The Austro-Italian fleet had blockaded Gibraltar, and subsequently, marines had been dispatched to occupy the port of Malaga. Although the Spanish side lodged a "solemn protest," it handed over control of the port without any resistance. The Austro-Hungarian 21st Infantry Division, which was the advance force, divided into 24 transport ships, under naval escort, began to land in Malaga. The Italians, naturally, were not far behind, and sent their second army, which was claimed to be its elite, and it also began to be transported to Malaga.

At the same time, at the Tunis airport, the Austro-Hungarian Army Aviation Command mobilized 2 transport aircraft wings with a total of 292 SM-32 military transport aircraft and began preparations for airborne operations on Spanish territory opposite Gibraltar.

More than 6,000 paratroopers from two paratrooper regiments of the Austro-Hungarian 27th Airborne Division began to board the plane one after another under the leadership of the officers. The SM-32 military transport aircraft is a twin-engine multi-purpose military transport aircraft, modified from the SM-28 civilian airliner of the Imperial Aircraft Manufacturing Company, capable of transporting the personnel and equipment of 38 infantry in an infantry platoon or 26 heavily armed paratroopers in airborne operations at a time. There are also models such as the SMB-32 medium bomber.

The SM-32 transport aircraft has a length of 21 meters, a wingspan of 31.22, a height of 5.6 meters, and an empty weight of 10.6 tons. The power is two 1460 hp Stift ST603G 14-cylinder star-shaped air-cooled engines, with a maximum take-off weight of 17.8 tons, a maximum speed of 426 km / h, a cruising speed of 289 km / h, and a maximum range of 2860 km.

Because it is an improvement from a mature civil airliner, the SM-32 transport/bomber series is relatively reliable, and as a medium-sized tactical transport/bomber, it can basically meet the needs, but if it is a strategic bombing mission against the UK, it still exposes weak protection. Some weaknesses such as a short range, insufficient bomb load, etc.

The Austro-Crarian paratroopers were formed in 1928 and were one of the first countries in the world to form paratroopers. As a rapid reaction force, the Imperial paratroopers played a huge role in maintaining colonial rule and suppressing rebels in 1932. The Imperial Paratroopers were officially included in the Army, and the 27th Division of the Army, which had made many achievements in World War I, was given the name of the first paratrooper unit formed in the Empire.

A secret agreement had been reached between the Axis powers and Spain whereby Axis forces could move freely from Malaga to south of Cadiz and in Spanish Moroccan territory, and that Spain would withdraw its garrisons from the area and remain neutral. However, after the war, the Axis powers had to transfer sovereignty over Gibraltar and Tangier to the Kingdom of Spain.

The British air force in Gibraltar had only more than 120 combat aircraft, which were quickly exhausted in air raids and air battles, and the Austrian-Italian forces had achieved absolute air supremacy in the Strait of Gibraltar. In fact, the Austro-Hungarian paratroopers were not in any danger, but only to control the ports and airfields of Algeciras and Cádiz as much as possible.

Each of the paratroopers carried much more equipment than the infantry. An Islaja YLMG-36 automatic rifle, a few equipped with an Islaja YLG-31 semi-automatic rifle with a scope and a Skoda SKZ-28 machine gun, four magazines of 30 rounds (possibly more) in the backpack and body, a combination of knives, paratrooper knives, flashlights, maps, dry rations for three days, four wooden-handled grenades, self-defense pistols, sapper shovels, water bottles, aluminum lunch boxes, and a bunch of other things.

The rifles were disassembled and packed into a sponge-packed backpack, while machine guns, rocket launchers, mortars, and other heavy weapons and supplementary ammunition were dispensed with.

Almost all of the paratroopers had to be helped by the airport attendants to board the plane, and after getting into the cabin, all of them were immobilized.

