Argentine side: taking advantage of geographically favorable conditions, taking advantage of Britain's unpreparedness, to recover the island of Ma by force, forcing Britain to recognize its sovereignty over the island of Ma in the face of the facts.
The British side: Determined not to take the opportunity to pay a huge price to reoccupy the island. First of all, to use strong military pressure to compel the Arab army to withdraw from the island, if the Arab army does not withdraw, then force landing to seize, tactics to take a quick decision, and abide by the provisions of the A mainland and 12 nautical miles of the territorial waters of the military action.
Argentine action:
Argentine President Galtieri ordered the early implementation of the "Rosario" plan for the recovery of the island of Malvinas, with Lieutenant General Osvaldo García, Commander of the Army's 5th Army and commander of the Malvinas Theater of Operations, as the commander-in-chief. The 40th Task Force consisted of one aircraft carrier, four destroyers, about 20 other ships*** and 4,000 landing troops.
The 40th Amphibious Task Force landed at Cape Pembroke with a reconnaissance party of AAF marines at 0015 hours on April 2. At 0630 hours on April 2, the main body of the AAF landed at Lonoke Bay, and immediately captured the airfield and harbor
Port. At 0830 hours, seven AAF C-130 transport planes brought in more than 3,000 reinforcements. This brought the total strength of the Arabs on the island to 4,000. The British garrison on the island, numbering nearly 200, put up only fair resistance and surrendered under the leadership of Governor Lake
S. Hunter. The British suffered no casualties and the Albanians lost four men (including a colonel). The Albanians appointed Brigadier General Mario Benjamin Menendez as Military Governor of the Isle of Man.
April 3, the Navy transported landing force of about 200 people landed in South Georgia Gerry Bulwerken Harbor, the British garrison of 22 people resisted, and finally all were captured by the Arabs. April 7, the Arabs declared the establishment of the "South Atlantic Theatre of Operations"
(including the Arabs mainland coast 200 nautical miles and the island of Man, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands around 200 nautical miles of water), appointed Chief of Naval Operations General Juan Ace Lombardo as the commander of the theater. At the same time, the 60th Amphibious Formation of the Albanian
Army landed on the South Island and, after a short firefight, captured it, with 23 British defenders surrendering. With this, the AAF captured the entire island of Mare Island at a cost of 7 casualties and the loss of 2 helicopters.
The news of the recapture of the island was greeted with excitement, with hundreds of thousands of people gathering at the Presidential Palace's "25th of May Square" to sing the national anthem and chant slogans in celebration of the victory. More than a dozen political parties unanimously expressed their support for the government's action. President Galtieri's prestige was at its peak. No longer was anyone thinking about the government's failure to deal with the economy.
Since the recapture of the island until April 30, the Albanian army had been strengthening its defense of the island in order to defend it against retaliation from the British side, and the garrison on the island had increased from 4,000 to 13,000 by the end of April. Its deployment: Port Argent
Tin and Kent Hill area four battalions and support detachment *** about 9,000 people, Darwin Harbor, Gus Green, a battalion and support detachment *** about 1,700 people, Fanning Point, about 50 people, Fox Bay, Pebble Island and other places, a
battalion and support detachment *** about 2,000 people; in addition to expanding the airport in Port Argentine and the construction of airstrips in Gus Green, Pebble Island Green, Pebble Island; the deployment of radar stations and air defense units, fortification; the delivery of weapons, ammunition and
other supplies to the island, etc.. The headquarters was located in Puerto Argentino.
Phase One of the War: British Side
Britain, upon learning that the Isle of Man had been occupied by Argentina, immediately announced that it had broken off diplomatic relations with Argentina, set up a wartime cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as the highest decision-making body, and formulated a strategic policy of backing up the war with force, and adopting a multi-pronged approach of politics, diplomacy, and economics to force the Argentinean side to withdraw its troops, and to use force to regain the Isle of Man if Argentina did not give in. The strategic policy of the Isle of Man. The Americans also intervened very actively, the Americans at first wanted to solve this crisis politically.
