Iron Cross

At 10:24, the second attack by British planes taking off from Cairo Airport failed again. Except for the wreckage of more than 20 bombers and fighters, the rest fled in a panic because they were facing German fighters with full fuel and ammunition. Except for the Spitfire 9, the Fw-190 had an overwhelming advantage over other British fighters. The strength of the Bf-109 was not weak either. The slow Blenheim, Maryland bombers and Hurricanes and Tomahawk fighters had no chance of winning and were all killed by the Germans. Loew shot down another Blenheim bomber in the second battle, and he became a veteran who specialized in bomber attacks. In addition to the performance advantage, the number of German aircraft is increasing. At 11:30, the second air attack wave from Crete came with two more squadrons, covering the Ju-52 and Ar-232 transport planes to deliver the most needed fuel and ammunition for the aircraft. At the same time, considering the need for airport maintenance, they also brought an additional batch of cement, steel plates and construction engineers, as well as the second wave of paratroopers. Now the number of fighters flying over Alamein Airport has exceeded 150, effectively supporting the sky, and the number of paratroopers stationed on the ground has exceeded 800. In addition, the 1st Battalion of Armored Grenadiers and more than 20 Type 4 tanks that came urgently to support from Matruh Port effectively dispersed the Indian 4th Division, which was ordered to launch a second attack and attempt to retake the airport.

General Student believed that the Alamein Airport point could now be defended.

While attacking the Alamein Airport, the British Army in Egypt also sent other aircraft to attack the German fleet at Matruh Port, but the anti-aircraft battalion of the Grossdeutschland Division that had landed first made them suffer. Both the famous 88mm anti-aircraft guns and the quadruple 20mm anti-aircraft guns modified from the No. 2 tanks played the advantage of full firepower coverage, shooting down three bombers that attempted to drop bombs at low altitudes in succession, and finally forcing these bombers to hastily drop their bombs. As a result, the bombs they dropped only overturned a few empty Sibel-class landing barges - this loss was not taken seriously by Balck!

Failed in the air, failed on the ground, and Montgomery's reinforcements could not arrive for a while. Admiral Alexander, who was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, now placed all his hopes on the Mediterranean Fleet led by Lieutenant General Henry Harwood, hoping that they could sink the German landing fleet, bombard and cooperate with the army to recapture the port.

As one of the main fleets of the Royal Navy, the Mediterranean Fleet was originally very strong. It once had 5 battleships/battlecruisers, 3 aircraft carriers and a number of light and heavy cruisers. It was domineering in the Mediterranean and defeated the Italians in the surprise attack on Taranto and Cape Matapan. Its achievements were brilliant. With the continuous losses in the past three years of operations, the strength of the Mediterranean Fleet has declined. In addition, the troops withdrawn by General Cunningham in the Torch Plan have greatly reduced the strength of the fleet. One aircraft carrier is gone. There was also the Glorious, but in exchange for the US landing in Egypt, all three ships of the same class were lent to the United States and went to the Pacific battlefield. Now the fleet has only 3 battleships: Rodney, Nelson, Lorraine, 1 battlecruiser: Renown, 2 light cruisers: Argo, Charybdis and some destroyers.

The most tragic of these warships is the Lorraine - from the name, you can tell that it is a French warship. When the British and French turned against each other, the ship happened to be in Alexandria. It was detained and disarmed by the British army, and then incorporated into the Mediterranean Fleet. Now it is out to attack the German fleet - those former French compatriots.

"Sir, the reconnaissance aircraft has basically seen clearly that the German fleet gathered at the Matruh port, except for a group of landing craft and S-boats, is basically the main force of the original French fleet that entered the Black Sea some time ago. There are no Italian warships. It mainly includes a Dunkerque-class battleship, 3 heavy cruisers: Colbert, Algiers and Duplec, and some other cruisers and destroyers. In terms of overall strength, they are not the opponent of our fleet."

"It is good news that the Italians did not intervene." Lieutenant General Harwood nodded, his expression slightly relaxed, "What are they doing now? What is the effect of the air force bombing?"

"The enemy fleet is entering the port to unload. We don't have many aircraft. The Germans not only have the air defense capabilities of ships, but also launched relatively fierce anti-aircraft firepower on the ground. The air strikes are minimal." Chief of Staff Colonel Andrew reported with a frown.

"Air defense... eh? No planes?"

"Nothing was found... at least our pilots didn't encounter any enemy planes."

"If only the Glorious aircraft carrier was there, it would increase our chances of winning." Harwood sighed.

