During the joint offensive against the Libyan Colony by the Anglo-French-Australasian Army, the Italian Army also turned its attention toward Malta.
Located in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, Malta was a relatively small island. Yet precisely because it sat right in the middle of the Mediterranean, its strategic role was exceedingly important.
Particularly for Italy, occupying Malta had become vital to protecting its Libyan Colony.
As previously mentioned, the Italian mainland and the Libyan Colony faced each other across the sea, with the Mediterranean separating them right in the middle.
Meanwhile, the geographical position of Malta lay squarely between Italy and the Libyan Colony, making it an absolute strategic stronghold.
At present, Malta remained under the control of the British people, which was the exact reason why the Italian Fleet had failed in its numerous attempts to reinforce Libya.
The Italian Fleet simply could not breach the defensive line of Malta, and even if it managed to break through by sheer luck, it would only face encirclement and annihilation by the British Fleet.
Thus, the question arose: how to effectively occupy this crucial strategic stronghold?
After pondering it repeatedly, the Italians decided to emulate Australasia's approach in the Ryukyu Islands, which involved deploying a massive airborne force to launch an aerial assault on Malta.
Since it was an aerial assault, they naturally had to prepare a sufficient number of aircraft to protect the transport planes carrying the soldiers.
To achieve their strategic objectives, the Italians massed over a thousand aircraft, including hundreds of bombers, making their purpose self-evident.
On September 1, 1936, hundreds of aircraft took off from Sicily, targeting Malta just a few dozen kilometers to the south.
One had to acknowledge the might of the British people. In the congested Mediterranean of the Great Powers, the British