Six Hundred and Eleven What Is That
The Greek defenders actually have very limited troops. On Crete, there is only one British infantry battalion as the core guard force. The rest of the troops do not even have uniform rifle models and calibers. An old general who doesn't quite understand modern warfare.
It was the first time that the Greek infantry saw such parachutes flying all over the sky, and it was also the first time that the war they faced had completely changed. The German paratroopers can be said to be a very elite offensive force, and the weapons in their hands can be regarded as the most advanced weapons.
There are bunkers and fortifications used to defend against German attacks all over the island of Crete. These bunkers and fortifications were a very strong defense system in the First World War era, and almost no army could quickly break through these defensive areas. But these bunkers have become as fragile as paper in front of the German attackers.
The German paratroopers have a 75mm caliber recoilless gun, which is a new type of flat-firing weapon, which is used to deal with the enemy's fixed firepower points in the distance. The only disadvantage of this kind of artillery is that it will emit huge smoke after firing, which is easy to attract retaliatory attacks from the opponent's aircraft. It's a pity that the entire Crete island is covered with German aircraft, and this defect is no longer a problem.
This kind of artillery and the large-caliber 120mm mortar can be installed on the modified barrel car for airborne troops. It has strong maneuverability and is not heavy. Soldiers can use manpower to carry out temporary move.
Even if the flat-fired 75-caliber recoilless gun cannot reach the position in time, the Iron Fist rocket launcher, which has been widely used by German paratroopers, can also solve the enemy's machine gun bunkers that cannot be conquered. Destroying the entire machine gun bunker can also create thick smoke and vibrations, rendering the personnel in the opponent's bunker useless.
"Fire! Can't let the Germans in!" A Greek officer shouted loudly while hiding in the command tower. He and his troops were ordered to garrison around a field airfield in Crete and to repel any enemy attempting to take it. Originally, the airport was to be blown up immediately after the German attack began, but because the Greek commander disagreed with this plan, he wanted to keep the airport to ensure that his fighter jets could continue to interfere with possible large-scale landings, so the bombing The airport's decision ultimately fell through.
Sadly, within 10 hours, the Allied aircraft on Crete were cleared by the Luftwaffe. All the Allied aircraft that dared to take off were shot down by German ace pilots, and the performance of the aircraft on both sides was not the same. This makes the entire Crete air battle look tragic and unusual, and the pilots of the Greek Air Force are also full of Don Quixote charm.
However, the Greek commander saw with his own eyes a huge German glider landing on a hillside not far away, and saw German paratroopers scatter and fall in the sky like dandelions. At first, there were hundreds of them, and later they became thousands. Ten thousand. These German airborne troops raided the air defense positions around the airport, but did not rush to attack this crucial field airfield.
Just when the Greek defenders were surprised, a soldier looked at the sky in horror and reminded everyone loudly: "My God! What is that? What is that?" His words caught everyone's attention, and almost All the soldiers who were loading their guns raised their heads and looked at the distant sky.
The Greek commander also raised his head, staring at the aircraft approaching the airport in the distance, not knowing what to say. Huge propellers rotate horizontally above the planes. The speed of these planes is not fast, but the roar of the engines makes people feel a little desperate.
The frightening scene finally appeared. These Crusader helicopters from Germany hovered over the airport. At the beginning, they turned out to be several models with heavy armor. Rockets, flanked by 13mm heavy machine guns with anti-shields.
Machine guns began strafing ground targets, knocking out groups of Greek soldiers in trenches and behind cover. The huge firepower gap made these Greek soldiers a little overwhelmed. They raised their rifles to fire at the helicopters, only to find that their rifles didn't seem to be able to do much damage to the opposing planes.
"Thuk! Thuk!" A heavy machine gun hidden in the dark fired at the sky. This is one of the few heavy weapons in the hands of the Greek defenders. The bullets flew into the sky, leaving a row of clear bullet holes on the helicopter. A German soldier operating a machine gun was shot and fell down. The helicopter immediately began to adjust its flight altitude and made a sharp turn to leave. battlefield.
Before the Greek soldiers cheered, more German helicopters in the sky entered the launch position. A helicopter suddenly opened fire, and seven or eight small-caliber rockets swept towards the firing position of the Greek heavy machine gun.
