The Fifth Mountain Division was formed after the complete failure of the "Sea Lion Plan". It has the 85th Mountain Infantry Regiment, the 100th Mountain Infantry Regiment, the 95th Motorized Reconnaissance Battalion, the 95th Anti-Tank Battalion, the 95th Engineer Battalion and the 95th Communication Battalion, and a total force of 14,000.

From the perspective of military strength, the Fifth Mountain Division is similar to the 143rd Division with a total force of 15,000. The difference is that the 143rd Division has an additional artillery regiment and has stronger attack capabilities.

As before, the battle first broke out in the air, and fierce battles broke out between the Southern African Air Force and the Luftwaffe in order to fight for air supremacy.

The Southern African Air Force stationed on Crete went all out and sent nearly 150 fighter jets to provide air cover for the 143rd Division.

The Luftwaffe also came out in full swing. Although the aircraft performance was slightly inferior, it was obviously superior in quantity.

The battle was very fierce, and the Southern African Air Force lost 14 fighter jets on the first day of the outbreak of air combat.

The Germans suffered losses of 27 fighter jets and 6 bombers.

Just as the air battle broke out, the Fifth Mountain Division launched a ground attack on the 143rd Division's position.

The equipment of the Fifth Mountain Division is still good. The entire division is equipped with nearly 500 machine guns, more than 100 mortars, and 68 tow guns.

The key to the problem is that most of the tow cannons equipped by the Fifth Mountain Division are light cannons, and there are only 16 heavy cannons, which leads to the embarrassing situation of serious insufficient firepower when attacking.

Except for the lack of armored troops, the number of machine guns and artillery in the 143rd Division is basically the same as that of local troops in southern Africa. The artillery equipped is basically large-caliber heavy artillery.

Starting from ten o'clock in the morning, the Fifth Mountain Division launched three consecutive attacks on the 143rd Division.

The 143rd Division had solid fortifications, and all three attacks of the Fifth Mountain Division were repelled. Nearly 500 German soldiers were killed, and the casualties of the 143rd Division were almost negligible.

The battle went smoothly, but Tao He and Yu Hong were very worried.

After occupying western Crete, the Germans were trying to send heavy weapons, including tanks, to Crete.

For light infantry, the 143rd Division is very relaxed.

If tank troops join, it will be difficult for the 143rd Division to deal with it.

Of course, the difficulties are not very great. The 143rd Division has 75 anti-tank guns, and the German armored troops will probably have to pay a huge price to break through the 143rd Division's position.

"The key is not the front, but our flanks. Referring to the Germans' lightning tactics, they are very good at detours. Once our flanks are attacked, we may be in danger of being surrounded." In Pombya, Anthony Jones and Lusheng had a serious expression.

As time comes, all British troops on Crete have evacuated, leaving only the southern African troops still fighting.

From Heraklion to Pomby, the southern African army has laid out three lines of defense. It is not easy for the Germans to capture the entire island. The key is how determined the Germans are.

"Our engineer troops have destroyed all the bridges and roads in the mountains. It is not easy for the Germans to detour. Even if the detour is successful, the Germans must worry about whether they are surrounded by us." Anthony Jones had the determination to cut off his arm and fought against the Germans on Greek territory. The southern Africans had no scruples.

The advancement of armored forces is very dependent on transportation. After the outbreak of the European war, both Poland and France were reluctant to face the German attack and did not carry out large-scale damage to the infrastructure, resulting in the German army's advance.

There are no psychological barriers in this regard in southern Africa.

Just build the road after it is blown up.

The same goes for bridges.

The bridges built after the war will be more beautiful and stronger than those that were blown up before, and the old ones will not go away and the new ones will not come.

Destruction of infrastructure is only one aspect. Southern African troops implemented a thorough scorched earth policy. When they evacuated from Heraklion, they took away all the materials they could take away, and all the fires they could not take away were burned out, and even a screw was left to the Germans.

Similar to the Greek army's complete defeat, leaving all the heavy weapons to the Germans will never happen in southern Africa.

Germany's blitzkrieg relies on war to support war, otherwise with Germany's strength, it will not be able to support increasingly large military expenditures.

Do you know what the first thing Germany has to do with each new area occupied?

It's not food, nor steel, but gold.

Americans are still doing business with Germans.

However, Americans do not recognize Mark, rand or pound, but only recognize gold.

The Germans even plundered gold and didn't even let go of dentures.

"It's June now, and we have to hold on in Crete for at least three weeks." Lu Sheng firmly implemented the command of the command center, one month or one month, and one day less.

"No problem, we can complete this task easily." Anthony Jones was not worried, and the Southern African Union troops were not easy to bully either.

It's really not easy to bully.

Although the Southern African Union troops and infantry use Lee Enfield, the light machine guns have been distributed to the squad level, and each company has an independent fire platoon. Before the war, a batch of heavy machine guns was added. The frontier positions of the 143rd Division reached 8.5 per 100 meters, which was unprecedented.

The 114th Highland Protrusion is located at the forefront of the 143rd Division's position. The B Company of the 1st Battalion of the Cabinda Rifle Regiment is responsible for defense.

Company B Company Commander Cruise is a southern African. He has served in the Umbrella Company for a long time and has rich combat experience. He participated in the Brazilian Civil War and was transferred to active service after the outbreak of the European War.

