Tomorrow is 515, the anniversary of the starting point, and the day with the most benefits. In addition to the gift bag and school bag, this time's "515 Red Envelope Flip" must be seen, how can there be a reason not to grab the red envelope, set the alarm clock high~

PS: Tomorrow's first shift will be adjusted from around 0:00 to 12:00 noon, and the second shift will be at 8:00 pm, thank you for your support.

In the middle of the night on December 11, Field Marshal Kesselring, commander-in-chief of the German Southern Front, arrived in Crete with the main force of the Italian fleet aboard the battleship Veneto, the flagship of the Italian Navy.

After the Kungunir plan was quickly launched and the first wave of successful landings was achieved, Hoffman immediately requested the Italian Navy to send out support and provide fire support according to the deployment of the overall combat plan, although the Italians promised very quickly, but the movement was slow and the progress was very slow, and the naval command received the order to sail at 10 o'clock in the morning, but until 4 o'clock in the afternoon it was still busy preparing ammunition, fuel, supplies, personnel and other pre-departure preparations, which made Kesselring anxious. After the establishment of the German-Italian joint command system, although Germany had stationed liaison officers on all warships, if the Italians wanted to delay, they could not do anything with liaison officers alone.

Kesselring knew that the Italians did have difficulties: first, for maximum secrecy, Germany did not inform the Italians in advance, and the Italian Navy not only did not know the content and details of the battle plan, but also did not even know that Germany had such a big operation, and when Kessellin was ordered to report to Mussolini, the latter's mouth was so surprised that his mouth opened wide into an O-shape; The second is that Italians are by nature - accustomed to grinding, accustomed to procrastination. Hastily ordering the main force of the whole fleet to set sail was indeed a little difficult for them; The third is the unspeakable fear of difficulties -- the Italian navy and the Royal Navy have fought many times, and they have repeatedly suffered losses and setbacks, and they frown when they hear that they will have to fight the British, especially the British navy.

So the commander-in-chief of the Italian navy, Admiral Angelo Iyakino, was arguing with Kesselring about the lack of preparation. On the one hand, he offered to be covered by planes (he was frightened by the German air support at the Battle of Cape Matapan), and the argument remained inconclusive until the afternoon, and in order to speed up the progress, Kesselring could only call Mussolini to urge him, who, although he agreed well, complained to him on the phone that the Führer and the German High Command had not given advance notice and had caused the present confusion, with the implication that the Germans must be fully responsible.

But by the evening of the same day, the situation had ceased to exist - after the telegram of the German naval aviation having destroyed all the main ships of the British Mediterranean Fleet had been transmitted to Italy at half past five o'clock in the afternoon. The Italians couldn't sit still, and all their movements began to speed up, and the slow pace turned into a full field of galloping. Admiral Iaquino patted his chest and told Kesselring that he would set sail on time at 6 o'clock, and that he would not say anything about the air support he had been asking for, and that the British planes would not be able to move that night, and that they would enter the Cretan air defense circle after dawn.

And after hearing the news that the Führer himself was in command on the spot on the island of Crete and that Germany had won a great victory, Mussolini immediately called the dock. In the microphone, not only did he scold Iyakino in front of Kesselring. He also asked with concern if he wanted any additional support, such as aircraft, armored units, etc., and even insisted on sending the Italian Young Fascist Division to accompany the Germans to land. After dealing with the leader for so many years, Kesselring clearly knew Mussolini's calculations, but he didn't want to say it, he only said that the time was urgent, and it was too late to send the army.

The two sides kept tugging on the phone for 10 minutes, and Kesselring, who knew the temper of the leader, finally released a big killing weapon, promising to call him when the city was held after the capture of Cairo. In addition, it was also guaranteed that the Italian paratrooper brigade, which was fighting the Tobruk front, would be the representative of the Italian troops entering the city to be paraded. Mussolini was overjoyed and felt that he had a lot of face, so he naturally didn't care about the lack of timely notice. In the end, Kesselring felt that it was inconvenient to discourage the Italians too much, so he asked the leader to coordinate the Italian air force to suppress the British naval and air forces on the island of Malta, so as not to cause trouble at the critical moment of the landing, which Mussolini assured with a pat on his chest.

After putting down the microphone, Iyakino smiled awkwardly at Kessellin, hoping that the other party would not take the afternoon dispute to heart, to which Kessellin generously expressed his understanding - the only reason for the navy's slow preparation was the leader's own thoughts, but he still felt strange about Mussolini's deferential behavior.

In the official residence of the Italian Prime Minister in Rome, Mussolini put down his phone and began to pace triumphantly, while his son-in-law and foreign minister, Count Ziano, asked with concern: "Leader, do you think it is possible for the Germans to lie about the war?" ”

Mussolini thought for a moment and said seriously: "Unlikely, I know the Führer himself, he is a bit fond of bragging, big talk, but he will never lie to me directly." ”

"Do you really believe that the British Mediterranean Fleet is finished."

