Rise of Australia

Chapter 898 Air Raid on Malta
When the British, French and Australian troops jointly attacked the Libyan colony, the Italian army also focused its attention on the island of Malta.

Malta is a small island located in the center of the Mediterranean Sea. But precisely because it is located in the center of the Mediterranean, Malta's strategic role has become very important.

For Italy in particular, the occupation of Malta became very important if it wanted to protect its Libyan colony.

As mentioned before, the Italian mainland and the Libyan colony face each other across the sea, with the Mediterranean Sea in between.

Malta's geographical location is right between the Italian and Libyan colonies, which can be said to be a strategic location.

Malta is currently under British control, which is why the Italian fleet has failed many times in its attempts to support Libya.

The Italian fleet could not break through Malta's defense line at all. Even if it was lucky enough to break through, it would face the encirclement and suppression of the British fleet.

So the question is, how to effectively occupy this already vital strategic location?
The Italians thought again and again and decided to learn from Australasia's approach in the Ryukyu Islands, which was to use a large number of airborne troops to attack Malta.

Since it is an air strike, a sufficient number of aircraft must be prepared to protect the transport aircraft transporting soldiers.

In order to achieve their strategic goals, the Italians mobilized thousands of aircraft, including hundreds of bombers. The purpose is self-evident.

On September 1936, 9, hundreds of planes took off from Sicily, Italy, aiming directly for the island of Malta, dozens of kilometers to the south.

We have to admit the strength of the British. In the Mediterranean, where the great powers are densely packed, the British left three crucial areas vacant, namely Gibraltar, the outlet of the western Mediterranean, Malta, the main transportation route of the Mediterranean, and the Suez Canal, the outlet of the eastern Mediterranean.

It is precisely because of the power of the British that the Mediterranean Sea turned into an inland lake-like existence. Without the permission of the British, no fleet of any country can enter the Mediterranean, nor can it go to the ocean from the Mediterranean.

It goes without saying that the importance of the British Empire's ability to firmly control the three regions of the Mediterranean, Gibraltar, Suez Canal and Malta goes without saying.

For such an important area, the British defense is naturally quite tight.

Although the island of Malta is not large, the British still stationed a division of troops in Malta and had hundreds of aircraft as air power.

More importantly, Malta is also the base camp of the British patrol fleet in the Mediterranean. There are a large number of British warships stationed here at any time, including many major warships such as battleships and aircraft carriers.

Italy's plan to air attack Malta is quite crazy, because it means that Italy will face the threat of the British fleet.

In order to prevent encountering the main force of the British fleet, the Italians also waited for a long time and finally found a good opportunity for the main force of the British fleet to go out for patrol.

Because the Italian islands of Sicily and Malta are very close to each other, the Italian aircraft formation was quickly detected by British radar after flying for a certain distance.

There is no doubt that war has brought technological progress to mankind. The improvement of radar technology alone can be said to have advanced by leaps and bounds in recent years.

Countries have not only mastered radar technology, but also applied radar technology to aircraft, warships and various equipment.

The British response was swift. After detecting a large number of UFOs, hundreds of British fighter jets have begun taking off on the island of Malta.

Whether this is a bombing or an air raid on Malta, it is necessary to remain vigilant.

In addition to letting the aircraft on the island of Malta take off, the garrison on the island of Malta also began to assemble urgently and moved towards the air-raid shelters that had been prepared.

The commander of Malta Island and the garrison division commander, Major General Matthews, quickly entered the command room in the air raid shelter and issued his orders one after another.

"How was the plane taking off?" Major General Matthews asked.

"Currently, all aircraft on the island have entered the runway one after another, and it is expected that all aircraft will be able to take off within ten minutes." Adjutant Carl replied.

Matthews nodded, quite satisfied with the Air Force's response. From the time the radar detects the target to transmitting the information to the Air Force, and then the Air Force responds, ten minutes is already a short time.

Fortunately, there are not many planes on the island of Malta. Otherwise, it may take at least half an hour to take off hundreds of planes.

"All units immediately entered the air defense offensive, and radars continued to be alert to possible enemies on the sea. Before we can determine the enemy's specific action plan, we must prepare for the worst." Major General Matthews continued to order.

"Yes, General!" The adjutant nodded and immediately conveyed Major General Matthews' order to all armies.

