The warm and warm winter sun shines on the rippling Western Mediterranean Sea and the islands dotted on the sea. Among these islands as charming as gems, there is a small area but an extremely important strategic location. It is known as the "heart of the Mediterranean". In the long river of history, this island was successively ruled by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Odogths, Arabs and Normans, and has been successively occupied by France, Britain and Germany in modern times. In 1932, as a transaction in exchange for Italy to participate in the war, the Germans handed it over to the Italians...

This is Malta, a must-fight place for military strategists since ancient times!

17 years later, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the New United Kingdom jointly launched a war against Italy. On this day, Italian soldiers stationed at the Khalfar Air Base in the island of Malta heard the news. The ground crew opened the hangar gate and prepared for the fighter planes parked there, and then dragged them to the apron one by one to load ammunition and fuel for them. Under the call of General Giuseppe Moretti, the pilots of the 5th Fighter Wing of the Royal Italian Air Force came to the base's combat duty room to listen to the lecture.

Unlike those military and political officials who only know how to talk big, General Moretti is always concise and realistic. He can inspire the fighting spirit of young pilots in just a few words, and can also use a few words to make the flight tops under his command abandon their arrogant and frivolous mentality. He finally got control of Malta from the Germans. The Italian top leaders attached great importance to the military defense here, strengthened and expanded the defense system left by the Germans, and deployed more than 20,000 officers and soldiers and a considerable number of auxiliary personnel here. Malta's air alert defense

The 5th Fighter Wing and the 11th Fighter Wing are jointly undertaken. According to the military organization established by the Italian General Staff in 1944, these two air wings should be equipped with 244 fighters in full-team state, all of which are the latest Maki mc.205 "Hunter" or Fiat G.55 "Centaur", but the actual number of fighters in the fifth and 11th Fighter Wings is 92 and 89 respectively, which is less than 75% of the full-team state, and the combined performance of mc.205 and g.55 are less than 100.

Malta guards important sea routes between Europe and Africa. In the past, wars always revolved around naval and sea and land offensive and defensive wars. However, with the advancement of military technology and war awareness, the war model has changed from plane to three-dimensional. The air force with the shortest birth time has become the most important and decisive army. The straight-line distance between Malta and the Otranto Strait is close to 600 kilometers, and the closest air base of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is 650 kilometers away. The effective combat radius of active and bombers is usually more than 800 kilometers. However, if the Austro-Hungarian aviation forces want to attack Malta without being intercepted by fighters deployed in southern Italy, they must turn around. In this way, the combat range has exceeded the normal combat radius of land-based fighters.

The Royal Italian Air Force would not feel too much pressure to deal with the threat from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but the New United Kingdom was an extraordinary opponent. In the battle of the Otranto Strait, they only dispatched more than 200 carrier-based aircraft, and then blew up the Italian main fleet that could be called for hundreds of fighter jets to protect at any time. Based on the existence of the New United Kingdom Navy Task Force, the possibility of Malta being attacked by the enemy's airstrike increased sharply, so General Moretti assigned a compact duty and standby task to the three brigades of the corps to which they belonged, and ordered the 1st Battalion to be responsible for long-range alerts, the 2nd Battalion was responsible for short-range patrols, and the 3rd Battalion was ordered to attack at any time. All pilots canceled their leave, and of course, the combat allowances will also be distributed from now on.

After the combat deployment meeting, RAF Lieutenant Hernan Gallopa followed Captain Danielle Pavarini out of the combat duty room. The pair have known each other for ten years and have joined the 5th Fighter Wing for more than eight years. Like them, pilots who served for a long time are everywhere in the RAF. On the one hand, the salary of RAF pilots is very good, 5 more than officers of the same level as the Army and Navy.

With more than 0%, the room for promotion is relatively greater; on the other hand, Italy's economic situation has been getting better and worse in recent years, and the operations of civil aviation companies are still unstable, making it difficult to provide long-term and stable jobs for retired pilots. In addition, airlines prefer to hire German pilots, most of the best pilots of the Royal Italian Air Force will serve until the age of forced retirement, which undoubtedly ensures the combat effectiveness of the Italian aviation forces to the maximum extent.

"It seems we will have a chance to fight the Irish soon." The small Lieutenant Gallopa muttered, "Look at whether they are strong or us on the battlefield!"

Captain Pavalini turned his head and glanced at his partner: "Although there were some subjective reasons for the results of the joint exercise last fall, their mockingbirds are indeed slightly better than our Centaur, so when we meet them in the air, we must not be negligent."

"I know, Irish pilots are really hard to deal with, but I always feel that their reputation is a bit too much." Lieutenant Gallopa said, "If we can win this battle, we will break their invincible myth."

