Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 2207
The [-]th Armored Division is preparing to attack Russia in East Prussia. It must not have time to come to Crete to rescue paratroopers and airborne troops who are in desperate situation.

However, the turnaround occurred.

Allied forces in Crete were not just southern African troops.

The German airborne attack on Crete was not limited to Heraklion. Marama and Rethymnon, which also had airports, were also targets of German paratroopers.

Before the Battle of Crete, there were only three airfields on the island.

Among them, Heraklion Airport has the best conditions and can take off and land various aircraft.

The conditions at Malama Airport are slightly worse, and only fighter jets can take off and land.

Rethymnon's airport is still under construction and not in use.

Not being put into use does not mean that fighter jets cannot be taken off and landed.

As mentioned many times before, fighter jets in this era have very low requirements for airports, and even only need a flat grass to take off smoothly.

Therefore, when arranging defenses, the focus is obvious.

Heraklion Airport with the best conditions is defended by the southern African army.

Marama Airport, which can only take off and land fighter jets, is defended by the Australian army.

The Rethymnon Airport, which has not yet been put into use, is defended by the Greek Fifth Infantry Division.

During the second phase of the Greek campaign, most of the Greek Fifth Infantry Division was transferred to mainland Greece to fight. The three regiments that remained on Crete were just formed, and some soldiers did not even have weapons.

However, considering that the Rethymnon Airport has not yet been put into use and the possibility of being attacked by the German army is low, the Alliance Command still entrusts this "heavy task" to the Greek Fifth Division.

The problem arises at Rethymnon Airport.

On the 22nd, when the German army parachuted paratroopers to Heraklion, they also parachuted some paratroopers to Rethymnon Airport.

Like the defenders at Heraklion Airport, the defenders at Rethymnon Airport dispersed before the German paratroopers landed.

The difference is that the defenders at Heraklion Airport deliberately showed weakness to attract more German airborne troops to land at Heraklion Airport.

The defenders at Rethymnon Airport were truly defeated. During the German paratroopers' parachute, the Germans of the Greek Fifth Infantry Division may not have killed as many German paratroopers as the natives of Crete with hoes. It is indeed in line with the Germans' pre-war vision for the Battle of Crete.

Before the launch of the Battle of Crete, William Canaris, the director of the German Military Intelligence Service, vowed that there were no southern African troops and British troops on the island at all, only about [-] Greek troops.

Moreover, the Cretans don't like the Greek king, but they have a good impression of the Germans. Therefore, according to Canaris' prediction, as long as the German paratroopers parachute to Crete, the Cretans may be happy to welcome them. Master Wang.

Canaris' intelligence was actually correct, but it was information from a month ago. The Military Intelligence Bureau did not update their intelligence system in time, which caused the German paratroopers to suffer unprecedented losses.

While German paratroopers and airborne troops suffered unprecedented losses at Heraklion, progress at Rethymnon airfield was very smooth.

Although the Rethymnon Airport has not yet been put into use, the runway of the airport is about to be completed, and there is no problem with the smooth take-off and landing of fighter jets.

After landing, the German paratroopers worked overnight. In just two days on the 24th, Rethymnon Airport had the ability to take off and land transport aircraft, which was far beyond Anthony Jones' expectations.

"It's not surprising. The Indians are responsible for the construction of Rethymnon Airport. With their efficiency, it will take at least one and a half months before Rethymnon Airport is put into use." General Bernard Flaiberg was caught off guard.

Bernard Fryberg was the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in Crete.

"So, within 48 hours, the Germans completed the task that the Indians needed a month and a half to complete. Is the German's efficiency already so high?" Anthony Jones now finally understands why Rock kept chanting: Don't be afraid God-like opponents are afraid of pig-like teammates.

Flaiberg pursed his lips and shrugged his shoulders. Isn't it reasonable for this kind of thing to happen to Indians?

"You swore before the war that the Germans would not target the Rethymnon Airport, but the Germans showed up immediately, so we can't blame our [-]th Infantry Division—" Ma, who had just been the commander of the [-]th Infantry Division Noras was so innocent that he didn't even have time to identify the staff of the [-]th Division when the Germans came.

