Edel opened the Cyprus combat plan and immediately looked at the plan jointly produced by the navy, army and air force.
Edel was shocked as soon as he opened it. He was shocked by the bold plan of the military. Because the main force in this battle was neither the Marine Corps nor the Army, but the paratroopers of the Air Force.
Edel was right. The main force of this battle was the paratroopers. It all had to do with time. The rush of the Crete battle consumed less than half of the prepared materials. The most important thing was the professional landing force Marine Corps.
, we suffered too many losses in the previous battles and needed to take a break (the previous battles to seize the island and the landing on Crete had too many casualties).
However, the island of Cyprus is included in the combat plan and needs to be launched immediately after the capture of Crete. The main reason is to prepare for the next landing in the Middle East. As long as you open the map, you can see that the island of Cyprus is about 30 kilometers away from Turkey.
It is only over 100 kilometers away, less than 200 kilometers away from Syria, and the island is large enough (the third largest island in the Mediterranean) to allow the island to accumulate enough troops to peek at the British and French colonies in the Middle East.
The British also attach great importance to the island, deploying 48,000 troops and more than 200 aircraft to serve as a northern barrier to protect the British and French colonies.
Obviously, if the island is not taken, it will be impossible to land directly in the Middle East, so this has also become a prelude for Romania to conquer the Middle East. However, it is not easy to conquer the island, because the island is far away from the nearest Italian capital of Rhodes.
There are 400 kilometers, which will prevent many Romanian Air Force aircraft from reaching the island of Cyprus. (The distance to Crete is more than 500 kilometers)
For example, Romania's current main fighter jet, the R20 Peregrine Falcon, needs to return immediately after flying to Cyprus, leaving no time for combat.
Therefore, this also worried the combat staff. In the end, the only choice was the HF201 fighter jet. Fortunately, during this period, Romania was very satisfied with the effect of the aircraft, and the production efficiency was greatly improved. It was able to produce a maximum of 120 aircraft per month.
The scale (mainly due to the effect of the Alexander air raid) prevents the aircraft from having only more than 200 aircraft like before.
However, although there are currently more than 500 such aircraft, only more than 300 have achieved combat effectiveness. Among them, only more than 100 are assigned to the Air Force, which is exactly the size of a wing. It is definitely not enough to rely on the Air Force's own fighter escorts, so
We must find a solution with the Navy.
Therefore, in this plan, both the navy and air forces are required to jointly deploy fighter jet formations to conduct air strikes on the island of Cyprus as the first mover to destroy the enemy's air power and open the way for the next battle.
After destroying the enemy's air power, the paratroopers will be airdropped near the airport on the island of Cyprus. After seizing the airport, the Romanian Air Force will use airlift to transport other troops and equipment. Of course, relying on
Airborne landings will not solve the battle. When the time comes, the Romanian Navy will also be responsible for using landing methods to support operations.
The entire plan requires only a small number of troops, only 54,000, which is the strength of three divisions and one brigade. However, the navy and air force will use more troops. All five aircraft carriers will participate in the battle, plus 2 battleships and 3 heavyweights.
Cruisers and other small warships and various transport vessels.
As for the Air Force, it needs more aircraft, 283 R20 fighters (escort), 167 HF201 fighters, 228 RU28 bombers, 186 RU18 dive bombers, and 48 RU80 four-engine bombers.
Of course, there are also the most important 386 RY58 transport aircraft. This transport aircraft is 19.2 meters long and 4.93 meters high. The entire aircraft has an empty weight of 7300KG, a maximum take-off weight of 12800KG, and a load capacity of 5.5 tons. It can carry 24 fully armed soldiers and a 1-ton heavy load.
supplies.
As for the airborne mission, it is the 1st Parachute Division, which consists of two parachute regiments and one airborne regiment, as well as the airborne artillery regiment (equipped with two 75mm light artillery battalions, a 37mm anti-tank battalion, and an air defense battalion)
). In addition, there are reconnaissance battalions, engineering battalions, medical battalions, etc., with the total number of officers and soldiers in the division reaching 11,871.
