The surrender of the Mosta defenders disrupted the British defenders' plans to counterattack at night. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Not all British soldiers were determined to fight to the death, at least in 1940, when Britain was losing ground and surrendering was clearly more acceptable than fighting to the last.

After the German paratroopers had surrounded Mosta, they made two tentative attacks, and after capturing some buildings, the British defenders surrendered their weapons and raised white flags.

About 300 of these soldiers came from the British colonies such as India and Nepal, and the combat effectiveness of the colonial army itself was far from that of the British army.

Now that they had surrendered, no one was surprised—and not anyone, for the British on the island were surprised, for they had intended to relieve Mosta by night.

In London, the British capital, the door of Churchill's office was knocked on by the attendants, and a British officer walked into the prime minister's office uneasily, and then stood upright.

He handed Churchill the document in his hand and reported worriedly: "Sir! German paratroopers have already captured Most...... The battle for Malta, we are already quite passive. ”

"When will the reinforcements arrive in Malta?" Churchill raised his head, put down the pen in his hand, and asked the officer.

The officer's face was even more embarrassed, he lowered his eyes, staggered Churchill's gaze and replied, "Sir, the 2,000 men from Alexandria have just begun to board the ship......

Churchill also knew that Britain's preparations for war had become very passive for fear of the Germans' espionage, and his decision to reinforce Malta at all costs was also a temporary decision, and he contacted General Cannanning directly.

It can be said that this decision crossed many British generals, and even the decision was made by Churchill himself.

In order to achieve such secrecy, Churchill was under a lot of pressure, because if the operation failed, he would be held accountable alone.

"That damn spy, haven't found it yet?" Knowing that Britain might be a bad player in the battle for the island of Malta, Churchill asked another question with some dismay.

Since the last time the H fleet lost the battleship Resolve due to leaks, this "German spy" seemed to have disappeared, and no flaws or traces were revealed.

It was as if he had disappeared and did not exist at all, so that the British top brass could not do anything.

"The intelligence services are still combing through the investigation...... Sir. The officer stopped talking, as if he wanted to say something to Churchill, but finally gave up.

Churchill knew that his henchman had something to say, so he opened his mouth and gave the other party a chance to say what he wanted to say: "If you have anything to say, just say it to me." ”

When his confidant officer heard the prime minister say this, he quickly spoke: "The investigation team has already interrogated me, twice...... I knew it was work, so I was very cooperative...... But. ”

He paused for a moment, and found that Churchill did not answer, so he had to say to himself: "But now they are investigating my lover and son...... Sir, our family's lives have been disrupted. ”

Hearing his subordinates say this, Churchill also realized the seriousness of the problem. If it weren't for the unbearable, his henchmen should be very cooperative with the detection work.

Since the henchmen are no longer unhappy with this matter, it is conceivable that other people's opinions on this matter should have reached the verge of breaking out.

"It seems that the search for German spies must stop." Churchill pinched the bridge of his nose with a headache, feeling a hint of weakness.

For high-ranking British officers, even with the rank of rear admiral, the intelligence department conducted searches in every house, which has indeed made the navy department complain.

The situation is slightly better on the army side, and although the investigators are also monitoring many senior generals, the intensity is much lower than that of the navy.

On the night of the 23rd, Churchill ordered the temporary suspension of the frustrating internal inspections, and ordered the Navy Command and the Army Command to return to work as soon as possible and redeploy strategically against Malta.

Also on this day, 200 Luftwaffe twin-engine bombers took off from southern Italy and carried out a destructive bombing campaign against Valletta.

That night, the sound of explosions did not stop. On the ground, the German paratroopers, who had stopped their advance, looked at the constantly exploding horizon in the distance and enjoyed a fairly good night.

The expected British counterattack did not come, on the contrary, the British withdrew from Zebuj that night and transferred their troops to Gormi.

At the same time, the British drew 500 men from the airfield and strengthened the Sijvi garrison.

The British front-line commander hoped that he could use this transfer to block the German paratroopers in the middle of the island, so that they could no longer threaten the airfield and Valletta.

From a strategic point of view, the decision to defend the airport and Valletta without the Maltese garrison of Mosta was already the most correct judgment.

However, this is the best choice they can make from the perspective of sticking to the help.

