In fact, this transportation operation allowed the Navy and Air Force to gather nearly 1,000 aircraft of various types.

In addition to more than 300 transport aircraft, there are still more than 600 other fighters. And these fighters are basically divided into three groups (the Navy carrier-based aircraft are divided into two groups), constantly protecting the airport. The three airports are calculated to protect an average of 6-70 fighters at any time, which makes people how to fight.

Although they attacked twice under the orders of the commander, Major General Dowding Hughes, each time they failed miserably. Charging in the face of the enemy's massive and indiscriminate bombardment is not something that gentlemen can do, even the ANZ troops, who are known for their bravery and good fighting, still can't do it.

Therefore, the officers who commanded the battle did not bother to do this anymore, and could only wait for night to fall before starting to act. Support from Air Force planes to get the paratroopers through the most difficult moments. With the transportation of transport planes, the paratroopers finally obtained the capital that could fight in a war, 75 mm mountain artillery, 37 mm anti-tank guns, and mortars of various calibers, and used this time to transport desperately.

At a time when transport planes are constantly carrying personnel, equipment and supplies to the island, a large fleet of ships is heading for Cyprus in the 300 kilometres west of Cyprus.

This fleet was loaded with only two troops, the 3rd and 8th Divisions, but these two divisions were famous in the repeated wars that Romania encountered. Although it is time for armored divisions and motorized divisions to become popular, infantry divisions are still useful.

And there is definite information from the two divisions, it is possible that the experimental troops will be mechanized, and it is possible that it will be their turn. Therefore, for this battle in Cyprus, the two division commanders were holding back.

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

As night fell, the annoying planes were gone, and the British troops could finally have a good fight. Although there may be night planes today, it is nothing compared to the daytime.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The artillery, which had been suffocated by the air threat during the day, finally had time to exert its full strength at night. The shirtless artillerymen were constantly transporting ammunition, loading, adjusting the firing angle, firing, and returning the shells, and the whole process was smooth, fully demonstrating the well-trained artillery of the British Empire.

And these shells also landed precisely on the defenders' positions, and the shock wave of the explosion swept through the positions, destroying all obstacles that could be seen. All the defenders crouched in the trenches with their heads bowed, enduring the torment of the shelling.

That's right, now the defenders already have trenches, much better than before. It's the result of a day's work, and it's the object of dependence.

And this time the British prepared two artillery battalions, which they transported to the artillery positions while the night was getting dark, and when it was dark, they immediately began the shelling.

Of course, as the defenders, there are no means of counterattack, and the defenders' 6 75mm field guns are also launching counterattack artillery fire, but this artillery fire is not so much a counterattack as a psychological comfort to the defenders.

And daring to counterattack the defenders naturally makes the British artillery unhappy, and they can't clean up the planes in the sky and can't clean you up. As a result, a burst of artillery fire continued, and the defenders' artillery counterattack was immediately muted, but it didn't take long for the counterattack to come again. Although the defenders' guerrilla tactics distracted the British artillery, in the end it only reduced the defenders' artillery fire.

The plundering artillery fire stopped after two hours, and the position was in shambles.

A flare hit in mid-air, illuminating the earth as if it were daytime, also illuminating the attacking British soldiers clearly, and at the same time showing the tanks covering in front of the infantry.

"Watch out for enemy tanks!"

Seeing the incoming tanks, the positional officer immediately shouted.

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

And in front of the defenders was the Matilda 1 tank, which weighed 11 tons and was in the range of light tanks. As for the performance, it is worthy of the title of its infantry tank, with a top speed of 12.8 kilometers per hour, equipped with a 7.7 mm machine gun or a 12.7 mm machine gun, which really does not leave a trace of anti-tank space for it.

Of course, the Matilda 1 tank was not without its advantages, its armor was thick, the frontal armor of the hull was up to 60 mm thick, and the turret was surrounded by 65 mm thick steel armor, so the 37 mm anti-tank guns used by the paratroopers rattled on its body.

Such a result made the officers of the position frown, but now the tanks had to be dealt with.

"Immediately let the 3rd anti-tank detachment come over, be quick!"

The officer, who put down the phone, instructed him to fight again. "Open fire, don't let these Britons get too close."

With his order, machine guns on the positions also opened fire. The sound of tearing cloth "Woo, Woo, Woo" let the attacking British know what a metal storm is.

"Da, da, da!"

The Matilda tank, which covered the infantry attack, naturally did not forget its original attack. They used their machine guns to strafe the machine guns and anti-tank guns in their positions, and although they were not accurate enough to interfere with the defenders' line of sight.

As the tank continued to advance, it was very uncomfortable for the defenders, and it was very difficult for the defenders to destroy the tank with the anti-tank means currently in the hands of the paratroopers, which was 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 fire in their hands, but it is so unscrupulous. If it weren't for its weak firepower, it might have broken through the position in one fell swoop.

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

However, thanks to the help of the G33 semi-automatic rifle in the hands of the soldiers, they were able to keep their positions intact. The density of continuous fire made the British soldiers afraid to charge, and they could only attack after trying to suppress the opponent's fire.

And at this time, the 3rd anti-tank detachment, which the positional commander had been waiting for, also arrived.

"Bang!"

A Matilda tank was hit in the midst of a rampage, its heavy armor pierced by 75 mm armor-piercing shells, and a metal storm in the cockpit.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

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

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

It was only after the British army retreated that the hero of the battle appeared. This is a 75-mm anti-tank gun developed by Romania.

This anti-tank uses the 75 mm main gun of the R20 tank, which is 3.5 meters long, 4.9 meters long, and weighs 1,340 kilograms. Capable of penetrating 87 mm of armor at a distance of a thousand meters.

This is also the latest Romanian anti-tank gun, and considering the weak anti-tank means of the paratroopers, this time ten were also airlifted.

Fortunately, ten gates were lucky, otherwise this position would be dangerous.

And with the most dangerous Matilda tank, the rest is much easier. Although this still does not change the disadvantage 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 attack, and naturally keep attacking to try to break through the defenders' positions. The battle has been lively since the night. It's just that the defenders didn't retreat at all, gritting their teeth and letting the battle go until dawn, which never made a major breakthrough.

And with dawn, the attacking British troops naturally knew that they needed to retreat, otherwise the Romanian planes would come again.

They were right, but this time in addition to the plane, there were new surprises waiting for them.