The British officers and men on the aircraft carrier "Indomitable" fought back fiercely in the air while desperately fighting fires and repairing machinery. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

At this time, some of the British still showed rare courage, and the master of the boiler room braved the heat of the flames to carry out repairs, during which he could only rely on drinking water to cool down, barely keeping the warship running at a speed of 14 knots.

The bombing of the German fighters finally dropped the bombs and left in ten minutes, which allowed the British officers and soldiers to breathe a sigh of relief and fully participate in the firefighting and maintenance.

But the German attack did not end there.

Half an hour later, 30 "Junker" bombers of the German Air Force, under the cover of five fighters, flew again to the battered aircraft carrier "Indomitable." At this time, there was still not a single plane on the aircraft carrier "Indomitable" that could take off to meet the battle.

Fortunately, more than a dozen British fighters rushed from the Malta base to reinforce them, and they immediately started an air battle with the German planes. This largely restrained the German bombing campaign, but the Indomitable suffered three more bombs, severely damaged its power plant, and was towed by three tugboats to the Pallatorio pier in Malta.

During the entire engagement, the "Indomitable" aircraft carrier hit a total of 10 heavy bombs and suffered serious damage. The ship killed 83 people and wounded more than 100 people.

At the same time, one battleship in the formation was damaged and one destroyer was sunk.

However, what was more shocking to the British than these battle losses was ...... The main forces of the Luftwaffe again appeared in the skies over the Mediterranean.

Montgomery received the telegram as soon as he could, so he summoned all the main generals of the Eighth Army for a meeting.

"Gentlemen!" Montgomery got straight to the point: "The German bomber group appeared over the Mediterranean, and by now they had sunk two of our destroyers and damaged several warships, including the aircraft carrier Indomitable!" ”

Montgomery's words immediately caused quite a stir in the conference room.

"That's not good news!" Abner also had worry on his face, and he whispered to Zhang Chi: "Our air force has no advantage on the island of Malta!" ”

Zhang Chi nodded in agreement, the problem of Malta Island is that it penetrates deep into the hinterland of the German and Italian defense lines on the sea, and it is even caught between Italy and Libya...... Its location could indeed pose a serious threat to the German-Italian supply lines, but at the same time it also put itself in a disadvantageous geographical position.

In addition, the island of Malta does not yet have a defensive depth, and both aircraft and warships on it are vulnerable to attack.

To make matters worse, just as Rommel's supply lines were long after reaching Egypt, so were the British supply lines to Malta...... Of course, the supply lines of Malta would be much better than Rommel's Afrika Korps, because the supply of African armies was through the desert, while Malta was by sea.

But it's not much better, because the sea is a thing, once it loses air superiority, it is almost a target for enemy fighters.

"General!" Soon a British officer suggested: "We should strengthen the air power of Malta!" ”

"No, General!" Another British officer said: "I think ...... We should launch an offensive against Rommel as soon as possible, we can't wait any longer! ”

It should be said that both proposals have their own merits.

The former was talking about continuing to maintain British air superiority in the Mediterranean, so that it could cut off the German supply lines as before, and eventually drag Rommel's Afrika Korps to death.

The latter, on the other hand, did not have much confidence in air superiority in the Mediterranean, and hoped to crush the Agrokorps before German reinforcements and supplies improved.

So the British troops in the conference room were quickly divided into two sides

"Maintaining air superiority is the key, and only in this way can the Afrika Korps be trapped in this desert!"

"The question is how much advantage can we maintain? Or how long? The main force of German aviation has already appeared in the Mediterranean, and they are always able to bring supplies over under the escort of fighters! That is to say, Rommel's supplies and reinforcements are going to improve! So we are going to attack now, taking advantage of their weakest moments! ”

"No, we can't crush the Afrika Korps in a short time! Attacking will consume our own strength! ”

"Why can't we?"

"HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THE 88MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS THAT THE GERMANS USED FOR ANTI-TANKS?"

……

As soon as these words came out, everyone was silent.

IN FACT, IT IS NOT THAT THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH ARMY HAS NOT TRIED TO ATTACK, BUT THEIR ATTEMPTS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED AGAIN AND AGAIN BY 88MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS...... This thing is not only an offensive weapon, but also a must-hit when defending.

Or it can be said that Rommel was not only a master of attack, but also a master of defense, at least for the Commonwealth Army.

ROMMEL DEPLOYED THE 88MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS IN THE HIDDEN PILLBOX FORTIFICATIONS, AND ALSO ARRANGED MANY FALSE TARGETS IN ORDER TO DECEIVE THE BRITISH FIGHTERS...... That is, the appearance of building 88MM anti-aircraft guns out of wood attracted the British air force and artillery to bomb, and at the same time, real anti-tank gun positions were laid near the anti-aircraft gun positions, which did not play a role in actual combat many times, but they always fired with the 88 anti-aircraft guns.

As a result, the British could not tell which position was the real anti-aircraft artillery position, because there were dozens of pillboxes on the opposite side that were smoking at the same time.

The only thing the British knew was that their tanks were always destroyed one after another at a distance, and their infantry had no choice but to face the German tanks when they rushed forward.

Montgomery apparently didn't know what to do at this point, as both views seemed to be correct.

After thinking about it, Montgomery turned his head and asked Zhang Chi: "Major General, I want to know, is your new first division ready?" ”

It's only a dozen days before and after, is it possible to be ready? Even if the Chinese army is experienced and familiar with the use of US tanks, it will take a month to train!

But then again, the troops sent to the battlefield due to lack of training during World War II were also at sea, so it is understandable that Montgomery would ask such a question.

It's just that......

Zhang Chi asked strangely: "Why...... What about everyone here thinking about the Eighth Army? No one thinks about the island of Malta? ”

"What are you referring to?" Montgomery asked.

"What else?" Zhang Chi replied: "Of course, the safety of Malta Island!" ”

"You mean......" Montgomery looked at Zhang Chi in surprise: "The Germans want to seize the island of Malta this time?" ”

Emotional Montgomery and his party also took it for granted that the Germans were only doing this to open up the supply lines of the Afrika Korps.