With the end of the "Second Battle of Alahman", the situation was stabilized.

The British, who suffered heavy losses, were no longer able to launch another new attack, and they were forced to turn from offensive posture to defensive posture.

Similarly, even though Iran has not yet completely fallen into the hands of the Germans, the German army has no power to seize Egypt.

Now, both sides will enter a relatively long period of confrontation

Wang Weiyi's strategic goals have been achieved.

Stabilize the situation in Africa, then open up the Iranian line, and launch a strategic decisive battle against Russia!

Then, World War II will continue according to your own vision

As the situation in North Africa changed, according to the orders of Marshal Ernst Breme, the German offensive against Malta was reopened.

In fact, Malta is the most important part of the entire African war situation.

In the autumn of 1941, the supply troops heading to North Africa were devastatingly hit, forcing the German Supreme Command to send another air force to Sicily. In early 1942, with the beginning of the "Second Battle of Malta", the fleets heading to Africa became increasingly safe.

Therefore, the relationship between Malta and North Africa should never be misled. The more you strengthen the attack on Malta, the more abundant the supply of the German African legion. The reason why Rommel was able to attack from the Gazara front was precisely because of the German army's increased attack on Malta.

At that time, in theory, the conclusion was concluded that Malta should be occupied by sea and air, but it was not implemented. In April 1942, after the Luftwaffe launched a large-scale bombing on the island, it was a good fighter jet, but it was easily let go. Although Hitler handed over the implementation of the Malta landing operation to Italy, he did not believe that the Italian army had endurance. On the contrary, he firmly believed that Rommel could fight to the Nile River after quickly occupying Tobrook. Therefore, in the end, he gave up the "Wuxian Battle" plan.

In order to ensure this key battle, Rommel demanded that all air forces in the Mediterranean war zone be put into North Africa. His request was approved by Hitler. However, the German army did not reach Cairo, but instead stopped attacking Malta and quickly strengthened the island, causing heavy losses to reinforce Rommel's maritime supply line

In the Battle of Malta, the Luftwaffe had a very clear tactical point, which was to concentrate on investing a large number of bombers to assault key targets such as the enemy's airports and ports.

This is much more effective than the type of dive bombing with countless single-aircraft that the Chief of Staff of the Yeshunnek Air Force insisted on. In the early days of World War II, the "carpet bombing" for military targets was carried out on the Island of Malta.

And now, the bombing of Malta has begun again

The rain in Sicily cleared and the clouds disappeared, presenting a beautiful spring scene. The Luftwaffe bomber formation flew south across the Weilan Sea with white waves.

The German bombing of Malta intensified every week, and the bombing time was dawn, day, dusk and night. Therefore, the Mediterranean fortress in Britain always sounded alarms. Most of the people coming to perform bombing missions were small groups of bombers.

Major Gilchris, an intelligence officer of the British 231st Infantry Brigade stationed in Malta, said: "The Germans were very cautious at the beginning, using only three to five JU88 bombers at a time, invading under the escort of many fighter jets. They invade up to eight times a day. They are just military targets such as airports and docks."

The Luftwaffe dispatched such few aircraft, and it was not like in the past that large aircraft groups could not be used for combat due to weather reasons. The advantage of this tactic is that it could not give the enemy a breathing opportunity, and the disadvantage is that the enemy can concentrate the entire air defense system to deal with the invading few bombers. The two are contradictory. In particular, the JU88 aircraft had to descend altitude under the dense artillery fire of the Malta anti-aircraft gun group. As a result, the losses were too large and almost no aircraft did not return with injuries.

"I'm on the left of the squadron leader's plane," said Gerhart Shawtanfu, a captain of the JU88 plane. "I'm relieved to have Messerschmitt planes everywhere. Besides, the weather is so good."

The second squadron of the First Flight Training Regiment where Shawtanfu was located was set off from Catania and flew towards Malta under the command of Captain Rutel. Their mission was to dive bomb the British Luca Airport and blow up the British Bryham and Wellington bombers parked on the airport. The escort was the Messerchmitt aircraft of the Third Battalion of the Fifty-third Combat Aviation Regiment commanded by the famous Captain Wilk.

The southern shore of Sicily is ninety kilometers away from the attack target. It can fly to the target in fifteen minutes. Now, the Island of Malta has appeared in front of you like a rock castle. Soon, you saw the huge port of the capital Valletta and three deep-concave harbor naval bases.

There was a fire on the ground, which was the artillery fire of heavy anti-aircraft guns. The shells exploded behind the German bomber, and black smoke came out of the blue sky. The strong air waves shook Lieutenant Xiao Tanfu's Type JU88 aircraft.

Mechanic Gerke said humorously: "If the range of the anti-aircraft gun is thirty meters higher, we should see God!"

