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Volume 1 Chapter 141: Login

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    On May 18, the Allied forces dispatched about 100 sorties and carried out two air strikes on the island. Air strikes of this scale continued until May 28. The island's defense fortifications, communication facilities and roads were severely damaged.  The urgently needed supplies to the island can only be carried out by submarines and small ships.

    Starting from May 29, Allied air strikes became more frequent, reaching six to seven times a day, and the number of aircraft dispatched reached 200.

    Entering June, the frequency and intensity of air raids increased greatly. On June 9, they continued for 24 hours. After nightfall, Allied aircraft dropped flares and air raids continued all night. The defenders could hardly rest under the fierce air raids, and their physical strength was reduced.  and energy were almost exhausted, coupled with the interruption of transportation, each support point fell into an isolated and helpless situation, the supply of food and drinking water was completely cut off, and the defense of the defenders was about to collapse.

    While carrying out large-scale air strikes, the Allied forces also carried out a strict naval blockade and naval artillery bombardment.  On May 12 and 13, the cruiser "Orion" shelled the island twice.  On May 31, two Allied destroyers bombarded the island.  On June 1, an Allied formation consisting of one cruiser and two destroyers conducted another violent bombardment of the island, but the cruiser "Penelope" was damaged by Italian shore artillery during the bombardment.  On the same day, two Allied destroyers responsible for naval blockade discovered two Italian transport ships in nearby waters and sank them immediately.

    On June 2, the Allies violently bombarded the island with one cruiser and four destroyers.  In the following days, warships conducted shelling almost every day. By June 10, the Allied navy and air force poured 6,200 tons of ammunition on Panterella Island!

    On June 7, the Allies demanded that the defenders on the island surrender, but Major General Pavesi refused.

    On the evening of June 10, Pavesi reported to the Italian high command that the strength of the garrison had been exhausted and requested permission to surrender. The high command therefore authorized him to approach the Allies for surrender.  In fact, the casualties of the Italian army in the air raid were only 56 dead and 196 injured.

    At about nine o'clock in the morning on June 11, Pavesi ordered a cessation of fighting and raised a white flag on the flagpole of the island's radio station. Due to the fierce bombardment of the Allied sea and air fire, the smoke everywhere covered the flag to express surrender.  The Allies failed to detect the white flag in time.

    Almost at the same time, the Allied landings also began. The British 1st Infantry Division took 2 landing ships and 2 destroyers, and under the cover of 5 cruisers, 8 destroyers and 8 torpedo boats, attacked Panterella Island.  , because the whole island was shrouded in thick gunpowder smoke, the landing troops did not find the white flag, but still rushed ashore at about 12 o'clock as planned. They immediately occupied the entire island and captured all the defenders. There were no casualties in the British army.  This was the first successful example in the history of war of using sea and air forces to carry out violent bombardment and force the defenders to surrender!

    On June 13, the defenders on the two small islands near Panterella also surrendered to the Allies. At this point, all obstacles to the attack on Sicily had been removed.  Of all the Allies' pre-war preparations, the most impressive was the strategic deception code-named "Trojan Horse" and later renamed "Plan Mincemeat."

    Because anyone with a little military knowledge knows very well that after the Allies have eliminated the Axis powers in North Africa, in the Mediterranean theater, the Allies' next target will undoubtedly be Sicily, especially when the Allies capture  After Panterella, the attack on Sicily was obvious, as British Prime Minister Churchill said:

    ¡°Any fool knows Sicily is next!¡±

    At that time, the German and Italian troops had deployed about 300,000 troops in Sicily, and the Allied forces had only a slight advantage in the landing force, which was far lower than the at least 3:1 troop advantage in the landing operations on the Pacific battlefield. Once  If the Axis powers determine the Allied attack targets and strengthen the defense of Sicily, then the landing operation will face failure, and even if they win, they will have to pay a heavy price.  In order to avoid such a passive situation, the Allies decided to organize and implement strategic deception and camouflage to convince the Axis powers that, precisely because Sicily was an obvious target, the Allies would use this as a feint to cover landings in other areas of the Mediterranean.  , the Allied High Command determined Greece and Sardinia as the locations for the main attack in the strategic deception, because after attacking Greece, they could take advantage of the victory to develop towards the Balkan Peninsula; and the capture of Sardinia was an ideal springboard for the attack on southern France.  Both places are extremely sensitive and critical places for the Axis powers.

