Chapter 736： Capture the Island (Part 1)

When the army launched an attack on Greece, the navy would naturally not stand idly by. The many islands on the sea of ​​love in Greece need the protection of the navy to occupy them.

And this has a huge temptation for the navy. As long as the islands on the sea of ​​love are brought to oneself, this will not only change the danger of being monitored at any time, but also turn it into a huge protection net to protect the navy from any threats. .

Before the surprise attack on Alexander’s sea racing car, it could only be used once or twice. Therefore, the navy is in favor of declaring war on Greece. So it can be said that in this war against Greece, the navy will occupy half of the role.

Now that the army has begun its attack on Greece, the navy will not fall behind.

In the North Aegean Sea, a fleet of ships is rushing all the way. This fleet is a transport fleet subordinate to the Navy. In addition to professional transport ships and landing ships, it is also mixed with many civilian ships. These civilian ships were conscripted by the Navy after the outbreak of the war, and they were responsible for the transportation of materials and personnel.

At present, the total tonnage of civilian ships in Romania reaches more than 3.9 million tons. These ships are mainly responsible for transporting Romanian goods to all parts of the world, and then transporting raw materials and other materials needed by Romania back to the country. Therefore, these civilian ships are basically medium and large ocean-going ships. .

When Romania was preparing to fight Poland, these ships had basically returned home, and the remaining small part were basically in neutral countries.

At present, the major ports in Romania are full of ships of all kinds, all because of the war. Of course, the Black Sea transportation continues, only as long as the trade partners have changed from the world to Germany, Italy, the Soviet Union, and Turkey.

Facing the civilian boats that were parked in the harbor, Hai Ju would naturally not let it go. Except for a few fast cruise ships suitable for transformation into aircraft carriers, other ships have been categorized.

And this time in the Battle of Greece, the naval mission was to seize many islands on the Sea of ​​Love, so many ships were called up.

And their fleet is carrying out the mission of transporting the 1st Brigade of the 2nd Division of the Marine Corps to Lemnos Island for landing operations.

Speaking of the Marine Corps, this has only received attention in the past ten years. Before World War I, the Marine Corps had only one regiment with fewer than 2,000 men. Its main task is also to garrison the port to guard against the enemy's landing.

When the navy developed, the Marine Corps was upgraded to a Marine Brigade, and the number gradually changed from one to two, and the number changed from less than 2,000 to over 10,000.

After entering the 1930s, the Marine Corps ushered in a major development. Two Marine Brigades were upgraded to Marine Divisions, and the number of them increased from over 10,000 to nearly 40,000 now. And its status in the navy has changed from an insignificant role to an important part of great weight.

This is mainly because the navy’s strategy has changed, from defending territorial waters to mastering the black sea rights, from mastering the black sea rights to the Mediterranean swearing its own existence.

It is precisely because of the different center of gravity that the Navy is paying more and more attention to the Marine Corps that can undertake landing and capturing the island. Not only is it equipped with the latest equipment, but also an armored force is formed. Its main equipment is the HR10 amphibious tank.

This tank is an amphibious tank specially developed by the Navy for landing. It is modified from the R10 tank. Seal the body of the R10 tank, install a propeller on the tail, and then reduce its weight. In this way, the HR10 amphibious tank is designed.

The HR10 amphibious tank designed in this way can sail in the water at a speed of 11 kilometers per hour, and after landing, it can travel at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour, which is completely sufficient for the navy.

It's just that this time the 1st brigade did not have such a weapon for landing operations, but its commander, Major General Milanqi, didn't care at all, because he had a better choice, the heavy cruiser Brevista who was responsible for escorting it. number.

This heavy cruiser will use its 203 mm gun to help the Marines take care of landing.

Furthermore, although Lemnos is outside the Dardanelles and its geographical location is very important, it is a dead place for Greece, which has lost its sea and air rights.

And the Greek military also knows, so there is only one regiment on this island, and other soldiers can only rely on it to arm the militia.

A brigade fights a regiment, even if he is an offensive team and a landing battle, Milan Qi is not afraid. Because the equipment and morale of the Greek army can't be compared with its own, and the training is even worse.

Compared with the self-confident Major General Milanchi, Lieutenant Colonel Lebit, who is the captain of the heavy cruiser Brebissta and the commander of the **** (1 heavy cruiser and 2 destroyer) fleet, is much more depressed. He was not reconciled to his failure to follow the fleet to blockade Crete.

**** and artillery missions, in his opinion, these are all things that should be done by warships that have retreated to the second line, and his heavy cruiser is not outdated at all, and should not enjoy this treatment.

Lieutenant Colonel Lebit was right, but it had a large caliber. The ship with the worst condition was the Brebista. Who let it be launched in 1926, and it was the first 10,000-ton battleship built, although it was used at that time The most advanced technology, but compared to the next few ships, it is not of the same grade at all. So it doesn't do these tasks, so who will it let?

And not only his heavy cruiser is doing this task, there are also two heavy cruisers assigned to this task, and the battleship Mircea is also doing **** and shelling tasks. The only blame is that Romania does not have old large warships, and can only select some of the poorer warships to perform these tasks that should be performed by the old warships.

As for Lieutenant Colonel Lebit’s obsessive mission to blockade the island of Crete it was because the British were so crazy about Crete’s transportation that the navy had to be vigilant.

In just a few days, more than 8,000 British troops were transported to Crete, and more than 300 combat aircraft were transported. Although many are second-tier aircraft, they are enough to pose a threat to the surrounding area.

In addition, the British army transports the most military supplies. More than 500 cannons, more than 80,000 guns of all kinds, more than 200 tanks, more than 200 anti-aircraft guns, as well as ammunition, fuel, and other supplies have made the island the most important. The port of Heraklion is full of supplies.

Regarding the British army’s idea, how can the Romanian navy know that it is trying to use Crete as a stronghold to drag the Romanian navy into the Eastern Mediterranean and provide time for its Mediterranean fleet to recover.

Now that they know what the British think, how can the navy do what they want. So after the returning fleet took a break, the blockade fleet led by Lieutenant General Midraphael set off. This time I don’t have to take all my belongings with me like last time.

This time Lieutenant Admiral Midraphael brought 3 battleships, 2 aircraft carriers (Barker, Gilescu), 4 heavy cruisers, 9 light cruisers, and more than 20 destroyers and submarines.

This fleet alone is not what the British Mediterranean Fleet can resist.

After the fleet blocked Crete, the supply from Egypt was cut off. Except for a small number of ships and planes who dared to smuggle in the dark, other ships did not dare to appear in the surrounding waters.

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