"Send a telegram to General John, saying that we have been attacked by the Italian air force and that the enemy is likely to land on Malta.

In addition, send another telegram to the French asking for their support. "Major General Matthews then ordered: "The Italians had better not provoke us, otherwise, let them see God today. "

Although Malta was geographically vulnerable to Italian attack, its location in the center of the Mediterranean also meant it was close to both French and British colonies.

Especially for France's North African colonies, the nearest Tunisia is less than 300 kilometers away from Malta, and planes can arrive for support in more than an hour. Because of this, Matthews was not at all panicked by the possible attack from the Italians, and even wanted to laugh.

He originally thought that he would get no credit for being stationed in Malta, but he didn't expect that now the Italians would come to his door.

Although the air defense force on the island of Malta only has more than 100 aircraft, due to the attack on Libya, Britain and France deployed hundreds of aircraft on the east and west sides of Libya, adding up to thousands.

What's more, there is a Royal Fleet patrolling the Mediterranean, and the number of aircraft carried on the aircraft carriers adds up to hundreds.

Unless the Italian air force is deployed in full force, they will have to pay a heavier price if they want to do something to Malta.

General Matthews was not at all concerned about French support. Needless to say, the importance of the island of Malta to the British is also very important to the French.

Once the island of Malta falls, France's offensive in the Libyan people's land will also suffer a blow. Even if it is just to attack the Libyan colony, the French must ensure the security of the island of Malta.

Ten minutes passed quickly, and hundreds of British fighter planes took off smoothly, forming a formation and heading towards the direction of the UFO.

The speed of the plane was very fast. After a few minutes, the British and Italian sides were actually able to see each other's plane.

"Damn it, what do the Italians want to do?" The air force commander in charge of the British aircraft formation looked a little heavy.

He did not expect that the Italians would actually dispatch so many planes. This was obviously not a simple air raid.

"First, the second squadron steps forward to intercept, the third squadron provides flank cover, and counts the specific number of enemy aircraft. I want to see what the purpose of these Italians is." The British Air Force commander immediately issued an order.

With one order after another, hundreds of planes instantly turned into three squadrons, two of which quickly headed in the direction of the Italian planes.

Da da da!
Bang bang bang!
The fighters on both sides had a tacit understanding. After approaching their own fire coverage, they immediately started exchanging fire without any hesitation or hesitation.

The firing and explosions of various machine guns and cannons were like beating notes, playing an aerial chorus in the blue sky.

Of course, a normal chorus costs money at most, but this aerial chorus is deadly.

Italy's fighter jets are mainly Fiat CR.32 Arrow fighters, and there are various modifications and other models.

The British fighter jets are even more diverse, including the British-produced Hurricane fighter jets and fifth-generation military aircraft supported by Australasia.

In terms of aircraft performance, the British are definitely dominant. Whether it is a British aircraft or an Australasian aircraft, its performance is comparable to or even better than the Italian Fiat aircraft.

But the problem is that Italy dispatches hundreds of planes, several times as many as British planes.

Although the British Air Force also had anti-aircraft weapons from Malta Island to help, it was still at a disadvantage after the first round of firefights.

Especially the 1st and 2nd aircraft squadrons responsible for blocking. In the first round of firefights, four Hurricane fighter jets were hit by Italian aircraft, two of which had crashed.

There was obviously something wrong with the remaining two planes. The wing of one of the planes was mostly broken, and the plane began to stagger and descend.

Such losses made British Air Force commanders frown. The first exploratory attack cost the British four aircraft and the Italians only one.

Although it is more of a test, such a battle loss ratio is not good news for Britain.

"If it cannot be intercepted, temporarily retreat westward." The British commander decisively ordered: "The ground troops have entered the air raid shelter. We can wait for the support of French aircraft and then launch another attack on the Italian air force."

After several rounds of tentative attacks, the British Air Force decisively chose to retreat westward to the French North African colonies.

The Italian Air Force did not pursue the victory, because they also knew that France also deployed hundreds of aircraft in Africa, and a hasty pursuit would only make them fall into the enemy's encirclement.

However, the British Air Force's active withdrawal allowed the Italians to concentrate on launching an attack on the island of Malta.

After taking the lead in destroying the anti-aircraft weapons on the island of Malta, the Italian Air Force began to attack important targets on the island of Malta.

　The second update of 3000 words, please vote for me and support!

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(End of this chapter)