The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 1203: Chapter 899: Annexing Libya Chapter 1203: Chapter 899: Annexing Libya The Italian Air Force’s tail-cutting tactic was effective, and the remaining air forces effectively delayed the pursuit of the British and French Air Forces, buying enough time for the main air force to retreat.

Of the two squadrons left behind, which comprised about 70 aircraft, the outcome was predictable when faced with hundreds of British and French aircraft.

After desperately downing several British and French aircraft, the more than 70 Italian aircraft were quickly annihilated by the British and French Air Forces.

Watching the Italian Air Force recede into the distance, the British Air Force commander issued a very bold order, which was to continue the pursuit.

In fact, at this point, the British and French Air Forces already had an absolute advantage.

One point that cannot be overlooked is the fuel tank capacity of the fighter aircraft. After a prolonged battle, not only had the Italian Air Force exhausted all their reserve ammunition, they had also used up most of their fuel.

If they could not return to their native land in time, even if they could escape the pursuit of the British and French aircraft, they would crash due to fuel exhaustion.

The British and French clearly understood this and, adhering to the principle of kicking someone when they’re down, naturally aimed to inflict as much damage on the Italian Air Force as possible.

Of course, there was also an element of retaliation against the Italians.

Although unsuccessful, this Italian air raid had effectively destroyed Britain’s anti-aircraft positions on Malta and caused certain casualties to the British military.

As the world’s foremost superpower, the British Empire was certainly going to retaliate, and now was a good opportunity.

Sicily was only a little over 90 kilometers from Malta. With the airplanes at full speed, it would only take about 20 minutes to reach there.

The intention of the British and French Air Forces was clear; while pursuing the Italian aircraft, they aimed to bomb Sicily as much as possible to regain some pride.

Of course, chasing the Italian aircraft was the priority. But if they couldn’t catch up to the Italian Air Force, they would vent their frustrations on important installations and military forces on Sicily.

After all, Sicily had quite a few military airfields. Attacking these could potentially result in the chance destruction of some Italian fighter aircraft.

From Valletta in Malta, they pursued all the way to Syracuse in Sicily, then to Catania, Messina, and even chased down to Reggio in Calabria.

Although they did not completely annihilate the Italian Air Force, this relentless pursuit resulted in the destruction of at least a hundred Italian aircraft.

More importantly, on their return route, the British and French Air Forces jointly bombed several cities on Sicily, including Messina, Catania, Syracuse, and Palermo.

This aerial assault was devastating for Italy. Altogether, they lost nearly 200 aircraft, and several cities on Sicily were bombed by the British and French.

What was even more fatal was the situation faced by the 2,000 paratroopers previously deployed to Malta, who were up against an entire division of British troops, supplemented by numerous British and French aircraft. The outcome had already been decided.

Looking at the losses on the British and French side, only just over 100 aircraft were destroyed, many of which were sacrificed during evacuation when they were previously outnumbered.

Britain’s greatest loss was probably the ground facilities on Malta. Although Italy didn’t bomb Malta’s military airfields, they did carry out extensive bombings on the military and naval bases there.

Though the British Air Force also retaliated, the repairs to Malta’s military installations would take at least half a month.

However, the results of this air raid were good news for the British and French. The severe losses suffered by the Italian Air Force effectively eliminated their hopes of supporting Libya.

Following this air raid, the British and French intensified their attacks on Libya, leaving Italy helpless.

With over a million troops attacking the 600,000-strong Italian Colonial military, the advantage naturally lay with the British, French, and Australians.

Especially after the Italian Air Force’s defeat, the British and French gradually gained air superiority over Libya, which was decisively beneficial to their offensive efforts there.

It must be admitted that, as the war has developed, the army, navy, and air force each play their crucial roles, and none can be dispensed with.

And in this smaller battlefield of Libya, the British, French, and Australians have achieved a comprehensive dominance in all three branches of the military, which has essentially predetermined the outcome of the war — Italy was definitely the losing side.

With the help of the Australasian military, it took only one week for the British forces to conquer Tobruk in eastern Libya, capturing over 100,000 Italian soldiers.

This battle allowed the British and French to completely assess the combat strength of the Italian military. If both sides had fought all out, perhaps the Italian military’s fighting strength wouldn’t have seemed so weak.

