Gibraltar was the last British colony on the European continent and is located on a narrow peninsula on the Mediterranean coast at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.

Gibraltar is about 4.6 kilometers long from north to south and 1.2 kilometers wide from east to west, with an area of about 5.8 square kilometers. The total population is about 30,000, of which Gibraltar has a local population of about 20,000.

There are no rivers, no springs, no arable land, and the inhabitants rely on external supplies for vegetables, food and fresh water.

Gibraltar may be a small place, but it is a battleground for all soldiers.

Geographically, Gibraltar is the bridgehead on the northern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar and is able to effectively control the sea lanes. It is only a dozen kilometers away from the port of Ceuta on the southern shore of the strait, and it is easy to blockade the strait.

After the opening of the Suez Canal in the 19th century, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal played a role in shortening the maritime distance between the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

Since Valentine's Day, 14 February, when Spain declared its accession to the Axis powers and declared war on Britain, the British defenders of the fortress of Gibraltar have been put on Level 1 combat readiness for the coming big war.

When the German Army Group Gibraltar marched into Spain, the first thing it sent to the defenders was neither artillery shells nor raining aerial bombs, but a messenger of peace.

The main defensive building of the fortress, the general command room inside the mountain tunnel of Mount Gibraltar.

The Governor of Gibraltar, Lord Lieddale, sat behind his desk and looked arrogantly at the German Major General with a black cloth on his face. Gracefully wave his hand to his subordinates.

A sergeant removes the black cloth from the face of a German major general. Then he stood at the door with the revolver on his waist. Staring at the uninvited guest.

"General, report your name, military rank." Sir Lieddale said, his chin raised.

"I am Major General Steiner, commander of the 5th Viking Division of the German Waffen-SS, and I am here on the orders of General Manstein, commander of the Gibraltar Army"

Sir Lieddale interrupted Steiner with a wave of his hand, and casually pointed to the chair across from his desk and said, "You may be seated, General Steinner." ”

A hint of gloom flashed across Steiner's face as he sat down unceremoniously across from Lieddale.

"Is there no one in the Waffen-SS German Army? Sending your police forces to attack Gibraltar is a bit too light. Although we are enemies, I still want to ask you to bring a message to your superiors, underestimating the enemy is the greatest original sin of a commander. In the spirit of taking responsibility for the lives of soldiers, I suggest that your superiors better send real soldiers to fight, rather than a group of police officers who can only terrorize civilians and maintain law and order during military parades. Lieddale stared at Steiner and admonished in a serious manner.

"First of all, I would like to thank Mr. Governor for his advice. Underestimating the enemy is the greatest original sin of a commander, and this is what I would like to say to you most after listening to the advice of Mr. Governor. Steiner said-for-tat.

"Since General Steiner did not accept my kindness, I can only express regret. You can now tell what you want to do. Li Dedale pursed his lips, and there was a really regretful look on his face.

"I want to say two things. The first thing is to tell Mr. Governor that your resistance is pointless, and in order to avoid senseless casualties, I ask you to order surrender, and we will guarantee you the treatment corresponding to your rank. ”

Steiner's fierce gaze was fixed on Lieddale, waiting for his answer.

Lieddale raised his right hand indifferently, first comparing a three, then a two.

Seeing the uncertain expression on Steiner's face, Lieddell smiled confidently.

"If you want me to surrender, you need to be mentally prepared to fight for three years and lose 200,000 people, can you accept this result?"

"Mr. Governor is really optimistic about the situation of the war, and I admire your optimism, albeit blind optimism." Steiner shot back unflinchingly.

"When the Americans were fighting for independence, the Spaniards thought that the power of the British Empire was being held back in the Americas, and their opportunity had come. They wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to occupy Gibraltar, and for the sake of insurance, they also colluded with the French. What is the result? In two years, the blood of the French and Spaniards stained the mountains of Gibraltar red, and the wreckage of the combined French and Spanish fleets was able to circle the Strait of Gibraltar, and you will not end up better than the Franco-Spanish forces of the past. Lieddale said proudly.

"Since Mr. Governor is so confident in victory, let's wait together for the outcome of the war, and we will certainly meet again when the war is over, and at that time, I hope you will continue to maintain your present optimism." Steiner said.

"We can wait for the outcome of the war together, can we tell you the second thing?" Lieddale said.

