By noon, the Austro-Hungarian fleet had already arrived in the Gulf of Morfo, northwestern Cyprus. Reconnaissance planes circled over the bay, and Admiral Horti commanded a single battlefleet approaching Soli Beach. All the main turrets of the nine battleships and four armored cruisers of the 1st and 4th battlefleets rotated slowly, their muzzles raised to point at the British defensive positions along the coast. The waves crashed against the hull of the ship, splashing white water.

There was about one division of British defense on the island, but most of it was concentrated in the southern port area, which was defended by only about one battalion.

This little force simply could not prevent the landing of the Austro-Hungarian marines.

However, in order to reduce the problems encountered by the marines in the event of landing, the Navy continued to follow the usual practice of first striking at the British fortifications along the coast.

"Fire!"

With the order of Admiral Horthy, the "Austria" slammed to the left, and with the thunderous roar of the main guns, the hurricane formed by the muzzles swept across the sea, and brown-red gunpowder smoke enveloped the starboard side of the entire warship. It wasn't long before the island's lush coastal slopes lit up with fires, followed by more black smoke.

As the flagship opened fire, the other ships began shelling one after another.

A series of explosions flickered with clusters of fire, and the entire coast was soon shrouded in black smoke and dust. After about ten minutes, the shelling gradually stopped, the smoke slowly began to dissipate, and the coast was once again revealed. The shore, which was still full of greenery just a moment ago, was full of bare, broken limestone craters, and large areas of bushes had long since been blown away.

The Marines began to prepare for the landing.

The transports carrying the 12th Marine Division sailed into the bay and stopped less than a nautical mile near the beachhead, where the Marines boarded the landing dinghy in platoons, and the transport's cranes lifted the departing dinghy off the deck and lowered them to the surface.

The motor on the dinghy was activated, carrying the marines who were ready to rush to the beach, and began to rush to the beach.

The British resistance was weak, and the intensive shelling had basically destroyed their fortifications and artillery positions near the coast. Several destroyers provided fire support to the landing marines close to the coast, and the few remaining machine-gun and artillery positions of the British were quickly suppressed by these naval guns and there was no movement.

The 12th Army Division, the newest Marine Corps, dispatched a regiment in the first wave of attacks.

The Austro-Hungarian Marine Division is a three-brigade and nine-regiment system, but the battalion-level establishment is much larger than that of the army, and a full-strength marine battalion includes three infantry companies, a fire support company and an armored company, with a total strength of 867 men, which is basically equivalent to the establishment of a reinforced battalion of the army.

Moreover, the Marine Corps also has a considerable number of auxiliary units, and the establishment of a Marine Division is more than 38,900 soldiers, which is almost the same as the strength of an army corps.

With the gradual application of tanks and armored vehicles on the battlefield, the "king of land warfare" has been shown on the battlefield for a short time, and has been recognized by the military of various countries as it will replace artillery and become the main weapon of the new generation of land warfare. The Marine Corps, which was built by Emperor Friedrich, was naturally not far behind in terms of equipment, and soon after the army was equipped with tanks, the formation and testing of armored units began. With the advancement of welding technology and the increasing use in the field of metalworking, the Beaver amphibious light tank made by all-welding process was also developed, and then began to be equipped on a large scale with the Marine Corps.

The Austro-Hungarian Marine Corps is equipped with the Beaver III amphibious light tank and the Walrus amphibious armored vehicle with an armor thickness of only about 10 mm, and the Beaver III amphibious light tank weighs only 9.5 tons, which is almost half the light compared to the latest tank of the army. Although the armor is weak and the firepower is only a 37mm tank gun, it has excellent maneuverability, and if it is only used against infantry units, it can be a sharp weapon for attacking fortifications.

The commander of the 12th Marine Division, Rear Admiral Platisic, carefully watched the landing of his men with a telescope from the bridge of the "Austria". The 12th Marine Division was a new unit that had never fought before, and the Slovenian general prayed in his heart that his "rookie" unit would not make too much of a joke in the first battle.

The landing craft rushed to the beach under the cover of destroyer gunfire, and the marines jumped into waist-deep water and began to charge towards the coast. The machine gunners on the landing craft fired incessantly, suppressing the British in the shore fortifications.

"White flags? We surrendered before we landed on them ?! Platisic was stunned by the sight of the battlefield from the point of view, and before the Marines could reach the shore, the British in the opposite fortifications waved their white flags.

They surrendered?!

Rear Admiral Platisic shook his head with some disappointment, the feast he had prepared for the British was of no use at all, and on several special landing ships, tanks were coming out of their hulls, meeting the waves of the sea, and preparing to rush to the shore. But before they could adjust their formation, a white flag was erected on the opposite side.

The Marines captured Soli with ease, and the engineering units began to build temporary docks in the harbor. Soli was a small fishing port with only a short limestone pier, and the transports drove up to the dock, and the sappers began to unload all kinds of machinery and construction materials.

Major General Platisic ordered the troops to continue a landing exercise, which quickly created chaos on the beach.

As the order was given, all the troops tried their best to get to the beach, and the landing ships also approached the beach and began to lay down their troops. Soon, the entire beach became crowded with people, piles of equipment and supplies unloaded from transport ships everywhere, and newly landed troops passed through the middle, and there was a mess.

"Oh my God, it's like a huge garbage dump, Major General, and if the British come and shell the beach now, guess what will happen?" Rear Admiral Kasić, who had been promoted to chief of staff of the 4th Battlefleet, wasted no time in mocking the table of the landing team. The Marine Corps has now been separated from the Navy and has become a separate service, which makes the Navy extremely unhappy, and it is natural to use every opportunity to attack the Marine Corps.

"The truth is that the British, who have already been frightened by us, have already trembled their legs, and they have long since dropped their cannons and run away!" Although Platisic blushes at the face of his subordinates, he refuses to show weakness in his mouth.

The reconnaissance planes sent out by the Navy sent back the latest intelligence, and the enemy forces were not found in the vicinity at all.

Platici breathed a sigh of relief that his "rookie" troops could finally land calmly, and there would be no more humiliating chances.

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