Chapter 756： Cyprus combat plan

Edel opened the Cyprus combat plan and immediately looked at the plan jointly produced by the navy, land and air forces.

Edel was shocked as soon as he opened it. He was shocked by the military's bold plan. Because the main force in this battle is actually neither the Marine Corps nor the Army, but the paratroopers of the Air Force.

Edel was right. The main force in this battle was paratroopers. It is all about time. The rush of the Battle of Crete consumed a fraction of the prepared materials. The most important thing is the Marine Corps, the professional landing force. The losses in the previous battles were too great and needed a rest. ( The previous battles of capturing the island and landing on Crete had too many casualties).

However, the island of Cyprus belongs to the combat plan, and needs to be carried out immediately after the capture of Crete. The main reason is to prepare for the next landing in the Middle East. As long as you open the map, you can see that the island of Cyprus is only more than one hundred kilometers away from Turkey and less than two hundred kilometers away from Syria, and the island is large enough (the third largest island in the Mediterranean) to allow the island to accumulate enough Forces peeked into the British and French colonies in the Middle East.

As for the island, the British side also attached great importance to the deployment of 48,000 troops and more than 200 aircraft as a northern barrier to protect the British and French colonies.

Obviously, if the island is not taken, it will not be possible to directly land in the Middle East, so this has also become a prelude to Romania's invasion of the Middle East. It’s just that it’s not easy to capture the island. Since the island is 400 kilometers away from the nearest Italian island of Rhodes, this will prevent many of the Romanian Air Force’s aircraft from reaching the island of Cyprus. (The distance to Crete is more than 500 kilometers)

For example, Romania’s current main fighter jet, the R20 Peregrine Falcon, needs to return to Cyprus immediately, and there is no time for combat.

So this is also bad for those combat staff. In the end, the only choice is the HF201 fighter jet. Fortunately, during this time, Romania is very satisfied with the aircraft's effect, and the production efficiency is greatly improved. It can achieve the maximum production of 120 aircraft per month. The scale (mainly the effect of the Alexander airstrike) prevents the aircraft from only having a scale of more than 200 as before.

It's just that although there are currently more than 500 aircraft, there are only more than 300 aircraft that have formed combat effectiveness. Among them, there are only more than 100 aircraft that are assigned to the Air Force, which is exactly the size of a wing. It is certainly not enough to rely on the Air Force's own fighter jets to escort, so the Navy must find a way.

Therefore, in this plan, it is necessary for the navy and air forces to jointly form a formation of fighter planes, as the first to carry out air strikes on the island of Cyprus, destroy the enemy's air power, and open up the situation for the next battle.

After the enemy’s air power was destroyed, the paratroopers were dropped near the airport on the island of Cyprus by airborne. After seizing its airfield, the air force from Romania will use airlift to bring in other troops and equipment. Of course, airborne alone will not solve the battle. At that time, the Romanian Navy will also be responsible for the use of landing methods to support operations.

The entire plan requires a small number of troops, only 54,000, three divisions and one brigade. It's just that the navy and air forces use more. All five aircraft carriers participated in the war, plus two battleships, three heavy cruisers, and other small warships and various transport vessels.

As for the Air Force needs more aircraft, 283 R20 fighters (escort), 167 HF201 fighters, 228 RU28 bombers, 186 RU18 dive bombers, and 48 RU80 four-engine bombers.

Of course there are the most important 386 RY58 transport aircraft. This transport aircraft is 19.2 meters long and 4.93 meters high. The aircraft has an empty weight of 7,300KG, a maximum take-off weight of 12800KG, and a payload of 5.5 tons. It can carry 24 fully armed soldiers and 1 ton of materials.

As for the airborne mission, the 1st Parachute Division consists of two paratrooper regiments, one airborne regiment, and airborne artillery regiments (equipped with two 75mm light artillery battalions, one 37mm anti-tank battalion, and one air defense battalion). )constitute. In addition, there are reconnaissance battalions, engineering battalions, medical battalions, etc., with 11,871 officers and men in the division.