Unfortunately, the will of the Italian army wasn’t strong enough, and their desire for victory in the war wasn’t particularly fervent.

In the attack on Tobruk, most Italian troops only put up symbolic resistance for a while; after heavy casualties on all sides, they would decisively surrender.

The surrender of some Italian Colonial troops also influenced the situation in Tobruk, ultimately allowing the British military to conquer this city in just one week.

But at this time, there was a thorny issue awaiting resolution by the British: how to handle the about ten thousand Italian soldiers who had been captured.

After all, both parties were powerful nations, and the basic Geneva Convention had to be observed.

In the end, the British decided to transport these Italian prisoners to the port of Mersa Matruh in the east and hand them over to the Egyptians for oversight.

After ensuring that the Italian prisoners were provided with the treatment required by the Geneva Convention, these Italian soldiers had no objections. They all agreed to go to Mersa Matruh, which actually surprised the British military.

This was the first time the British had encountered such submissive prisoners; during World War I, the prisoners from Germany and Austria often revolted, causing the British quite a headache for a long time.

After capturing Tobruk, Eastern Libya became a blank slate. The British military advanced deeper unimpeded, and wherever they went, the Italian colonial forces either collapsed or surrendered.

On the other side, the French also achieved significant successes.

Although Tripoli was garrisoned by regular Italian forces, the combat effectiveness of the Italian regular army was not great, at least not enough to withstand the French Army.

Especially when they realized they could not receive any support from their homeland, the Italian military seemed resigned and did not persist in resisting the French advance.

The Italian forces, which had initially managed to impede the French advance, seemed to transform overnight into a worse-performing indigenous army.

As a result, after besieging Tripoli for about ten days, the French successfully captured the city.

Of course, the French naturally faced the same issue as the British regarding how to handle the Italian prisoners.

As the largest city in the Libyan colony, Tripoli had the largest garrison of Italian troops.

There were 150,000 regular Italian soldiers and 200,000 colonial troops here. Altogether, the Italian forces captured by the French amounted to nearly 250,000 soldiers.

Compared to the British decision to relocate and guard the prisoners, the French approach was simpler and more brutal: they guarded them in place and dispatched about ten thousand troops to maintain order.

Like the British, the French gradually let their guard down upon realizing that the Italian prisoners showed no signs of resistance, and they did not treat the Italian prisoners too harshly.

The fall of two major cities signified that Italy’s Libyan colony was hanging by a thread.

With the advancement of armored troops, by the end of September, Britain and France had fully conquered the Libyan colony and replaced all flags in the cities with their own.

Having lost the Libyan colony, Italy’s status as a superpower became somewhat unjustified.

These two African colonies were Italy’s only colonies, and their complete loss meant that Italy became a major power with only its homeland, like Germany.

But Germany’s homeland was already very strong, whereas Italy’s was not as strong as imagined.

Italy is a country with significant disparities between the north and the south. Northern Italy had a stronger industry and a relatively more developed economy. Southern Italy had stronger agriculture, but it lagged behind the north in terms of industry and economy.

Such a stark disparity between the north and the south led to intense discrimination between them, and it was quite fierce.

One must remember that Italy’s history of unification is not long, totaling just over sixty years.

Italy was united from the two main regions, the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont and the Two Sicilies, and it also annexed other Italian states on the peninsula.

This meant that Italy was not as stable as it appeared on the surface. Following the loss of two colonies, domestic issues would worsen, and Italy’s strength would further decline.

After occupying Libya, Britain and France did not cease their activities.

In Europe, Germany’s attack on Paris continued. Although temporarily resisted by the French with the help of the British and Australasian armies, it was only a temporary reprieve.

If they could not alleviate the pressure on the French elsewhere, Paris would inevitably fall to the Germans one day.

The British chose to alleviate the pressure on the French by targeting Italy, the weakest country of the German-Italian Alliance.

At the new Allied Nations Conference, the British formally proposed the plan to open a front in the Balkans.

The current condition of Italy, having faced certain setbacks and lost over 800,000 soldiers, was such that with the help of the Balkan states, they could generally hold off the Italian military, thereby easing the pressure on France in the south.

Even if Italy were to retreat in the Balkan battlefield, to protect their ally, the Germans would definitely send troops to aid Italy, which naturally would also alleviate the pressure on the French.