Crete, located in the northern Mediterranean, was originally the largest island in Greece, with a total area of 8,300 square kilometers. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 Info is the southernmost crown of the Aegean Sea, the source of many Greek myths, and the cradle of Greek culture and Western civilization.

However, since the outbreak of a full-scale war between Italy and Greece, Crete has been occupied by the Italian navy. Today, the rugged mountainous island is the main base of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet of the Donghua Empire.

Crete is about 810 kilometers from Malta Island in the west, about 520 kilometers from Cyprus Island in the east, only 90 kilometers from the Peloponnese Peninsula in the northwest, about 360 kilometers from Bruk, an important town in North Africa, and about 560 kilometers from Alexandria in Egypt in the southeast. It has an extremely important strategic position in military geography.

By occupying the island, you will be able to control the eastern Mediterranean, and using Crete as a base, the sea and air forces will pose a serious threat to both southern Europe and North Africa.

Crete is about 257 kilometers long from east to west, with an average width of 32 kilometers from north to south, only 11 kilometers wide at its narrowest point and only 60 kilometers wide at its widest point. The terrain of the whole island is rugged and covered with rolling hills. From west to east, there are the White Mountain Range, the Date Mountains, the Rashiti Mountains, and the Hitiya Mountains.

The main peaks of these mountains are all over 1,800 meters above sea level and are steep and difficult to navigate. The east-west mountains make the island's rivers flow from north to south, and the water flow is very fast, which can be used as a military barrier.

The only part of the island is a narrow plain near the northern capital of Chania, which is relatively flat, and the island's main harbours and anchorages, Suda Bay, Rethymron and Iraklin, are all on this plain.

Among them, Sudak Bay is deep and wide, and there is the Akrotiri Peninsula as a natural barrier to the north, which is the most ideal haven for the whole island to moor large surface warships.

After the occupation of Crete by Italian troops, the construction of an airfield was carried out. It's just that the three airfields built at that time were relatively simple, and at best they were only front-line field airfields, which could not take off and land jets.

After the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet was stationed in Crete, it not only expanded three airfields, but also expanded and renovated Sudak Bay.

In addition, the construction of kilometers around the island was also started, as if to build Crete into a permanent fortress of the Donghua Empire in the Mediterranean.

Standing on the main peak of Mount Hitiya, Cheng Gong held his hands behind his back and overlooked the Chania Plain in the distance.

The three airports of Irachlin, Manima, and Rethymron are being expanded and renovated in full swing. On the construction sites of the military port and the civil port in Sudak Bay, all kinds of engineering vehicles are constantly flowing through and through.

"The fortification of Crete and Malta must be stepped up."

Cheng Gong turned around and said to Ouyang Ge, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet of the Donghua Royal Navy, who was standing behind him, and said in a slow voice:

"In order for a favorable geographical location to truly become a favorable strategic location, it must have sufficient personnel, material and financial resources. The most important thing that our Great Donghua Empire lacks now is money, and we don't have to worry about manpower provided by the African Union. ”

"The 24,000 officers and men of the 8th Division of the Third Army of the African Liberation Army are now stationed in Crete." Ouyang Ge reported truthfully: "In addition, the African Union has also sent 100,000 young and strong laborers to cooperate with our engineering troops and private construction engineering companies to build construction on the island.

In three months at most, two military airports and one civil aviation airport, the Sudak Bay military port and the civilian port, and the submarine base on the Akrotiri Peninsula will all be completed. However, it is estimated that it will take at least six months for the ring road to open to traffic. ”

"Are the Cretans on the island friendly to our friends of the Great Donghua Empire?" Cheng Gong asked again.

"Back to the emperor, all the members of the resistance organization on the island have been eliminated, and the remaining more than 100,000 Cretans are basically obedient people."

Ouyang Ge replied confidently: "The Cretans are much warmer for us than for the Italians. Because the army of our Great Donghua Empire can keep them well fed, warmly clothed, and well housed. ”

"Commander Ouyang, I will hand over the main task of fighting against Britain to your Mediterranean Fleet this time, do you have any confidence?"