Deputy Company Commander Hamilton is a southern African born in Port Elizabeth. He just graduated from the Niasalan Army Academy last year. There are only Cruise and Hamilton in the entire B Company, and Jerome, the fire platoon leader, is a southern African.

During the morning battle, the German army dropped at least one hundred corpses in the B Company's position. Only one person in the B Company was killed and six were injured.

The dead soldier was an observation post. A shell hit his bunker directly. The bunker was not penetrated, and the soldiers died on the spot.

"Is this how the Germans break through Europe?" Hamilton had just graduated when the European War broke out and did not understand the cruelty of the war.

In Hamilton's opinion, the German army's combat effectiveness was really not high, and its tactics were rigid and its firepower was not strong enough.

The fighting will of German soldiers is indeed OK.

However, in many cases, fighting will is not a decisive factor, especially for the Southern African army that emphasizes firepower advantages.

"That depends on who the German opponent is." Cruise's face was exhausted. Since arriving at the defense line, Cruise has not had a serious rest and has only slept for six hours in the past three days.

There has never been a win that is easy.

Even if the 143rd Division has strong firepower, sufficient logistics, and air force support, it is still meticulous when building positions.

Cruise was also worried about his soldiers.

African soldiers have a lot of thoughts. Although they are obedient and hard-working and fearless, they need the supervision of officers at any time.

Without the supervision of officers, African soldiers' efficiency in digging foxholes would not be much better than Indians.

Even if they know a qualified foxgate, they will provide them with better protection after the battle breaks out.

This makes people feel helpless.

The Southern African military tried every means to improve the combat effectiveness of the Alliance troops. The logistics level of the Alliance troops was almost exactly the same as that of the local troops in Southern Africa. Before the outbreak of the battle, the Mediterranean theater even sent Gaoping dual-purpose machine guns to Company B, and three were sent in total. You should know that Company B had only more than 100 people.

The staff of the Mediterranean War Zone also have times when they are not considerate.

Except for Jerome, no one in the B company can use the Gaoping dual-purpose machine gun, which is embarrassing.

The more advanced the weapon, the higher the requirements for those who use the weapon.

African soldiers are the most lacking in this regard.

After chatting for a few words, the whistling of shells came from the air.

The two light infantry fights, and the routines are basically the same. After the artillery is washed, the infantry attacks. If they are counterattacked by strong firepower by the defenders, the infantry will immediately stop attacking and continue to call for fire support until all the fire points on the defenders' positions are destroyed.

Relying on the soldier to hold the explosive bag and use his body to block it?

This does not exist in Europe.

So many tactics cannot be used even if the generals of the European War learned them.

You cannot ask the interlude soldiers to remain lurking with their steel-like will, facing the burning of overwhelming artillery fire or even flamethrowers.

It is also impossible to require soldiers to maintain their combat posture even if they are frozen into ice sculptures after entering a hidden state.

It is even more important to ask soldiers to use their own bodies to block the eye, or use their bodies as the bracket for explosives.

The soldiers were not that enlightened either.

If an officer forces his soldiers to do so.

Maybe the soldiers will shoot directly at the officers.

The same goes for the Germans.

The German army, who was unable to make a betrothal in the European war, finally got a strong kick in southern Africa.

boom

The violent explosion of shells stirred up dust in the sky, and the lights in the tunnel were affected. Hamilton immediately covered his tea cup with his hands, and the cup of tea he had just made.

Unless the tunnel is directly hit by a large-caliber shell, the soldiers in the tunnel will not suffer a large number of casualties.

The Fifth Infantry Division came a little slow, giving the 143rd Division enough time to build a position. On the opposite side of the B Company's position, all obstacles have been cleared. The machine gun shooter was clear at a glance when shooting. The arrangement of cross-fire ensured that there were no shooting dead spots in front of the position. The addition of the Gaoping dual-purpose machine gun effectively increased the firepower intensity of the B Company. Unfortunately, since the machine gunners were all just trained, they were not familiar with the operation of the Gaoping dual-purpose machine gun, and the effect was not very good.

This is also enough to defend against light infantry attacks.

The Germans were not stupid either. When they found that the firepower points on the position had not been destroyed, they would immediately stop attacking. The human sea tactics during the Battle of the Somme no longer appeared again.

The Fifth Mountain Division carried limited shells, and the shelling only lasted for five minutes before stopping.

The Germans were still very skilled in the coordinated tactics of infantry and artillery. As soon as the shelling stopped, the German infantry rushed to the forefront of the position.

The officers and soldiers of the Company B were also prepared for a long time. As soon as the bomb bomb exploded, whistles rang out from behind the position. The soldiers rushed out of the cover and entered the position. At this time, Lee Enfield was not easy to use, and grenades were the best. Regardless of whether the Germans rushed up, they would hit the grenades first.

The same goes for the Germans, the first round of attacks was also a grenade.

So when every battle begins, countless grenades are flying over the position.

The Germans were clearly at a disadvantage. The officers and soldiers of the 143rd Division were protected by bunkers, but the Germans' bodies were all exposed to the shooting territory of machine gun shooters.

The soldiers of the 143rd Division were also equipped with a certain proportion of Niasaran rifles. General machine guns using bipods pose the greatest threat to German soldiers. Usually, before a bullet box was shot, all the positions were cleared in front of them.

Therefore, without the assistance of armored troops, light infantry attacking such a well-equipped defensive position would be a death sentence.
To be continued...