Chapter 251 Lightning Master

Major Kleinman issued several orders in succession after occupying the "Eight O'Clock" Heights.

The first order was to garrison on the heights.

Because it is conceivable that the British army will soon attack the heights to lift the German blockade of the airport, otherwise the airport will not be able to be used at all, or it will cause heavy losses to the British Air Force if it is used reluctantly.

However, this is obviously much better than before. After all, fighting from a high position on the heights is also a geographical advantage, and there are many trees and vegetation on the heights to hide, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

The second order is to disperse the mortars and adjust the parameters to block the airport.

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

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

The main aspect of the request for help is that the German army has insufficient mortars and ammunition.

The First Infantry Battalion only carried 24 80MM mortars in total, and 8 of them lost their positions during the airborne landing... This is common during airborne landings, especially for airdropped equipment, which is hard to find if it hangs on any tree or falls into any pit, and sometimes it is even airdropped into the enemy's position.

This means that the German army can only collect 16 mortars in the end, and 4 of them were blown up in the battle, leaving only 12. And it is foreseeable that it will continue to decrease in future battles.

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

It is not difficult to imagine that even if the First Infantry Battalion can hold the "Eight O'Clock" Heights tightly, if there are no mortars or enough shells to block the airport, then the First Infantry Battalion will not be able to play a role.

So, Major Kleinman asked the command to urgently airdrop mortars and shells.

Rommel knew the seriousness of the matter, and without saying anything, he immediately sent fighter planes to escort five transport planes carrying mortars and shells to the "Eight O'Clock" Heights.

On the other side, Montgomery also received news that the German army was attacking Crete in an all-out manner.

Montgomery, who has always been described as "calm and unhurried", was panicked because the war situation was heading towards a total collapse from the beginning...

First, three divisions of Italian troops and the German 90th Armored Division were launching a landing battle on Crete in three parts with the Greek island of Kythera as the starting point under the cover of the Italian fleet...

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

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

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

Rethymnon Airport has not been completed and cannot take off and land fighters. Maleme 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 fighters to Crete Island or not.

It is impossible not to send fighters. Air superiority is the key to island fighting. Not sending fighters almost means handing over Crete Island to the German and Italian armies.

Sending fighters is very dangerous...

This danger does not come from German fighters. In fact, Montgomery also knows that German fighters only have a few minutes of air time over Crete Island. They can hardly pose a threat to British fighters and are even a good opportunity for the British army to beat German fighters.

But the problem is... the British fighter planes are running out of fuel when they fly over Crete. They also have to land to refuel, but the airports are all under the control or blockade of the German army.

"Can we recapture Maleme Airport?" Montgomery asked.

"Of course!" Deguingan replied: "But what we may get is a ruin. The Germans will do everything possible to destroy the airport facilities and even blow up the runway... Even if we recapture it, Maleme Airport will not be usable for a short time!"

"Then there is only Iraq Airport!" Montgomery said: "Order Colonel Smith to recapture Hill No. 3 at all costs, and at the same time order all the reinforcements of the Air Force to replenish fuel and ammunition at Iraq Airport!"

"Yes, General!" Deguingan responded.

The order was quickly executed.

Colonel Smith concentrated almost all the seventy large and small caliber artillery that could hit the heights and bombarded the "Eight O'Clock" heights.

Then the British 39th Infantry Regiment, which came to reinforce, also joined the bombing, and the shells poured down like raindrops on the heights where the Germans were stationed.

Qin Chuan, who was on the mountain, felt that the whole mountain was shaking, with flying sand and rocks everywhere and vegetation blown up by shells.

But in fact, the British bombing did not have much effect, because the German soldiers were hiding in the reverse slope, and on the edge of the mountaintop position... Anyone who has fought in mountain warfare knows that this part is the most difficult place for shells to hit:

First of all, direct-fire artillery can be ignored. If these artillery with low trajectory are fired low, they will be blocked by the other side. If they are fired high, they will directly pass over the mountaintop position and shoot far to the other side.

Indirect-fire artillery such as howitzers and mortars may still hit this position, but the mountaintop position is like the edge of a knife, and the area affected by the shells is very small, which means that the probability of being hit by shells 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 fell down 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.

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

At this moment, another group of transport planes flew over the airport in a black mass, and then dropped white parachutes amid the shrill whistles 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.