Romanian Eagle

In fact, this transportation operation made the navy and air force assembled nearly 1,000 aircraft of various types.

In addition to more than 300 transport aircraft, there are still more than 600 other fighters. These fighters are basically divided into three batches (the navy carrier-based aircraft are divided into two batches), and they are constantly protecting the airport. The three airports have an average of 6-70 fighters to protect at any time, which is how people can fight.

Although they attacked twice under the command of the commander, Major General Dodding Hughes, they failed miserably each time. It is not something that gentlemen can do to face the enemy's large-scale bombardment and charge, even the Australian and New Zealand troops, which are known for their heroism and fighting skills, still cannot do it.

Therefore, the officers who later commanded the battle no longer expended this effort, and could only wait until night fell before starting to act. Supported by Air Force planes, the paratroopers get through the toughest times. With the transportation of one transport plane, the paratroopers finally got the capital that can be used for World War I, 75mm mountain and field guns, 37mm anti-tank guns, and mortars of various calibers, and they are using this time to transport them desperately.

While the transport planes were continuously transporting personnel, equipment and materials to the island of Cyprus, a large fleet was heading for it in the sea 300 kilometers west of Cyprus.

There are not many troops loaded in this fleet, only the 3rd and 8th divisions, but these two divisions are famous in the repeated wars encountered by Romania. Although now is the time for armored divisions and motorized divisions to dominate the world, it is still the place where infantry divisions are used.

And the two divisions have definite news, it may be the mechanized experimental unit, and it may be their turn. So for this Cyprus battle, the two division commanders have been holding back.

It's just that no matter how much you want to make military exploits, you need to wait until tomorrow, and they still need to wait on the boat.

When the night fell, the annoying planes were gone, and the British army, who was full of energy, could finally have a good fight. Although it is possible to encounter night attack aircraft today, it is nothing compared to the daytime.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The artillerymen, who suffered from aerial threats during the day and suffered for a day, finally had the time to exert their full strength at night. The shirtless artillerymen are constantly transporting ammunition, loading, adjusting the shooting angle, firing, ejecting shells, and the whole process is smooth, fully demonstrating the well-trained artillery of the British Empire.

And these shells also landed precisely on the defenders' positions, and the shock wave of the explosion swept the position, destroying all obstacles that could be seen. All the defenders squatted in the trenches with their heads bowed, enduring the torment of the shelling.

That's right, the defenders now have trenches, which are much better than before. This is the result of a day's hard work, and it is also the object of reliance.

And this time, the British army prepared two artillery battalions.

They were transported to the artillery positions when the night was getting dark, and the artillery shelling began immediately after dark.

Of course, as a defender, it is not without means of counterattack. The 6 75mm field guns of the defender are also launching counterattack artillery fire, but this artillery fire is not so much a counterattack, but rather a psychological comfort to the defender.

But daring to fight back against the defenders will naturally make the British artillery unhappy. As a result, after a burst of artillery bombardment, the artillery counterattack of the defenders immediately became misfired, but it didn't take long for the counterattack to come again. Although the defenders used guerrilla tactics to distract the British artillery, it ultimately only reduced the artillery fire suffered by the defenders.

The looting artillery fire stopped after two hours, and the position was in a mess.

"Pop" a flare hit the air, illuminating the ground like day, and also clearly showing the attacking British soldiers, and at the same time showing the tanks in front of the infantry.

"Watch out for enemy tanks!"

Seeing the attacking tank, the position officer immediately shouted.

With the help of the cause of the flares, the officers also recognized the tanks attacking the enemy. This is the British Matilda infantry tank. As the British army strangely divides the tank into two types: following infantry combat and anti-armor, this Matilda tank was born.

What appeared in front of the defenders was the Matilda Type 1 tank. This tank with a total weight of 11 tons was in the light tank range. As for the performance, it is worthy of the title of its infantry tank. The top speed is 12.8 kilometers per hour, and it is equipped with a 7.7 mm machine gun or 12.7 mm machine gun, which really leaves no room for anti-tank.

Of course, the Matilda Type 1 tank is not without its advantages. Its armor thickness is large. The thickness of the frontal armor of the hull is 60 mm. The turret is surrounded by 65 mm thick steel armor, so the paratroopers use 37 mm anti-tank guns. Hit him with a rustling sound.

This result made the officers in the position frown, but now the tanks must be dealt with.

"Let the third anti-tank detachment come over immediately, be quick!"

The officer who put down the phone instructed him to fight again. "Fire, don't let these Englishmen get too close."

Following his orders, the machine guns on the position also opened fire. The tearing sound of "呲, 呲, 呲" let the attacking British troops know what a metal storm was.

"Da da da!"

The Matilda tank, which was covering the infantry's attack, naturally did not forget its original attack. They used their machine guns to strafe the machine guns and anti-tank guns on the ground. Although they were not accurate enough during the march, they could still interfere with the sight of the defenders.

With the continuous advancement of the tank, it is very uncomfortable for the defending officers and soldiers. With the anti-tank means in the hands of the paratroopers, this tank is very difficult to destroy them, which is very uncomfortable for the defenders. And these tanks are not close to the trenches. They basically stopped about 200 meters in front of the trenches to suppress firepower on the ground.

This is simply bullying the anti-tank firepower in their hands. It is so unscrupulous. If its firepower is not too weak, maybe the position will be broken through in one fell swoop.

And this period of time is very difficult for the opponents. Many firepower points are constantly shifted because of the tank's close-range shooting, which makes them continue to output firepower.

But fortunately, with the help of the G33 semi-automatic rifles in the hands of the soldiers, we can keep our positions intact. The density of continuous shooting firepower made the British soldiers not dare to charge, and they could only attack after suppressing the opponent's firepower as much as possible.

At this time, the third anti-tank detachment, which the position commander was waiting for, also arrived.

"Bang!"

A Matilda tank that was swept away was hit, its heavy armor was directly penetrated by a 75mm armor-piercing projectile, and it also caused a metal storm in the cockpit.

"Boom, bang, bang!"

As the first Matilda tank was destroyed, the remaining infantry tanks were destroyed one after another. This also re-encouraged the morale of the defending troops, making the attacking British troops even more uncomfortable.

At this time, it is time to show the shortcomings of the Matilda tank. As an infantry tank, its top speed of 12.8 kilometers per hour makes it impossible to retreat.

The hero of the battle did not appear until after the British army had advanced and retreated. This is a 75mm anti-tank gun developed by Romania.

This anti-tank uses the 75mm main gun of the R20 tank, with a gun length of 3.5 meters, a total length of 4.9 meters, and a total weight of 1340 kg. It can penetrate 87 mm armor at a distance of one thousand meters.

This is also Romania's latest anti-tank gun, and considering the weak anti-tank means of paratroopers, ten guns were also airlifted this time.

Fortunately, there are ten gates, otherwise this position would be dangerous.

And with the most dangerous Matilda tank to deal with, the rest is much better. Although this still does not change the disadvantage of the paratroopers, at least the paratroopers have the ability to resist.

It's just that the British army will not give up because of the failure of this attack. Naturally, they will continue to attack and try to break through the positions of the defenders. The fight was lively after nightfall. It's just that the defenders did not retreat at all, gritted their teeth and let the battle continue until dawn, which has never made a major breakthrough.

And with dawn, the attacking British troops naturally knew that they needed to retreat, otherwise the Romanian planes would come again.

They were right, but this time, in addition to the plane, there were new surprises waiting for them.