"This... Sir, it doesn't really matter. Alexandria is so close to Marsa Matruh that the Glorious can take off and bomb the enemy fleet without even having to leave."

"Actually, I don't want an aircraft carrier, I want carrier-based aircraft - those flying grids."

Andrew remained silent. He knew that Harwood was telling the truth. Although the Air Force had many aircraft, and their performance was much better than that of carrier-based aircraft, the Air Force stationed in Egypt had no decent opponents for many years, let alone using aircraft to attack surface targets. Therefore, their ability to attack the sea was almost zero, and their level was far inferior to those pilots on the aircraft carrier - at least the Italian warships had suffered a lot from the latter.

Andrew suggested: "Why not transfer the aircraft from Malta? They have experience."

"It's too late. If I estimate correctly, this fleet will leave the port immediately after unloading the cargo, and will not wait there foolishly to fight us, so the route should not go straight to Marsa Matruh, turn the course 280 degrees, and prepare to intercept them on their way back."

Andrew immediately passed the order down, but he always felt something was wrong. After thinking for a long time, he suddenly realized and asked in surprise: "Leave, they don't want Marsa Matruh anymore?"

Harwood shrugged and asked in a humorous tone: "Can we take this port? I don't remember the navy being able to go ashore, and we don't have the Marines."

"Sir, I'm not this Meaning, my idea is..." The chief of staff said his strategy, "When the German fleet leaves, the entire port will be exposed to the firepower of our warships. Even if we don't have the Marines, it will be easy to seize the port. Why don't you go to the port, but intercept them halfway?"

"You are wrong, we can't take back the port for the time being." Harwood sighed and explained patiently, "Generals Alexander and Montgomery were all fooled. Even I can see this scam now - the Germans used the sharp attack power of the African Army to induce them to continuously deploy troops from the rear to the front line, leaving the rear empty and giving the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of it. According to the war telegrams and intelligence collected by the aircraft, it will take us 7 hours to get there. Adding the several hours of delay, this time is enough for the Germans to complete the landing of an armored division. Unless the main force of Montgomery's Eighth Army can come back to support, the current Indian 4th Division and 72nd Brigade cannot win the battle, even if all the remaining troops in Egypt are pulled up. We have the advantage of naval guns, so what? Once the enemy retreats and retreats out of range, they don't care about anything. You can only stare and worry. "

"That's not right. If we control the port and force the enemy to retreat, they can no longer use the port to deploy troops and supplies. ? "

"The problem is that they still have an airport - the supplies needed by an armored division can be solved by air transport without any pressure. At least before General Montgomery's supplies are exhausted, the German supplies will not be cut off for the time being." Harwood also worriedly explained the second reason for not going to Mersa Matruh to join in the fun, "In addition, the Germans still have a large number of aircraft, and they are very experienced in dealing with surface targets. If we go to Mersa Matruh, the aircraft will soon come to us, and then we will be the ones who are passively beaten."

"This..." Andrew was speechless for a moment. Although the Air Force promised to provide air support, who knows how strong this support will be.

"Damn it!" Andrew, who was getting more and more angry, angrily smashed his fist on the wall of the Reputation's command tower, and his whole hand was aching.

The fleet adjusted its course and headed northwest at the fastest speed. Although it was the highest speed, it was only 21 knots, because the maximum speed of the two old ships Rodney and Nelson was only 23.8 knots when they were designed. After so many years, this speed has long become a theoretical speed. Even running 21 knots for a long time is a luxury. However, the firepower and protection of the two ships are very outstanding. Since the military situation is so urgent this time, it is impossible not to bring them out, and it will not hesitate to slow down the speed.

General Alexander was quite considerate. Considering that the fleet had no aircraft carriers and needed air defense, he instructed the Air Force to send 32 P-40 or Tomahawk fighters for escort. It was not that he was unwilling to take out more aircraft, but the fighters were really worn out. The Hurricanes and Spitfires were shorter than each other. In the absence of aircraft carriers for landing and replenishing oil and ammunition, they could not accompany the battle at all. Only the P-40 had a range after adding auxiliary fuel tanks. Finally, they were reluctant to perform this cover mission.

"Sea Eagle, Sea Eagle, the rats are out, the rats are out, 180 kilometers from the port, there are a bunch of flies flying above."

"Received, received, let the No. 3 aircraft group go to disperse them first according to the plan."

At 1 pm on December 10, the naval fleet commanded by Harwood was discovered by German reconnaissance aircraft in the waters north of El Alamein. A sea and air stranglehold war based on Plan A4 was about to begin...