is that it does not give the enemy a chance to breathe. The disadvantage is that the enemy can concentrate the entire air defense system to deal with the few invading bombers.  The two are contradictory to each other.  In particular, the JU88 aircraft had to brave the intensive fire from the Maltese anti-aircraft artillery group to descend. As a result, the losses were too great, and almost no aircraft returned without being injured.

    "I'm on the left side of the squadron leader's plane," said Gerhard Schouten, a captain of the JU88 plane. "There are Messerschmitt planes everywhere, so I feel relieved. Besides, the weather is so good.  ¡±

    Under the command of Captain Rueter, the Second Squadron of the First Flying Training Group where Shorten is located departed from Catania and was flying to Malta.  Their mission was to dive bomb the British Luqa Airport and blow up the British Brigham and Wellington bombers parked on the airport.  The escort was a Messerschmitt aircraft of the Third Group of the 53rd Combat Aviation Regiment commanded by the famous Captain Wilk.

    The southern coast of Sicily is ninety kilometers away from the attack target.  You can fly there in fifteen minutes.  Now, the island of Malta appears in front of you like a rock castle.  Soon, we saw the huge harbor of Valletta, the capital.?? and three deeply concave harbor naval bases.

    There was a fire on the ground, which was the fire of heavy anti-aircraft guns.  Artillery shells exploded behind the German bombers, and dots of black smoke appeared in the blue sky.  Strong air waves shook Second Lieutenant Xiao Tanfu's JU88 aircraft.

    Mechanic Gerke said humorously: "If the range of the anti-aircraft gun were thirty meters higher, we would have to go to hell!"

    The German bomber force has experienced the power of Maltese anti-aircraft artillery since the spring of 1941.  At that time, most of the bombers who bombed the island were dive bombers.  Every time the British army launched an artillery attack, hundreds of artillery shells were fired, undoubtedly under the unified command of the central command.  Under such powerful artillery fire, the dive bombers had no choice but to turn and quickly change altitude and direction to avoid the artillery fire.  Such actions can only be accomplished by the JU87 aircraft, which is small and has good maneuverability.  This bomber formation had just flown away for fifty seconds when there was a huge explosion behind it.

    The British anti-aircraft firepower is not only concentrated, but also distributed at various heights.  When the attacking aircraft dived, three-layer firepower nets of three thousand meters, two thousand meters, and one thousand five hundred meters opened fire simultaneously.  The final layer of firepower network consists of light anti-aircraft guns deployed on the ground and on warships anchored in the harbor.

    ¡°Such anti-aircraft fire is really powerful!¡± Captain Helmut Melk, commander of the Third Battalion of the 1st Dive Bombing Aviation Regiment, said afterwards.

    ¡°He participated in the battle on February 26, 1941.  Antiaircraft shells punched a large hole in the right wing of his plane.  Relying on his own luck and skills, he finally flew back to Sicily.

    Today, one year later, the anti-aircraft artillery firepower of the Malta Fortress has not only not decreased at all, but has become even more powerful.

    Second Lieutenant Xiao Tanfu shouted, "Charge over!"

    Flying a JU88 aircraft, he broke through the British army's firepower network in one go.  At this time the squadron leader was turning into the attack.  Therefore, Xiao Tanfu released the resistance board and dived down closely behind the squadron leader.  Two intersecting white lines are clearly visible at the moment, which is the runway of Lucca Airport.

    As the distance shortens, the runway becomes clearer and clearer in the sight.  It turned out that there was only one runway, and six bombers were neatly parked at the end of the runway.

    The halo of the sight is aimed at the bombing target, and the navigator responsible for aiming continuously reports the altitude.  Suddenly, he knocked Xiao Tanfu's knee and shouted: "Vote!" Xiao Tanfu immediately pressed the red button on the steering column with his left thumb.  The bomb left the plane.  The JU88 aircraft pulled up automatically.

    At this time, Xiao Tanfu found that the squadron leader's plane was like a drunkard, sometimes in the right direction, sometimes high, sometimes low.  This is the "aircraft waltz".  After a few seconds, Xiao Tanfu was also surrounded by artillery fire.  He said: "At that time, there seemed to be a black wall in front of me, with flashes of light drawn on it. There was no choice but to break out."

    Suddenly, there was a "pop" sound, like a slap in the face, and the plane shook violently.  Xiao Tanfu knew it was bad, the plane was hit.

    "Oops! Maybe the landing gear came out." Gerke shouted from below.  Fortunately, only the aileron of the aircraft was damaged and protruded outward.  The landing gear did not come out and was still stored inside the wing.  Otherwise, the plane will slow down very quickly, and speed is very important at this moment.  Xiao Tanfu thought to himself, as long as the engine doesn't break, it doesn't matter.  At this time, correspondent Noshinsky reported:

    "Three Hurricane fighter jets were spotted on the right rear!"

    British fighter jets waiting outside the fire network began to attack the German bombers that had escaped the gunfire.  Xiao Tanfu immediately increased the throttle to the maximum, and the height dropped to almost touching the sea surface.  At this time, Noshinsky, who was sitting in the back seat, reported the thrilling battle:

    "There was an ME109 aircraft behind the leading British guy who opened fire. The 'Hurricane' fighter jet was shot down. Oops! The pilot bailed out and the aircraft fell into the sea. Danger! The enemy's second aircraft rushed over again, five hundred meters away.  , four hundred meters! The ME109 aircraft caught it again. The enemy's third aircraft made a sharp turn and escaped. "

    Half an hour later, Second Lieutenant Shotanfu's plane was hovering over the Catania Airport. Because the hydraulic pipe was punctured, the landing gear could not be lowered. Even supplying oil with a hand-operated oil pump did not help. The plane was in danger, so we had to use the fuselage.  Crash landing.  The plane flew close to the hangar roof.  Xiao Tanfu saw the signal flares on the ground, which showed that the airport had made all preparations, and ambulances and fire trucks were also coming.  Second Lieutenant Xiao Tanfu described the scene at that time and said:

    "We fastened our seat belts and prepared to land. Because the flaps could not be lowered, the landing speed was too high. I was trying to adjust, and suddenly, the fuselage was hit and made a terrible sound.Scratching the roof, so dangerous!  So, I pulled up the nose of the plane and the plane started to float again.  At this time, there was only a short section of runway left, so I had to land immediately.  The plane made another terrible noise, and the sand and soil kicked up by the ground impact slapped the cockpit, deafening.  The concrete wall in front was approaching quickly. I braked quickly, but the brakes also failed.  So I pushed the right rudder hard and the plane turned sideways and finally stopped three meters away from the concrete wall."

    Xiao Tanfu said it so easily, such critical situations seemed to be commonplace for him.  After the emergency landing, he reported to the captain, who narrowed his eyes and said:

    "Malta, isn't it easy to deal with? Now, go and take turns with the combat staff on duty. After this battle is over, you can pick up a new plane." (To be continued. Please search for Piao Tian Literature, novels  Better updates faster!)
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