"The second thing is for humanitarian reasons, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, we will provide two days of peace for you to evacuate the civilians of the Gibraltar area, relying on your own strength, I am afraid that sea transport will not be able to do this important task, we will open the land passage to Spain, and then send them to England by merchant ships. For the sake of the safety of those civilians, Mr. Governor, I ask you to give careful consideration to our proposals. Steiner said.

The nonchalant expression on Lieddale's face faded away, replaced by a thoughtful look.

"Two days, 20,000 people, time is short." Lieddale banged on the table and muttered to himself.

"I'm sorry. We will only be able to offer a maximum of two days, after which we will carry out an indiscriminate attack and all those who remain in Gibraltar will be considered our enemies. ”

Steiner continued to put pressure on Lieddale.

Li Dedale frowned and said, "I will cooperate with your actions and evacuate all civilians within two days." ”

Over the next two days, the inhabitants of Gibraltar and their families divided into two routes, the smaller ones boarding ships directly at the port, and the more numerous entering Spain via the northern isthmus. He was then taken on a train to the port of A Coruña in northwestern Spain to board a ship for England.

The isthmus junction that connects Gibraltar to Spain and the marina of A Coruña. German and Spanish journalists set up cameras and cameras. The photographs of Gibraltarians living far away from home were then published in the newspaper with the brilliant pen of various editors, vividly expressing the humanitarian spirit of Germany and Spain, and earning enough moral capital for the governments of the two countries.

The main body of the Gibraltar area is a large elongated rock extending from the continental shelf into the Mediterranean Sea on the eastern side of the northern part of the Strait of Gibraltar, and this huge rock is called Mount Gibraltar.

On the north side of the mountain is the isthmus connecting Spain, on the east and south sides of the mountain is the sea, and on the western slope to the shore is densely packed with houses and port facilities.

The port faces the Spanish port of Algeciras to the west by a bay about eight kilometers wide.

Chen Dao was in a secret coastal defense fortress near the port of Algeciras, and Major Koch, commander of the 101st Special Air Service Battalion, and Major Hegel, commander of the Blackwater Special Reconnaissance Battalion, were carefully studying the deployment map of Gibraltar.

Chen Dao has always been a humble person. In the face of a rare battle, the target was still the fortress of Gibraltar, which is known as the first fortress in the world, and of course he would not miss the opportunity to learn and improve himself, so he asked the naval command for leave to study in Spain.

After carefully reading the defense maps and information provided by the Spaniards, Chen Dao and the three of them couldn't help but feel a headache.

Should it be said that the intelligence services of the Spaniards were incompetent, or that the British did a good job of secrecy? The information provided by the Spanish army was sketchy and only better than nothing.

Chen Dao couldn't help the uneasiness and dissatisfaction in his heart, got up and walked to the lookout hole of the fortress, picked up the telescope and looked at Gibraltar to the east.

At this time, the weather was sunny and the view was good, and Chen Dao clearly saw a huge rock standing in the sea.

Think of the top view on the map. The monolith was shaped like a gigantic battleship, crammed with countless heavy guns and anti-aircraft guns of various calibers. There were many British troops hiding in the mountains waiting to slaughter the Germans, and the pressure in Chen Dao's heart doubled.

Only know yourself, don't know the other, this battle is not easy to fight.

Not to mention the sacrifice of 200,000 people, it is also an unqualified victory for Germany to sacrifice 20,000 people to take this isolated peninsula.

As for the final number of casualties, it depends on Manstein's commanding art, and I hope that his name as one of the three great generals of the German Army is not blown out.

While Chen Dao observed the mountains of Gibraltar, Liddell was inspecting Gibraltar's defenses.

The heavy firepower of the fortified Gibraltar was 155 mm in the north and north-west, 233 mm in the east and southeast, a mixed 233 mm and 155 mm gun group in the far south, and the strongest firepower of the fort - 20 381 mm coastal guns, and more than 200 heavy guns of all calibers above 150 mm.

Most of these heavy guns were hidden in the mountains of granite bodies, and the main turret was covered with reinforced concrete covers up to three meters thick, which were also covered by homogeneous thick steel plates.

In addition to the heavy guns, there were nearly 300 small and medium-caliber guns, such as 25-pound guns, 75-mm guns, and Bofors 40-mm anti-aircraft guns, scattered scattered throughout the peninsula.

The roads leading to the fortress were littered with minefields, barbed wire, machine-gun bunkers, and various obstacles, along with 14,000 defenders familiar with the terrain, and enough food and ammunition to sustain two years of combat.

