You can't blame Commander Guan for this attitude.

After the start of the war, a series of bad performances of the Italian army made the two allies of Han and Germany laugh and cry.

Not to mention the humiliation of more than 200,000 troops in East Africa who were defeated by the British colonial black troops, even in Rommel's Afrika Korps, the performance of those Italian divisions was also miserable.

When the British army was defeated at the First Battle of Benghazi, on the way to retreat, if it were not for the strict attention of the German army, the Italian army would simply surrender. However, in the battle to destroy the H fleet, the Italian navy won the respect of its allies with its tragedy.

The commander of the Italian navy, Giriziani, was also quite respected by Jiang Yunzhi and the bigwigs of the Han army in Cairo.

But the well-known St. Mark's division ...... "Well, not a complete marine division, only one regiment of which is a professional marine division trained for landing." ”

Guan Canghai wondered very much, how did the Italian army get it? The Marine Corps is under the jurisdiction of an army division. Uh, well, His Majesty has repeatedly stressed the need to maintain unity among allies and to respect the forces of the allies. General Jiang also said that this St. Mark's division is the elite of the Italian army, different from the other rabble of the Italian army, and they are equivalent to the ...... of our Han army. Well, the 1st Marine Division.

Thinking of this, Commander Guan wanted to laugh, when Jiang Yunzhi said this, Giriziani's face on the side was darker than that of General Jiang, what do you mean by "the rest of the rabble of the Italian army"?

In fact, Jiang Yunzhi said it so bluntly, he thought that Giriziani couldn't understand Chinese, who would have thought that these people are now learning Chinese hard, although their tongues are too hard and they can't speak very well, but they basically have no problem understanding daily conversations.

St. Mark's Land ...... on a mixed freighter-converted troop carrier from Taranan Bay The regiment, which had already joined the Northern Fleet a day earlier.

But Guan Canghai was in no hurry to launch a landing campaign, he was still waiting for news.

The latest intelligence showed that the detachment of the C Fleet at Derna had begun to withdraw to Benghazi, and the crushing defeat of the American fleet made Cunningham suddenly give up the idea of regaining control of the Mediterranean.

It turns out that with the presence of the Han fleet, it was just a good wish.

Now, he had to worry about the safety of his own C Fleet, and the Northern Fleet began shelling the island of Malta to confirm his suspicions. The appetite of the Han Navy is quite large, and when attacking the Valletta base, they actually want to cut off the retreat of Fleet C.

But Benghazi is so close at hand, and if Fleet C retreats now, Cunningham will undoubtedly be infamous.

While he was hesitating, a telegram from London helped him to make up his mind. "Do whatever it takes to bring the C fleet back to Gibraltar."

That is, there is no need to think about the Eighth Army. Cunningham immediately ordered the Eagle carrier group in Derna to return to the Gulf of Sirte at once, and the whole fleet to return to the western Mediterranean.

The transports in the fleet that were too slow had them deliver supplies to Benghazi and back to ...... Then transport the soldiers of the Eighth Army to Tripoli as much as possible. Cunningham thought that this was a pretty good plan, both to ensure the safety of the C Fleet and to save a portion of the British army.

As for the possibility that the convoy will be bombed by the air forces of the allies, then it is only a matter of asking God to bless and ask for blessings!

Compared to the two hundred thousand British Army, the C Fleet was certainly more important. Neither the Prime Minister nor the British civilians will have any objection to this.

Cunningham's retreat plan was for the entire fleet to enter the Gulf of Sirte, close to the Libyan coast, and to widen the distance from the Han fleet as much as possible to prevent a sneak attack by the Han navy. It then turns north in the Gulf of Gabès in Tunisia, crosses the Strait of Geirgan, replenishes the Gulf of Sousse in the Gulf of Hamat, and then returns overnight to the western Mediterranean, bypassing Cape Tib, the narrowest point of the Tunis Strait.

In the eyes of the commander of the C Fleet, this retreat plan was humiliating, but it was the only possibility that could protect the C Fleet from returning to Gibraltar quickly and safely.

In the Mediterranean, British and American submarines had almost no room to move, and after the sea and air bases on the island of Malta were bombed, the Allied navies lost all the eyes and ears of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Without the mutual cover of the US task force, the admiral felt that any longer day in the Gulf of Sirte would bring great danger.

And the fiercely fought island of Malta, in Cunningham's opinion, was a trap, a trap to lure the C fleet to the bait. The entire Eastern Mediterranean is lost, what is the use of a bombed-out Valletta base?

The heart of the Mediterranean was thus abandoned.

After three days of artillery preparation, the Northern Fleet launched a beach-grabbing campaign codenamed Operation "Beauty". The 4th Royal Marine Division, which had come to support the island of Madagascar, landed in Marsaxlok Bay at the southern tip of Malta Island with scribe-class dock landing ships and air-cushion landing ships, and captured the former British air base Luga on the same day.

Although the St. Mark's Marine Regiment did not have the same equipment as the Han Imperial Marine Division, the Italian Navy's armored landing ships also successfully sent them to the beach of Bugibba in St. Paul's Bay, north of Malta.

The British Army stationed on the island of Malta numbered 6,000 men, but it was already exhausted by heavy casualties in the endless bombardment by the Allied naval and air forces. In particular, in recent days, the Allied forces have carried out 24-hour non-stop air raids on the island of Malta after the gradual opening of the airfield in Sicily. At night, flares made Malta look like day, and the incessant explosions made it impossible for the British troops stationed on the island to sleep, and the various defensive points deployed along the beach on the island were cut off from transportation, making it difficult to replenish supplies, not only could not get enough ammunition and food, but even fresh water replenishment became a problem.

