"1000m away, keep left...... See those white houses? That's Knightsbridge. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info" said Lieutenant Colonel Schunard, who was lying behind a white rock, pointing to a village in front of him, to Lieutenant Colonel Schunard, of the 3rd Battalion of the Greater German Brigade.

The 17th Company of the Greater German Brigade had advanced one hour earlier to Knightsbridge, a key point behind the main British line. And 10 minutes earlier, the 3rd Battalion of the brigade had arrived in trucks and half-tracks, along with 6 No. 3 assault guns from the 16th Assault Gun Company and 4 No. 4 tanks from the 5th Tank Regiment.

And Lieutenant Colonel Schunard, of the 3rd Battalion of the Großdeutsche Brigade, received an order to capture Knightsbridge before dark.

"That's Knightsbridge? I thought there would be a river and a bridge. Ensign, you can't be mistaken, can you? Lieutenant Colonel Schunard was half-crouched beside Second Lieutenant Ribbentrop, also holding a telescope in his hand.

"It can't be wrong," replied Second Lieutenant Ribbentrop with certainty, "that is it...... There was no river or bridge, but it was Knightsbridge, where at least 1,500 Indians were guarded, and a few Matilda tanks. ”

"Matilda tank?" Lieutenant Colonel Schunard asked, "Are you sure it's this type of tank?" ”

"Sure," said Second Lieutenant Ribbentrop, "there are at least two, and they just now rushed out and damaged two of my half-tracks." ”

The two damaged half-tracks were "lying" on the sand not far ahead, but they didn't look very badly damaged and should be repaired. And several German soldiers were digging bunkers in them with infantry shovels.

"And what about their fortifications?" Lieutenant Colonel Schunard then asked.

"Very sturdy!" Second Lieutenant Ribbentrop said, "The white houses were carefully fortified by the Italians, and were in fact fortresses. ”

Both the fortifications and the number of defenders were prying out of the mouths of the captives, and both turned out to be true.

"Italians?" Lieutenant Colonel Schunard shook his head with a wry smile, "Why do I think they're doing us a favor?" ”

In fact, the fortifications of the fortress of Tubruk were also carefully built by the Italians, and the Italians piled up a large number of supplies and ammunition there, all of which fell into the hands of the British, without which the British 8th Army would not have been able to defend Tubruk.

After shaking his head, Lieutenant Colonel Schunard said to himself: "It seems that a few more Wasp self-propelled guns will be needed." ”

Then he said to Second Lieutenant Ribbentrop and Lieutenant Schwarzenegger: "You can stay here, you don't have to take part in the attack...... My men will take Knightsbridge. ”

……

With a "poof", little Hersman fell on the hard ground - he fell from a height of 3,000...... It's good that there is a parachute, otherwise I would have fallen to my death!

This is the second time his plane has been shot down, and it was an old Swordfish plane that took him down. While he was chasing the plane with a merry machine-gun (the 20mm cannon had run out of ammunition), his Fokker Zero's engine was damaged by the opponent's backseat machine gun, so he had to reluctantly fly to the vicinity of the Matruo airfield, which had been occupied by the German airborne troops a few hours earlier.

And the raid of the German 7th Airborne Division on the Matroux airfield was like a hornet's nest, and the British planes swooped down over the Matroux airfield in waves like hornets, and there were all kinds of aircraft, such as "Spitfire", "Hurricane", P39, "Wellington", "Gross "Fighter", F2A, "Blenheim", and even "Swordfish" and "Big Mackerel", two torpedo attack planes, also flew with bombs.

But for Hersman Jr. and his comrades, it was like the British giving them their heads. From this morning to now, Hersman Jr. has made three sorties, shot down a total of four enemy planes, and the results have increased to 13. And just when he was about to reap the 14th result, he didn't pay attention to let the family shoot it down.

"Don't move, raise your hands!"

Several German airborne soldiers with rifles ran at Little Hersmann and shouted in English for him to surrender.

"I'm German!" Little Hersman raised his hand and shouted, "I'm Rudolph. Feng. Ensign Heinsberg-Hersmann! Squadron leader of the 9th Squadron of the 2nd Carrier-based Aircraft Group. ”

Several German airborne troops also recognized that Hersmann Jr. was wearing a Luftwaffe flight suit.

A sergeant of the Airborne Forces put away his rifle and asked, "Ensign, are you alright?" ”

"I'm fine," Hersman Jr. said, "but I need to get back to the airport in Benghazi right away." ”

Now the 9th Carrier-based Aircraft Group is stationed in Benghazi, where reserve aircraft are stored. When Hersman Jr. returns to Benghazi, he will be able to fly another Fokker Zero to strike again.

