The British Empire's Mediterranean Fleet was preparing in Alexandria with such great fanfare that anyone in Italy who was not blind could sense it.
Not to mention that the intelligence agencies of Italy and Austria were eager to keep their eyes on their warships, so while the Mediterranean fleet was still being prepared, the news was transmitted to the Port of Taranto where the combined fleet was based.
Faced with the changes in the British Mediterranean Fleet, Lieutenant General Leifer, as the commander of the combined fleet, certainly paid great attention to it, and he immediately summoned the commanders of each formation and the captains of each ship to hold a meeting.
After some discussions, Leifer decided to let the combined fleet also carry out pre-war preparations.
So in the port of Taranto, the combined fleet was also busy. Officers and soldiers prepared the warships and replenished ammunition and other supplies.
However, the United Fleet has not moved yet. They are still waiting for the Mediterranean Fleet to make a move before taking action.
However, although the Combined Fleet did not take action, it could force the Mediterranean Fleet to take action first, because the competition for it has already begun in Malta.
Marsaxlokk Bay is a bay in the southeast of the island of Malta. It is only five kilometers away from Valletta, the most important port in Malta. However, due to the terrain, the coastal defense fort located in Valletta cannot provide effective support.
Therefore, the bay has also become the most important landing site for the 1st Italian Marine Division.
On the sea, small boats were lowered from loading and unloading ships one after another. This was the world's first landing craft, the Barracuda-class landing craft. After being launched into the water with the help of crane arms, these landing craft immediately plopped towards the ships carrying the cargo.
The boats that landed officers and soldiers were docked.
On these ships, Marine officers and soldiers climbed up the rope ladder to the landing craft one by one. After being loaded with officers and soldiers, the landing craft rushed towards Marsaxlokk Bay. On these landing craft, the Marine officers and soldiers held weapons in their hands.
Sitting in the boat nervously.
A landing craft can accommodate a platoon of officers and soldiers, so under normal circumstances, the person who appeases these officers and soldiers is its second lieutenant platoon leader. These platoon leaders use different methods to appease the soldiers, some encourage them, some insult them, and some even directly attack them.
No matter what these low-level officers do, it is to relieve the pressure of the soldiers and allow them to calm down on the upcoming battlefield. Only by calmly responding to various situations can the soldiers have the best chance of survival.
While the landing craft was rushing towards Marsaxlokk Bay, tall and mighty warships on the sea were aiming their guns at the coastline and bombarding them.
With loud noises, powerful artillery shells roared towards the British position in Marsaxlokk Bay.
"Collapse~"
A huge explosion hit a certain section of the trench. When the smoke cleared, a large pit of more than ten meters appeared. As for the garrison officers and soldiers in this section of the trench, there was no need to look for them. They had already been vaporized. There were only some clothes.
and weapon fragments were scattered within a few dozen meters of the surrounding area, silently describing the tragedy.
Experienced officers and soldiers can tell at a glance by its power that it is caused by at least a giant cannon of more than ten inches (254 mm). Faced with the attack of such a giant artillery shell, there is no need to run, because you can't run. The only way you can
All he did was pray silently, praying that the cannonball would not fall on his head, otherwise he would end up in heaven.
The tragic experience in the pit was not the only one at this time. Warships from the reserve fleet were constantly projecting firepower to the position and its surroundings.
Although these warships have lagged behind the times, under the threat of the lack of coastal defense cannons, these warships lined up one after another and fired continuously, shrouding the coastal defense positions in Marsaxlokk Bay in gunfire.
In fact, it would be wrong to say that there is no threat. Battery C in Valletta Port can obtain the reserve fleet in terms of range with its 305mm coastal defense gun.
But how to put it, due to terrain reasons, the No. C turret cannot be aimed directly. Someone needs to mark it and then use the map mark to launch the artillery counterattack.
However, the technical requirements for indirect bombardment of more than ten kilometers are extremely high. Even the officers and soldiers on the elite battleships of the Italian Navy have difficulty in achieving it, let alone the officers and soldiers of the coastal defense artillery, so the bombardment effect is impressive. (The best one is the best.)
The battleships in the batch will almost be diverted to small and medium-sized warships, and then other battleships. Only the worst ones are reserved for coastal defense artillery. This is the consistent practice of the navies of various countries)
"Boom~"
A violent explosion sounded from one side of the artillery formation, and the huge water splash caused experienced officers and soldiers to estimate that it was caused by artillery shells of more than 300 mm.
