Chapter 329 Balkan Situation (3)
Another reason why Yannick did not want to attack Greece was the Battle of Crete, which was called the "grave of the German paratroopers".
The Greek island of Crete is located at the exit of the Aegean Strait and is the only way from Western Europe to the Middle East by sea. The northern end of the island is hilly, and the rest is mountainous. The highest point, Mount Idi, is 2,456 meters above sea level. There is a simple road along the hills at the northern end, and there are only pedestrian paths in other areas, which makes it inconvenient for troops to maneuver. There are more than 80,000 residents on the island, concentrated in Marama, Chania, Souda, Rethymnon, Eraklin, Nikolaos, Sitia and other places, and the capital is in Chania. There are currently three airports on the island: Eraklin Airport, which can take off and land various types of aircraft; Marama Airport, which can only take off and land fighters; Rethymnon Airport, which has not yet been completed.
In order to carry out the airborne battle mission on Crete, the original German army deployed 20,000 airborne combat personnel, more than 500 transport aircraft, 100 bombers, and 100 gliders. The German army established an airborne battle command with the 4th Air Force as the main force. It was composed of the 11th Airborne Army commanded by Lieutenant General Student, which mainly carried out ground operations; the 8th Air Force commanded by General Richthofen, which mainly carried out air fire support; the Southeast Fleet of the Navy commanded by General Schuster (70 ships of various types) provided support for airborne operations from the sea. The airborne operations were commanded by General Lehr, commander of the 4th Air Force, and the ground operations were commanded by Major General Sussman, commander of the 7th Airborne Division.
On May 14, 1941, the participating German troops assembled in the airborne departure area near Athens. On the 18th and 19th, the German Air Force frequently bombed targets on the island.
On the other hand, Churchill intended to hold on to Crete. There were 20,000 garrisons on the island (about 80,000 British troops and 40,000 Greek troops), 6 tanks and 35 aircraft. In late April, the commander-in-chief of the British Army in the Middle East, Wavell, appointed Major General Freyberg, commander of the New Zealand Division, as the commander-in-chief of the island defense force, and Brigadier General Pudick, commander of the 4th Brigade, took over the position of division commander. Subsequently, the island defense force adjusted its force deployment based on intelligence.
On May 16, the British army shot down a German reconnaissance plane over Crete and learned that the German army would launch an airborne assault on Crete within the next 48 hours. The island defense force then entered a full high alert on May 17.
During the 12-day battle, 15,743 Allied army soldiers were killed, wounded or captured, the navy suffered 2,011 casualties, and the air force lost 46 fighter planes.
Germany's losses were more severe than in other wars since 1939. In the Balkan campaign more than a month ago, the German army had only 5,650 casualties and missing persons, while the loss of the airborne troops alone in Crete was as high as 7,000 (the figures in different data are very inconsistent. For example, some people claim that the 7th Air Division had 3,250 killed or missing, 3,400 wounded, and the Paratrooper Assault Regiment alone had 700 killed or missing).
What made the German high-ranking officials sad was not only the loss of thousands of well-trained paratroopers, but also the loss of more than 350 fighter planes, more than half of which were transport planes. Crete was therefore called the "grave of German paratroopers." As a result, the German army never used airborne attacks on a large scale in subsequent military operations, and only used paratroopers as elite infantry to fight on the ground. Although they also created classic defensive battles such as the Battle of Cassino in Italy, compared with the airborne training they received, it was really a bit of a waste of talent. You know, if it weren't for the ace paratroopers with strong fighting will on Crete, other Western countries' troops, even including ordinary German army troops, would have surrendered long ago after suffering such casualties, let alone achieving the final victory.
The airborne operation on Crete was the first independent airborne operation in the world. Through this airborne operation, all countries realized that it was absolutely necessary for the land forces to maneuver through the air, and they formed large-scale airborne combat forces.
And Yannick didn't want these precious paratroopers to make unnecessary sacrifices. As long as Greece could really abide by neutrality and not collude with Britain, he would not intend to pay attention to Greece.
As for another country in the Balkan Peninsula, Yannick decided to interfere.
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918-1945) is a monarchy located in the Balkan Peninsula. It was established by the Serbian Karageorgevich dynasty with the goal of unifying the southern Slavs. It began with winning Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina from the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I, and continued until the invasion of Nazi Germany and the establishment of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by Tito. Its territory includes today's Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia, as well as Slovenia and Croatia, and Kosovo in Serbia. It was originally the "Kingdom of Serbia", then changed to the "Kingdom of Serbia-Croatia-Slovenia", and finally named the "Kingdom of Yugoslavia" in 1929.
The current ruling Prince Paul (the leader of the regent trio after the death of the old king) is a pro-German, who agreed to cooperate with Germany and signed an agreement. In the original time and space, Prince Paul also signed the same agreement. After the signing of this agreement, a military coup led by General Dusansimovic, Commander-in-Chief of the Yugoslav Air Force, took place in the capital Belgrade. The current government officials were arrested, and Peter II, who was only 18 years old, was enthroned as king.
And these idiots soon found that they lacked support, because Britain at that time was too busy to support them. Germany was watching them closely, and they had almost no capital to fight against Germany. If they declared the agreement invalid, it would only further anger Germany. Therefore, they immediately issued a statement that they would continue to be loyal to the agreement signed by Prince Paul.
However, it turned out that this approach was meaningless, and the anger of the mustache could not be calmed. At the same time, this capricious approach also caused chaos in Yugoslavia. The people and officials could not tell the difference between the current government of Peter II and the former government of Prince Paul, and their morale was low. And those in government agencies and the army, Prince Paul's disciples and old officials, had a distrust of the current government and were more inclined to the Germans. So since the beginning of the war, the morale of the military and civilians in Yugoslavia has fallen to a low point. From the perspective of morale, they have already failed.
This time, the special forces secretly dispatched by Janik raided the secret meeting place of General Dušansimovic and others, killed most of the senior officers who were preparing to participate in the coup on the spot, and arrested Peter II and put him under house arrest, becoming a foreign version of Liu Xie. Therefore, Yugoslavia was still in the hands of the pro-German faction at this time.