Secretary of State, General Hague, was sent to mediate between the two sides, but the attitude of both sides was very resolute. 3 April, the British Cabinet made the decision to send a task force to reoccupy the island, and appointed Rear Admiral Sandy Woodward as the commanding officer of the task force.
The British fleet of more than 40 ships, carrying about 4,000 ground troops, 20 Harrier planes and 45 helicopters, set sail on April 5 from Portsmouth, England, and British Gibraltar to the South Atlantic.
On April 7, Britain declared a total air and sea blockade of 200 nautical miles around the island, and on April 12, British nuclear submarines arrived on the island and immediately began a blockade of the island.
Britain urgently mobilized large merchant ships to participate in the war in accordance with the wartime mobilization law
During the 13,000-kilometer voyage to the island, the British troops participating in the war completed a series of preparations such as formulating the battle plan, battle formation, tactical exercises, etc., and in accordance with the decree of the wartime parliament issued on April 4, the requisition of
58 civilian ships as the logistical support of the fleet, and at the same time, the requisition of civilian ships on the basis of a fixed rate of pay for their use in the war. At the same time, the requisitioned civilian ships were quickly refitted as needed. The Queen Elizabeth II and the Canberra were converted to troop transports, and the Atlantic Transporter and the Atlantic Causeway were converted to troop transports. "Atlantic causeway" ro-ro ship converted to aircraft transport, at this time the "Uganda" passenger ship is carrying 940 British students traveling in the Mediterranean Sea, received the recruitment order immediately at the nearest port of call, let the students on board
shore, and then sailed to Gibraltar and converted to a medical ship in just three days. This shows the ability of the British side to deal with emergencies.
On April 17 the British wartime cabinet put forward the principle of keeping the war in the area of the Isle of Man and not attacking the Argentine mainland. And actively launched a diplomatic and political offensive, the United States, NATO and other countries have expressed support for the United Kingdom, interrupted the arms trade with Argentina
, especially France and Germany, the original arms sales agreement with Argentina, but both support the arms embargo on Argentina. At the same time the countries provided logistical support, communications, satellite intelligence and other facilities to Britain.
On April 26, a second echelon of 23 warships, 20 aircraft, and 2,000 troops set sail from Portland, and on May 12, a third echelon of 18 warships and 3,000 troops set sail from Ampton.
The first task force arrived at Ascension Island in the Mid-Atlantic on April 17 and, after resting and resupplying, set sail on the 19th to continue on to the South Atlantic. The advance team arrived in the waters off South Georgia on April 24. On April
22, fourteen members of the British Special Air Service (SAS) parachuted into the waters north of the South Island from a C-130 transport aircraft, and then switched to a submarine to arrive at a distance of about three nautical miles from the South Island, and then swam ashore to carry out a reconnaissance to find out
The strength, equipment, and fire configuration of the troops on the South Island, as well as their strength, equipment, and fire configuration. The SBS crew on South Island on April 25 guided the 42nd Marine Assault Battalion to land on
the island, and the 156-strong Arabs surrendered under their commander, Colonel Astizi, after only limited resistance. At 6:00 p.m., British forces captured Port Grytviken, the capital of the South Island. This gave the British the first important
advance base on land so that they could comfortably move men and equipment up to the island and deploy their forces.
The 25th three British "Bobcat" helicopters in the vicinity of the island of South Georgia found the submarine "Santa Fe" then launched missiles and dropped depth charges, sinking the "Santa Fe" submarine. "The 42nd Commando Battalion of the British Marines and
"Special Boat Squadron" landed on South Georgia, and the main force of the British task force arrived in the waters of the island on April 29, and completed the deployment of the 200-nautical-mile sea and air blockade around the island on April 30th. The British Ministry of Defense announced that from
11:00 GMT on April 30, all aircraft and ships entering the 200-nautical-mile exclusion zone around the island will be attacked. The ADF was also put on maximum alert, with light controls and curfews
imposed in the Isle of Man area.
