On 17 April, ground forces from both sides encountered on the southern shore of the Gulf of Sirte.

There was not much suspense in the result, and the Royal Army, which was dominated by infantry, held out for less than half a day before being defeated by the armored forces of the Hindan Army.

Although the remnants of Bran's army fled back to Tripoli, they surrendered by the end of April.

The Men did not pursue, as the Royal Navy's Continental Fleet of Bran had left port on the night of the 17th, and there was intelligence that they were coming to join the battle.

Fearing that the sea routes would be cut off and the logistics would not be able to keep up, the commander of the Ran army ordered the offensive to be halted after the defeat of the Bran army.

In addition, it is also related to another decision of the senior management of the company.

That's right, it's to turn back and attack Malta.

Judging from the situation at that time, it is likely that the land heart and sea fleet of the Royal Navy of Bran left Alexandria because they received reliable information, fearing that the Empire would send troops to attack Malta, so they thought of arranging for the "Royal Ark" to provide cover for Malta.

In addition, a number of combat aircraft were delivered to Malta by aircraft carriers.

All in all, with the situation at that time, Malta was already an important place that the two sides had to fight for desperately, and even decided the ownership of the Xuan Continent.

On 22 April, a decisive naval and air battle broke out between the two sides.

According to the battle report sent by the Empire, on the morning of the same day, a reconnaissance plane of the Empire Air Force spotted the "Ark Royal" accompanied by two cruisers in the waters southeast of Malta. The Manman Air Force immediately launched a bomber strike and sank the carrier.

At that time, when he received this battle report, Bai Zhizhan was taken aback.

If this is the case, the Royal Navy will almost lose Lu Xinhai's sea dominance, or it will definitely lose Lu Xinhai's sea dominance.

Also, is the Manman Air Force really that powerful?

In the previous year, on the other side of the North Sea, not even a single cruiser was sunk, let alone an aircraft carrier.

The Manman Air Force is really so powerful, I'm afraid that the Bran Kingdom would have been defeated and surrendered a long time ago.

However, three days later, on April 25, Bai Zhizhan's doubts about this report were confirmed.

The Ark Royal arrived at Telok Fortress and then left Lu Xinhai, and the Fury immediately appeared outside Telok Fortress.

That is, the Royal Navy of Bran replaced the "Ark Royal" with the "Fury".

It's just that the "Fury" did not go to the central waters of the Luxin Sea.

On 28 April, the Airborne Forces launched a campaign against the island of Malta.

Because the Bran army defending Malta was not reinforced, it was unable to pose a threat to the Terman Airborne Force or even to hold the main airfield.

The next day, the Buran army in trapped Tripoli surrendered.

It's not that there is no way to fight, but the logistics are cut off, and tens of thousands of wounded are not treated, so the commander of Bran's army must make a decision.

Having been bombed by the Imperial Expeditionary Air Brigade, the morale of the officers and men of Bran had long since collapsed.

Just a few days later, after gaining the main powers of autonomy and other powers, the government of the Locke colony officially declared that it recognized the Vichy government as the only legitimate power of the Locke state.

Subsequently, transport planes from the Manman Air Force sent the Vichy government officials there.

At this point, the area of Beixuan west of Benghazi fell into the hands of the Entente group.

In addition, there is enough information to prove that the "Ark Royal" was indeed bombed, but the damage was not too serious.

The aircraft carrier immediately went to the shipyard after returning to the kingdom of Bran, and the reason given by the Royal Navy of Bran was normal maintenance.

Obviously, this simply doesn't make sense.

Before participating in the battle to encircle and suppress the "Prime Minister", the "Ark Royal" was overhauled, and during this period it must have undergone comprehensive maintenance.

In the months since, the carrier has not carried out any difficult combat missions.

In wartime, aircraft carriers do not need anti-port maintenance.

Before the "Endeavour" was damaged, it had not undergone regular maintenance for more than half a year, and during this period, the officers and men of the fleet had been dealing with the problems that had been exposed.

According to the information released by the Newland Navy, the "Endeavour" also set a remarkable record.

Before returning to the New City shipyard, the carrier was deployed for a total of 1 year and 3 months, during which time it was not overhauled.

No matter how bad the Bran aircraft carrier is, it is impossible to return to the factory for maintenance every few months.

It can be seen that most of the "Ark Royal" was damaged by the bombing, and only then did it urgently return to the mainland, and the Royal Navy sent the "Fury" to replace it.

It's just that the next battle didn't go very well.

The problem was the Raleigh Navy.

On the first day of May, the Raleigh fleet was bombed northwest of the island of Malta, and the attack was launched by the Royal Navy Bran's Fury.

The aircraft carrier was maneuvered in place at night, and more than 20 carrier-based aircraft were dispatched in the early morning, which dealt a heavy blow to the Raleigh Navy's "Vittorio? Battleship "Veneto.

To be precise, almost sank this battleship.

Although in the ensuing counterattack, the Raleigh Air Force claimed to have sunk the Fury, the fact is that the Fury returned to Telok Fort two days later and was unscathed.

According to the battle report published by the Royal Navy of Bran, the "Fury" was not damaged, but only lost more than a dozen carrier-based aircraft.

Affected by this, the Raleigh Navy withdrew all the fleet.

The key is also to make it clear that as long as the "Fury" is active in Lu Xinhai, it will not let the fleet attack.

Of course, if the Imperial Navy can send aircraft carriers to fight in the Luxin Sea, it will be a different matter.

As a direct result of this, the Navy's forces had to start a diplomatic break-up operation in advance, allowing two large cruisers to attract firepower.

To put it simply, the Royal Navy of Bran now has only 1 fleet aircraft carrier available.

As long as the Fury can be lured away, it will be able to move forward with the attack on Malta and launch a combat operation to march on the Shifan Canal.

It can be seen that the Manman Empire is now also difficult to ride a tiger.

The main armored forces of the army have already gone to the Beixuan region, and the airborne troops have also landed in Malta, and even if they want to retreat, they will have to rely on sea.

The Raleigh Kingdom left the pick, and the Riman Empire could only go into battle in person.

On 5 May, the Scharnhorst and Gleisenau left the port.

The "Prime Minister" and three armored cruisers were sent away, and the "Admiral" was not built, and these two large cruisers were the belongings of the Yama Navy.

When the north set on the ocean, it was suddenly overcast.

The next day, the "Fury" left Lu Xinhai through the Zhiluo Strait.

Fortunately, on the Maltese side, after strenuous efforts, especially the risky dispatch of transport convoys under the direct command of the Horman Army, to bring vital ammunition and heavy equipment ashore, the Ferman Airborne Force, which had been supplied by airdrop, was finally able to show its strength.

On 7 May, after completing the deployment adjustments, the Airborne Forces launched a general offensive.

On the same day, two large cruisers of the Palman Navy encountered the home fleet of the Royal Navy in the North Sea.

After a short battle, before contact to be exact, the fleet turned to retreat and decisively abandoned the march into the North Sunset.

Nothing surprising, this was a feint.

Also on this day, a large convoy of convoys arrived in Alexandria, delivering a large number of armored weapons to the Bran army in the Northern Xuan region. 8)