As Antonescu prepared to fly to Rome, the long-prepared Battle of Cyprus began.

The naval formation, consisting of five aircraft carriers and two battleships, took the lead and set out again from Athens with the crew who had relaxed for three days. Speaking of which, at present, several capital ships of the Navy are basically operating at full capacity. Immediately after the air raid on the mountain port of Alexandra, there was a Greek operation, and then a Cretan operation.

Even the iron man couldn't withstand this continuous rotation, so Lieutenant General Fernandez took advantage of the end of the battle on Crete to return to Athens ahead of schedule and give the crew three days off.

By the way, Fernández's rank of lieutenant general was also promoted during this period. So he no longer had to take the rank of rear admiral and command a fleet that was supposed to be commanded by a vice admiral.

Three days is naturally not satisfactory to the crew, not to mention that they have to rotate, and each crew member can only rest for two days at most. It's just that if you're not satisfied, you can't help it, who will let you still have a task.

Although the morale was not restored to the best after three days of rest, it was at least much better than before, and at least the work efficiency was greatly improved.

By the time Fernández set off with the fleet, Crete, which was the air base for the operation, was ready. On the newly captured island of Crete, while the smoke of gunfire had not yet cleared, the military began to expand the original Greek airport.

Crete originally had three airfields (and one was later discovered) that could accommodate no more than 400 aircraft. And after the capture of Romania, a large-scale expansion began immediately. Bulldozers, excavators, cement, steel bars and other construction machinery and materials have replaced weapons and equipment as priority targets.

After 10 days of work, two airports were expanded on the island of Crete and a new one was built. Its aircraft capacity has also increased from no more than 400 to 800 aircraft.

Of course, the expansion of the airport can be completed so quickly, in addition to the abundance of materials and the desperate construction of the engineering troops, and the fact that the current fighters do not pick the runway has a lot to do with it. Although it can't be done like in World War I, just a flat grass can be used, but flattening the soil can also make a runway, but it won't be used a few times.

Now, in addition to a large number of planes, there are also troops dressed in clothes that are clearly different from those of the army, and they are talking outside the airport in twos and threes, and their eyes show a trace of nervousness, excitement, and excitement from time to time. That's right, they are the 1st Parachute Division, which has just arrived in Crete by boat these two days, and the Separate Paratrooper Brigade.

These paratroopers are obviously no different from other units for the first battle, but it is not yet the turn of the 1 to play. Because in order to protect these pro-sons, the Air Force needs to clear the obstacles for their airborne landing.

However, everything will not be done until the fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Fernandez arrives in the designated area.

So did the fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Fernandez arrive?

After three days at sea, the fleet finally arrived 300 kilometers northwest of the island of Cyprus in the early morning.

On the flagship battleship Borcos, Fernandez said to the communications staff.

"Send a telegram to the air force in Crete and tell them that we have arrived at the designated location."

"Yes, General."

With Fernandez's telegram, the air force on Crete also began to move. Alarm bells sounded at the airfield, and the pilots, on the orders of the base commander, rushed to their respective fighters. They jumped up from the airport in a neat line, and they flew in a neat line towards the island of Cyprus, led by the pilot.

On the side of the fleet, the five aircraft carriers are also preparing for flight, and the first batch of fighters must be fighters, because it is necessary to ensure air supremacy. At present, the Romanian carrier-based fighter has been completely replaced by the HF201 fighter, this carrier-based aircraft has too many advantages, and it has completely conquered the whole navy, and there is no reason not to use a fighter with better performance.

And in order to meet this mission, the fighters of the three large aircraft carriers are not 24 + 2, but 36 + 4, plus two modified aircraft carriers (94 units), and the number of their carrier-based aircraft fighters exceeds two hundred, which is completely prepared to provide escort.

The planes were quickly grouped and they took over the escort of the R20 fighters, protecting the bomber group towards Cyprus.

By the time the massive fleet arrived on the island, British fighters had already taken to the skies. Since the air raid on Alexandria, the British and French troops in the Middle East have long been frightened, and the early warning of the sky has been extended to 200 kilometers along the coast. Every day, the early warning planes patrol the sea area at intervals.

And such a large fleet (more than 500 aircraft in three batches) can be detected without being frightened.

So when they flew more than 140 kilometers off the coast of the island of Cyprus, patrol planes had already discovered their tracks. Although two HF201 fighters shot down the desperately fleeing enemy plane, the telegram had already been sent.

On the island of Cyprus, where the telegram was received, air defense sirens immediately sounded, and fighters on duty at the four airfields on the island immediately took to the air without hesitation. They will act as the first wave of interceptor fighters to intercept the incoming Romanian fleet. And at the airfield behind them, fighter jets are constantly being lifted into the air.