The German bomber troops had learned about the power of Malta anti-aircraft artillery since the spring of 1941. At that time, most of the people who bombed the island were dive bombers. Every time the British army launched hundreds of shells, they were undoubtedly commanded by the central command. Under such powerful artillery fire, the dive bombers had to turn around, quickly change the altitude and direction, and avoid artillery fire. Such movements were only small and had good maneuverability, and the type JU87 aircraft could do it. The bomber formation had just flew away fifty seconds, and then it made a huge explosion sound.

The British army's air defense firepower was not only concentrated, but also distributed at various altitudes. When the attacking aircraft dives, three-kilometer, two-kilometer, and one-five hundred meters three-layer firepower networks opened fire at the same time. The last firepower network consisted of light anti-aircraft guns deployed on the ground and on warships anchored in the harbor.

"This kind of anti-aircraft artillery is really amazing!" Captain Helmut Melk, the captain of the Third Battalion of the First Diving Bombing Aviation Regiment, said afterwards.

He participated in the battle on February 26, 1941. Anti-aircraft shells made a big hole in the right wing of his plane. With his own luck and skills, he finally flew back to Sicily.

A year later, the anti-aircraft gun firepower of the Malta Fortress has not only not decreased at all, but has become even more powerful.

Second Lieutenant Xiao Tanfu shouted, "Run over!"

He drove the JU88 aircraft and broke through the British firepower net in one go. At this time, the squadron leader was turning and entering the attack. So Xiao Tanfu released a resistance plate and followed closely behind the squadron leader and dived down. At this moment, two crossing white lines were clearly presented, which was the runway of Luca Airport.

As the distance shortened, the runway became clearer and clearer in the sight. It turned out that there was only one runway, and six bombers were parked neatly at the end of the runway.

The aura of the sight aimed at the bombing target, and the pilot in charge of aiming kept reporting the height. Suddenly, he knocked Xiao Tanfu on the knee and shouted loudly: "Stop!" Xiao Tanfu immediately pressed the red button on the pilot rod with his left thumb. The bomb left the plane. The JU88 type aircraft automatically pulled up.

At this time, Xiao Tanfu found that the squadron leader's plane was like a drunkard, sometimes on the right, sometimes on the right, sometimes on the high, and sometimes on the low. This was a "anti-air artillery waltz dance". A few seconds later, Xiao Tanfu was also surrounded by artillery fire. He said: "At that time, there seemed to be a black wall in front of me, with flashes drawn on it. There was no choice but to break through."

Suddenly, with a "bang", the plane shook violently. Xiao Tanfu knew it was not good, and the plane was shot.

"Oh! Maybe the landing gear has come out." Gerke shouted loudly below. Fortunately, the plane was injured and protruded outward. The landing gear has not come out and is still stored in the wings. Otherwise, the plane would slow down quickly, and at this moment, speed is very important. Xiao Tanfu thought to himself that as long as the engine is not broken, it doesn't matter. At this time, the correspondent Noxensky reported:

"Three 'Hurricane' fighters were found on the rear right!"

British fighters standing outside the fire network began to attack the German bomber that fled from the artillery fire. Xiao Tanfu immediately increased the accelerator to the maximum and lowered the height to almost rub against the sea. At this time, Noxensky, sitting in the back seat, reported the thrilling battle:

"Behind the British man who was leading the way, a ME109 aircraft opened fire. The Hurricane fighter was shot down. Oh! The pilot parachuted and the plane fell into the sea. Danger! The enemy's second plane rushed over again, five hundred meters, four hundred meters! The ME109 aircraft bit it again. This 'Hurricane' fighter caught fire. The enemy's third plane made a sharp turn and fled. It was a fortune!"

Half an hour later, Lieutenant Xiao Tanfu's plane hovered over the Catania Airport. Because the hydraulic pipe was penetrated, the landing gear could not be placed, and using a hand-crank oil pump to supply oil was still useless. The plane was in danger and had to use the fuselage to make a landing. The plane flew over tightly against the roof of the hangar. Xiao Tanfu saw the signal flares emitted from the ground, which indicated that all preparations were made at the airport, and ambulances and fire trucks were also driven. Lieutenant Xiao Tanfu described the scene at that time and said:

"We fastened our seat belts and prepared to land. Since we couldn't put down the flap, the landing speed was too high. I was trying to adjust. Suddenly, the fuselage was hit and made a terrible sound. It was very dangerous to rub the roof! So I pulled the nose and the plane floated up again. At this time, there was only a small section of the runway, so I had to land immediately. The plane made another terrible sound, and the sand rolled up by the grounding impact hit the cockpit, deafening. The cement wall in front was approaching quickly, and I quickly braked, but the brake failed. So I throbbed the right rudder, the plane came over, and finally stopped three meters away from the cement wall."

Xiao Tanfu said so easily, and such a critical moment seemed to be commonplace for him. After the forced landing, he reported to the captain of the brigade. The captain narrowed his eyes and said:
Chapter completed!