More than 100 Stuka and Junker 88 twin-engine bombers flying from various airports, even from airports near Rome, swooped down on the Ming fleet off Salerno, escorted by numerous BF109s. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

At the same time, the second wave of Daming Army Air Force cover fighters flying from Sicily had also arrived over the landing fleet, and a big melee broke out immediately after the huge groups of planes of the two sides met.

The Luftwaffe's latest models, the BF109G and FW110 heavy fighters, were largely deployed on the battlefield on home and in Russia. Some time ago, at the request of France, a wing was also sent to Sardinia. However, the German General Staff did not deploy these advanced fighters in Italy. At the moment, the German-Italian bomber force was escorted by a number of early models of BF109, and even the Italian Air Force used earlier models of B and C.

These fighters were completely inferior to the Fighting Falcon piloted by the elite pilots of the Ming Army Airlines, and they were far inferior in numbers.

In order to strengthen the force of attacking Italy, Zhang Cheng deliberately transferred many elite army aviation units into the new Southern European theater. These old birds, who have been in the midst of the war for several years, have a clear advantage over the German-Italian pilots who are not elite.

Because of the full support of the Americans, and there are some small oil wells in the southern part of the country. The Germans were in a much better position to supply oil than the Third Reich in modern time and space.

The mechanized forces of the Germans were able to be supplied relatively sufficiently, and the training consumption of air power was also satisfied. While the Luftwaffe continued to perform elite tactics, it was also able to raise the level of a large number of ordinary pilots.

The Luftwaffe, without being blockaded and with Allied assistance, received strong support from the top brass, especially the current Chancellor, from before the war. After years of development, the Luftwaffe at this time had surpassed Britain, France, Russia and other countries to become the most powerful air force in the European theater.

By the end of 1941, the war had been followed by an overt and covert seizure of control of Italy and the Balkans. Germany, which has rapidly expanded its strength and become the hegemon of Central Europe, has more than 40,000 fighters of various types.

In fact, except for a fierce battle with the Ming army in North Africa, the Germans spent most of the time after the start of the war playing soy sauce. The main combat effectiveness did not suffer much loss.

Most of the German fighters were deployed on the mainland, as well as in the Balkans and Russia. The Luftwaffe deployed the 10th Air Army in Italy. Under the jurisdiction of four independent. Standing reconnaissance group, a maritime reconnaissance group, a training aviation regiment, four fighter aviation regiments, four bomber aviation regiments, a dive bomber aviation regiment, a transport aircraft regiment, as well as part of the air defense, airfield garrison and other units.

The Luftwaffe's flying regiments could also be called flying wings, and the number of aircraft in each wing was not a fixed number. There are many, for example, the number of fighters in the JG52 wing is as high as more than 400. And ordinary wings are mostly between more than a hundred and more than two hundred. In total, the 10th Air Corps stationed in Italy had about 2,000 aircraft of various types.

There is a very important criterion for measuring the strength of air power, and that is the ability to replenish battle-damaged aircraft. This is a very good indication of a country's heritage.

Because even if there are many planes on the front line, with the passage of time and the fierce process of the battle, large-scale losses will inevitably occur. This is true for both airplanes and pilots. At this time, if the replenishment needs cannot be met in a timely manner, the combat effectiveness of the troops will plummet.

Although the German 10th Air Force had a large number of fighters, they were scattered throughout Italy. In particular, in order to prevent the Ming army from landing on the Italian mainland through the Strait of Messina, the commander of the German 10th Air Army, Catherine, deployed several air regiments in various places in the south. There is also the entanglement of the Ming fighter there.

After receiving information that the Ming fleet had appeared off Salerno on a large scale, General Catherine, the former commander of the Luftwaffe's First Air Force and the current commander of the 10th Air Force who had fought with the Ming army in North Africa, quickly mobilized all the forces available near Salerno to urgently attack the Ming fleet.

The Luftwaffe was very strong in Germany, so strong that it directly took on everything in the sky. Including the navy's ship attack and even anti-submarine work, they also took over all the work. However, compared with Daming's professional HNA, the Luftwaffe's naval attack capability is not strong.

In the eyes of the Germans, who were centered on land dominance, the most important sea was the Baltic Sea, because it was an inland lake on their doorstep. This is followed by the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. But there were American and British navies in the North Sea and the Atlantic, and the Germans were under little pressure. Moreover, after the end of the North African campaign, the main German naval force had returned to the northern seas, and they did not have any too urgent need for sea suppression.

