Major Kleiman gave several orders in quick succession after occupying the "eight o'clock" heights.

The first order was to garrison on high ground.

Because it is conceivable that the British army will soon attack the high ground to lift the German blockade of the airfield, otherwise the airfield will not be usable at all, or the British air force will suffer heavy losses if it is barely used.

However, this is obviously much better than before, after all, the condescending battle on the high ground can be regarded as occupying a geographical advantage, and there are many trees and vegetation on the high ground to hide, so it is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

The second order was to disperse the mortars and adjust the elements to blockade the airfield.

This is the main task of the First Movement Corps, and the blockade of the airfield is also the key to the success of the entire operation.

The third order was to send a telegram to the command to report the situation and call for help.

The main aspects of the call for help were the lack of mortars and ammunition in the hands of the Germans.

In total, the 1st Infantry Battalion carried only 24 80mm mortars, of which 8 mortars lost their position during the airborne landing...... This is a common occurrence when parachuting, especially when airdropping equipment, which is difficult to find on any tree or pit that falls into, and sometimes even airdropped into enemy positions.

As a result, the Germans were able to collect only 16 mortars, and four more were blown up during the battle, leaving only 12 mortars. And it is foreseeable that it will continue to decrease in future battles.

On the other hand, even the artillery shells used to block the airfield are seriously insufficient.

It is not difficult to imagine that even if the 1st Infantry Battalion could hold the "8 o'clock" heights, the 1st Infantry Battalion would not be able to function without mortars or enough shells to block the airfield.

Major Kleiman then requested the command to urgently drop mortars and shells.

Rommel, of course, knew the seriousness of the matter, and without saying a word, he immediately sent fighter planes to escort five transport planes carrying mortars and shells to the "eight o'clock" heights.

On the other side, Montgomery also received news of a full-scale German attack on Crete.

Montgomery, who has always been described as "unhurried", panicked at this time, because the situation of the war was developing in the direction of total collapse from the beginning......

First of all, three divisions of Italian troops and the German 90th Panzer Division, under the cover of the Italian fleet, were starting from the Greek island of Kythera and launching a landing battle on Crete in three parts......

The German and Italian troops had been in Sicily, Italy, but they had secretly assembled in the dark of the night two days earlier, and then moved to the Greek island of Kythera via the Strait of Messina at night.

The German and Italian armies imposed a total radio blockade on Kissirra, and did not allow any entry or exit from inside or outside the island, so that all communications on Kissira were cut off from the outside world, leaving the British completely unaware of what was happening here.

The second is that three airports on the island of Crete have been largely paralyzed.

Rethymnon Airport was not yet completed and could not take off and land fighters, Malemai Airport was occupied by the Germans, and the Irak Airport was blocked by the Germans.

This left the British in a completely passive state, because Montgomery did not even know whether to send fighters to Crete or not.

It is impossible not to send fighters, air superiority is the key to the battle on the islands, and not sending fighters almost means giving Crete to the German and Italian armies.

It is very dangerous to send fighters......

This danger did not come from the German fighters, in fact, Montgomery also knew that the German fighters were only a few minutes in the air over Crete, and they could hardly pose a threat to the British fighters, and it was even a good time for the British to beat the German fighters.

But here's the problem...... The British fighters were running out of fuel when they flew over Crete, and they had to land and refuel, but the airfields were under German control or blockade.

"Can we retake Malemai Airport?" Montgomery asked.

"Absolutely!" De Guengang replied: "It's just that what we get is probably a ruin, and the Germans will do everything possible to destroy the facilities of the airport and even blow up the runway...... Even if it is recaptured, it will not be available at Malemai Airport for a short time! ”

"Then it's just Irak Airport!" Montgomery said: "Order Colonel Smith to retake Heights 3 at all costs, and at the same time order all the reinforced air forces to replenish fuel and ammunition at Iraq airfield!" ”

"Yes, General!" This Degan answered.

This order was quickly executed.

Colonel Smith concentrated almost seventy or so guns of large and small calibers that could hit the high ground and bombarded the "eight o'clock" high ground.

Then the British 39th Infantry Regiment, which came to reinforce it, also joined the bombardment, and the shells rained down on the high ground where the Germans were stationed.

Qinchuan, located on the mountain, only felt that the whole mountain was shaking, and there were flying sand and rocks everywhere, as well as vegetation that had been blown up high by artillery shells.

But in reality, this kind of bombing by the British army did not have much effect, because the German soldiers were hiding in the anticline, and it was still on the edge of the hilltop position...... Anyone who has ever fought in a mountain battle knows that this part is the most difficult place for artillery shells to hit:

First of all, direct guns can be ignored, these low-elongation ballistics guns will be blocked by the other side if they are low, and if they are high, they will shoot directly over the hilltop position and far away to the other side.

It is still possible for curved artillery such as howitzers and mortars to hit this position, but the hilltop position is like the edge of a knife, and the area of the shell is very small, which means that the probability of being hit by the shell is very small.

As a result, although the British bombarded the Germans, the damage they could inflict on the Germans was very limited.

Then, as if trying to confirm the effect of their artillery fire, the British sent three infantry companies to outflank them from three directions.

The result can be imagined, a burst of random gunfire pressed the British army down.

The combat style of the British 14th Infantry Division is very much like that of the American army on the battlefield of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea...... It looked like a large surging upward, but a few bullets went down and a few fell back like a tidal wave, and then there was another heavy artillery fire.

It should be said that this style of play is understandable, because there is basically no shortage of ammunition for the airport, so they have the conditions to use ammunition to pile up.

However, this tactic of using ammunition piles did not seem to work at all, because every time a British fighter plane landed at the Ilak airfield, a volley of mortar shells would be fired from the German position to blow it up.

At this moment, another batch of transport planes flew over the airport in black pressure, and then dropped white parachutes one after another in the whistle of a piercing air defense siren.

"It's our people!" Werner exclaimed: "They are the Italian 'lightning division'!" ”

The German soldiers couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, even if they didn't believe in the fighting power of the Italians, it was good to have someone to share their pressure.