The warm winter sun shines on the rippling waters of the western Mediterranean and the islands dotted on the sea. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info Among these charming jewels, there is a small but strategically important island, which is known as the "heart of the Mediterranean". Over the course of its history, the island has been ruled by Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Ostrogoths, Arabs, Normans, and in modern times, by France, England, and Germany. In 1932, the Germans handed it over to the Italians in exchange for Italy's entry into the war......

This is Malta, the place where soldiers have fought since ancient times!

Seventeen years later, Austria-Hungary and the new United Kingdom jointly launched a war against Italy. On this day, the Italian officers and soldiers stationed at the Halfar Air Base on the island of Malta heard the news, and the ground crew opened the hangar door, prepared the fighters parked here for combat maintenance, and then dragged them to the tarmac one by one, refilled them with ammunition and refueled, and under the summons of General Giuseppe Moretti, the ace pilot of World War II, the pilots belonging to the 5th Fighter Wing of the Royal Italian Air Force came to the combat duty room of the base to listen to the lecture.

Unlike the military and political officials who only talk about it, General Moretti is always concise and factual in his words, he can use a few words to motivate young pilots, and he can also use a few words to make his top pilots put aside their arrogant and frivolous mentality. It was not easy to get control of Malta from the Germans, and the Italian top brass attached great importance to the military defense here, strengthened and expanded the defense system left by the Germans, and deployed more than 20,000 officers and soldiers and a considerable number of auxiliary personnel here. Malta's air alert defense is shared by the 5th Fighter Wing and the 11th Fighter Wing, according to the military establishment established by the Italian General Staff in 1944, the two air wings should be equipped with 244 fighters at full strength - all of them are the latest Markey MC.205 "Hound Dog" or Fiat G.55 "Centaur", but the actual number of fighters in the 5th and 11th Fighter Wings is 92 and 89 respectively, which is less than 75% of the full strength. And the MC.205 and G.55 with better performance combined are less than 100 units.

Malta guards the important sea route between Europe and Africa, and the past wars have always revolved around naval warfare and naval and land offensive and defensive warfare, but with the progress of military science and technology and war awareness, the war mode has changed from a flat to a three-dimensional, and the air force, which was born in the shortest time, has become the most important and decisive branch of the armed forces. Malta is nearly 600 kilometers away from the Strait of Otranto in a straight line and 650 kilometers from the nearest air base in Austria-Hungary, while the effective combat radius of both active and bomber aircraft is usually more than 800 kilometers. However, if the Austro-Hungarian air force wanted to attack Malta without being intercepted by fighters deployed in the southern part of the Italian mainland, it would have to make a big detour, so that the combat range would already exceed the normal combat radius of land-based fighters.

The Royal Italian Air Force would not feel too much pressure to deal with the threat of Austria-Hungary alone, but the new United Kingdom was an extraordinary adversary. In the first battle of the Otranto Strait, they only dispatched more than 200 carrier-based aircraft, and they blew up the main Italian fleet, which could summon hundreds of fighters to protect it at any time. In view of the existence of the new United Kingdom Navy Task Force Combat Fleet, the possibility of Malta being attacked by enemy air raids increased dramatically, so General Moretti assigned the three brigades to which the wing belonged to a compact duty standby duty, with the first group being dedicated to long-range vigilance, the second group being responsible for close-range patrols, and the third group being on call at any time. All pilots will be canceled on leave, and of course, the combat allowance will also be paid from now on.

Following the operational deployment meeting, Royal Italian Air Force Lieutenant Hernán Garopa followed Captain Danielle Pavarini out of the door of the combat duty room. The pair have known each other for 10 years and have been part of the 5th Fighter Wing for more than eight years, and long-serving pilots like them abound in the RAF. On the one hand, the salaries of pilots in the Royal Italian Air Force are very good, more than 50% higher than those of officers of the same rank in the army and navy, and the room for promotion is relatively larger; On the other hand, in recent years, Italy's economic situation has been good and bad, the operation of civil airlines is still unstable, it is difficult to provide long-term and stable jobs for retired pilots, coupled with the airlines' preference to hire German pilots, most of the best pilots of the Royal Italian Air Force will serve until the mandatory retirement age, which undoubtedly makes the combat effectiveness of the Italian aviation unit to be guaranteed to the greatest extent.

