The British Empire's Mediterranean Fleet was prepared in Alexandria with such fanfare that Italy could sense it if it was not blind.

Not to mention the intelligence services of Italy and Austria, they were eager to hang their eyes on their warships, so while the Mediterranean Fleet was still being rearmament, the news was transmitted to the port of Taranto, where the combined fleet was stationed.

In the face of the changes in the British Mediterranean Fleet, Vice Admiral Lyfel, as the commander of the Combined Fleet, of course, attached great importance to it, and immediately convened a meeting of the commanders of the formations and the captains of the ships.

After some discussion, Leffel decided to have the Combined Fleet also prepare for the war.

So in the port of Taranto, the combined fleet was equally busy. The officers and men reconditioned the battleship and replenished it with ammunition and other materials.

However, the Combined Fleet has not moved yet, and they are still waiting for the Mediterranean Fleet to make a move.

However, although the Combined Fleet did not make a move, it could force the Mediterranean Fleet to move first, because in Malta, the competition for it had already begun.

Marsaxllock Bay is a bay in the southeast of the island of Malta, located only five kilometres from Valletta, Malta's most important port. However, due to the terrain, the coastal defense battery in Valletta could not provide effective support.

Therefore, the bay also became the most important landing site for the 1st Marine Division of the Italian Marine Corps.

On the surface of the sea, small boats were lowered on the loading and unloading vessels, which were the world's first landing craft, the Barracuda-class landing craft. I saw that after these landing craft were launched with the help of the boom, they immediately puffed towards the ships carrying the landing officers and soldiers.

On these boats, a Marine climbed up a rope ladder to the landing craft, and when they were fully loaded, they rushed to Marsaxlok Bay, where they sat nervously with weapons in hand.

A platoon of officers and men can be placed on a landing craft, so under normal circumstances, it is the second lieutenant platoon commander who comforts these officers and soldiers. These platoons pacified the soldiers in different ways, some were encouraged, some were insulting, and some were even directly attacked.

Whatever these junior officers do, it's all about relieving the pressure on the soldiers so that they can calm down on the battlefield they are about to arrive. Only by calmly responding to various situations can the soldier have the best chance of survival.

While the landing craft were rushing towards Marsaxlok Bay, tall and mighty warships on the sea were aiming their guns at the coastline and shelling.

Under the loud bang, powerful shells whizzed towards the British positions in Marsaxlok Bay.

"Collapse~"

A loud explosion hit a certain section of trench, and when the smoke cleared, a large crater of more than ten meters appeared. As for the officers and men of the defenders in this section of the trench, there is no need to look for them, they have already been vaporized. Only some fragments of clothing and weapons were scattered within a few tens of meters of the surrounding area, silently telling the tragic image.

Experienced officers and men knew at a glance by its power that this was at least caused by a cannon of more than ten inches (254 mm). In the face of such a giant shell, you don't have to run at all, because you can't run. The only thing you can do is pray silently, that the cannonballs don't fall on your head, or you'll see in Heaven.

At this time, the tragic encounter in the pit was not the only one, the warships from the reserve fleet were constantly throwing fire on the position and its surroundings.

Although these warships were outdated, under the threat of the lack of coastal defense artillery, these battleships lined up one after another, and kept firing to envelop the coastal positions in Marsaxlok Bay in artillery fire.

In fact, it would be wrong to say that it is not a threat, and the C battery in the port of Valletta with its 305 mm shore defense guns can get a reserve fleet in terms of range.

However, due to the terrain, its No. C battery cannot be aimed directly, and someone needs to mark it and use the map mark to carry out an artillery counterattack.

However, the indirect shelling of more than 10 kilometers is technically demanding, and it is difficult for even the officers and men of the elite warships of the Italian Navy to do it, let alone the officers and men of its coastal defense artillery, so the effect of the shelling is touching. (The best batch of battleships will almost be shunted to small and medium-sized warships, and then to other warships, and only the worst ones will be reserved for shore defense guns, which is the consistent practice of the navies of various countries)

"Boom~"

The sound of a violent explosion sounded from the side of the artillery formation, and the huge splash of water made experienced officers and men estimate that it was caused by shells of more than 300 millimeters.

