"Although Mussolini announced in a high-profile manner that Crete would be the target of the attack, after the Middle East Command and the Mediterranean Fleet research, it is believed that there are two possible offensive directions for the German-Italian forces in the next stage, Crete or the port of Tubruk!"

At an operational decision-making meeting convened by the British Imperial General Staff on the operation in the eastern Mediterranean, Rear Admiral Krachley, chief of staff of the Mediterranean Fleet, immediately stated the greatest difficulty facing the operation in the eastern Mediterranean -- it was still impossible to determine the direction of the main attack of the German-Italian forces. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

Mussolini's announcement of an attack on Crete in Rome was likely intended to mislead the British, and even if Mussolini had not been misleading when he said this, the German-Italian forces would have changed the direction of the attack if the British had concentrated their limited forces on Crete.

And the geography of Tubruk is just as important as Crete!

"There is a high probability that the current battlefield in the Eastern Mediterranean will turn into a cage." Rear Admiral Krachley's brow furrowed tightly, "Due to the fall of Malta and the great naval and air superiority of the German-Italian forces, our fleet in the Eastern Mediterranean, the land forces in North Africa, Crete and Greece, all rely on the Suez Canal and external communication. The Suez Canal is less than 1,200 kilometers from Benghazi and 800 kilometers from Tubruk. In other words, once the German-Italian forces captured Tubruk, they would be able to rely on the Fokker Zero, JU88 and S.M.79 deployed in Tubruk to blockade the Suez Canal, and at the same time put Alexandria, the home port of the Mediterranean Fleet, under a saturation blow from the air! ”

Tubruk can't be lost, and neither can Crete! For Crete is not far from the Suez Canal and Alexandria, and about the same distance from Tubruk and those two places.

If Crete falls, then the German-Italian Fokker Zero, JU88 and S.M.79 will go to Alexandria and the Suez Canal every day to drop bombs and torpedoes.

"And to defend both Tubruk and Crete, we are faced with the difficulty of insufficient air power, especially the number of fighters of the Spitfire series."

In fact, the number of Spitfires in the Eastern Mediterranean theater was no less than that of the opponent's Fokker Zero. However, the Spitfire has a big weakness compared to the Fokker Zero, that is, the range is too short. This weakness meant that the Spitfires deployed in Crete, Tubruk, and Alexandria had to fight on their own, and it was difficult for them to support each other.

There is absolutely no support between Alexandria and Crete and Tubruk, and there are only 350 kilometers between Crete and Tubruk, and the range of the Spitfire is enough, but it can't go back after the fight, and can only land at the local airport, which will greatly increase the pressure on the ground crew.

Because the Spitfire is a liquid-cooled engine, the requirements for ground maintenance are higher than those of the Fokker Zero, which uses an air-cooled engine. If there is also a need to be prepared to provide maintenance for the additional large number of Spitfires, the number of ground crews will have to be greatly increased, as well as additional spare parts, ammunition and fuel, which will increase the logistical pressure.

Even after overcoming logistical and ground handling difficulties, the combined Spitfire aircraft deployed in Crete and the port of Tubruk accounted for only about 60 percent of the Spitfires in the entire Eastern Mediterranean theater, and they were still at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers. The Hurricane, P-39 and F2A fighters, which were used to supplement the insufficient number of Spitfires, were no match for the Fokker Zero.

Moreover, the air power of the British army in the Mediterranean now lacks the weapons to attack the ground and the sea. The surface-to-sea strike force composed of the "Swordfish" torpedo bombers, the "Big Mackerel" torpedo bombers, the "Blenheim" light bombers, and the "Wellington" heavy bombers performed very disappointing in actual combat.

The "Blenheim" light bombers and the "Wellington" heavy bombers pose basically no threat to the surface fleet, while the survivability of the "Swordfish" torpedo bombers and "Big Mackerel" torpedo bombers is too low. Once you encounter the enemy's Fokker Zero, it is easy to be wiped out.

Therefore, after the "Battle of the Eastern Mediterranean", the British Mediterranean Fleet would rather let the F2A on board the ship than the "Swordfish" and "Big Mackerel", which were wiped out at every turn. So now the "Swordfish" and "Big Mackerel" deployed in the Mediterranean Sea have become shore-based aircraft.

And the two British aircraft carriers also lost the ability to attack ships and became simple "escort carriers". But at the same time, the four "Queen Elizabeth" class battleships of the British Mediterranean Fleet were difficult to compete with five Italian battleships, including two "Veneto" class.