Captain Pavalini's mentality seemed not as positive and optimistic as his partner. He lowered his voice: "It is not the worst for the Irish people to join the war with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. If they bring Spain in, our situation will be in trouble."

Lieutenant Gallopa disagreed: "You are talking about Spain, which was beaten by the Americans half a century ago and had no power to fight back? Only their warships are not enough for our fleet to get stuck in the teeth!"

Captain Pavalini slowed down slightly: "What I worry about is not the Spanish army, but their military bases along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. Once these bases are used by the Irish people, we will face not only the Irish dispatched fleet, but perhaps the powerful naval and air force they mobilized!"

As they were talking, the two arrived at the apron and stopped in front of the two Fiat G.55 Centaurs, numbers 129-5 and 129-6. This single-engine single-seat fighter with the Magimc.205 is the main fighter of the Italian Air Force since it entered service in the mid-1940s. Although it lost to the German G-60 and Ai-made ir-44 designed and produced in the same period in many joint exercises, it is still regarded as the best Italian fighter in the era of piston power.

"Hey, guys, help me clean the muzzle, maybe I'll be eating meat today!" Lieutenant Gallopa quipped at the busy ground crew.

Most of the ground crew members here are old faces who have been with each other for many years. They are doing their work with a relaxed look on their faces. One of them grinned: "Do you dare to come here if you borrow a hundred courages from Austrian planes?"

These words made the ground crew members around laugh.

Lieutenant Gallopa responded loudly: "The Austrians dare not, but the Irish people are hard to say!"

The ground crew waved the wrench and said, "As long as those conceited Alan dare to come, Mr. Lieutenant, don't show them mercy, you can kill as much as you come!"

Captain Pavalini ignored their boring conversation, but climbed straight onto the landline and inspected the instrument pipeline as usual. At this moment, the base's air defense alarm sounded without warning.

Realizing that this was not the usual air defense exercise, Lieutenant Gallopa's face changed suddenly. He climbed onto the land plane with his hands and feet, and while inspecting the plane, he asked the ground staff: "The fuel is full? Ammunition is full? Has the oil pipeline been repaired? The flap control is normal?"

Captain Pavalini completed the preparation work first, and saw him sitting in the cockpit, fastening his seat belt and parachute buckle, putting on a radio telephone, and trying to contact the combat command of the wing. After a moment, he turned his head and shouted at Lieutenant Gallopa, "A large number of enemy planes are approaching from the east, and it is very likely that they are Irish carrier-based aircraft groups! The command command ordered us to take off the air and intercept them urgently!"

Lieutenant Gallopa hurriedly tied up his buckle, put on his flying cap, habitually tried the tightness of the joystick and pedal, and then responded loudly: "I'm ready and can go at any time!"

"Andrea!" Captain Pavalini called out loudly, "Let us two fighters take off first!"

Not far away, a solid ground officer was conducting on-site dispatch. Hearing Captain Pavalini's greeting, he ordered without hesitation: "Take off first in 129-5 and 129-6! Hurry, move quickly!"

The ground crews around him moved when they heard the sound. Some used the handle to turn the flywheel to start the engine, some drilled under the wings to prepare to remove the pads used for fixed wheels, and some held signal flags to guide order beside the runway. With their skillful and tacit cooperation, the two dark green painted g.55 slowly moved to the runway with a pleasant roar, just waiting for the two fighters in front to glide and lift off. Captain Pavalini and Lieutenant Gallopa each increased the throttle to drive their piston fighters to accelerate.

The fighter's gliding speed was getting faster and faster, and the entire cabin was trembling. Captain Pavalini was originally focused on the front of his sight, but a sudden sense of uneasiness made him turn to his head and look to the right. The anti-aircraft artillery positions around the airport were leaping orange-red artillery flames. Through the rising smoke of gunpowder, countless blue-gray fighters were coming at low altitudes. Seeing this scene, Captain Pavalini couldn't help but be frightened: The large air defense radar deployed in Malta is not claimed to cover one-third of the Mediterranean Sea, and can issue an air strike warning an hour in advance? Why did the enemy planes have already rushed to the airfield in groups less than ten minutes after the air strike alarm sounded?

Of course it is not the time to find out the answer. Captain Pavalini nudged the throttle while stabilizing the joystick, thereby accelerating the plane to take off. In this very short process, his eyes kept switching between the speedometer, altimeter and the right field of view. Before the enemy plane arrived, several rockets dragging bright yellow tail flames flew quietly. Seeing this scene, Captain Pavalini's adrenaline suddenly soared...
Chapter completed!