The units participating in the "Hunter exercise" were the 79th and 81st regiments, and the target of the 79th regiment was Cadiz. Basically, there was no difference from the usual exercises, and the transport planes transporting the 81 regiment had to carefully bypass the Gibraltar fortress. The goal is to capture Algeciras.

After the Austro-Italian navy began to sortie, the British Joint Operations Command had already judged that the target of the Austro-Italian coalition should be Gibraltar. In the Mediterranean, the British forces in North Africa were driven out of the area by the German-Austrian forces at the beginning of the war, and then the Austro-Hungarian marines landed in Cyprus, and more than 6,000 British defenders who had been cut off from foreign aid surrendered.

After the fall of France. The British Empire had only Gibraltar left as its sole point of support in the Mediterranean. The large-scale military operation of the Austro-Italian Navy must have been directed there. In an order from the Joint Operations Command to the Governor of Gibraltar, Gort, and the commander of the fort, General Roque, the garrison was asked to hold the fort and wait for reinforcements from the mainland.

Churchill ordered the Royal Navy to send reinforcements to Gibraltar in full force, exactly what the Austro-Hungarian Navy and Army Aviation were looking forward to.

The question is the commander of the home fleet, John? Tovey strongly opposed the sending of reinforcements to Gibraltar, as the German fleet operating in the Bay of Biscay and the Norwegian Sea was held back. At present, the home fleet can only adopt a defensive strategy, and make every effort to ensure that the sea transportation lines are not cut off.

The main thing was that the Austro-Hungarian expeditionary fleet was moving north from the coast of West Africa, and if the British reinforcement fleet were caught in the middle of a two-sided attack by the German-Austrian fleet, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"The Austrians had occupied more than a dozen airfields in southern Spain and Morocco, from which bombers had taken off to cover even the western seas of Portugal, and the naval fleet was vulnerable to attacks from the air when it entered this area. The German fleet did not dare to operate within 600 kilometers of our coast for fear of being attacked by the air force. The design of our aircraft carriers has a huge flaw, and the number of carrier-based aircraft is insufficient, which makes it necessary to use more than two aircraft carriers against one German aircraft carrier. In this respect, the Austrians are far ahead of us, they now have 10 aircraft carriers, and they have more than 900 carrier-based aircraft, which is four times our number, and in this respect the Royal Navy is far behind the Germans and Austrians. If we don't catch up, then soon our warships will be sunk one by one by the opponent's planes. ”

Admiral Tovey said with a blank face that he was telling the truth, and that although he was not afraid of a big battle with the German Navy, if the Royal Navy suffered heavy losses, the fate that awaited Britain would be the result of being trapped to death.

"But if Gibraltar is lost, the Austrians and Italians will have free access to the Atlantic, and our sea lines will be even less secure." It was the Admiralty Pound who spoke, and in fact his speech represented Churchill's point of view, and it seems that the Prime Minister was not willing to give up Gibraltar lightly.

"In fact, the Austrians have bypassed Africa into the Atlantic, and we are powerless to stop their fleet from moving in the South Atlantic. It is clear that the Spaniards had reached some kind of agreement with Germany and Austria behind their backs, and only then could the Austrians easily occupy a dozen airfields in southern Spain and Morocco. Let's not forget that King Maximilian was the eldest son of the Emperor of Vienna. "For the sake of Gibraltar, which is not worth losing half of our warships, all we have to do now is wait for the United States to enter the war." ”

"Will the Americans go to war?" Navy Chief of Staff Mandy Rock said.

"President Roosevelt had convinced Congress, but it would take about a year for them to rearmament." "The U.S. has agreed to send a fleet to escort the U.S. convoy, and he needs an excuse," Aiden said. But if we don't insist on the United States entering the war, then everything is empty talk. ”

The Prime Minister is currently in the United States to persuade them to enter the war as much as possible, and the Joint Command of the three services has decided not to send naval reinforcements to Gibraltar for the time being, and is now concentrating all efforts to ensure the security of the homeland.

Gibraltar was abandoned. (To be continued......) R1292