That's right, this was caused by the 305-mm shore defense gun on the C turret from the port of Valletta, and the huge explosion really startled the officers and men of the shelling formation.

However, apart from being taken aback, it did not have any effect on the shelling formation. Because this shell from the shore defense battery was really unreliable at the bullet point, and it deviated from the shelling formation by nearly a kilometer.

Considering that this is indirect fire and the distance is far enough, coupled with the limited level of officers and soldiers in its operation, this is also purely normal.

Therefore, the reserve fleet did not pay attention to this low-threat artillery bombardment, but concentrated on shelling the possible shore defense facilities in Marsaxlok Bay.

If there are any defenses in the British army at Marsaxlok Bay, there must be. Italy knew that the harbor was an excellent landing point, but could the British troops who had been on the island for a hundred years not know about it?

Therefore, in Marsaxlok Bay, there are not a few fortified fortresses built by the British army for more than a hundred years. However, most of these fortifications and forts were built in the last hundred years, so they have long been outdated, and only a few fortifications and forts have been built in the last two decades by the British.

Of these Marsaxlok Bay coastal fortifications, the most deterrent was the 6-inch (152 mm) shore defense guns. These shore defense guns are not bad against small and medium-sized warships, but in front of former dreadnought warships, these shore defense weapons are not as good as tickling.

So the fire of the defenders, preferring to endure constant fire from naval guns rather than fire, waited for the Italians to come ashore.

As for the landing force that they were worried about, they drove their landing craft to the coastline.

Well, twelve knots isn't top speed, but it's much better than a wooden boat that requires manual paddling and doesn't have any protection.

So soon these landing craft rushed to the coastline, and at this time, the defending British troops saw the marines who were about to land, and immediately opened fire, machine guns, rifles, and some small and medium-caliber guns one after another.

The defenders were surprised to find that the machine rifles in their hands had no effect on the square landing ship except for the artillery, and were all blocked by the surrounding baffles.

And as the landing craft approached the snorting sea, their machine guns were also fighting back.

As soon as the landing craft landed on the shore and the hatch opened, the officers and men of the Marine Corps who had stayed in the cabin immediately rushed out. Because it's more dangerous to stay inside the landing craft. At this time, another advantage of the flat-bottomed landing craft was also manifested: Most of the officers and men of the Marine Corps who rushed out of the landing craft only had knee-high water surface when they got off the boat, and some even went directly down to the beach, and of course, there were waist-length and chest-deep ones.

There's a reason why I'm talking about this here. Because the resistance of the sea water is not small, in a landing operation that is racing against time, not to mention the slow movement in the sea water, it will not be able to do even the basic action of lying down without cover, and it will only become a live target.

Therefore, if the soldiers want to reduce their danger, then it is most important to go to the beach as soon as possible.

Therefore, the officers and men of the Marine Corps who landed rushed to the beach one by one at this time.

Even if the British condescended to fire at them at this time, and the comrades around them were hit and fell from time to time, the Marine officers and soldiers did not pay attention to these at all, and the anti-Poti on the beach was their ultimate goal at this time.

Of course, it is not easy for them to rely on themselves in the landing operation, and they still have help. At this moment, eleven destroyers and small cruisers approached a distance of thousands of kilometers from the coastline, and the various naval guns they were equipped with continued to undertake the task of suppressing firepower.

Although these naval guns are nothing in the navy, they are a proper weapon of mass destruction for the army. Its 150 mm, 120 mm, 105 mm, 75 mm and other naval guns provided fire support for the officers and men of the Marine Corps.

At this moment, the various dreadnought warships that had been shelling before the landing sounded again, but they were afraid of injuring friendly troops, so they no longer attacked the fortifications near the coastline, but extended their fire under the guidance of airships to strike at the enemy's increased troops.

Since they were assisted by the fire of a large number of warships, the officers and men of the Marine Corps who landed did not miss this opportunity, seized the opportunity to expand the landing grounds, and eliminated the surrounding defender strongholds one by one.

Of course, in addition to this first batch of landing troops, the second and third batches of landing forces were also joined by them.

By late evening, Rome had received news that the marines who had landed on Malta had opened and held the landing grounds.

(End of chapter)