"It looks like we're going to have a chance to play the Irish soon." The little Lieutenant Gallopa muttered, "Let's see if they're strong on the battlefield or we're strong!" ”

Captain Pavarini turned his head to glance at his partner: "Although there are some subjective reasons for the results of last autumn's joint exercises, but in the final analysis, their 'Centauri' is indeed slightly superior to our 'Centauri', so we must not be negligent in the slightest when encountering them in the air." ”

"I know the Irish pilots are really tough to deal with, but I always feel that their prestige is a bit exaggerated." "If we can win this battle, we will shatter the myth of their invincibility." ”

Captain Pavarini, who was not as optimistic as his partner, lowered his voice: "It is not the worst thing for the Irish to go to war with Austria-Hungary, and if they bring Spain in, we will be in trouble." ”

Lieutenant Garopa disagreed: "You are talking about Spain, which was beaten by the Americans half a century ago? Just a few of their warships are not enough for our fleet to stuff their teeth! ”

Captain Pavarini slowed down slightly: "I'm not worried about the Spanish army, but about their military bases on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, once these bases are used by the Irish, then we will not only face the Irish sending fleet, but may be their mobilized powerful navy and air force!" ”

As they spoke, the two came to the tarmac and stopped in front of the two Fiat G.55 "Centaurs" numbered 129-5 and 129-6. This sleek single-engine, single-seat fighter is the same active workhorse of the Royal Italian Air Force as the Marqui MC.205, and has been loved by Italian pilots since its service in the mid-40s, and is still regarded as the best Italian fighter in the piston power era despite losing to the German-made G-60 and the Irish-made IR-44 designed and produced at the same time in many joint exercises.

"Hey, guys, help me wipe the muzzle clean, maybe I'm going to open the meat today!" Lieutenant Garopa quipped at the busy ground crew.

Most of the ground staff here are old faces who have been with each other for many years, and they do their jobs with a relaxed face, and one of them grinned: "The Austrian plane dares to come here?" Lend them a hundred dares, and don't dare to come! ”

This made the surrounding ground crew laugh.

Lieutenant Gallopa replied in a loud voice: "The Austrians don't dare, the Irish can't say!" ”

The ground crew waved his wrench and said, "As long as those conceited Ailans dare to come, Mr. Lieutenant, you don't have to show mercy to them, come as many as you want!" ”

Captain Pavarini ignored the boring conversation, and instead climbed straight into the landline and inspected the gauge line as usual. At this moment, the air defense sirens at the base sounded without warning.

Realizing that this was not the usual air defense exercise, Lieutenant Garopa's face suddenly changed, and he climbed onto the plane with his hands and feet, and asked the ground crew while inspecting the plane: "Full of fuel?" Got enough ammo? Has the oil pipeline been overhauled? Flap control is normal? ”

Captain Pavarini was the first to complete the preparations, only to see him sit in the cockpit, fasten his seat belt and parachute buckle, put on the radio talkie, and try to get in touch with the combat command of the wing. After a few moments, he turned to Lieutenant Garopa and shouted, "A large number of enemy planes are approaching from the east, most likely the Irish!" The command ordered us to urgently take to the air to intercept! ”

Lieutenant Gallopa hurriedly fastened the buckle, put on his flight cap, habitually tested the tightness of the joystick and pedals, and then replied loudly, "I'm ready to go!" ”

"Andrea!" Captain Pavarini shouted, "Let's take off these two fighters first!" ”

Not far away, a sturdy ground officer was conducting on-site dispatch. Hearing Captain Pavarini's greeting, he did not hesitate to order: "129-5 and 129-6 take off first!" Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up! ”

The surrounding ground crews moved when they heard the noise, some used the rocker to turn the flywheel to start the engine, some drilled under the wing to remove the skids used to fix the wheels, and some held signal flags to guide order by the runway. With their skillful and tacit cooperation, the two dark green painted G.55s slowly moved to the runway with a pleasant roar, and only waited for the two fighters in front of them to taxi into the air, and Captain Pavarini and Lieutenant Garopa each increased the throttle to drive their piston fighters forward.

The planes taxied faster and faster, the whole cabin trembled, and Captain Pavarini was preoccupied with his gaze ahead, but a sudden sense of uneasiness made him turn his head to look to the right, orange cannon flames were dancing on the anti-aircraft artillery positions around the airfield, and through the rising and drifting gunsmoke, countless blue-gray fighters were flying at low altitude. Seeing this scene, Captain Pavarini couldn't help but be shocked: Isn't the large air defense radar deployed in Malta claiming to be able to cover a third of the Mediterranean Sea and be able to issue an hour in advance of air raid warning? Why did enemy planes hit the airfield in droves less than 10 minutes after the air raid sirens sounded?

Now was certainly not the time to find out, as Captain Pavarini steadied the joystick as he nudged the throttle valve, accelerating the aircraft into the air. During this very brief period, his gaze constantly shifted between the speedometer, the altimeter, and the right field of view. Before the enemy plane arrived, several rockets with bright yellow tail flames quietly flew in, and when I caught a glimpse of this scene, Captain Pavarini's adrenaline soared......

(End of chapter)