"In view of the current passive situation, the Middle East Command and the Mediterranean Fleet believe that it is necessary to increase the number of shore-based aircraft and adopt the same tactics of air supremacy as the German-Italian coalition forces. At the same time, it is necessary to increase the ground forces in the Mediterranean and Middle East theaters as much as possible in order to strengthen the defenses of Crete and North Africa. ”

Hearing Rear Admiral Krachley propose to increase the number of aircraft and ground forces, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Sir Deere, frowned and asked, "But how are we going to get the planes to the Eastern Mediterranean?" Now that the island of Malta has been lost, the air transfer route from Gibraltar to the Eastern Mediterranean no longer exists. The plane can only be sent to Alexandria by sea bypassing Africa, which takes at least 1 month. ”

Before the fall of Malta, British planes could take off from Gibraltar or from aircraft carriers in the western Mediterranean, take advantage of night cover to travel to Malta, refuel in Malta and then fly to Crete. Ground crews and aircraft spare parts can also be transported by transport aircraft via the Gibraltar-Malta-Alexandria route.

But now Malta is missing, with a non-stop flight from Gibraltar to Crete of 2,700 kilometres. Although the range of the DC-3 transport aircraft leased from the United States was still available, the efficiency of air transportation was greatly reduced because of the extra fuel load.

"Planes can be drawn from India, Myanmar, Malaya and Singapore." "Ground forces were also drawn from India, so that the defenses of Crete and North Africa could be strengthened before the Germans and Italians attacked," Krachley said. ”

Recently, however, Japan has also been preparing to retreat, not only refusing to retreat from French Indochina, but also increasing its troops there, and more recently forcing the Kingdom of Siam to accept Japanese protection. If we had transferred troops from Southeast Asia and India, how would we deal with the Japanese threat? ”

Immediately, a different opinion was raised, and the present British Empire was still a world empire, the largest and richest empire ever built by mankind. India, Burma, Malaya, and Australia were all part of this great empire, and they were quite valuable assets.

After the Japanese seizure of French Indochina, British territory in the East was under the threat of Japanese bayonets. As a result, the British government had to increase its forces to Singapore, Burma, Malaya, and Australia (including New Guinea) amid the tension in Europe and the Mediterranean.

"But now the Eastern Mediterranean is the most important thing, and if we fail there, Germany and Italy will control the Suez Canal and the entire Middle East, and the Italian navy will go into the Indian Ocean." Krachley said in a heavy tone, "Will we be able to resist the Japanese attack then?" ”

Sir Deere, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, and Sir Pound, First Sea Lord, exchanged views in a low voice, after which Sir Pound said: "Reinforcements can be drawn from the East, and the present importance of the Mediterranean theater is beyond doubt. Japan's threat can be eliminated by asking the United States to try to eliminate it. ”

Sir Dill asked: "If sufficient reinforcements are received, will the Middle East Command and the Mediterranean Fleet be able to maintain the situation in the Greek, Cretan and North African theaters?" And in what way do you plan to take a decisive battle with Germany and Italy? ”

Major General Krachley replied: "At the moment, both Commander Wavell and Commander Cunningham advocate taking the defensive first. Fortify Crete and Tubruc, deploy sufficient ground forces, and deal a lethal blow to the Italian surface fleet with shore-based aviation, and finally dispatch the Mediterranean Fleet to seek a decisive battle. ”

The Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Sir Deere, nodded and said with a smile: "This is the best response plan at the moment. But you don't have to rush to a decisive battle, because the High Command has decided to launch a strategic bombardment of Italy from mid-February! If Mussolini still wanted to keep his capital, Rome, he would have to withdraw most of his fighters from the front. At that point, you will be more sure that you will fight back. ”

……

"Is the U.S. going to lend more B-17s to the British?"

I don't know if Roosevelt had someone deliberately leak the news, or if Canaris's agents were too capable, anyway, the Hesmanns had already received news from Canaris that the B-17s were going to come to Europe in large numbers before they left Berlin.

Compared with the British "Lancaster" heavy bomber, the American B-17 is undoubtedly a huge threat. Historically, the United States used the B-17 "Flying Fortress" to carry out strategic bombing, which caused great losses to Germany.

And in the current time and space, if Germany wants to play the role of the big brother of Europe to integrate the European community, it naturally cannot be bombed by British and American bombers. Otherwise, Germany's prestige and economic power will decline sharply, and it will be very difficult to integrate Europe.

Therefore, long before the outbreak of the war, Hersman put the project of developing high-altitude high-performance combat aircraft on the status of "priority".

"Albert, do we have a way to deal with it?"

At the operational decision-making meeting of the General Staff, Hersman asked the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Field Marshal Kesselring.

"There are some options," said Marshal Kesselring, frowning, "and now there is a temporary plan of coping, which has already begun to be implemented. In addition, there are several final solutions, which are being studied and discussed by experts. (To be continued.) )