Standing on the slopes of Mount Gibraltar on the west side of the mountain, Lieddale couldn't help but be filled with ambition as he watched the last civilians leave the residential area and head north.

Tomorrow is the day of war, and I will rebuild the glory of Gibraltar with the blood and corpses of the Germans and Spaniards, as I did one hundred and forty years ago, and write my own history. "Woohoo"

A shrill whistle came from the harbor, interrupting Liddell's infinite reverie.

A light cruiser and two destroyers slowly pulled anchor and set sail for the south.

They were the last warships of the H Fleet stationed at the port of Gibraltar.

After the Mediterranean Fleet suffered heavy losses, the Royal Navy collectively recognized the powerful destructive power of the air force on naval ships, and when the Luftwaffe began to enter Spain, the H Fleet's aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, the battlecruiser Prestige, and a number of light warships left one after another, taking with them a number of civilians.

The departure of these three ships declared the British Army to be the last defender of Gibraltar.

As for the RAF, with the humble airfield on the northern isthmus and the paltry twelve Hurricanes on it, Leedevin was sure that they would not survive the first day's battle.

In this great battle, it was the great British Army that sang the leading role, and God favored the Army.

In the early hours of the next day, six FI-156 reconnaissance planes took off from two military airfields in northwestern and southwestern Spain, respectively, and then conducted maritime reconnaissance according to their respective sea areas.

About an hour later, each of the six reconnaissance planes sent a telegram saying that no trace of the British Royal Navy warship had been found within 200 to 300 kilometers of northern, western and southwestern Spain.

At eight o'clock in the morning, the roar of engines was deafening at the airport on the outskirts of Seville, an important city in southern Spain.

A group of bombers consisting of a group of Do-17Z medium bombers and a group of He-111 medium bombers flew mightily over the fortress of Gibraltar, opening the prelude to the Battle of Gibraltar.

The last 12 RAF Hurricanes to remain in Gibraltar took off with great courage, but were besieged by 24 ME-109 fighters.

Thirty-six fighters pursued, rolled, and fired at each other in the sky, and against the blue background of the sky, the white wake, billowing black smoke, and scorching fire of the fighters of both sides were dotted with it, and the roar of the onboard cannons and machine guns came and went.

The excitement in the sky soon spread to the earth and the sea, and twelve Hurricane fighters fell to the ground and sea one after another, and thick clouds of smoke and fire rose from the ground in the explosion.

Where the white parachutes landed, the Spanish and German soldiers heroically rushed forward, and soon escorted back the British pilots who had been captured one by one.

It didn't take long for the Spanish Navy's coastal patrol boats to bring back two British pilots who looked like chickens in soup.

Driving away the "flies" that were in the way, 68 bombers flew over the British airfield and dropped bombs against the anti-aircraft guns of the airport guards.

680 50-kilogram bombs with 272 250-kilogram bombs were woven into a huge carpet that covered the Gibraltar airport.

The firelight and white smoke dissipated, the baby-like runway turned into the surface of the moon, the tall hangars and navigation towers were reduced to rubble, and the two anti-aircraft artillery positions unfortunately covered by the "carpet" also lost their vitality, leaving only stumps and broken arms and blood-stained parts everywhere.

At the cost of two bombers shot down and four damaged, the Second Air Force completely destroyed Gibraltar airport in a single bombing.

At the headquarters of the Second Air Force, Chen Dao and Marshal Kesselring went through a stack of photos that had been urgently developed, and finally confirmed that the pockmarked face in the photos was the former Gibraltar airport.

"In two and a half days, the navy, air force and civilians of the British were driven out, and the clearance operation was successfully completed. Chen Dao shouted excitedly.

Major Bach hurriedly pulled out a palm-sized wooden tag from the briefcase he was carrying with him and fastened it on the table.

"Please, Marshal Kesselring." Chen Dao smiled and invited Marshal Kesselring to turn over the first sign.

Kesselring kept his usual smile and casually lifted a wooden card, and Chen Dao followed with it, flipping up a wooden card, revealing the number underneath.

"Bombing area number four and bombing area number seven." The operational staff quickly conveyed the order and marked it on the map.

"That guy named Li De Devin dared to shout that he wanted to kill 200,000 of us, and we will let him taste the power of carpet bombing. We also want him to know that he is nothing more than a flipped brand in our eyes. Chen Dao casually threw away the wooden card in his hand and said with a sneer. (To be continued......)