The former commander of the Fifth Infantry Division had already surrendered to the Germans with the First Greek Army. Manolas was parachuted into the Fifth Division by surprise.

But this cannot be the reason why the Fifth Infantry Division had no reason to resist when the German army was airborne.

Even the defeat of the Fifth Infantry Division will not have much impact on the coalition forces.

The key is that when the Fifth Infantry Division was defeated, all the heavy weapons assigned to the Fifth Infantry Division by the Allied Command were left to the Germans. This was their biggest mistake.

In the first phase of the North African Campaign, British troops seized a large number of Italian weapons in North Africa, including hundreds of tanks and nearly [-] artillery pieces.

These Italian weapons did not match the British army's weapon system. After receiving continuous support from southern Africa, the British army did not look down on these Italian weapons, so they gave these Italian weapons to the Greeks as aid.

As the only remaining Greek unit, the Fifth Infantry Division is equipped with a high proportion of heavy weapons. There are nearly 120 artillery pieces with a caliber above 60 mm. In terms of large-caliber artillery, it is almost the same as the ordinary infantry division of the Southern African National Defense Forces.

As a result, when the Fifth Division was defeated, these artillery pieces were not even destroyed, and they were left intact to the Germans.

It has been emphasized many times before that the German paratroopers and airborne troops are seriously short of heavy weapons.

Anthony Jones never expected that the Greeks would become the German transport captains.

"You can't blame me. My task is to keep my children alive as much as possible. They are all young people who have just joined the army. You can't ask too much of them." When they were defeated, they also discarded almost all the heavy weapons——

Pushing forward one month, when Rommel counterattacked, the British North African Army also left almost all heavy weapons to the Germans in order to run faster.

So in Manolas' view, Anthony Jones and Fryberg have no position to accuse him at all.

"Even if he has just joined the army for one day, he is still a soldier. You don't need me to remind you what a soldier should do in a war!" Anthony Jones was shrouded in a deep sense of powerlessness. Fight alongside any Allied forces.

There are too many unexpected factors affecting the outcome of the battle.

"Okay gentlemen, what we should consider now is how to drive the Germans into the sea to feed the fish—" Freyberg said nicely, but he was actually withdrawing the British troops in batches.

It's really not that Flaiberg is afraid of fighting.

Before the start of Crete, the British troops on the island were all withdrawn from the Greek mainland to Crete.

This part of the British army discarded all heavy weapons when they retreated, and some soldiers didn't even have rifles.

When the Battle of Crete began, one-third of the [-] British troops on the island had no weapons——

Therefore, before the start of the Battle of Crete, Freyberg applied to the British War Department, hoping to withdraw these British troops who did not even have rifles to Egypt.

Now the situation is getting worse, and the German army has established a foothold in Rethymnon.

This time without Freyberg's urging, the British War Department accelerated the retreat.

"We have to find a way to take back the airport." Anthony Jones didn't want to retreat, and the word retreat did not exist in the dictionary of southern African soldiers.

"It's hard to do—" Freiberg said with a sad face.

The terrain of Crete is complex. The mountains on the island are all in the east-west direction, and the rivers are in the north-south direction. The transportation on the island is very inconvenient. Rethymnon is [-] kilometers away from Heraklion.

Closer to Rethymnon was the British army led by Freyberg.

But British positions are now also under attack by German paratroopers.

Compared with the Greeks, the Australian army is still capable of fighting, at least the Australians have not lost their positions yet.

However, it is not far from the lost position. As the German army continues to provide support from Axing Lei Simnon, once the German troops with heavy artillery start to attack the Australian troops, it will be difficult for the Australians to hold their positions.

To put it bluntly, the purpose of the Battle of Crete was not to fight the Germans, but to delay the time for the Germans to go north as much as possible.

In the latest situation, the second wave of airborne troops on Crete is no longer paratroopers and airborne troops, but the German Fifth Mountain Division, which is good at mountain warfare.

The Fifth Mountain Division was composed of the 1th Regiment of the 100st Mountain Division and part of the 10th Infantry Division.

This is the first time the Fifth Mountain Division has participated in combat since its formation.

"Which army is the closest to Rethymnon?" Anthony Jones decided to come by himself.

