Chapter 26:
Chapter 26
There was no chance for an aerial battle. The Gibraltar peninsula, occupied by Britain, was extremely narrow and the Gibraltar Rock made it difficult for aircraft to take off.
The only thing they had prepared for this was a dense array of anti-aircraft gun positions.
The last words of the anti-aircraft gunners, who sent their final transmissions as their positions were destroyed one by one, echoed in the command room.
[Aaaaaah...]
“...”
The command room fell into a deathly silence.
There was no hope of getting support from Malta.
There was the problem of range, and they were already outnumbered.
The Luftwaffe and the Regia Aeronautica attacked Malta relentlessly, and they had to fight in a situation where they were outnumbered by several to one.
When they received a telegram that the German airborne troops were parachuting and they had to join the battle, the Gibraltar command gave up on requesting rescue from Malta.
The only hope left was that the Mediterranean Fleet was sailing at full speed.
The home fleet is coming, the Mediterranean Fleet is coming.
That was the only message that spread among the soldiers.
We can win.
We can win.
Admiral Somerville repeated that to himself.
As long as the fortress was not occupied, the siege could be broken at any time. L1tLagoon witnessed the first publication of this chapter on Ñøv€l--B1n.
Time was on Britain’s side.
If they combined the home fleet, Force H, and the Mediterranean Fleet, they still matched the total fleet of the Axis powers.
The Italian fleet was trapped in the Mediterranean, so they could not concentrate their power, but Britain could.
If they were inside the fortress and had time on their side, it meant that they had two of the most reliable allies.
“Arm the sailors. Is there any report of the Spanish army advancing?”
“Yes sir. There is not a single report of sighting the Spanish army. But according to what we received from the homeland, they are still mobilizing their troops.”
“Hmm... If they attacked this place, they should have finished it quickly... What are they aiming for...?”
No one could answer.
The aircraft were attacking the anti-aircraft positions, but to occupy this fortress, they had to either deploy ground troops and eliminate the personnel inside, or surround the fortress and starve them out.
If they secretly infiltrated agents and blew up the supply depot, it would be the latter case, but there would be no results if the British fleet arrived before that.
The only thing they could do was arm the sailors and prepare for a confrontation with them.
They also prepared gas masks in case they used gas for chemical warfare.
There was a shortage of gas masks, but they made temporary gas masks and did everything they could.
You’ll have to shed a lot of blood if you want to drive us out of here.
Admiral Somerville gripped his holster pistol tightly.
“Whew... Is this the first time we use this bomb in combat?”
“Roger that. Yes sir, when we tested it, it could penetrate 5m of reinforced concrete.”
“By the way, I like this bomber. It’s amazing that it can carry such a bomb! It would be nice if we could blow up the British base runway with this thing.”
The bombing squad flew from Seville in Spain and flew through Spanish airspace.
The ‘Grosse Yung’ bomb carried by this bombing squad was a modified Fw200 that could carry a 5-ton bomb to blow up the base and fleet under the Gibraltar Rock in one shot.
The 16 planes of the 1st Special Strategic Bombing Squadron led by Colonel Hans-Ulrich Rudel each carried one Grosse Yung bomb.
The Führer called him and his squadron members before they left for Seville and personally promoted them one rank each and pinned their badges.
If they came back alive, they would be promoted again.
If they died, they couldn’t be promoted.
The Führer said briefly and left, but he clearly remembered his pleased smile.
“Let’s go! If we come back alive, we’ll get promoted!”
“Wow! Promotion!”
Kiyaho!
The crew cheered over the radio network.
There were no British fighters to stop them.
“Oh...”
The Luftwaffe observation officer, who went out to assess the damage after the bombing, looked at the result and uttered a low exclamation.
About half of the sixteen Grosse Yung bombs hit their targets, and the other half hit somewhere else.
But one of the missed bombs blew off half of the sharp end of the Gibraltar Rock, and another one caused a tidal wave that tilted the British ships.
And one bomb that hit the tilted British ship caused a huge explosion.
The aircraft carrier next to it – probably Illustrious – seemed to be damaged by the debris.
The battleship was probably... Renown?
He couldn’t be sure.
Battleship 1 sunk, aircraft carrier 1 damaged, cruiser damage unknown.
He had no way of knowing the damage to the underground base either.
About four bombs went over where the base was supposed to be and created huge mushroom-shaped clouds.
It was loud enough to hear from this high-flying plane, so it must have caused an earthquake inside.
“Battleship 1 sunk, aircraft carrier 1 damaged, cruiser damage unknown. We will report again after re-observation.”
The report was received by the Gibraltar attack force headquarters, where cheers erupted.
They could not assess the damage to the fortress, but that would be confirmed by the two Spanish army corps.
The Axis fleet in the Atlantic would enter the Mediterranean as soon as they confirmed the collapse of Gibraltar and support the attack on Malta.
The airborne troops that landed on Malta also sent good news.
The 7th Airborne Division suffered heavy casualties in the battle for the island’s airfield, but they succeeded in destroying the runway.
The unsinkable aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean lost its runway and its lid was opened.
Now it was time for us to close its lid.
“Are all the large artillery batteries ready?”
“Yes sir. The Gustav gun can move to near Gibraltar via the railway line that has already been laid through Seville station. The other medium guns are being transported in parts after being dismantled. Caudillo promised to provide all the transportation and labor needed for this.”
Nazi Germany’s plan was simple.
They would clean up the fortress with various heavy fortress guns after bombing it with aerial bombs.
After that, they would use the medium guns that became obsolete – they had Grosse Yung bombs for fortresses – as fortress guns for the new Gibraltar fortress.
In actual history, they would have been mobilized for the Siege of Sevastopol, but the German Southern Group had not yet broken through Sevastopol or even Odessa, and the Führer ordered them to use all these medium guns for Gibraltar.
“They’re nothing but scrap metal.”
The Führer said that about the medium guns.
They couldn’t be mounted on battleships, and they were useless on land.
He added a few comments and ordered them to use them to arm the fortress.
Gibraltar, which came into Germany’s hands from Britain, was armed with huge and beautiful guns and became the gate of ‘Mare Nostrum’, showing its dignity.
The admirals dreamed of such a future.
Just in case, if they failed to destroy Gibraltar with Grosse Yung, they would use them as reserve power.
“We have to set up our defensive position as soon as possible after we occupy the fortress. Before the Mediterranean Fleet or the Home Fleet comes this way. When will the allied fleet in the North Atlantic arrive?”
“It is estimated that it will take about 12 hours.”
It was about 1800km from Malta to Gibraltar. Even if they sailed at 30 knots, it would take 32 hours.
The actual fleet speed could not be that much, so it was enough.
There was no information on the location of the home fleet, but at least the allied fleet could not support the Mediterranean Fleet while they were being crushed by the Axis fleet.
“Come on, advance!”
Rommel ordered his subordinates from his command vehicle, Mammoth.
The faces of the soldiers who were blackened by the burning desert sun were filled with joy.
He himself could not control his rising smile, let alone them.
“We’ll have dinner in Alexandria on the weekend. Advance!”
“Woooooo!!!”
He spared no supplies that he had saved for the advance.
The soldiers were ordered to carry a few pills of Pervitin each and take them when needed.
While the Mediterranean Fleet ran away to Gibraltar and Malta with their tails between their legs, Alexandria would fall easily without the protection of the fleet and the air force.
The 200,000 Axis troops could trample over the 150,000 British troops who were struggling with supplies.
It was our victory.
