Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 2208 The Collapsed British
In the early morning of the 23rd, less than 20 hours before the outbreak of the Battle of Crete, the remaining paratroopers and airborne troops evacuated from Heraklion Airport in three ways and disappeared into the boundless darkness.

In addition to nearly 1800 wounded soldiers, there were nearly 1400 corpses of paratroopers and airborne troops left at the airport.

When Schmitz and Hoffman counted last night, there were still nearly 2000 wounded soldiers.

In just a few hours, nearly 200 wounded soldiers died wailing in endless pain, which shows the brutality of the battle.

Before the paratroopers withdrew, some wounded soldiers were unwilling to accept the fate of being abandoned, so they committed suicide brazenly.

There are also wounded soldiers who are still able to act independently although they are injured, mainly requesting to evacuate with the paratroopers.

These wounded soldiers actually knew that after they left Heraklion, most of them would not be able to receive effective treatment, so their injuries would worsen, and they would even be permanently disabled.

But they still insisted on leaving with the troops, preferring to face an unknown fate than to be captured by the Allied forces.

Even the southern African army, known for its kindness to captives.

After dawn, Major General Schmitz took an all-terrain off-road vehicle seized at the airport and came to the southern African army position to surrender.

All-terrain off-road vehicles are not omnipotent, and they can be used around airports with relatively good traffic conditions. If they leave the airport area, it is difficult to move an inch in the mud after heavy rain.

"You made a wise choice. You are a qualified soldier and you have done everything you can." Lieutenant Colonel Liu Xin, head of the 35th Regiment of the 177th Division, had a good attitude towards Major General Schmitz. Facing such a desperate situation, Still able to persist until now, the paratroopers are indeed the elite of the German army.

"We have too many wounded soldiers who are in urgent need of treatment—" Major General Schmitz's expression was numb. As a prisoner, and a prisoner who voluntarily surrendered, this will leave a stain on Major General Schmitz that will be difficult to erase for life.

Mustache would not ask Major General Schmitz why he surrendered, he only focused on the result.

"No problem. Soldiers who surrender will be treated according to their status." Lieutenant Colonel Liu Xin readily promised that this is very important.

The world war is going on, and southern African soldiers may also become prisoners of the German army.

In southern Africa, if you fight to the last moment, even if all the soldiers are killed, it will not change the outcome of the battle. Southern African soldiers are also allowed to surrender. After returning to southern Africa, they can still be treated like heroes.

This is normal, and sometimes it is necessary to become a prisoner, such as those soldiers who are stunned by shells in battle, they have to accept the fate of becoming a prisoner.

If there is one size fits all for captives, then it is unfair to those soldiers who have to be captives.

Although the probability of southern African soldiers becoming prisoners is very low, Roque still does so.

Southern Africa treats prisoners of war well, so that after being captured, southern African soldiers can also receive treatment that matches their status.

With the surrender of Schmitz, Heraklion airfield returned to the control of the 35th Division.

After a day of fierce fighting, the airport has been dilapidated, the terminal building and other facilities have been almost completely destroyed, the runway is full of bomb craters, and only a small section of the runway is barely usable.

The engineering unit immediately acted to repair the airport runway for the take-off and landing of southern African transport aircraft.

After the war, many materials had to be replenished, and there was a serious shortage of ammunition, medicine, and food.

No one expected that the first thing to land at the airport was not the Southern African transport plane, but two German transport planes.

In yesterday's fierce battle, the communication equipment of the paratroopers and space troops was destroyed, and it was impossible to contact the German headquarters. Therefore, the German headquarters still does not know that the paratroopers and airborne troops who were airborne at Heraklion Airport have surrendered.

When the paratroopers and airborne troops were airborne, they did not carry much supplies with them, only enough for a few days of combat.

Last night, while Germany was trying to send troops to Crete by sea, the Air Force was also trying to provide assistance to the German troops who were airborne at Heraklion Airport.

These two transport planes took great risks to break through the defenses of the Southern African Air Force, and only appeared in Heraklion after paying countless heavy costs.

According to incomplete statistics, on the first day of the Battle of Crete, the German army lost more than 170 aircraft, including nearly 80 transport aircraft.

So the Battle of Crete was not just a feast for the Southern African Army.