If it weren't for the strong opposition of the Navy, the Luftwaffe would have snatched even the Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers. The Luftwaffe, on the other hand, used the Stuka as a dive bomber and the Junkers 88 as a torpedo aircraft for naval attacks. The performance of these two aircraft is still good, but there is no special sea attack model. These fighters, which took off from all over the place, were blocked by the air power of the Ming army, and did not have any serious impact on the transport fleet.

The fierce air battle soon ended, and after the loss of dozens of fighters, the German and Italian air forces left the battlefield.

At this time, the Ming landing fleet had already begun to drop anchor and transfer. The landing craft were gently lowered into the water, and the soldiers climbed down the ladder into the landing craft to prepare for departure.

At about 1 p.m. on 7 January, the first batch of landing craft left the transport ship and headed for the rendezvous area of the landing formation, several miles from the coast. More than 20 minutes later, the first batch of landing craft continued to circle around the rendezvous area. At 1:40 a.m., rows of landing craft moved rapidly in the direction of the coast.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the defenders on the coast began to carry out artillery bombardment, and orange spots of light flew towards the fleet like flying meteors, setting off huge columns of water around the fleet.

At the same time, the Ming escort fleet, which had already been prepared, immediately returned fire, and hundreds of guns of various calibers on dozens of warships carried out fierce shelling at the defenders on the coast. At the same time, a large number of Ming bombers flying from Sicily also roared and kept the bombs still on their heads.

When the time came to 2:40 p.m., the first landing craft of the Ming army washed up on the beach near Salerno.

About two battalions of commandos washed ashore on the beach a few kilometers south of Salerno. They met little decent resistance when attacking.

Although the German and Italian armies had a large number of troops in Italy, it was impossible to cover everything in such a narrow territory. The Salerno garrison, which was considered unvulnerable, was not strong.

After the defeat of about a very poorly equipped and poorly trained Italian local garrison. The landing force was divided into two routes, one along the road to the city of Salerno, and the other quickly to occupy the Zionz Pass.

Their movements went surprisingly well, and apart from a few small blockades along the way, they did not encounter the main forces of the German and Italian armies. As for the armored counterattack units, which were very worried, they did not encounter anything, except for some truck patrol cars.

In fact, the German-Italian army did not have a strong garrison near Salerno. The main forces of the German and Italian armies in this vicinity were all concentrated near Naples. And near Salerno there is only one shore artillery unit and one coast guard. In addition, there is the garrison of Montecovino Airport. When the Ming army attacked, only a few thousand defenders were resisting in the entire Salerno area.

In the hours that followed, waves of landing craft carried thousands of Ming soldiers onto the beach. These forces managed to repel the defenders of Montecovino Airport and capture it before dark. At the same time, they quickly occupied the city of Salerno and seized the vital port area.

The Germans were also very quick to react. Although there were still many in the General Staff who saw the attack as a feint to draw attention in preparation for an attack on Sardinia, Rommel, the commander of the German forces in Italy, did not care about the strategic arguments. He ordered the 14th Panzer Corps, stationed near Naples, to move quickly south to attack the Ming landing force that had landed at Salerno, intending to drive all the Ming troops out into the sea.

At this time, most of the elite units of the German Army were stationed on the mainland or playing soy sauce on the Russian battlefield. The 14th Panzer Corps, located near Naples, was actually a newly formed unit.

Although the 14th Panzer Corps had two armored divisions and two mechanized divisions within its establishment, as well as a large number of direct units. But most of this unit are new recruits, and the weapons and equipment are basically old-fashioned models. Because it was not expected that the Ming army would land here, the elite troops were not in this area.

The hastily assembled German forces quickly attacked south, but were stopped at the Zionz Pass before dark.

Due to the lack of air power and long-range heavy artillery support, coupled with the fierce artillery bombardment of the Ming escort fleet on the sea in the distance, the German troops who rushed over suffered heavy losses, but they were unable to break through the barrier of the Zionz Pass.

Rommel soon ordered a halt to the attack after receiving a notification from the front, and used the evening to regroup troops and supplies, preparing to wait until after dawn to launch the attack. By this time, the 16th Panzer Division, which was the first to launch the attack, had already lost dozens of tanks and armored vehicles and more than 1,000 officers and men. The main casualties were the fierce shelling of the Ming Navy on the sea.

The fire strike force, consisting of four battleships, two heavy cruisers and a large number of light cruiser destroyers, showed extraordinary power in the shelling of the opposite shore. Hundreds of heavy artillery shelling are enough to tear any ground forces into powder. (To be continued.) )