Admiral Tsoraglu's concerns were soon put aside. The artillery fleet not only bombarded Heraklion, but also Chania and Rethymnon.
Without waiting for them to guess the purpose of the Romanian move, on the third day, a large number of ships appeared in the outer sea. These ships carried the marines responsible for the landing and some landing equipment.
Naturally, he, General Papagos, and Major General White were attracted by this scene. It seemed that the Romanian landing was close at hand. Moreover, the target was the beach on the left side of Heraklion, and they planned to
Use this place to land and then seize this port city.
What they predicted was correct. A large number of Romanian officers and soldiers descended the rope ladder to the landing boat below. Among them, a ship with a square head and square head was very eye-catching. This is a newly built landing craft in Romania, and this is also a Romanian landing craft.
The first professional ship built for landing.
This ship is specially responsible for landing. Romania named it HDL landing craft. The ship has a total length of 13.8 meters, a width of 4.3 meters, and a full-load displacement of 28.1 tons. The ship is equipped with two 120-horsepower 6-cylinder diesel engines with dual shafts.
Propelled, the range can reach 81 nautical miles at a speed of 7.5 knots.
The boat can carry both soldiers and armored vehicles (an HR10 amphibious tank), which was specifically required when it was designed.
Just after such landing craft were designed, 54 were purchased by the Navy. And now all of these landing craft are appearing in the waters of Crete. They are brought here by other ships and released when they are needed.
While the landing force was preparing, the navy and air force were also not idle. In addition to the three battleships, the navy's artillery fleet was now joined by 6 heavy cruisers. Although the 203 mm caliber main gun equipped with it could not compete with the
Compared with battleships, the damage to the defenders is not small at all.
And more importantly, the Greek-British coalition did not have many coastal fortifications on Crete. Because Romania did not give them much time. Counting from the beginning of Romania’s Greek campaign, there was only one and a half months. And counting from the time when Athens was captured by them
, just one month.
How can one build any solid fortifications in a month? They are all hasty civil engineering works. Besides, when the Greek government retreated, it did not bring much supplies at all. Although the national treasury reserves were brought over, there is no place to buy them now. As for the British
Naturally, weapons, ammunition, personnel and equipment are the first priority for transportation. Even the British army in Egypt does not have enough building materials.
Therefore, the defenders guarding the stall were in trouble. They withstood attacks from naval guns at sea and attacks from the air. In order to cover the smooth progress of the landing operation, the Air Force prepared 2,000 troops today alone.
Fighter sortie mission.
Therefore, these defenders, officers and soldiers, suffered two blows before the enemy landed.
"boom!"
A violent explosion caused a bunker-like fortification to disappear.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
The defenders on the position were constantly attacked by the sea and the air, and their morale continued to decline. Although many officers and soldiers were hiding in the artillery holes, many fortifications were destroyed.
Although the plundering attack made the defenders unable to hold their heads up, the Romanian landing force sailed towards the beach on ships.
"The Romanians are coming."
Following the report from the observation post, the garrison soldiers who had been avoiding the attack ran out of various hiding spots under the command of officers and soldiers. They needed to block the Romanian offensive. Fortunately, this was a landing battle, and Romania had the upper hand in armored warfare.
There is no way the car can use this tactic.
As the defenders appeared in large numbers, the attacks from the air and sea became more fierce, and even fighter jets began to shoot at them from low altitudes.
This made the defenders' officers and soldiers even more uncomfortable. They were helpless in the face of threats from the sea and the air. Many days of fighting had exhausted their air defenses and fighter planes, and the defenders' Greek and British troops could only bear the burden with human lives.
Fortunately, the Romanian army that landed has appeared in front of them, and they can shoot at it with the weapons in their hands. They use the anger in their hearts to shoot at the incoming Romanian army with the weapons in their hands.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
"Da, da, da~"
Facing the Romanian Marines who landed by boat, the defending Greek defenders immediately gave a warm attitude. The sound of machine guns and artillery resounded throughout the beach. From time to time, a landing ship was hit, turning the entire landing ship into ashes.
Shura field.
"Da, da, da~"
The landing troops on board the boats were not without counterattacks. The 12.7mm machine guns they were equipped with kept giving counterattacks.
Facing the constant hail of bullets from both sides, all the officers and soldiers who landed were hunkering down inside the ship. The armor plates of the ship were being beaten, which constantly reminded them of the danger outside.
"Get ready to land!"
Following the command of the captain of the landing craft in the operating direction, all the Marines huddled together grasped their weapons.
"Gah~"
As the front hatch opened, everyone rushed into the waist-deep water. Because everyone knew that only by leaving the landing ship as soon as possible could they escape this huge danger. The enemy's firepower would definitely not be enough.
Would miss this good opportunity to shoot them.
"ah!"
Several soldiers who were running too slowly were shot by the defenders' machine guns and immediately fell into the landing craft. Their blood filled the cabin with the smell of blood.
The glass in the captain's observation room was also smashed. Fortunately, the captain was quick-sighted and got down immediately.
Now, regardless of whether there was anyone in the boat, he immediately began to reverse the boat. The strong horsepower allowed the landing craft to quickly leave this dangerous beach.
The Marine officers and soldiers who disembarked did not pay any attention to the departure of the landing craft. They were wading towards the beach. In this unavoidable distance of only more than ten meters, the Marine officers and soldiers suffered a considerable blow. Because they were wading into the water.
Because of this, its movements could not be fast at all, so it could withstand the enemy's damage. Many officers and soldiers fell here.
However, at least the first wave of Romanian officers and soldiers were allowed to land on the beach. After landing on the beach, the Marine officers and soldiers quickly rushed up. They first established a position at the stall and waited for the arrival of subsequent reinforcements.
The second wave of reinforcements from the fleet came very quickly. This reinforcement has changed a lot compared to the first time. That is, a battalion of HR10 amphibious tanks has been transported this time and is on its way.
The battle on the beach naturally attracted the attention of the three commanders, and the intelligence was sent to them one by one.
"The enemy is attacking the beach, and our division has entered the battlefield to defend it."
"The enemy has landed ashore, and our division is suppressing it with fire. The current battle situation is still within our expectations. The enemy is pinned on the beachhead and cannot advance even an inch."
"The enemy's second batch of reinforcements has arrived. The enemy has transported dozens of tanks and is now requesting reinforcements with anti-tank weapons!"
In fact, there is no need for the troops guarding the beach to send a message. The three commanders can see the situation at the stall with binoculars. They are located in a small hill outside the city called Gurnes, which just includes the beach.
.
I saw a new batch of landing ships arriving on the beach. The number of these reinforcements was not too large, but they brought tanks and vehicles that were urgently needed by the landing troops. So with the support of the second wave of landing troops, the landing troops attacked the front line of defense.
The defenders launched an attack.
The defenders, who lacked anti-armor strength, were crumbling in the face of this offensive. The few anti-tank guns they had in hand were destroyed immediately after destroying several enemy tanks.
Faced with this situation, the three commanders naturally would not let it go. They saw a division of Greek troops heading towards the front line for reinforcements despite air strikes.
In the face of this reinforcement force, Romania would naturally not let it complete its purpose comfortably. The bombardment from the navy immediately shifted to it. With the help of the artillery school aircraft, the division suffered a lot of losses. And faced with this kind of
Feeling like being hit by a double blow from the enemy, the division commander immediately ordered, "Each unit will be dispersed and reinforced at the company level immediately."
The reinforcements that had been maintained in scattered groups before became even more scattered under his orders, and they were moving to reinforce the position.