Among them, the first airborne mission will be composed of the first paratrooper regiment and the second paratrooper regiment. And their task is to take over the airport, build a line of defense, and open up the situation for the next plane landing.

I would like to say here that there are currently four airports on the island of Cyprus, located in Paphos, Limassol, Larnaca, and Nicosia.

The paratrooper divisions need to seize mainly two airports outside of Paphos and Nicosia, because according to intelligence, they have very few garrisons. As for Limassol and Larnaca, one is located next to the naval base, and the other is next to the British forces' assembly point, which is not conducive to seizure and defense.

After they seize the airport, the transport aircraft will bring them reinforcements and equipment. Although they basically have light weapons in their hands, the support from the Air Force will definitely be very timely. Who makes them the pro-sons of the Air Force.

Of course, there is also a lot of help from the navy. The artillery fleet will approach the island to provide artillery support after emptying the opponent's air force.

Then rely on the landing forces to open the situation, send heavy equipment and follow-up troops, and occupy the island of Cyprus.

When Edel looked at this battle plan, he looked a bit like the battle plan of the previous German Crete.

"Did you consider the casualties in this way of fighting?"

"Your Majesty, we have considered it. We intend to use the night factual parachute landing to minimize the damage suffered by the paratroopers before landing. In addition, in order to cover the paratroopers' air landing, Air Force bombers will also bomb them at night. And the landing forces will also Set off at the first time and approach the island as soon as possible to open up the situation for it."

He did not understand the general Fereit referred to in Edel's words, speaking of the plan prepared by the military.

Because Germany has not yet taken action against Belgium, the power of paratroopers is still unknown, and naturally people know the advantages and disadvantages of paratroopers. Although the exercise can simulate combat, it cannot replace the possibility of combat.

At present, the Romanian paratroopers have been slowly accumulated over the years, and Edel has some doubts about the one-time airdrop of so many paratroopers responsible for the capture of the island of Cyprus. The main reason is that paratroopers are too expensive, and they are not expensive in general.

At present, the firepower of paratroopers is the pinnacle of light infantry. In addition to their own rifles or submachine guns, each soldier also has pistols, compasses, grenades, gas masks, daggers, military blankets, engineer shovel, bandages, cigarettes, water bottles and other items. These add up to thirty or forty kilograms, and these are indispensable supplies for paratroopers. If you add a parachute and ammunition, it basically weighs one more person.

In addition, the training time of paratroopers is long and the cost is also high. Just every paratrooper needs to experience at least five successful parachutes, which is expensive. So don't look at the light equipment used by paratroopers, but the cost of formation is much more expensive than a standing infantry division, at least 1.5 times that.

Therefore, Romania has only formed one and a half paratrooper divisions (the independent paratrooper brigade, originally planned to form the troops of the second paratrooper division), and this time the military will put it into battle, in addition to time, there are plans Test the role of the paratroopers.

Edel heard what Admiral Férieit said, thought about it, and held back. Now that the military has decided to adopt the tactic of paratrooper center blooming, what else can I say? Could you tell them how to use paratroopers? Whether Edel has trained paratroopers, it is impossible to give instructions on this.

"Well, now that you have decided, then follow the plan."

After Edel finished speaking, he scribbled his name on the battle plan.

Although Edel had his own doubts about the use of paratrooper tactics to seize the island of Cyprus, he could only approve it. After all, in addition to the general direction, Edel can decide, how does he understand the military combat plan? It was not made by the military yet, and it was approved by looking at it for yourself.

Who would have thought that soon after sending away the Chief of Staff, the Minister of Foreign Affairs hurriedly walked up to him with a telegram.

Before Edel took over the telegram, Costel directly told the content of the telegram.

"Your Majesty, Italy asks our country for help!"

This sentence stunned Edel, and even his outstretched hand did not catch the telegram.