Then Anthony Jones noticed that Major General Lu Sheng, who was in charge of coalition coordination, shook his head slightly.

Anthony Jones woke up instantly.

That's right, the positions lost by the Greek army have nothing to do with the 35th Division.

Let the Germans gain a firm foothold in Rethymnon, and reinforcements from Germany will continue to arrive in Crete, and the withdrawal of the Allied forces will be a matter of course.

Otherwise, the German paratroopers and airborne troops will be beaten with the same force that the 35th Division gave to the German paratroopers and airborne troops in Heraklion, and the Germans will lose all confidence.

If this affects the determination of the Germans to go to war with the Russians, it will be a big trouble.

After the meeting, back to Lu Sheng's office, Lu Sheng took the initiative to make tea for Anthony.

"Calm down, calm down, our mission is to hold back the Germans, not to annihilate them." Lu Sheng was very sober, always remembering the mission of the Allies.

"I'm really not reconciled to the fact that the battle has ended like this!" Anthony sighed bitterly.

"If the lives of millions of southern Africans can be exchanged for victory in this war, do you agree?" Lu Sheng would not be reconciled. Even if the Europeans use their brains, what does it have to do with southern Africa.

"Why?" Anthony frowned immediately. All the southern African soldiers in the Mediterranean theater combined totaled less than 100 million.

If there were really millions of southern African soldiers who died in the World War, it would be true that every household would wear mourning, and Roque would have to consider whether it was worth it.

"This is the end—" Lu Sheng didn't care about success or failure. Although it was fun to fight all the way to Berlin, it was not in the interests of southern Africa.

Looking back, Anthony could only vent his anger on the German paratroopers and airborne troops around Heraklion.

Schmitz and Hoffman are not stupid either. Heraklion Airport has almost been destroyed by artillery in southern Africa. The airport runway is like a muddy pond after heavy rain. The transport plane has lost the possibility of landing. Naturally, Schmitz and Hoffman It will not allow paratroopers and airborne troops to stay at the airport and be beaten passively.

If you can't fight, can you still not escape——

As long as you give up the airport, you will have a brighter future.

The vast world has a lot to do.

But it is not so easy to withdraw.

In just one day and one night, more than half of the 6000 paratroopers and paratroopers who parachuted to Heraklion Airport were killed or injured, and there were less than 3000 soldiers who could continue to fight.

The withdrawal of paratroopers and airborne troops from the airport meant that nearly 2000 wounded soldiers had to be abandoned.

It is impossible to retreat with wounded soldiers, not to mention the slowdown, most of the wounded are in urgent need of medical treatment, and the paratroopers and airborne troops lack medical capabilities, even if they retreat with wounded soldiers, they will eventually die.

The southern African army has a strong medical force.

Key southern African armies have never had a tradition of ill-treatment of captives, as was demonstrated in the last world war.

Then retreat, leave the wounded at Heraklion airport, and hope that the Southern Africans will abide by the International Covenant.

Schmitz took the initiative to stay and take full responsibility.

"The paratroopers suffered unprecedented losses. The main responsibility lies with me. I must be with my troops." Schmitz looked numb. Since the outbreak of the European War, no German general has directly surrendered to the Allies.

Quite a few died in battle.

Just yesterday, the glider taken by Major General Sussman, the commander of the German Seventh Airborne Division, had an accident when it landed in Heraklion. Major General Sussman and the division staff were all killed.

Otherwise, the Seventh Airborne Division wouldn't have performed so poorly.

"Schmitz, there is absolutely no need for you to do this." Hoffman hoped that Schmitz could withdraw together.

"Hoffman, don't persuade me, someone has to be responsible for all this." Schmitz had already prepared for the worst.

Someone had to be held accountable for the unprecedented losses suffered by the paratroopers and airborne troops on Crete, and it even had consequences for how paratroopers were used in Germany in the future.

In another time and space, after the Battle of Crete, Germany never organized large-scale airborne operations. The elite German paratroopers have been used as "hunters" since then and have been used as infantry units.

This time and space is even worse. After the Battle of Crete is over, it is hard to say whether Germany still has the paratrooper organization.

At least in Heraklion, paratroopers have been lost to the point of withdrawal.

(End of this chapter)