Just half a month ago, the Greeks were begging the Cyprus Squadron to provide support to Greece. To this end, they did not hesitate to open Crete for the Cyprus Squadron to establish a forward base.
In just half a month, the Greek army not only drove the Italians out of Greece, but also invaded Albania.
When he learned the news, Arthur's first reaction was that the Greeks might be southern Africans in disguise.
Otherwise there is no way to explain why the Italians lost so quickly.
What Arthur didn't even expect was...
With the defeat of the Italians, the Greeks' confidence increased greatly, and their assistance to the Cyprus Squadron was no longer so urgent. The Greeks even began to regret and did not want to open Crete to the Cyprus Squadron.
"Yes, what the Greek side means is that the residents of Heraklion are opposed to our entry, so the Kingdom of Greece hopes that we can temporarily stop establishing a forward base in Heraklion." Mike Tolan's expression was complicated, and his mood was even more complicated.
When the Battle of Greece broke out, Mike Tolan expressed to Arthur his concerns about the combat effectiveness of the Italian army.
The result proved to be true, the Italians' performance was even worse than Mike Tolan expected.
How is this a threat?
It's obviously a gift.
Heraklion is the largest city on the island of Crete, with a population of 15,000.
This is a city with a long history. It was the palace of King Minos in ancient Greek mythology and the Minos Labyrinth is located here.
In 961, the Byzantine Empire captured Heraklion, massacred the Saracens, and burned the entire city to the ground. After rebuilding it on the original site, it controlled Heraklion for 243 years.
In 1647, the Ottoman Empire launched a 22-year siege of Heraklion. The bloody war resulted in the deaths of 30,000 Cretans and 120,000 Ottomans.
Until 1898, the Ottomans withdrew and Heraklion became independent.
In 1913, Heraklion became a member of the Kingdom of Greece and changed its name to its current name, which means City of Hercules.
Heraklion is the largest port in Crete, so the Cyprus Squadron naturally chose Heraklion to establish its forward base.
Now the Greeks went back on their word and did not want to open Crete to the Cyprus squadron.
This is normal. Since the outbreak of the European War, there have been fewer cases of breaking agreements?
"Isn't the Kingdom of Greece worried that the Italians will come back?" Arthur was really speechless about the short-sightedness of the Kingdom of Greece.
"Based on the current combat effectiveness of the Italian army, the Greeks have reason to be confident." Mike Tolan sneered. The Kingdom of Greece can go back on its word, but it will have to bear the consequences of going back on it.
"Oh, very good!" Arthur's face was expressionless, and he couldn't bear it no matter how good his temper was.
"Then we will suspend the establishment of the forward base in Crete and take down the Twelve Islands first." Arthur is growing rapidly. There is no need to argue with the Greeks at this time. There will be many opportunities in the future.
"Well, we are ready to attack Rhodes Island." Mike Tolan calmed down. The Twelve Islands are Italian territory, and the Cyprus squadron's attack on the Twelve Islands does not require the consent of the Greeks.
So the Italian army entrenched in Rhode Island was unlucky. Mike Tolan directed all the anger of the Greeks to the Italian garrison on Rhode Island. On the 20th, 40 bombers were dispatched to attack the Italian troops on Rhode Island.
Military installations are bombed.
It's not that we don't have the ability to send more bombers, it's that it's not necessary.
Starting from September 7, the Cyprus Squadron bombed Rhode Island with a higher frequency and intensity than the German bombing of London.
After all, the "Flying Fortress" and "Super Flying Fortress" have much higher range and bomb load than the "Junkers Aunt".
Oh, there is only 400 kilometers from Rhodes Island to Cyprus, so there is no point in discussing the voyage.
The pilots of the "Flying Fortress" and "Super Flying Fortress" are also more skilled than the "Junkers" pilots. The sparse number of poor anti-aircraft weapons on Rhode Island have all been destroyed in the bombings in the past few days.
During the bombing, the bomber pilots directly lowered the altitude to only 500 meters. At this distance, the landing point of the aerial bomb would not be more than 10 meters away from the target.
Don't doubt, it can really be done. The "Flying Fortress" and "Super Flying Fortress" in southern Africa have now been equipped with new bomb sights. The accuracy is at an altitude of 6,500 meters, and the bomb's impact point will not be far from the target.
More than 30 meters.
After more than ten days of bombing, all the military targets on Rhode Island have been almost completely destroyed. God knows how the defenders of Rhode Island have persisted until now despite the indiscriminate bombing.
On the 20th, when the Southern African bombers flew over Rhode Island, the pilots in Southern Africa were surprised to find that the playground that was now the Rhode Island garrison camp had been razed to the ground, and a huge white flag was displayed.
.
this
Is this surrender?