Helplessly, that night, Cannann received an order from Churchill to give up support for Malta, and the 2,000 British reinforcements that had been loaded on ships and ready to go to sea were re-disbanded.

Churchill felt that having lost Malta Mosta, he had lost the possibility of continuing to hold on.

Canning also believed that taking on the responsibility of sending another 2,000 men to Malta to die would cost him the position of commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, so he complied with Churchill's orders.

The reinforcements were canceled, and the defenders of Malta did not yet know about it. They are still waiting for reinforcements from their own and are trying to hold their defensive positions.

Time passed like this, minute by minute, until the early morning of the 24th, there were no more waves on the island of Malta.

After breakfast, the Germans began to tentatively attack Zebdi. As a result, while Brown was standing on the road with his weapon on his back, waiting for the front-line scouts to bring back the enemy's situation, Zebdy was occupied by German scouts.

Without wasting a single shot, the German paratroopers drove into Zebdy, looking curiously at the buildings on both sides, walking through the empty streets and through the city.

They did not hear the shouts of victory, nor were they welcomed by the locals, they simply passed by with their own weapons and hurried to the city where the British were in front of them.

Unlike yesterday, in the sea directly north of Valletta, Malta's largest city, a huge fleet has spread out its formation.

The landing fleet of the Italian Navy, led by two Cavour-class battleships, arrived in the designated sea area on schedule.

Mussolini, having received the events of the Battle of Oran from the German Navy, was furious with his admirals.

He ordered that it must be necessary to use 10,000 courage to complete the landing battle in Malta.

So, in the early morning of the 24th, the advance of the landing force, composed of the Italian Blackshirts, began to board their own dinghy in the cool Mediterranean breeze and prepare to land in Malta.

At the same time, the large-caliber naval guns of the Italian Navy began to violently shell important military targets on the island of Malta.

The Cavour-class battleships were modernized and had 10 guns of 320 mm caliber.

This main gun was bored and milled from the 305 mm caliber main gun that the original battleships of this class were equipped with...... Although there is some feeling of coping with errands, and the ability to attack the sea is also worrying, it can be used to deal with shore targets, but it is more than enough.

At about 7 o'clock in the morning of the same day, the Italian fleet shelled Valletta fiercely, and the pressure on the British defenders doubled.

At the same time, the Luftwaffe and the Italian Air Force inflicted massive air strikes on the positions of the British defenders.

Black smoke was still rising from the bombed city of Valletta last night, and the fire had not yet been completely extinguished.

By this time, there were air raids and artillery bombardment, and the British defenders were already tending to collapse. These poor men held out in the trenches, waiting for reinforcements that were impossible to arrive......

Lyman watched from Zebdy five kilometers away, shell after shell fell, and then black smoke rose to obscure the sky.

He was a poor paratrooper who had almost never been supported by such heavy artillery fire. On the contrary, he was often exposed to such heavy artillery fire, praying that he would survive the hellish conditions.

Now, as he watched one large-caliber shell after another explode on enemy positions, he felt a sense of schadenfreude in his heart.

"I heard that we have prepared 3,000 people, this afternoon, take the opportunity to directly airborne the airport?" When Lyman was on his way, he heard some gossip from the battalion commander.

The squad leader nodded, showing off his level of gossip: "That's right, as soon as the attack of the Italians is blocked, they will activate the contingency plan, parachute 3,000 people from behind the enemy, forcibly seize the airfield, and flank the British from the other side." ”

The attack plan drawn up by Li Le and Student can be described as a lion fighting a rabbit and using all their strength -- most of the paratroopers are passively used, even if the paratroopers alone capture Malta is a knife to kill the chicken.

"Sounds like a good plan, I've heard the British are holding on to it." Lyman kept inquiring about things at the front.

It seems that the new paratrooper regiment is storming Sijvi, but there are about 1,000 British soldiers there, and they are fighting stubbornly on the city's defenses.

The German paratroopers, who had not succeeded for a while, met with resolute resistance from the British troops in the north at Birkirkara and Gormy.

Even under the fierce shelling of the Italian Navy, the main British forces showed the integrity of an old military power, and did not take a step back within two hours.

Soon, however, they were enraged by a message from one of their own: Cannin had cancelled reinforcements to Malta, and the British troops in Alexandria were still in place......