Krull gathered his own men in the dark, and there were a considerable number of them.

The 159 people of the whole company were called up to 143 people, of which 102 belonged to his 3rd company, 40 were from other companies, and one soldier belonged to the 2nd battalion and 2nd company, and he was floated over. More than 20 people lost their weapons in mid-air, and only 5 machine guns were found.

Krull asked himself to cover himself with a tarpaulin, and after checking the map with a flashlight and compass, he spoke to the other officers around him. "We are on the right side of the drop zone, and directly in front of us is a small village marked as Chatos, which may be British again, so we need to pay attention, now we will go to the assembly point in the camp first."

"No problem, company commander. Listen to you. ”

He was talking about Chatos, which is 6 km from Nicosia airport and 19 km from Nicosia. And the officers around him agreed with his decision, and it was a priority to assemble as soon as possible after the airborne. Especially at night, they are not familiar with the surroundings, and they are not allowed to run around.

The task of finding the battalion headquarters was quick, because the battalion headquarters was at a distance of a kilometer from them.

"Major Saltu, our three companies have been preliminarily assembled, please instruct."

Krull stood in front of the battalion commander Saltu and whispered to him about his third company.

"How many people are there in your company at the moment?"

As soon as Major Saltu came up, he asked about what he was most concerned about.

In the face of the battalion commander's inquiry, Krull reciprocated truthfully. "At present, there are 143 people with me, of which 102 belong to our third company. In terms of weapons, there are currently 23 people without guns, and even the machine guns in the city are three less. ”

"Not bad."

Major Saltu, who heard Krull's report, gave an assessment.

Because compared to the other three companies, the three companies are already much better (four companies in one battalion of the paratrooper division). At present, the number of other companies assembled is not more than three companies, and even the fourth company is still being assembled.

In fact, if you think about it, you will know that this is the first time that paratroopers have been fighting, and it is a large-scale airborne landing as soon as it comes up, and it is also the most difficult night airborne, so naturally the progress in all aspects is not ideal.

But fortunately, the airborne landing this time went smoothly, so that most of the paratroopers landed in the assembly area. It's a bit confusing, but it's somewhat decent.

"Captain Krul, now I'm giving you a mission to take your men out here to protect the drop zone. It is expected that it will take another hour or two to put an end to this chaotic situation. ”

"Yes, sir."

Krull, who was assigned a task by the battalion commander, immediately took over the task.

"By the way, remember the person with you."

"Understood."

Now it's okay, and the number of people in the third company immediately dropped by 3 floors.

Krull, who had returned to his company, immediately conveyed the battalion commander's order, and after leaving behind the men of the other units, they began to go to the outlying areas to be on guard.

Although the large-scale airborne landing in Romania was not detected by the British at first, it was noticed as time went on.

"What people, come out!"

A paratrooper with bad luck landed in a barracks on the island and was immediately discovered. In the face of the British soldiers who surrounded him, the unlucky paratrooper, who had not even cut his parachute, was immediately captured.

"What, there are Romanian paratroopers infiltrating the island?"

Major General Dowding Hughes, who had just been woken up, was a little shocked when he heard the staff report that had broken in.

He took the telegram and read it carefully. On the telegram, there were scattered paratroopers all over the island. More than a dozen cases were discovered by the British army, and the number of people was more than 30.

After thinking for a while, Dowding Hughes gave the order. "Let the guards of the whole island be vigilant to prevent their infiltration and destruction. In addition, let the 9th Division dispatch a regiment to search the whole island early tomorrow morning and dig out all these moles. ”

True, Douding Hughes believed that this was a prelude to the Romanian landing, and that the soldiers who had parachuted down had come to prepare for the destruction of military installations on the island. As long as the Romanian landing force is blocked, these moles will be pulled out by him.

As for why he couldn't think that the paratroopers would be in charge of seizing the island, there is no such case at present. Everyone else knows that paratroopers are light infantry, and they lack firepower, and what to fight with the regular army, sneak attacks behind enemy lines are the way to use them.

"Yes, General."

The staff officer, who had recorded the order of Douding Hughes, immediately rushed to deliver the report.

Dowding Hughes, on the other hand, went back to rest, estimating that within three days the Romanian landing force would arrive and that the coastline must be held.

The mole in Douding Hughes's mouth has basically been assembled. Thanks to Dowding Hughes's orders, they had more time to prepare.

Now Krull has gotten rid of the alert mission, as they are advancing towards the airport Nicosia. Now, with the return of other soldiers, the number of the company has reached 148, and it can be considered that it has regained its full combat effectiveness.

On the way, Krull was still thinking about the tasks that the battalion commander had reassigned to the 3rd Company. Together with the 2nd Battalion, their battalion will be tasked with capturing the airfield, and the 3rd Company will act as the vanguard of the battalion and attack the airfield from the front.

It's a very challenging task, but he won't give up, and the more challenging the task, the more he can show his ability. That's just right for Krull.

"Company commander, we're going to the airport."

Sergeant Locke, who was in charge of the reconnaissance mission, rushed back to tell him the results of his reconnaissance. "At the moment at the airport we have found 6 anti-aircraft weapons, on both sides of the airport there are signs with mine signs, which should be buried mines. Then at the entrance to the airport, we observed two machine-gun emplacements on either side of the gate, as well as four open and one dark post, and the rest of the situation was too dark to see. ”

Sergeant Locke's words made Krull quickly make a sketch of the defense of the airport. Although the actual situation of the airport has not yet been figured out, the basic situation has been understood, so there is nothing to hesitate about. Because time is running out now, less than three hours before dawn, and this is also the time when people are most sleepy.

Krull, who had made the decision, immediately called the squad and platoon leader. "Now the task is to create conditions for the seizure of the airfield. Our company is in the vanguard, so we plan to attack the airfield immediately and launch a surprise attack on it from the front. Do not give the defenders any chance to react. ”

"Platoon, your task is to take charge of the offensive on the left flank when assaulting the front of the airfield. There is a machine-gun position there, and this point of fire is taken out first. Once you've stormed the airfield, you're responsible for attacking to the left. In the second platoon, you are responsible for attacking on the right flank, and the machine gun positions that have been discovered on the same side will be disposed of first, and then attack to the right. The third platoon is responsible for fire support, and when the first and second platoons attack the front of the airfield, you are responsible for holding on and waiting for the support of other companies. ”

At this point, Krull paused for a moment before continuing. "There is only one word in this combat mission, and there should be no hesitation, as long as there is hesitation, the enemy will be given the opportunity to get reinforcements. Be sure to get close to the enemy while they don't react and engage in melee combat with them, which will reduce our casualties. ”

Krull, who had said so much in one breath, revealed his watch. "It's 3:54 a.m., and six minutes later, at 4 o'clock we attacked. Got it? ”

The other officers, who also showed their watches, replied in unison. "Understood!"