"Second Lieutenant, there's a Junkers unloading plane."

As soon as the 7th Airborne Division captured the airfield (the British were not many defenders at the airfield, so it was quickly occupied by the German airborne troops, although the port of Mesematroux was still under the control of the British garrison), transport planes took off from Benghazi airfield, bringing weapons, ammunition, various supplies, and reinforcements.

Beginning at 1 p.m., almost every 10 minutes, a Junkers landed at Matruo airfield, while a Junkers took off almost empty, sometimes carrying several wounded and downed pilots.

"Okay, take me there!" Little Hersmann put away his parachute with three strikes and five divisions, and then limped and followed the German airborne troops to an unloading plane. When the day was approaching, it was found that all that was being unloaded from the Junkers plane were 500 kg of aviation armor-piercing shells!

He guessed that the bombs must have been prepared to be hung on the JU87 Stuka dive bomber! The Matru airfield is only 260 kilometers from Alexandria, and is well within the combat radius of Stuka dive bombers - these screeching bombers that scream when they dive are not comparable to the JU88 and Fokker 99. It was a real dive bomber, and it had a large bomb load, which could carry 1 500 kg and 2 250 kg aviation armor-piercing shells (or 1 1000 kg bomb).

As soon as several squadrons of JU87 and FW-190 were deployed to the Matroux airfield, then the end of the Mediterranean Fleet had come!

……

The notoriety of the ju87 "Stuka", the British Royal Navy certainly knew, this was their most feared aircraft, there was no one! Compared to it, ju88 can only be regarded as the second threat.

So having heard that the Matrou airfield, located only 260 km from Alexandria, was occupied by the German Airborne Forces, Admiral Cunningham immediately rushed to Wavell's command.

"The fleet must leave!" Admiral Cunningham frowned and said, "At least 4 battleships and 2 aircraft carriers must go, and they will go tonight!" ”

For the past few days he had been looking for an opportunity to engage in a night battle with the Italian fleet, but the Italians were very cunning, they only bombarded Tubruk with naval guns during the day, and at night they disappeared without a trace. After a few days, Cunningham finally understood that the "German god of war" Hersmann would not give himself a chance to conduct a decisive battle in the fleet.

Hersman wanted to dominate the sea with air and use powerful shore-based aviation to deal with the British Mediterranean fleet. The purpose of the Germans in seizing the Matroux airfield, in addition to cutting off the communication between Tubruk and El Alamein, was to find an airfield for their most feared JU87 Stuka dive bombers to attack Alexandria. So the Mediterranean fleet must slip away.

"Tonight?" Admiral Wavell's face turned pale, because he knew that once the fleet left, it would mean that Britain lost the battle in the Mediterranean!

Without the fleet, the entire Mediterranean Sea is dominated by Germany and Italy, and they can land anywhere! And the British troops placed on the islands of Greece, Crete and Cyprus would immediately be alone.

And the most terrible thing is that Turkey will soon fall to Germany! As soon as the Mediterranean fleet left, the Turks had no choice, and the foreign trade of this country was carried out mainly by sea in the Mediterranean and land transport in the Balkans. If the Mediterranean is controlled by Germany and Italy, then Turkey's foreign relations are largely controlled by Germany, unless they are willing to defect to the Soviet Union...... But it's impossible!

Therefore, Turkey has no choice but to take refuge in Germany!

"Admiral, I think you know what it means to withdraw from the fleet?" Wavell was silent for a long time before he spoke with difficulty. "Now the troops of the 7th Panzer Division and the 4th Indian Division are urgently dispatched, and in 24 hours they will counterattack the Matrouh airfield......"

In fact, only a small part of the 7th Panzer Division and the 4th Indian Division were urgently dispatched, and it was the troops stationed at El Alamein. But the journey from El Alamein to Matroux airport is 200 kilometers, and even mechanized troops have to walk for most of the day - and without plane bombing! So whether there will be a British army counterattack on Matroux Airport in 24 hours, Wavell himself has no idea.

"Yes." "But not withdrawing means that there is a high probability of losing the fleet...... Lose it in 24 hours! 4 battleships and 2 aircraft carriers, they are an important force for the defense of the homeland, and we cannot risk them with them. ”

"I see." Wavell nodded, "Then let's make a joint proposal to London...... Such a big decision can only be made in London! ”

As soon as his words fell, a staff officer rushed in in a hurry, saluted Wavell, and then reported loudly: "General, urgent report from the 8th Army, Knightsbridge has just been captured by the Germans!" ”

"Damn it!" Admiral Wavell glanced back at Cunningham, "There's big trouble with Tubruk too...... We're in big trouble right now! The whole British Empire is in big trouble! (To be continued.) )