Among them, those who will perform the first airborne mission will be composed of the 1st Parachute Regiment and the 2nd Parachute Regiment. Their task is to seize the airport, build a defense line, and open up the situation for the subsequent airborne landing.
Let me mention here that there are currently four airports on the island of Cyprus, namely Paphos, Limassol, Larnaca and Nicosia.
The paratrooper division mainly needs to seize Paphos and two airports on the outskirts of Nicosia, because intelligence shows that there are very few troops stationed there. As for Limassol and Larnaca, one is next to the naval base, and the other is near the British military base.
The area next to the assembly point is not conducive to capture and defense.
After they seize the airport, transport planes will bring them reinforcements and equipment. Although they basically have light weapons, the support from the Air Force will be very timely. Who makes them the biological sons of the Air Force.
Of course, there is also a lot of help from the navy. After clearing the opponent's air power, the artillery fleet will approach the island to provide them with artillery support.
Then rely on the landing force to open up the situation, send heavy equipment and follow-up troops, and occupy the island of Cyprus.
Edel looked at this battle plan and saw that it looked a bit like the German Crete battle plan in his previous life.
"Have you considered casualties in this way of fighting?"
"Your Majesty, we have thought about it. We plan to use the parachute at night to minimize the damage suffered by the paratroopers before landing. In addition, in order to cover the paratroopers' airdrop, Air Force bombers will also bomb them at night. And the landing troops will also
Set off as soon as possible, approach the island as soon as possible, and open up the situation for it."
Admiral Freit, who did not understand what Eder was referring to, spoke about the plan prepared by the military.
Because Germany has not yet taken action against Belgium, the power of paratroopers is not known yet, and naturally people also know the advantages and disadvantages of paratroopers. Although the exercise can simulate combat, it cannot replace the possibility of combat.
At present, Romanian paratroopers have been slowly accumulated over the years. Edel is a little doubtful about dropping so many paratroopers at once to take over the island of Cyprus. The main reason is that paratroopers are too expensive, and not ordinary.
The current firepower of paratrooper equipment is the pinnacle of light infantry. In addition to his own rifle or submachine gun, each soldier also has pistols, compasses, grenades, gas masks, daggers, military blankets, engineer shovels, bandages, cigarettes, kettles and other items.
These add up to thirty or forty kilograms, and these are indispensable supplies for paratroopers. If you add parachutes and ammunition, it is basically the weight of one more person.
In addition, the training time of paratroopers is long and the cost is also high. Each paratrooper needs to experience at least five successful parachute jumps, which is very expensive. Therefore, despite the light equipment used by paratroopers, the establishment cost is higher than that of a standing infantryman.
It's much more expensive, at least 1.5 times.
Therefore, Romania has only formed one and a half paratrooper divisions (the independent paratrooper brigade, which was originally planned to form the second paratrooper division). However, this time the military will put them into battle. In addition to time reasons, there are also plans
Test the role of paratroopers.
Edel heard what General Freit said, thought about it and held back. Since the military has decided to use the tactic of paratrooper center blooming, what else can he say? Should he tell them how to use paratroopers?
, Edel has never trained paratroopers, there is no way he can give instructions here.
"Well, now that you have decided, let's implement it according to the plan."
After Edel finished speaking, he signed his name on the battle plan.
Although Edel had his own doubts about using paratrooper tactics to seize the island of Cyprus, he could only approve it. After all, apart from the general direction, Edel can also decide, so how does he know about the military combat plan? It is not made by the military, but by himself
Approved after taking a look.
Who would have thought that shortly after seeing off the Chief of General Staff, the Foreign Secretary hurried up to him with a telegram.
Without waiting for Edel to receive the telegram, Costel directly stated the contents of the telegram.
"Your Majesty, Italy is asking for help from our country!"
This sentence made Edel stunned, and he didn't even reach out his hand to pick up the telegram.
