At this time, in a position on the island of Malta, the heartbreaking sounds of the British army could be heard everywhere. The culprit of all this was those huge ships and airships in the sky.
At this moment, several airships were constantly attacking them. The machine guns on the airships were spraying flames, and the bombs thrown from the cabins were roaring and falling on the heads of the British troops on this position.
At this time, the British position was in disarray under the attack of airships. The four artillery pieces had been scattered to pieces because they were destroyed as soon as they were discovered. Then the soldiers suffered.
Now, the defensive power of trenches against attacks from the air is greatly reduced, and the trenches also restrict the movement of soldiers, making it easier for machine guns on airships to attack.
In order to make it easier for them to attack the British troops on the ground, some airships have lowered their altitude to a dangerous distance of about a thousand.
Although this height is a bit dangerous for airships, the British army below has no desire to attack at all. Because the only weapons they can shoot against the air are the rifles in their hands and a few Maxim heavy machine guns, and there is no way to deal with them. It looks good.
He tried to fight, but he couldn't reach the airship.
Therefore, the vast majority of British officers and soldiers at this time could only flee in all directions, trying to find a suitable hiding spot. A few soldiers who were not afraid of death were desperately shooting with machine rifles, trying to provide cover for their comrades. However, most of them ended up unhappy.
That would be great, because the machine gunners on the airship can easily find anyone who dares to offend their power.
Of course, the British army actually has other methods, which is to use artillery capable of air defense. At present, the British army's most equipped air defense weapon is the Vickers 2-pound automatic cannon. It is essentially like an enlarged version of the Maxim machine gun.
, ammunition belt supply, water-cooled sleeve, etc. are all available. Apart from being a bit bulky, it is an excellent choice in terms of reliability and power when dealing with slow airships in the sky.
Of course, this machine gun also has a shortcoming, that is, it cannot hit air targets above 1,500 meters. Because the muzzle velocity of the gun is only 510 meters per second, and the effective range of the gun is 1,500 meters.
Of course, this does not mean that the cannonball can only hit a height of 1,500 meters, but at this height, the gravity of the earth will have a very strong effect on the cannonball, causing its trajectory to basically be in a downward state.
Of course, this anti-aircraft cannon is very powerful against big things like airships. So far, six of the seven airships lost by Italy on the island of Malta were shot down by this anti-aircraft cannon.
However, the Malta Island defenders do not have much equipment for this kind of air defense weapon. There are only about twenty of them. Most of them are used to protect the military facilities in and around Valletta Port. Only a few of them are deployed at other key points.
area.
It is obvious that the British army in this position does not have this kind of anti-aircraft weapons. All they have are machine guns and rifles. They must have seen the anti-aircraft effect. It is better than nothing. It can only have a psychological effect and has no actual effect at all.
In addition to this position, the defenders of Malta Island were attacked by airships in many places today.
Some casualties were minor, while others were heavy casualties. The main reason for all this was that previous airship reconnaissance had figured out the layout of the island's defenders, especially the layout of the anti-aircraft firepower.
For the Port of Valletta and its surroundings, which have intensive anti-aircraft firepower, airships have fewer attacks. After all, looking at the chains of fire that are constantly emerging from the ground, the huge airships only dare to attack in the air above their protection.
However, the altitude of 2,500 meters had a great impact on airship bombing and shooting. In addition, there were few airships in the air attack on Valletta Port, resulting in very slight losses.
When the airships left after dropping their bombs, a burst of cheers erupted from Valletta Port. This was the sound of joy from the British soldiers for repelling the enemy's air attack.
The British army's excited cheers at this time did not look like they had repelled an enemy air raid, but rather seemed like they had achieved a complete victory.
This is not because the British officers and soldiers have become insane, but they are venting their pressure. Although the top brass in the military have blocked the news, the grassroots officers and soldiers are not stupid at all. After the war began, the number of warships in the Malta naval port was reduced instead of added.
Don't think that the grassroots officers and soldiers don't know what this means.
Although there are more defenders on the island, the most important thing in defending Malta is the navy. As long as the battleships are numerous and powerful, they will feel at ease even if the defenders are very sparse, because with the protection of the battleships, it is impossible for the enemy to land ashore.
In the days after the war began, the Maltese defenders never saw their majestic fleet again. Although according to the people above, this fleet was deterring the Italians, they knew it when they saw the airships flying overhead.
, there is still some credibility left in this statement.
Therefore, the mood of the defenders has not been high these days, and it is relatively depressed. Of course, if it continues to be so depressed, it will cause a huge blow to morale, so the defenders need to vent.
Generally speaking, to vent the emotions of soldiers, alcohol and sex are the best choices. But unfortunately, it is wartime, and it is impossible for soldiers to get drunk, even officers without common sense know that it is impossible. As for sex, it is very difficult.
Sorry, there are only about 20 people doing this kind of stress relief work in Malta at present. They are too exhausted to complete the stress relief work for the officers and soldiers.
Therefore, they can only divert their pressure by claiming that the Italians are responsible for everything and that everything is the fault of the Italians.
Judging from the current performance of the defenders, this propaganda is still very effective.
Regarding the victory cries of the officers and soldiers at the port, Major General Behrens, the commander of the island, was not so optimistic.
Because he knew that this was just the prelude to the Italian attack, and this airship attack was just the prelude to the subsequent battle in Malta.
Of course, he immediately sent a telegram to Alexandria and London with the news of the attack on Malta.
In the evening when Malta suffered an air attack, London announced that the Home Fleet would conduct a week of maritime patrols and tactical exercises, and the exercise location would be in the North Sea.
The news announced by London was not only the report of Major General Behrens, but also the British had spies in Italy. The officers and soldiers boarding the ship in Palermo and preparing to land were so conspicuous that anyone who was not blind could see it.
Therefore, after the news of the Palermo landing officers and soldiers boarding the ship reached London, the Admiralty immediately launched a secret reinforcement plan. The next step was naturally to provide cover for the local fleet to go to sea for training inspections.
