Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 2168 Why is it so difficult to surrender
Just half a month ago, the Greeks begged the Cyprus squadron to provide support to Greece. For this reason, they did not hesitate to open Crete for the Cyprus squadron to establish a forward base.

In just half a month, the Greek army not only drove the Italians out of Greece, but also invaded Albania.

When he heard the news, Arthur's first reaction was that the Greeks might be disguised as southern Africans.

Otherwise, there is no way to explain why the Italians lost so quickly.

What Arthur didn't expect was even more.

With the defeat of the Italians, the confidence of the Greeks increased greatly, and the assistance to the Cyprus Squadron was no longer so urgent. Even the Greeks began to regret it and did not want to open Crete to the Cyprus Squadron.

"Yes, the Greek side means that the residents of Heraklion are opposed to our stationing, so the Kingdom of Greece hopes that we can suspend the establishment of a forward base in Heraklion." Mike Tolan's expression is complicated, and his mood is even more complicated.

When the Battle of Greece broke out, Mike Tolan expressed to Arthur his concerns about the combat effectiveness of the Italian army.

The result became a prophecy, and the performance of the Italians was even more unbearable than Mike Tolan had imagined.

This is not a threat.

It's clearly a gift.

Heraklion is the largest city on Crete with a population of 15000.

This is a city with a long history, the palace of King Minos in ancient Greek mythology, and the Minos labyrinth is here.

In 961, the Byzantine Empire captured Heraklion, massacred the Saracens, and burned the entire city. After rebuilding on the original site, it controlled Heraklion for 243 years.

In 1647, the Ottoman Empire launched a 22-year siege to Heraklion, a bloody war that killed 12 Cretans and [-] Ottomans.

Until 1898, the Ottomans withdrew and Heraklion became independent.

In 1913, Heraklion became a member of the Kingdom of Greece and was renamed to its present name, which means City of Hercules.

Heraklion is the largest port in Crete, and the Cyprus Squadron naturally chose Heraklion to establish its forward base.

Now the Greeks have backtracked and do not want to open Crete to the Cypriot squadron.

This is also normal. Since the outbreak of the European War, there have been fewer things to tear up the agreement?

"Isn't the Kingdom of Greece worried that the Italians will make a comeback?" Arthur was really speechless about the short-sightedness of the Kingdom of Greece.

"As far as the current combat effectiveness of the Italian army is concerned, the Greeks have reason to be confident." Mike Tolan sneered. The Kingdom of Greece can repent, but it has to bear the consequences of repenting.

"Oh, very good!" Arthur's face was expressionless, no matter how good his temper was, he couldn't bear it.

"Then suspend the establishment of an advanced base on Crete, and first take down the Dodecanese Islands." Arthur is growing rapidly, and there is no need to argue with the Greeks at this time, and there will be opportunities in the future.

"Well, we are ready to attack Rhodes Island." Mike Tolan calmed down. The Dodecanese Islands are Italian territory, and the Cyprus Squadron does not need the consent of the Greeks to launch an attack on the Dodecanese Islands.

As a result, the Italian army entrenched in Rhode Island was out of luck. Mike Tolan directed all the anger of the Greeks to renege on their promises to the Italian garrison in Rhode Island. On the 20th, 40 bombers were dispatched on the same day. Military installations were bombed.

It's not that there is no ability to send more bombers, but that it is unnecessary.

Since September 9, the Cyprus Squadron has bombed Rhode Island with a higher frequency and intensity than the German bombing of London.

After all, "Sky Fortress" and "Super Sky Fortress" have much higher range and ammunition load than "Aunt Junker".

Oh, Rhode Island is only 400 kilometers from Cyprus, so it's pointless to discuss the distance.

The pilots of "Sky Fortress" and "Super Sky Fortress" are also more skilled than the pilots of "Aunt Junker". For the bombing, the bomber pilots directly lowered the altitude to only 500 meters. At this distance, the landing point of the aerial bomb will not be more than 10 meters away from the target.

Don't doubt, it can really be done. The "Sky Fortress" and "Super Sky Fortress" in southern Africa have now installed a new type of bombing sight. More than 6500 meters.

After more than ten days of bombing, all the military targets on Rhodes Island were nearly completely destroyed. God knows how the defenders of Rhodes Island have persisted in the indiscriminate bombing until now.

On the 20th, when the southern African bombers flew over Rhode Island, the pilots in southern Africa were surprised to find that it had been razed to the ground, and a huge white flag was placed on the playground of the former Rhode Island garrison camp. .

This--

Is this surrender?
It's not quite like this, it's so old, if you surrender, you can use the radio to send a general telegram on the public channel, and there is no need for the backward method of raising the white flag.

So that's deceptive behavior.