"Of course!" Mussolini laughed meaningfully, "If this were not the case, his Great German division would be finished, and even he himself would be finished—haven't you heard that he is now on the island?" ”

"So there is great hope for war in Egypt."

Mussolini nodded: "Although the Germans concealed our bitterness, it was indeed a good plan by surprise, no one expected that during the fierce battle in the direction of Tobruk, he would actually station heavy troops on the island of Crete, and even dare to force a landing without naval cover - this kind of courage is not to mention that the British could not think of it, I dare not think of it." ”

"It's not completely uncovered, they still have a small fleet."

"Adolf is still a treasure for the little tatters of the French, and now he is not praying for our fleet to cooperate? It shows that we can't play without the Mediterranean. Mussolini himself put gold on his face, "He knew that the British and American fleets were about to land in Egypt, and without reliable naval cover, his little force would sooner or later be swallowed by the Allies." ”

"You're looking forward to him planting a big fight?" Ziano asked curiously.

"No, I hope he succeeds! We are only good if he succeeds. Mussolini nodded at Ciano, "You will also be a leader in the future, don't be discouraged for a little thing, be broad-minded, what's wrong with the Germans winning the war?" At least our colonies should be fully recovered, and even more - Adolf promised us a share of the Sudan and allowed us to build a direct corridor between Libya and Ethiopia through Sudanese territory. In addition, there are a lot of British colonies in Central Africa, South Africa, and the Middle East waiting for us to pick up, and do you think the British can get up again after falling? ”

"That'...... Both the Goshawk and the Empire were given to them? ”

Although Mussolini looked pained, he finally said resolutely: "If they like it, they will give it to them, and if they don't give it to them anyway, they will force us to fight with him, so let's give it, and besides, we don't suffer." ”

On the issue of aid to Italy, Hoffmann was more generous than Hitler, not only personally promising a series of benefits to Italy after the recovery of North Africa, but also supporting Italy in other aspects: in recent months, even if there has been a shortage of fuel supply and need to rely on reserves to solve it, there is no shortage of fuel supply for Italy; The main warships of the Italian Navy were equipped with radars, so that they could get rid of the dilemma of being blind in night battles; The Goshawk aircraft carrier and the Reich battleship, which were halted halfway through construction due to a shortage of materials, were also directly helped by the German side -- due to the lack of qualified sailors in Italy and the lack of capital ships in the German Mediterranean Fleet, according to the German-Italian agreement on joint forces, both ships were under the direct control of the German Navy at that time, and they were returned to Italy after the war.

In October and November alone, Germany gave more than 100 replaced No. 3 tanks, 200 captured British or Russian tanks (mainly T-70\T-60 and KV), more than 100 37mm anti-tank guns, 800 aircraft engines, and also helped Italy improve its air defense system, improve its industrial layout and technical system, and the Italians only provided part of the military rations and logistical supplies. The biggest contribution was to provide Germany with 600,000 workers – and Italy would not be able to accommodate that many people anyway.

With Mussolini's clear instructions and the annihilation of the old rivals, the morale of the Italian Navy was suddenly so high that it exploded, and the speed of work suddenly accelerated, in order to seize time, the overall speed ran at a speed of 21 knots, and even the Z-shaped route that was usually prepared to avoid submarines was ignored, and Kesselring shook his head again and again, but the Maltese submarine probably did not expect that the main force of the Italian Navy would run wild overnight, all the way safe, and finally arrived in Crete in a hurry.

Hofmann had expected the attitude towards the Italians, and had even prepared for the worst if the Italian fleet would not come, and now it seemed that Kesselring was still very good at doing things, and the Italian leader, who had always been unreliable, had rarely done a clever thing, and he did not ask about the merits of the process, but only thanked Iaquino for his arrival.

The huge landing fleet has also returned to Crete, the second wave of the landing of the Viking Division, the 20th Motorized Division, the paratrooper brigade and a large number of supplies are stepping up to board the ship, with the assistance of the Italian fleet and ships, the speed of boarding is faster, Marshal Rommel with his own command finally got on the ship, these troops will be temporarily formed together with the Greater German Division The "Canal" Army Group will be responsible for the task of attacking Egypt and the Middle East, Hoffmann also wanted to follow, but after being persuaded by everyone to give up, he promised to stay on the island and wait for news, Wait for Rommel to take Cairo and Alexandria before entering.

As he shook hands and said goodbye, Hoffman reminded him with a smile: "I finally did everything I promised in early September." ”

Rommel didn't expect Hoffman to remember this stubble, his eyes suddenly turned red, and he choked up and said: "Führer, I shouldn't ......"

Hoffmann patted him on the shoulder and encouraged: "Alright, alright, don't talk about this, I will wait for the news of your victory, and your exploits will always be remembered by the German nation!" ”

PS.5.15 "Starting Point" is raining red envelopes! Starting at 12 noon, grab a round every hour, and a large wave of 515 red envelopes depends on luck. You all go and grab it, and the starting coins you grabbed continue to subscribe to my chapters! (To be continued.) )