The defense of the beachhead had collapsed - the advantage of the attacker was that it was able to concentrate its forces at one point, while the defender had to take care of everything. The British army in Malta numbered 100,000, of which about 70,000 were regular combat troops, which were deployed at key points throughout the island. More than 10,000 French troops faced only about 3,000 British troops.

That's right, it was the rap sniper to which Second Lieutenant Miller belonged, who was on his way to the beachhead, jokingly said that the German commandos were just the size they could handle.

Let? Captain Bohr, commanding the troops temporarily under his own command, began to advance on both sides along the trenches of the coast, rescuing all the friendly troops trapped on the sands on either flank, and among these rescued friendly troops there was at last an officer of higher rank than the captain.

"The division commander actually hung up?" The captain frowned, "It seems that the luck of our unit is terrible. ”

"No, he didn't get on the landing craft, he'll come in after we secure the landing ground and set up a headquarters." As he spoke, he lit himself a cigarette, took a hard breath, and then puffed the smoke out of his nostrils.

The captain muttered a slurred sentence, then continued to get down to business: "So what do we do?" ”

"Hold the beachhead and wait for the second wave of troops to come ashore, and then we will expand the beachhead to both sides so that there will be more room for ships carrying supplies to unload. After that, we will launch an active attack on the British forces and clear them of their military presence on the island. ”

"This plan sounds like a huge one, and it's not something for a company commander like me to do."

The major shrugged.

"Then I'll take my leave." The captain saluted the major and turned to leave, but was stopped by the major.

"Man, I feel like it's going to be a very long day, maybe the longest day of our lives. Work hard, everything will be fine, and we will get through it. ”

"I know." The Captain nodded, "I know." ”

**

On the other side, at the German-controlled airport in Malta, transport planes full of German troops were landing.

When the fifth transport plane landed, shells suddenly fell from the side of the runway.

The transport plane, which was sliding and slowing down, seemed to be startled and dodged to the side, only to crash into the "trophies" on the tarmac, knocking one of the Spitfires to pieces.

"Damn," Colonel Pickett, who was in charge of the airfield at this time, cursed in a low voice, "this is a goddamn mortar, the British are not far from us, and those mortars will turn the whole runway into an oversized ornament......"

Pickett hesitated for a moment, and then called his right-hand man over.

"Listen, the British hid mortars somewhere near the airfield, and with the range of the British mortars, they should be in an area of about a kilometer from the runway. After observing the terrain, I think these three places are the most suspicious. Your mission is to find them and destroy them on the spot. ”

"Okay, but aren't we very strong now?"

Pickett admitted: "It is true that every bit of strength is precious to us now, but if the planes cannot land on the landing, our holding on is meaningless, and we will soon be wiped out by the British on this small broken island due to the lack of follow-up troops and ammunition supplies." ”

As soon as the words fell, the sound of shelling just now sounded again, and the shells began to fall on the runway one after another.

"This looks the size of a mortar company," Pickett said, glancing at his henchmen, "Is it difficult to destroy them with your current troops?" ”

"No, sir." The answer given by the henchman will make Peake quite satisfied.

**

At the same time, on the road from the airfield to the beachhead, Miller's team, which had just broken a convoy of British reinforcements, was continuing to move in the direction of the beachhead.

"Wait a minute," the sharp soldier suddenly raised his hand, causing Second Lieutenant Miller to raise his fist and signal the whole team to stop advancing, so the German soldiers all stopped, half-crouched down on the spot, and lowered their posture to make a standard gun-holding posture.

"What did you find?" Miller asked the Spearhead.

"Ensign, you should be able to hear it too, there's the sound of cannons."

"I know, since we landed in this place today, haven't there been cannon shots?"

"No, ensign, I mean, it sounds like artillery is firing not far from us."

Second Lieutenant Miller frowned, he listened for a while, and found that it was indeed as the sharp soldier said, as if there was a feeling of artillery firing nearby, because he was used to the sound of cannons, so he did not carefully distinguish at all.

"What to do? Neither our army nor the French army have artillery, and the 105 recoilless gun is the strongest firepower. ”

After pondering for a moment, Second Lieutenant Miller replied, "What else can be done, we have been ordered to do something to help the French, and if the cannon is firing at the beach, we should kill it, and if it is firing at the airfield, we should kill it." ”

"Well," it sounded like the Sharpie had expected the second lieutenant to reply, "then we'll go and scout." ”

"When you find the enemy, let us know, and I'll lead the others to follow."