Then keep throwing bombs.

Although the military camp has been razed to the ground, it is okay to blow it up again, in case the Italians dig tunnels in the military camp.

The port facilities of Rhode Island have also been completely destroyed. Two poor destroyers were stranded on the beach, and the rest of the ships had been sunk.

It doesn't matter, the bombs continue to be dropped, maybe there are Italian submarines hiding under the sea surface, waiting for an opportunity to attack the warships of the Cyprus Squadron, or the southern African merchant ships.

Occupying the Twelve Islands is to protect the safety of the waterway, and the pilots have not forgotten their duties.

40 bombers, because of the short distance, do not need to carry too much fuel, and carry more than 400 tons of bombs.

Rhode Island covers an area of ​​only 1400 square kilometers.

Southern African bombers have dropped more than 5000 tons of bombs on Rhode Island since the war broke out.

The bombing lasted only a short 5 minutes.

Before the smoke cleared, the warships of the Cyprus Squadron had already appeared on the distant horizon.

Mike Tolan is still very cautious.

Instead of directly sending landing ships to land, they commanded the fleet to form a battle formation, preparing to bombard Rhodes City, the largest city on Rhodes Island and also the largest city in the Dodecanese Islands.

Although the 203mm naval guns on heavy cruisers are not as powerful as battleships, which cost three or four hundred at a time, they are still very powerful for bombarding cities.

Before the battle formation started, a fishing boat came swaying from Rhodes Harbor. One person on board was holding a white flag and waved it desperately, lest the murderous naval officers and soldiers would not see it.

That must be seen.

Several "Goshawk" fighter jets that took off ahead of schedule flew around the fishing boat a few times to watch.

Anyway, Italy didn't deploy an air force in Rhodes Island, so the "Goshawk" would have nothing to do even if it flew over Rhodes City.

The person on the fishing boat waving the white flag was Tony Gallinari, the mayor of Rhode Island appointed by the Italian government.

Boarding the "Richmond", the flagship of the Cyprus Squadron, Tony Gallinari was distraught.

"We have already surrendered, why are you still bombing Rhodes?" Tony Gallinari asked Mike Tolan in person, aggressively.

"When did you surrender?" Mike Tolan was at a loss, and he didn't even say a word about surrendering. He was really unprofessional.

"We have already raised the white flag—" Tony Gallinari was confident, feeling that it was not the Italians who surrendered to the Cyprus Squadron, but the Cyprus Squadron surrendered to the Italians.

"If we fired at you, you'd have no chance of boarding the 'Richmond'." Mike Tolland didn't yet know about the bad behavior of the bomber pilots and bombardiers.

According to the rules, since the white flag has been raised, no more bombs can be thrown.

Even if it is thrown into the sea, it cannot still land on land.

The bad behavior of the bomber pilots and bombardiers broke the rules.

"I mean——" Tony Gallinari was very dissatisfied. The behavior of the southern African bombers and the Cyprus squadron was obviously bullying the weak.

"Why didn't you send a telegram?" Mike Tolan was even more innocent. The Navy was not responsible for the air force's bombing.

"The telegraph was destroyed during your first day of bombing on September 9th. How can we send it?" Tony Gallinari was really wronged. He didn't even give him a chance to surrender due to technological progress. .

At this time, in the bridge of the heavy cruiser "Richmond", except for Tony Gallinari, everyone's expressions were extremely exciting.

This--

This should be an accident.

"We have given up resistance since September 9th, your bombers are coming and going freely in Rhode Island, we have not fired a single shot, even the ships we sent to try to contact you were destroyed by your goddamn warships, you know how we are Have you persisted until now? We only want a damn peace, not a damn war—" Tony Gallinari's eyes were red, and his nose was about to flow out.

Mike Tolan wanted to say "I'm sorry," but didn't know where to start.

"—— Rhodes City is already an undefended city. All the troops on the island have laid down their weapons. You must give them treatment that matches their identities. Please send medical personnel to treat the wounded on the island as soon as possible. At the same time, you have to send the police to maintain law and order on the island. The island is in desperate need of help, and there is a serious shortage of food. Many buildings have been destroyed by your planes, and tens of thousands of people have been displaced, many of whom are innocent civilians on the island. Take full responsibility for this—” Tony Gallinari gushed that the Italians would literally surrender for no pasta.

Mike Tolan suddenly had a feeling that occupying the Twelve Islands did not seem to be a good thing for the Cyprus Squadron. Nimana is still a strategic location, and it is clearly a burden——

But now the Twelve Islands is not Mike Tolan's trouble, but Arthur's trouble.

The Cyprus squadron is only responsible for combat, and how to appease the people is Arthur's business.

(End of this chapter)