It doesn't seem like it, what age is this? If you want to surrender, just use the radio to send a general telegram on the public channel. There is no need to use the backward method of flying a white flag.
So that is confusing behavior.
Then keep throwing bombs.
Although the military camp has been razed to the ground, it is okay to bomb it again, just in case the Italians dig tunnels in the military camp.
Rhode Island's port facilities have also been completely destroyed, two poor destroyers were stranded on the beach, and the rest of the ships have been sunk.
It doesn't matter, the bombs will continue to be dropped, and there may be Italian submarines hiding under the sea, waiting for opportunities to attack the warships of the Cyprus Squadron, or the merchant ships in southern Africa.
The purpose of occupying the Twelve Islands was to protect the safety of the waterway, and the pilots did not forget their duties.
The 40 bombers, because of their close distance, did not need to carry much fuel and carried more than 400 tons of bombs.
The area of Rhode Island is only 1,400 square kilometers.
Since the outbreak of the war, Southern African bombers have dropped more than 5,000 tons of bombs on Rhode Island.
The bombing lasted only five minutes.
The smoke has not yet cleared, and the warships of the Cyprus Squadron have already appeared on the distant horizon.
Mike Tolan is still very cautious.
Instead of directly sending landing ships to land, they commanded the fleet to form a battle formation and prepare to bombard Rhodes City, the largest city in Rhode Island and the largest city in the Twelve Islands.
Although the 203 mm naval gun on the heavy cruiser is not as powerful as the three or four hundred guns on the battleship, it is still very powerful when used to bombard cities.
The battle formation had not yet been deployed, but a fishing boat came swaying from Rhodes Harbor. One person on the boat held a white flag and waved it desperately, lest the murderous naval officers and soldiers could not see it.
That can definitely be seen.
Several "Goshawk" fighter jets that took off early flew around the fishing boat several times to watch.
Anyway, Italy has no air force deployed in Rhodes Island, so even if the "Goshawk" flies over Rhodes City, it will have nothing to do.
The person waving the white flag on the fishing boat was Tony Gallinari, the mayor of Rhode Island appointed by the Italian government.
Boarding the Richmond, the flagship of the Cyprus Squadron, Tony Gallinari was filled with grief and anger.
"We have surrendered, why are you still bombing Rhodes City?" Tony Gallinari asked Mike Tolan in an angry tone.
"When did you surrender?" Mike Tolan was confused and didn't say anything about surrender. It was really unprofessional.
"We have flown the white flag," Tony Gallinari said confidently. It felt that it was not the Italians who surrendered to the Cyprus Squadron, but the Cyprus Squadron that surrendered to the Italians.
"If we open fire on you, you have no chance of boarding the Richmond." Mike Tolan was not yet aware of the bad behavior of the bomber pilots and bombardiers.
According to industry rules, since the white flag has been raised, no more bombs can be dropped.
Even if it is thrown into the sea, it cannot return to land.
The bad behavior of bomber pilots and bombardiers broke the rules.
"What I mean is" Tony Gallinari was very dissatisfied. The behavior of the Southern African bombers and the Cyprus squadron was obviously bullying the weak.
"Why didn't you send a telegram?" Mike Tolan was more innocent. The Navy did not take the blame for the Air Force's bombing.
"The telegraph machine was blown up during your first day of bombing on September 7th. How can we send it?" Tony Gallinari is really wronged. Damn technological advancement, he didn't even give him a chance to surrender.
.
At this time, everyone on the bridge of the heavy cruiser "Richmond" except Tony Gallinari had extremely exciting expressions.
this
This must be an accident.
"We have given up resistance since September 10th. Your bombers came and went freely in Rhode Island. We didn't fire a single shot. Even the ships we sent to try to contact you were destroyed by your damn warships. You know how we did it.
Are you persisting until now? We only want damn peace, not damn war." Tony Gallinari's eye circles were red, and his nose was about to flow out.
Mike Tolan wanted to say "I'm sorry" but didn't know where to start.
"Rhode City is already an undefended city. All the troops on the island have laid down their weapons. You must give them treatment that matches their status. Please send medical personnel as soon as possible to treat the wounded on the island. At the same time, you
We also need to send police to maintain law and order on the island. The island is in urgent need of help. There is a serious shortage of food. Many buildings have been destroyed by your planes. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced. Many of them are innocent civilians on the island. You are fully responsible for this.
Responsibility," Tony Gallinari gushed, Italians would literally surrender for no pasta.
Mike Tolan suddenly had a feeling that occupying the Twelve Islands would not be a good thing for the Cyprus Squadron. It was still a strategic location and was obviously a burden.
But now the Twelve Islands are no longer Mike Tolan's problem, but Arthur's problem.
The Cyprus Squadron is only responsible for fighting. How to appease the people is Arthur's business.
