Chapter 9
"Your Majesty, only ten days of preparation time is obviously not enough."In the City Palace, standing in front of Augustus was General Student, the commander of the 7th Airborne Division, who came to see him for the first time. The airborne operation on Crete two years ago was a tactical success, but it was a failure as a whole. More than half of the 7th Airborne Division was killed or wounded, and it has not recovered until now.
Especially two days ago, they were ordered to formulate an attack plan to attack Malta. The paratroopers will bear a very heavy attack task in this attack.
You know, there are nearly 30,000 Allied troops on Malta at this time. It is too difficult for the paratroopers to defeat the enemy, seize the island, and hold on until the arrival of reinforcements.
"I will only give you ten days. In addition, I have prepared a batch of new equipment for you, which will be distributed to the airborne troops. It is the only one in the whole army."August shook his head. He didn't have much time left. He had to find a new oil field for the empire within three months.
Otherwise, the logistics alone would be enough to make people collapse. In addition, he decided to cut some useless weapons production lines. It was a pure waste of resources.
"May I ask what new equipment it is?"General Student was a little curious about the new weapon August mentioned.
"A brand new automatic rifle, which I named the AK47 assault rifle, as well as individual rocket launchers, bazookas, tanks specifically for dealing with the enemy, and 60mm mortars...
I believe these weapons are enough to deal with the enemy on the island.
" August roughly explained the performance of the weapons.
Student's eyes lit up when he heard it:"If we had these equipment earlier, Crete would not have lost more than half of its troops.
They were elite troops who had been trained for several years.
……"
In response, August rolled his eyes and said,"It's not my fault."
""Your Majesty, the island of Malta is too small. We can target the airport and port facilities." Student was actually still very worried about this mission. After all, the paratrooper force is very valuable now. It would be a pity if they suffered losses on the island of Malta again.
But August didn't think so. He knew that the island of Malta played a very critical role in the Mediterranean war.
Although the enemy had reacted long ago and strengthened the defense on the island of Malta, and there were also many fighter planes on the island.
But August didn't care at all. What he had to do now was to take the island of Malta at all costs.
With the island of Malta, not only can the blockade of the Royal Fleet be broken, but also hundreds of thousands of elite German troops in Tunisia can be saved.
In fact, this island is an unsinkable aircraft carrier. With the powerful German air force and the Italian fleet, August can ensure that Libya's oil can be continuously transported to Germany.
With this oil, the Wehrmacht no longer has to worry about fuel problems and can compete with the bear in consumption.
With the arms commercial street and the endless supply of oil, let's see who can't hold on first.
"General, occupying Malta is a mission that must be accomplished. I won't say much about how advantageous its geographical location is. This island is completely different in the hands of the enemy and in our hands."
"As long as we occupy this place, the hundreds of thousands of Tunisian troops will be free from the danger of being surrounded. As long as we deploy hundreds of fighter planes here, this will be an unsinkable aircraft carrier."August began to explain to Student
"Your Majesty, the paratroopers will lose more than 5,000 men, perhaps more.……"Student naturally knew the defense situation on the island of Malta, and said distressedly
"General, even if the loss is more than 10,000 people, I will take Malta. After this battle, the 7th Airborne Division will be expanded into the 7th Airborne Army, which will have five airborne divisions and 100,000 personnel. All weapons, equipment and personnel will be given priority."August said loudly.
Seeing the emperor's determination, Student had no choice but to agree:"I suggest that we carry out an airborne operation in the south of Malta, seize the airport as soon as possible, and then control it."
"No problem, I think so too. Once the airport is taken, the Air Force will immediately send 200 of the most advanced fighters to support us. August nodded, thinking that Student's plan was very suitable.
As long as the TA-152 fighters arrived, the battle would basically be a suspense. Of course, August was still looking forward to the air battle between the TA-152 and the P51.
"P51, I think I saw it last time. I'll buy more and throw them to the North African battlefield. I guess the enemy's expression will be very interesting. Fighting with the Allied forces with all American equipment, I guess Patton must be doubting his life."August muttered a few words.