Chapter 765： Fierce Battle (Part 2)

In fact, in this transportation operation, the navy and air force assembled nearly a thousand aircraft of various types.

In addition to more than 300 transport aircraft, there are still more than 600 other fighters. These fighters are basically divided into three batches (the naval carrier-based aircraft are divided into two batches), constantly protecting the airport. The three airports calculate the average protection of 6-70 fighters at any time, how can people fight.

Although he attacked twice under the command of the commander Major General Dowding Hughes, each time he was defeated. Against the enemy's massive bombardment and charge, gentlemen can't do it, even the ANZ troops, which are known for their bravery and good fighting skills, still can't do it.

Therefore, the officers who later commanded the battle no longer had to exert this effort, and could only wait until night fell before starting their actions. Air support from the Air Force allowed the paratroopers to survive the most difficult moments. With the transportation of a transport plane, the paratroopers finally obtained the capital that can be used for World War I. The 75mm mountain artillery, 37mm anti-tank gun, and various caliber mortars were used for this time to transport desperately.

While transport planes continue to transport people, equipment and materials to the island of Cyprus, a large fleet of ships is heading toward it on the sea 300 kilometers west of Cyprus.

There are not many troops in this fleet, only the 3rd Division and the 8th Division, but these two divisions can be described as prestigious in the repeated wars encountered in Romania. Although it is now time for armored divisions and motorized divisions to dominate the world, infantry divisions are still used.

Moreover, the two divisions have definite news, it may be a mechanized experimental unit, and it may be their turn. Therefore, both division commanders held back their efforts for this campaign in Cyprus.

It's just that no matter how you want to make a war, you have to wait until tomorrow, and they still need to wait on the boat.

As night fell, the annoying planes were gone, and the stamina British army could finally have a fun fight. Although it is possible to encounter night attack aircraft today, it is nothing compared to the daytime.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The artillery, who suffered air threats during the day and succumbed to it for a day, finally had the time to exert all his strength at night. The shirtless artillery is constantly transporting ammunition, loading, adjusting the firing angle, firing, retreating the shell, and the whole process is flowing and flowing, which fully demonstrates the well-trained artillery of the British Empire.

These shells also accurately landed on the defender's position, and the shock wave of the explosion swept across the position, destroying all obstacles that could be seen. All the defenders squatted in the trenches with their heads down, enduring the torment of shelling.

That's right, the defenders now have trenches, which are much better than before. This is the result of a day's hard work, and it is also an object of reliance.

And this time the British army prepared two artillery battalions. They took advantage of the darkening of the night and transported them to the artillery position. After dark, they immediately began the artillery.

Of course, as a defender, it is not without counter-attack means. The defending army’s 6 75mm field guns are also launching counter-attack fire, but the artillery fire is not so much a counterattack, as it is to comfort the defending army.

If you dare to fight back against the defenders, the British artillery will naturally be upset. They can't clean up the planes in the sky or you. As a result, a burst of shelling went down, and the defenders' artillery counterattack was immediately misfired, but it didn't take long for the counterattack to come again. Although the defenders used guerrilla tactics to distract the British artillery, it ultimately only reduced the artillery fire suffered by the defenders.

The ravaged artillery stopped two hours later, and the ground was in a mess.

A flare shot in mid-air, illuminating the ground like daylight, and also clearly showing the offensive British soldiers. It also showed the tanks covered by the infantry.

"Beware of enemy tanks!"

Seeing the attacking tank, the position officer immediately shouted.

With the help of the flares, the officers also recognized the tanks attacking the enemy. This is the British Army's Matilda infantry tank. As the British army strangely divides the tank into two types: infantry combat and anti-armor, this Matilda tank was born.

The Matilda 1 tank appeared in front of the defenders. This 11-ton tank is in the range of light tanks. As for its performance, it is worthy of the title of its infantry tank. It has a top speed of 12.8 kilometers per hour and is equipped with a 7.7 mm machine gun or 12.7 mm machine gun. It really does not leave it without a trace of anti-tank space.

Of course, the Matilda 1 tank is not without its advantages. Its armor thickness is relatively large. The front armor thickness of the hull is up to 60 mm. The turret is surrounded by 65 mm thick steel armor, so the 37 mm anti-tank gun used by the paratroopers Hit him and croak.

This result made the officers on the position frowned, but now these tanks must be dealt with.

"Let the third anti-tank unit come over immediately, hurry!"

The officer who put down the phone instructed him to fight again. "Fire, don't let these British people get too close."

Following his orders, the machine guns on the ground also fired. The tearing sound of "Bah, Bah, Bah" let the attacking British army know what a metal storm is.

"Da da da!"

The Matilda tanks that cover the infantry attack will naturally not forget their original attack. They used their machine guns against the machine guns and anti-tank guns on the ground. Although the accuracy was not enough during the movement, they could still interfere with the line of sight of the defenders.

With the continuous advancement of tanks, it made the defenders very uncomfortable. With the current anti-tank methods in the hands of paratroopers, this tank is difficult to destroy them, which is very uncomfortable for the defenders. Moreover, these tanks were not close to the trenches, they basically stopped about 200 meters in front of the trenches to suppress the position.

This is simply bullying the anti-tank firepower in their hands. If it weren't for its weak firepower, it might have been breached in one fell swoop.

And this period of time is very difficult for the position, many firepower points are constantly shifted because of the tank's close-range shooting, which allows them to continue the firepower output.

But fortunately, the help of the G33 semi-automatic rifle in the hands of the soldiers was able to maintain the position. The fire density of continuous firing made the British soldiers afraid to charge, so they could only attack after suppressing the firepower of the opponent as much as possible.

At this time, the third anti-tank squadron, which the position commander was waiting for, also arrived.

"Boom!"

A Matilda tank was hit in a ravaged position, and its heavy armor was directly penetrated by a 75mm-caliber armor-piercing projectile, which also caused a metal storm in the cockpit.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

With the destruction of the first Matidal tank, the remaining infantry tanks were destroyed one after another. This also reinvigorated the morale of the defenders and made the attacking British troops even more uncomfortable.

At this time, it is time to show the shortcomings of the Matidal tank. As an infantry tank, its top speed of 12.8 kilometers per hour makes it impossible to retreat at all.

The hero of the battle only appeared after the British army had attacked and retreated. This is a 75mm anti-tank gun developed by Romania.

This anti-tank uses the 75mm main gun of the R20 tank with a length of 3.5 meters, a total length of 4.9 meters, and a total weight of 1340 kg. It can penetrate 87 mm armor at a distance of one kilometer.

This is also the latest Romanian anti-tank gun. Taking into account the weak anti-tank methods of the paratroopers, ten guns were airlifted this time.

Fortunately, ten doors came, otherwise this position would be dangerous.

With the Matilda tank, which is the most dangerous to deal with, the others are much easier. Although this still cannot change the disadvantages of the paratroopers, at least the paratroopers have the ability to resist.

It's just that the British army will not give up because of the failure of this offensive. Naturally, they will continue to attack and try to break through the defenders' positions. After the battle went into the night, the fighting continued to be lively. It's just that the defenders didn't retreat at all, gritted their teeth and let the battle continue until dawn, which never made a major breakthrough.

With daybreak, the offensive British troops naturally knew that they needed to retreat, otherwise the Romanian planes would come again.

They were right, but this time apart from the plane, there were new surprises waiting for them.