"Swoosh! Whoosh!" The rockets ejected thick smoke and flames, flew out of the hanging rocket pods on the two wings of the helicopter, and flew towards their targets. Although the spread was relatively large, because they were only a short distance away, the target area was still Soon there was a huge puff of smoke.
The German Army Aviation Force found the best way to use helicopters, that is, after the huge air force destroyed the enemy's anti-aircraft firepower, and the paratroopers had disturbed the battlefield and involved the opponent's defense force, they used helicopters to deliver The troops control vital strategic targets, such as airports, railway stations and ports. Because the opponent's anti-aircraft firepower has been destroyed, the suppressive firepower provided by the helicopter can be effective enough to cover the troops it carries for ground combat.
Therefore, in the environment of the large-scale war of World War II, the helicopter is no longer an anti-tank killer, but has become the ultimate weapon for mopping up guerrillas and supporting paratroopers. It doesn't need heavy armor defense, nor does it need the advanced firepower of long-range guidance. Its purpose is to rush to the airborne area with powerful weapons. After all, at this time, anything is better than nothing.
More helicopters came from a distance, and more than a dozen helicopters with armored protection joined in the suppression of the ground. Obviously, they assigned tasks in advance, and all possible ground threats were captured from all angles. Cleared, some are using machine guns to expel the Greek infantry on the ground, while others are using rockets to clear some stubborn bunker bunkers.
Then the helicopters descended and dropped the ropes, and the German soldiers slid down from these helicopters one by one. Akado had seen such exercises before, and he was inspired by the progress of the times and the war for a while. Wisdom was too shocked to say anything. He seems to have seen a picture of an American special forces plane landing in the 21st century, but in this scene, it is a German soldier wearing an M35 helmet who slid off the plane.
The huge airflow blows away the dust on the ground, and rolls up clouds of dust in the distance. The first German soldier who landed on the ground may be because he did not stand firmly, or because he was afraid of being hit, so He fell to the ground in embarrassment. Immediately after the first soldier landed, he picked up his gun and quickly ran towards the intended target.
"The first team! Go right! Go right! Occupy the machine gun position over there! The second team! Come with me! Attack! Attack!" Not far away, another helicopter was also constantly sliding along the rope Dismounting soldiers, it was obvious that there was a commander in this group of soldiers, who assigned tasks loudly as soon as he landed, and the German soldiers near him also neatly divided into two groups, bowing their waists and marching towards different goals.
The infantrymen who were landed by these German helicopters all wore goggles and black scarves on their faces. It wasn't an intentional imitation of modern Special Forces attire, but a trendy outfit was chosen because the soldiers might get blinded or choked on the dust blown up by the helicopter airflow during the exercise.
"No matter what it is! Fire! Fire! Kill those Germans! Quick!" The Greek officer was the first to react, and quickly issued a combat order loudly. He wanted to grab the phone to contact the headquarters and tell the commander-in-chief of the defenders to blow up immediately. Drop other airports. But when he picked up the phone, there was no sound on the phone.
Outside the house, two soldiers of the German Special Forces stood at the position of the telephone line. The words "Be careful, wire!" were written on the communication box, and the cut telephone line was still dangling back and forth. One of them was guarding the surroundings with an assault rifle, and the other was holding the pliers that had just been used, and their dry lips were split open, revealing their white teeth. They arrived secretly in another helicopter, with the purpose of cutting off communications and disrupting the local battlefield.
The Greek officer dropped the phone in despair, and then saw two helicopters pointing their sideways at the control tower of the airport where he was in the distance. The black muzzles of two 13mm aviation machine guns pointed nearby, and the Greek officer felt that his situation was very bad.
With the dazzling tongues of flames sprayed from the helicopter on the opposite side, the airport control tower was immediately swept up and turned upside down by the torrent of steel. The large-caliber machine gun combined with full-power ammunition, its destructive power can be described as terrifying. After only a few seconds, there was no breathing life in the entire command tower. The Greek commander was sieved by bullets in the first time, and he didn't even have time to let out a scream.
At the risk of being shot down, 110 German Crusader helicopters appeared over the battlefield. These planes were loaded with a large amount of weapons, ammunition and soldiers. They rushed to the battlefield quickly, and easily suppressed the sporadic The dropped German forces quickly occupied an Allied field airfield on Crete.