    The agency that performs this task is the British London Oversight Office. Its office address is at 2 Great George Street, the seat of Churchill's war cabinet. It is mainly responsible for formulating and implementing strategic deception and reconnaissance operations, and coordinating the joint efforts of British and allied intelligence agencies.  Organize major actions.  It is the organizational structure of Allied strategic deception.  The motto of the place is wit, cunning and refinement, and the emblem is a statue of the half-man, half-goat god of agriculture, Saturn, an elf who specializes in causing trouble in ancient Roman mythology.  The current Chief of the Division is Lieutenant Colonel John, British Army.

    Biwan, his nickname is the Scam Master.  Although his position and military rank are not high, he has great authority and even sometimesOn the evening of the 16th, the main force of the British landing force arrived and finally took full control of the bridge.

    The first echelon of the US airborne force took off at 20:45 on July 9, with a total of 3,405 people, commanded by Colonel Gavin, commander of the 505th Regiment, and took 226 C-47 transport aircraft.  After taking off, the fleet formed a nine-plane formation. Because the pilots lacked night flying experience and were not allowed to use radios for concealment reasons, the fleet deviated from the route and flew to the east coast of Sicily. They could not find a landing site and had to fly back to the sea.  After re-entering, they came under heavy fire from German anti-aircraft guns. Eight aircraft were shot down, ten were damaged, and three lost their way back.

    As the formation was disrupted by German anti-aircraft fire, the airborne process lasted for more than an hour. The landing of paratroopers was also very scattered. Only one company landed at the predetermined location, and the rest of the paratroopers landed in far away places, with the farthest distance reaching a hundred  Kilometers. The place where Gavin landed was 48 kilometers away from the scheduled landing site. In addition, the wind speed during landing reached 15 meters per second. Many paratroopers were blown to rocks, trees, and houses by the strong wind, causing heavy casualties. The paratroopers who landed at the scheduled landing site  Only one highway hub was captured.  The paratroopers who landed at other locations took the initiative to join the battle. In particular, Colonel Gavin gathered more than 200 people on Mount Biazzo to block the German reinforcements heading for the landing beach. The battle was extremely fierce. Gavin took the lead and personally used a rocket launcher to shoot at the German tanks.  , the U.S. paratroopers fought tenaciously, and many German tanks were destroyed and forced to withdraw from the battle. At the heavy cost of killing more than 50 people and injuring more than 100 people, the U.S. military deterred the German counterattack and effectively supported the troops landing on the beach.

    Since the first echelon failed to complete its scheduled mission, Patton, commander of the US 7th Army, decided to use the second echelon to seize Gela Airport and determined to parachute landing at Falero Airport, which the Germans had abandoned.

    On the evening of the 11th, more than 2,000 people from the second echelon took off on 144 C-47 transport aircraft. The leading force landed smoothly. When the follow-up formation flew past our own fleet, like the second echelon of the British army, it encountered "friendly fire" from our own fleet and was shot down.  23, 37 were damaged, and 6 lost their way back. The remaining 70 were scattered in formation and airborne. The paratroopers were shot by the landing force when they landed. In the end, only more than 400 people landed at Falero Airport.  Unable to effectively support the landing troops.  On the 12th, the landing force developed in depth. The remaining personnel of the two US airborne echelons joined the landing force and participated in the battle. By the 15th, the 82nd Airborne Division participated in the battle with 5,307 people and only 3,024 people were left. Their vitality was severely damaged, and they withdrew from the front line to rest.

    During the landing campaign in Sicily, the Allied forces carried out four airdrops, dispatched a total of 642 transport aircraft sorties, 153 glider sorties, and a total of 9,816 people airborne, including 7,816 parachutes.  However, none of the four airborne operations achieved their mission. The airborne troops suffered more than 1,500 casualties, accounting for 15% of the total number. 45 transport aircraft were shot down.  86 gliders were damaged and 25 were missing; 69 gliders were shot down, 15 crashed during landing and 10 were missing.  70% of these losses were caused by friendly forces.  The Allies' first large-scale airborne operation ended in a serious defeat.

    <a href="www.piaotia.com</a>" target="_blank">www.piaotia.com</a>" target="_blank">http://www.piaotia.com">www.piaotia.com</a>
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