After a number of heavy cruisers, such as the Xingba and Ziyi, as well as more than a dozen destroyers, joined the shelling, the British coastal positions were actually on the verge of collapse.

Rear Admiral Hughes, the supreme commander of the British forces at Valletta and Malta, could only hope that Admiral Cunningham had not forgotten him and that the mighty C-Fleet could save them.

Unfortunately, the telegram he was waiting for was that the C Fleet had entered the Gulf of Hamat, which meant that the British troops on the island of Malta had been ...... Thrown! If Rear Admiral Hugh had known that the C Fleet had abandoned even 200,000 men of the Eighth Army in Benghazi, perhaps he would not have been so sad.

Fortunately, Cunningham was still righteous, and did not order Hughes to defend to the death, but only asked him to command the British troops on the island to do their best to hold back the Northern Fleet, and after resisting as much as possible, they could surrender.

Upon receiving this telegram, Major General Hughes scolded on the spot, "What does it mean that after resisting as much as possible, you can surrender?" Surrounded by people on a small island, with no supplies, no rescue, and still dragging the northern fleet? What do I use to drag? Hit someone's armored cruiser with a rifle? ”

-- The British Navy called heavy cruisers armoured cruisers.

Listening to the rumbling of artillery on the coast and the sound of bomb explosions from time to time, Hughes did not hesitate, "Go to his best resistance!" Do you have to be blown up and starved to death by the brothers, so that you can do your best! ”

A telegram was sent directly to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the supreme commander of London, skipping Cunningham, "My unit is no longer able to complete the task of defending the island, please allow me to surrender to the Allies for the sake of the lives of the soldiers!" ”

Without waiting for a reply from London, Major General Hughes ordered the British defenders of Malta to surrender to the Allies in their entirety. The flagpoles and radar stations at the Valletta base were hung with white sheets, white towels, and white underwear...... All the white objects that could show their attitude were hung out by the British soldiers who were looking forward to an immediate end to the battle.

The battle between the 4th Marine Division and the Italian Marine Regiment of San Marco was only reluctantly held out because communications on the island had been cut off by air bombardment, and neither the defenders of Marsaxlok nor Bougiba had received Hughes's order to surrender.

But it was still some kind of British army that was famous for being gentlemen, and it was a group of beggars who fired a few shots like a drill, and then walked out of the fortifications with their hands raised after firing a few shots indiscriminately.

Seeing the Marine Division soldiers in marine camouflage uniforms was like seeing a savior, "Quick, give me water to drink!" ”

The dry lips and hoarse voice made the soldiers of the Marine Corps embarrassed to refuse. But who still carried a kettle when they landed on the beach?

Contacting the dock ship on the sea through the radio walkie-talkie, "No need to send tanks into the water, get a few hovercraft to deliver something to eat and drink!" ”

"Nima, this battle has been fought as a humanitarian disaster relief!" On the Zhongmou ship dozens of nautical miles away, Guan Canghai looked at the telegram happily.

"That...... Who! There were too many staff officers on the ship, and Commander Guan couldn't remember his name, "Inform the engineering troops in Sicily and ask them to send a regiment to Malta Island to level the airfield here, and then send a telegram to Commander Long Xiaotian of the Air Force, telling him that troops can be sent to Malta, don't you want to bomb Tunisia?" It's close! ”

The little staff officer pursed his lips and was happy, "Commander Guan, it's bullish!" ”

Guan Canghai laughed and scolded with a smile, "Stinky boy, go and generate electricity!" ”

Winning the battle, everyone is happy!

"But for the sake of a little Malta, is it worth it to let go of the British fleet?" In the Weiqing Pavilion, Quanguo Lin, who had just rushed back to Chang'an to report on his work, was a little puzzled, in his opinion, this was picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons, and His Majesty was still happy there?

"Worth, why not? This Malta is amazing! You'll know later, no more, as long as there is that St. John Knights City, we can control most of the Mediterranean! "Your Majesty is really happy.

"Holy ...... What city? ”

"The city of the Knights of St. John! It's another name for the city of Valletta where the naval base is located! "Counting the coffee cups on the side...... Director Mu, who didn't know what he was counting, explained lightly. SINCE YOUR MAJESTY BECAME ANGRY AND THE DRINK SERVED BY WEI QINGGE WAS CHANGED FROM "BIG RED ROBE" TO PACIFICRIM COFFEE IN NANYANG TERRITORIES SUCH AS SUMATRA AND ZHIQIU ISLAND, DIRECTOR MU CHANGED THE HABIT OF COUNTING TEA STEMS AND CHANGED TO SMOKE HIS FACE WITH THE HEAT OF COFFEE.

Ever since I enjoyed it with His Majesty in the sauna on the side of Lanfei Spring, Mu Yu has liked this feeling, "Everyone is dirty, soaking is not enough to wash people's souls, as long as they are scorched, they can flow out of the dirt in their hearts and be truly clean." ”

It turned out that Director Mu, who only knew that fire ferrochrome could force people to tell the truth, now knew that roasting could also make people more comfortable.

By the way, it was not bad to take Garbo and His Majesty to barbecue in the wild by the Prince River that time, but I didn't expect His Majesty to have that barbecue skill, but is it really good to take Marilyn to appear in public like that? It's impossible for the two of Jinhua Hall not to know? It's been so many days, why hasn't there been a response yet?