For pilots in southern Africa, the Battle of Crete was also a hunting ground for military exploits.

The pilots of the two transport planes never expected that when the cabin doors were opened, what they saw were the black muzzles of southern African soldiers.

"Drop your weapons, raise your hands and surrender—" a Southern African second lieutenant shouted in German.

In southern Africa, German is not a common language, but southern Africans are no strangers to German. After all, there are many Germans living in southern Africa.

After the war broke out, the Southern African Ministry of National Defense conducted some simple German training for officers and soldiers. These two sentences are the key points, and every southern African soldier will know it.

And very skilled.

Fred, the pilot of the transport plane No. 11305, was extremely surprised. He didn't react for a while, and his head was in a daze.

The deputy next to him reacted quickly, but just as his hand touched the holster, he was shot down by a sergeant with sharp eyes and quick hands.

Bah!
In the early morning when the mist has not yet dissipated, the sound of gunfire is particularly crisp.

Fred felt as if someone had poured a bowl of hot water on his face, and the whole cabin was blood red.

Fred knew what was splashed on his face, and he didn't even have the courage to look at the horror of his deputy.

When the Germans at Heraklion Airport surrendered to the Southern African Army, the defenders at Marama Airport were struggling.

The German airborne at Heraklion Airport has completely failed, and the airborne at Rethymnon Airport has been a complete victory, only Marama Airport is still undecided.

The [-]rd Australian Division is responsible for guarding Marama Airfield.

This is an outstanding force. In the first phase of the North African campaign, it captured Italian soldiers three times its own strength. In the final phase of the Greek campaign, it served as a cover for the retreat of the main force of the British army, although it suffered heavy losses. , still completed the task excellently.

It can be said that since the Australian Third Division arrived in Europe, it has not rested for a day and has been fighting.

After several months of continuous combat, the third Australian division was seriously injured. When the European war broke out, more than half of the officers and soldiers who arrived in Europe with the third division had been killed or injured.

Before the outbreak of the Battle of Crete, the Australian Third Division supplemented a regiment of New Zealand troops, and the total strength could barely reach 1.

When the Battle of Crete broke out, Marama Airport, which could take off and land fighter jets, became the second most important target of the German attack. Nearly 1800 German paratroopers parachuted to Marama Airport.

The Australian Third Division is still very effective and has withstood the crazy attack of the German paratroopers. Since Marama Airport is under the control of the Australian Third Division.

On the night of the 22nd, the German command sent the Fifth Mountain Division to reinforce Crete.

Heraklion Airport is located in the east of Crete.

Malama Airport is located in the west of Crete.

Crete is about 260 kilometers long from east to west, and Rethymnon is between the two airports. The Mediterranean Fleet and the Cyprus Squadron sent destroyers respectively to organize German sailing ships to cross the strait, but the effect was obviously different.

The number of destroyers sent by the Mediterranean Fleet was small, and there was no air support.

The Cyprus Squadron dispatched a large number of warships, not to mention the light cruisers in the fleet, and the cooperation of the Southern African Air Force in the sky. The effect was very remarkable. During the whole night of the 22nd, no German sailing ship successfully arrived in Crete.

The Mediterranean Fleet lacked the help of the air force and was sniped frantically by German planes.

In fact, on the evening of the 22nd, the destroyer "Hound Dog" on which Lord Louis Mountbatten was riding was attacked by six German bombers at the same time and was sunk tragically.

Lord Louis Mountbatten was lucky to be picked up by other warships, but other soldiers were not so lucky. About 80 soldiers died on the bottom of the sea with the "Hound Dog".

At night, the destroyer "Brave" was the first to be damaged and lost part of its power, but could still continue to fight.

By 11 o'clock in the evening, the destroyer "Kelly" was attacked by 12 German bombers in turn. When it sank, there were still 350 British soldiers on board who needed to be evacuated to Alexandria.

While blocking German reinforcements, the [-]st Destroyer Squadron also had to undertake the task of withdrawing the British troops to Egypt.

In this case, the British army did not notify the southern African army.

This is also a British tradition.

No matter which country the British are fighting with, they will not go all out, and they will keep a hand behind their backs.

Formerly French.

Now it's the turn of Southern Africa.

However, the British were not very lucky. Germany's air superiority was obviously stronger than the British imagined, and this was more obvious in the next few days.