As the commander of the island, Major General Dauding Hughes naturally attached great importance to it, and he was already mentally prepared for the coming Romanian attack.

"Did Brigadier Bronk's plane take off?"

Major General Dowding Hughes, who had just rushed back to the headquarters, immediately asked his adjutant, Captain Makelay. 33

"General, Bronk has just ordered the Air Force fighters to take off and meet the incoming Romanian enemy planes."

Major General Dowding Hughes was pleased with the adjutant's answer, and he continued to ask as he took the papers handed by the other staff officers. "Very well, but what about the air defense forces?"

"The air defense department has been prepared for a long time, and we have also asked the relevant departments to inform the residents of the island to take shelter."

"Good." Major General Dowding Hughes paused, thought for a moment and continued. "Order the troops to enter the fortifications, to be alert to any ships that appear on the sea, and to watch out for their landing. It is likely that this air raid was the prelude to the landing. In addition, a telegram was sent to Admiral Wavell to report that we had been attacked by enemy air strikes. In addition, a telegram was sent to General Simorin in Syria that we needed support. ”

True, Major General Dowding Hughes intends to direct French aviation forces in Syria to the island of Cyprus, helping to defend it against air strikes by the Romanians. This is also a part of the military cooperation that the two countries have only seen. Although many of the French fighters in Syria are old models, there are also new fighters such as the MS.406 fighter.

This is France's main fighter, and in order to defend its colonies in the Middle East, France gritted its teeth and supported 80 of them and formed two flight regiments.

Moreover, France was more interested in the defense of the island than England, because the island was more important to them than to England. As long as the island was not taken away by the Romanians, then the French colonies were in peace.

In addition, Major General Dowding Hughes is a little less confident in his air power. Although Cyprus currently has a lot of fighters, it does not have the most advanced Spitfires at present, and there are hurricanes and a small number of gladiators in Cyprus.

Does Britain have the most advanced Spitfire in the Middle East?

Yes, and there are four more squadrons, but all in Egypt.

Because the defense of Egypt, or the defense of the Suez Canal, was the first priority for Britain, Cyprus was not worth the British deployment of this fighter to the island. You must know that Britain currently only has 16 squadrons of Spitfire fighters (butterfly effect), and it can draw a quarter, which is enough to see the importance that Britain attaches to Suez.

However, while Major General Dowding Hughes was in full swing to deploy, the first wave of fighters from the two sides met.

In the sky, both sides found the aspect.

"Catch up, 2nd and 3rd squadrons cover, and 1st squadron will go with me to take out enemy bombers."

Lead the commander of the British Air Force, commanding his own fighters to give tactical instructions.

"The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd escort squadrons stepped forward to intercept, and the 4th and 5th escort squadrons were responsible for covering, and we went up."

Following the instructions of the two sides, I saw that nearly 40 HF201 fighters immediately pounced, and more than 40 Hurricane fighters also met it.

And another group of British fighters who wanted to attack the bomber group were also stopped by the fighters of the 4th and 5th squadrons. Now the fighters of the two sides are fighting to the death in the air.

"Da, da, da~"

"Click, Tower, Tower~"

As soon as the two sides approached, the area was immediately filled with firepower, and the British 7.7 aviation machine guns from the Hurricane and the 20mm cannons and 12.7mm machine guns from the HF201 fighters played an aerial chorus.

It's just that the result of the air battle made the British, and two Hurricane fighters were heavily damaged at the beginning. One of them was supposed to have been hit by a 20mm cannon, its wings were broken in half, and the pilot felt that he could no longer control it. It swayed and flew like a drunk.

And this made the pilots on the British side frown a little, because they had heard about the air battle in Alexandria before. At that time, some surviving pilots complained that the firepower of their fighters was too poor, and the opponent was fine after fighting for half a day, and he was already powerless to fight anymore after being shuttled by the opponent.

I didn't expect to encounter this situation myself. It's just that in this situation, it is impossible to wait for them to change the cannon to fight, so they can only operate their own fighters and desperately bite the tail.

It's just that after entering the close-range grappling, they found that they basically couldn't bite the other party's tail, and the other party was the one who bit their tail, and no matter how they maneuvered, they couldn't get rid of it. Whether it is circling or accelerating, the Hurricane fighter piloted by himself is not the opponent of the enemy's HF201 at all.

So this is very uncomfortable, except for a few people who are more skilled enough to temporarily get rid of the enemy's rear-end chase, other fighters are in this predicament.

Such a battle was an ordeal for the British fighters, and the commander of the British fighter group could not stand it, and it was at this time that the enemy bombers were trying to bypass them and touch the island, so he immediately responded. "It can't go on like this, rush the enemy bombers."

So under the leadership of the commander, these Hurricane fighters immediately pounced on the bomber group, completely ignoring the HF201 fighters pursuing them behind them.