Yes, this was caused by the 305mm coastal defense gun on Turret C from Valletta Port. This huge explosion really startled the officers and soldiers of the artillery formation.
However, apart from being startled, it did not have any impact on the artillery formation. Because this shell from the coastal defense battery was really unreliable at the bullet point, and it deviated from the artillery formation by nearly a kilometer.
.
Considering that this is indirect shooting and the distance is far enough, coupled with the limited level of its operating officers and soldiers, this is completely normal.
Therefore, the reserve fleet soldiers ignored this low-threatening bombardment and concentrated on bombarding possible coastal defense facilities in Marsaxlokk Bay.
As for whether the British army has defensive facilities in the Marsaxlokk Bay, they certainly do. Italy knows that the bay is an excellent landing point. Could it be that the British army that has been stationed on the island for hundreds of years does not know this?
Therefore, in the Bay of Marsaxlokk, the British army has built quite a few fortifications over the past century. However, most of these fortifications and forts were built in the past century, so they are already outdated. There are only a few fortifications.
It was built in the UK in the last twenty years.
Among these Marsaxlokk Bay coastal defenses, the most deterrent is the 6-inch (152 mm) coastal defense guns. These coastal defense guns are not bad against small and medium-sized warships, but in the face of the pre-dreadnought battleships, these coastal fire defenses
It's not as powerful as scratching an itch.
Therefore, the defenders would rather endure being hit by naval guns than open fire. They were waiting for the Italians to come ashore.
As for the landing troops they were worried about, they drove their landing boats towards the coastline.
Okay, the speed of twelve knots is not considered extreme speed, but compared to a wooden boat that requires manual paddling and has no protection measures, it is much better.
So soon these landing craft rushed towards the coastline. At this time, the defending British troops saw the Marines who were about to dock, and immediately opened fire. Machine guns, rifles and some small and medium-caliber artillery opened fire one after another.
Then the defenders were surprised to find that, except for the artillery, the machine rifles in their hands had no effect on the square landing ship, and were all blocked by the baffles around it.
Moreover, when these landing craft approached on the churning sea, the machine guns they were equipped with were also fighting back.
As soon as the landing craft docked and the hatch was opened, the Marines who stayed in the cabin rushed out immediately. Because it was more dangerous to stay in the landing craft. At this time, another benefit of the flat-bottomed landing craft was also reflected.
Most of the officers and soldiers of the team only had knee-deep water when they disembarked from the boat, and some even landed directly on the beach. Of course, some were waist-deep and chest-deep.
There is a reason why we talk about this specifically here. Because the resistance of seawater is not small, in the race against time for landing operations, not only the movements in the seawater are slow, but even basic movements such as lying down are impossible without cover.
If you do, you will only become a living target.
Therefore, if soldiers want to reduce their own risks, the most important thing is to get to the beach as soon as possible.
Therefore, the Marine Corps officers and soldiers who landed were rushing towards the beach one by one.
Even though the British troops were condescendingly firing at them at this time, and their comrades around them were hit and fell from time to time, the Marine officers and soldiers paid no attention to these. At this time, the breakwater on the beach was their ultimate goal.
Of course, it would not be easy for them to do the landing operation alone. Xin Hao and the others also had help. At this moment, eleven destroyers and small cruisers were approaching a thousand meters away from the coastline, and the various types of naval guns they equipped were constantly firing.
It was assigned the task of fire suppression.
Although these naval guns are nothing in the navy, they are a real killer weapon for the army. The firepower of various naval guns such as 150 mm, 120 mm, 105 mm, and 75 mm provides support to the officers and soldiers of the Marine Corps.
Fire support.
At this moment, the various pre-dreadnought battleships that were originally conducting shelling fired the shelling that had stopped before landing again. However, they were afraid of hurting friendly forces and no longer attacked the fortifications near the coastline. Instead, they extended their firepower under the guidance of airships.
Attack the enemy's additional troops.
Since they received firepower assistance from a large number of warships, the landing Marine officers and soldiers certainly did not miss this opportunity, taking the opportunity to expand the landing site and eliminate the surrounding garrison strongholds one by one.
Of course, in addition to the first batch of landing troops, the second and third batches of landing troops also joined them.
By evening, Rome received news that the Marines landing on Malta had opened and secured the landing site.