When the "Kelly" sank, the British destroyer's fuel and ammunition were basically exhausted.

At this time another fleet arrived in time.

The strength of this fleet is stronger. The commander of the fleet is Rear Admiral Jin. The fleet includes two cruisers and four destroyers.

Taking advantage of the gap between the handover of the two fleets, about 3000 soldiers from the German [-]th Mountain Division successfully landed on the island, which brought great help to the umbrella around Marama Airport, which was in trouble.

The pressure on the Australian third division suddenly doubled.

When the German Air Force attacked the British fleet, it did not ignore the attack on Marama Airport. The Australian Third Division has been attacked by the German Air Force since the start of the war, and it also suffered heavy casualties.

The German 23th Mountain Division participated in the attack on Marama Airport in the early hours of the [-]rd.

It has to be said that the mountain division plays a more powerful role than the paratroopers in the mountain combat environment.

During the fierce battle on the 22nd, the paratroopers did not enter the Malama Airport at all.

In the early morning of the 23rd, the Fifth Mountain Division successfully entered the Malama Airport in its first attack, and the field battle finally turned into street fighting.

Street fighting is what paratroopers are good at.

At this critical time, the commander of the Australian Third Division did not insist on continuing to stick, but ordered the troops to retreat to the coast, trying to evacuate Crete through the fleet.

So here comes the problem.

The fleet led by Rear Admiral Jin has only two cruisers and four destroyers in total. Even if the bilge is full of people, how much can it pack?

What's more, the British troops waiting to evacuate are not only the third Australian division, but also the fifth Australian division and New Zealand troops.

As for the Greek troops at Rethymnon.

Sorry, but no Greek can even board a British ship until all the British troops leave Crete.

The coast near Malama Airport is a cliff as high as nearly 400 meters. There is only a narrow path leading to the sea under the cliff. The hydrological conditions on the shore are not good. Warships cannot directly dock. They can only rely on lifeboats to transfer the British troops to the sea. on the warship.

The lifeboats of the British army are not equipped with power, so they have to be rowed by hand, and the efficiency can be imagined.

There are German bombers in the air, and British warships waiting for British infantry, which are like living targets for the Luftwaffe.

Starting from the morning of the 23rd, the British army only evacuated 1500 people after a busy day.

The price paid by the British army for this was the sinking of the cruiser "Water Goddess", the destroyer "Kandahar", and the destroyer "Nubia".

When the "Water Goddess" was sunk, there were 780 British troops on board.

Fortunately, the destroyer "Kipling" was nearby and rescued 780 of the 523 people.

As a result, the "Kipling" evaded its steps, ran out of fuel on the way back to Alexandria, and floated on the sea near Alexandria.

When spotted by other British warships, the deck of the "Kipling" was full of people from head to tail.

It is said that the British should also be very experienced in this regard.

After all, there is already experience in organizing the Dunkirk retreat.

What is frustrating is that after the first batch of British troops withdrew to Egypt, no one knew exactly how many British troops were waiting to be evacuated from Crete from top to bottom.

This is also normal. The British are good at playing the navy, but the army is really not good at it.

The communications equipment of the British Army was not very good either.

After the troops fought, no one can tell how many casualties there were. The British command estimated that there should be nearly [-] British troops stranded in Crete.

The actual number was over 15000.

Regardless of how headaches the British have, they want to take these 15000 people away from Crete.

After the surrender of the German army in Heraklion, in order to treat the wounded German soldiers, the Cyprus squadron sent the medical ship "Angel" to Crete to participate in the treatment of the wounded German soldiers.

Although the "Angel" is a medical ship, the huge red cross logo on the side is extremely conspicuous. To ensure safety, the Cyprus Squadron still sent destroyers to escort the "Angel".

According to the "International Law", the hospital ship must be protected during the war, and the two sides in the war are not allowed to attack the hospital ship.

This clause was useless after the outbreak of the war. Strictly speaking, the medical soldiers on the battlefield were also protected by the International Law, but neither warring party cared about this.

During the real battle, the medical soldiers are the key targets of the warring parties.

One cannot place one's hopes on German discipline.

It is said that the discipline of the Germans is as much a joke as the spirit of the contract of the Germans.

(End of this chapter)