"Please rest assured, the emperor will use me in the first battle, and I will win!" Ouyang Ge confidently puffed up his chest and saluted.

"I just don't know why Churchill suddenly became cowardly this time?" Cheng Gong muttered softly to himself.

The British government's response to the "Galaxy incident" can be called anticlimactic.

Cheng Gong originally thought that the British would fight the basis of reason, so that the CIA would be able to create an excuse for a bigger incident at will.

Who would have thought that the British government suddenly put on a situation that whatever your Donghua Empire says, and we will accept punishment if you want to admit punishment, as long as you don't declare war on us.

This made Cheng Gong feel a sense of depression when he smashed his fist in the air.

Based on Cheng Gong's understanding of Churchill's personality, this is obviously not in line with Qiu Fatzi's traditional style of acting. There must be something hidden in this.

Because he couldn't guess why Churchill and the British government would put on such a weak low posture, Cheng Gong couldn't help but be a little quiet. No, after a round in Cairo, I went to Crete to inspect it.

In the original history, although the German army captured Crete at a huge cost, the German high command believed that the Soviet battlefield was more important than the Mediterranean theater. As a result, the original ambitious strategic plan to use Crete as a springboard and then to North Africa was not implemented, and Crete fell into a state of slumber in the days that followed, and its enormous strategic value was not fully realized at all.

Now that Crete is in the hands of the Donghua Empire, Cheng Gong certainly cannot let such a strategic place sink.

You must know that according to the secret agreement reached by Cheng Gong with Hitler and Stalin in private, the Donghua Empire will not interfere in European affairs in the future.

However, not interfering in Europe does not mean that the Donghua Empire cannot constitute a military deterrent to Europe. The superior strategic geographical location of Crete is undoubtedly the best bridgehead for the East China Empire to look at southern Europe.

"Your Majesty, according to the observations of our fleets cruising in the Atlantic, the British fleet to and from the east coast of the United States has suddenly increased recently, and there are also battle cruisers sent by the British Navy to escort them."

Ouyang Ge reminded thoughtfully: "I suspect that the British seem to be transferring a large number of materials and personnel to the United States. ”

"Inform the CIA that I need all the intelligence in the UK for the last week!" Cheng Gong turned around and confessed to Ye Lin, the secretary who had been silent beside him.

Ye Lin silently took the order, took out a military satellite phone from her handbag, and directly dialed the mobile phone number of Canaris, the director of the CIA of the East China Empire.

Since Zhao Yajing, Ning Ningru and other concubines gave birth to dragon sons and phoenix girls for Cheng Gong to take maternity leave, the important responsibility of the emperor's personal secretary has fallen to Ye Lin, the emperor's sister-in-law.

Also as a beneficiary of the Intermediate X-Type Enhancement Elixir, Ye Lin was naturally extremely shocked by the true essence of the Donghua Empire hidden under the iceberg.

However, Ye Lin felt extremely incomprehensible that Cheng Gong insisted on not participating in the struggle for domestic power while holding such a strong hand.

Every time she looked for an opportunity to do Cheng Gong's ideological work, she was dealt with by Cheng Gong's squeaky and unsatisfactory Tang Sai.

According to Ye Lin's idea, Cheng Gong should lead the army to cooperate with the Party Central Committee to completely eliminate the Kuomintang reactionaries and their lackeys, liberate the whole of China and establish New China. Instead of just seeking personal pleasure and claiming hegemony overseas, he ignored the 40,000,000 compatriots in the heat of the water at home.

The Japanese fascist invaders also occupied the three eastern provinces of China and occupied Southeast Asia. The Donghua Empire was fully capable of defeating the Japanese invaders and liberating Southeast Asia, but Cheng Gong did not take action against the Japanese invaders rampant in Southeast Asia, but instead went to Africa to intervene in the Mediterranean Sea and worked hard for the peace plan of Europe.

For Cheng Gong's nonsense of sacrificing the near and far, and sacrificing the basics, Ye Lin really felt disgusted. However, she was full of ambitions, but she couldn't affect Cheng Gong. (To be continued.) )