After the communication, Miller turned around, made a "rest in place" gesture to his subordinates, and then pointed to the first shift, signaling them to be on guard.

Miller didn't have to wait long.

"Sir, we found four howitzers on the high ground on the west side, firing in the direction of the beachhead, machine guns are responsible for covering the artillery positions, there are probably more than a hundred British soldiers, the specific number is not clear, anyway, we saw a lot of basin steel helmets, running around in the trench connecting several gun emplacements."

Miller listened to the communications while looking at the heights on the western side with a telescope, but could see nothing but bushes.

"I can't see the light of the howitzer fire."

"On the other side of the heights, sir, the British have placed the howitzers on the anti-slope opposite the beachhead, so as to reduce the losses in the event of a naval artillery attack, and if we go a little further, we will miss this artillery position."

"Understood, stay there now and wait for us to arrive."

**

Twenty minutes later, Miller saw a howitzer emplacement, firing.

"I think there should be one more cannon," said the first soldier to Miller, "and it should be behind those trees, and the five gun emplacements plus the connected trenches form a 'W-shape.'" ”

Miller carefully observed the enemy's position, and after a moment he said: "We attack in two directions, and the fire team is located here, and this is the best place to see and suppress the machine guns that are close to our side. While the fire team is firing at the enemy, the outflanking team passes behind the sparse bush on the right! The British may notice someone moving behind the bushes, so they must be attacked with ferocious fire to leave them with no time to care. ”

"Don't bother the second lieutenant," Rybin patted his K98 rifle with a large magnification scope, "I can shoot the British machine gunner directly, and I'll kill one of them when I come up and take over the shot." ”

"yes, I'm sure you can do that, so I'll give you the machine gun in the distance." Miller patted Leybin on the shoulder, and then he turned to the others, "Act fast, so you don't have to bring too much ammunition, the third squad stays with the fire team, and when you see us occupying the first gun position, take the ammunition over." ”

"Sir, does this mean that we are carrying ammunition through the enemy's area of fire?"

"You can also go behind the bushes, which can act as a block to keep the British from targeting you, and can also block some bullets." Miller said as he untied his tactical equipment, leaving only a magazine bag and a grenade pouch with four magazines, and when he was done, he looked up and saw that his soldiers were ready, "Very well, the first and second squads will come with me, and the reinforced brothers will go to the left flank, then there should be a better position to contain the enemy's fire." ”

Because the plane landed in the wrong place, he temporarily strengthened the squad leader of Miller's squad and gave a thumbs up to signal that he understood.

"Okay, action!"

Miller gave the order, the soldiers all moved, two machine guns were mounted on the trunk of the fallen tree, and then the two squads followed him to the right - they did not stop until they reached the point where the bushes began to thin, and then Miller, who led the team, ordered by radio: "You can begin." ”

The fire team immediately began to fire, and the bullets kicked up a large amount of dust on the sandbags of the British, and it looked as if an unlucky loader had been shot immediately, and then the British machine gunners began to return fire.

The other British soldiers also stopped what they were doing and opened fire with their individual weapons, and the fight was almost immediately hot.

"Okay, let's go." Miller rushed out first, scurrying behind the bushes, and as he ran, he looked at the British position, which was even thinner than expected, and through the cracks he could clearly see the steel helmets lying on the edge of the trench and firing at the woods where the fire team was hidden.

Finally, Miller was close enough to throw a grenade.

After he lay down, he gestured to his subordinates in the back: the first squad attacked, the second squad covered, and the grenade was thrown first.

Soon, all eight people in the second shift took out their grenades, pulled out the safety ring, and pressed the flap with their hands.

Miller nodded, and eight grenades were thrown in unison.

This distance is not enough for a well-trained German paratrooper to drop every mine in the perfect position, but it doesn't matter, all Miller needs is the shock wave and loud noise generated by the explosion of the grenade, which is just as effective as the shock grenade to deter the enemy and cover the impact - especially if the grenade explosion causes casualties.

At the same time as the series of explosions, Miller personally led the first squad to rush out, and they rushed all the way, through the "heavy rain" formed by the falling earth, and rushed directly into the trench, firing at something that could move inside the trench.