Phase 2:
On May 1, 1982 British forces began an attack on the Isle of Man garrison. British Vulcan bombers from Ascension Island and Harrier fighters from aircraft carriers launched the first air attack on the island.
At the same time, the British used the surface ships' naval guns to carry out many bombardments and shelling of the military targets on the island of Mashima, and the Arabian side deployed airplanes to return fire. Later, the British continued to bombard and shell the island of Ma, with the main targets being airfields, radar stations, warehouses, and so on. In order to better gain the initiative on the battlefield, the British Cabinet approved that the task force could attack the Arabs outside the blockade circle.
Subsequently, the British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror fired three MK-8 torpedoes at the flagship cruiser General Belgrano 36 nautical miles outside the 200-nautical-mile exclusion zone on the Isle of Man, hitting two of the three torpedoes. The cruiser sank after forty-five minutes, leaving 321 men killed or missing in action.
The sinking of the cruiser demoralized the Argentine navy and caused it to withdraw from the island, which had a fleet of one aircraft carrier, four submarines, and two guided-missile destroyers, but which remained on the mainland for the duration of the war, afraid to go to war.
In retaliation for the British sinking of the cruiser General Belgrano, the Argentine air force dispatched a French Super Flag fighter-bomber on May 4 to launch two French AM-39s 40 nautical miles north of the island. "Flying Fish" air-to-ship missiles, sinking the British 42-class guided-missile destroyer "Sheffield", then known as the most advanced, with 20 dead and 27 wounded.
The displacement of 3200 tons, costing 200 million U.S. dollars, said Britain's most advanced warship was a cost of only 300,000 U.S. dollars of missiles sunk, the British military hit a great deal. Since then, the British army has learned a lesson and taken various measures to prevent the missile attack of the Arabian army. The most typical method is to send the "Sea King" helicopters equipped with early warning radar to conduct early warning over the fleet.
The British army in order to be free from the threat of aviation in Argentina on May 6 sent sixteen members of the SAS submarine and then take a rubber boat to sneak into the mainland of Argentina's Rio Gallegos airbase, in one fell swoop, destroyed only 14 "super flag" type fighter-bomber in the 8, so that the long-distance striking ability of the Argentine Army The Argentinean army's long-range strike capability has been severely damaged.
The Argentine air force made the British nightmare for a long time can not end, on May 12, the Argentine air force in the waters near the port of Ghentin and hit the British frigate two. The planes were flown from the AF airfield on Pebble Island. In order to remove this
The thorn in the flesh, fifty naval commandos in the night of May 14 in three helicopters landing on the island, blowing up six "Pukara" attack aircraft, four "T-34" trainer attack aircraft, a transport aircraft.
The artillery observation team of the crew guided the 114mm main guns of the destroyer Glamorgan to bombard the targets on the island, destroying one armory and six radar stations. The British troops returned safely by helicopter under fire, winning the battle with two casualties and clearing the way for the landing.
The British side took into account that the strength of the Arab forces on the island of Malta amounted to 14,000 people, while the British army can carry out landing operations landing forces of up to 1,000 people, how to win with fewer than many, only a surprise victory. This fleet commander Woodward painstakingly, big set up a bewildering array.
Because of the many British residents on the island of Ma, so the British agents can be under their cover, one side to find out the defense of the Arabs, the other side of the active activities, all around the attack, only on the Arabs did not attack the command, the main reason lies in the British army deciphered the code, the Arabs command became an important source of intelligence of the British army way.
At the same time, the British army blockade, bombardment, shelling of the Isle of Man on the one hand, the other side to the South Atlantic to continue to send more troops. By May 20, the British army had basically achieved its goal of blockading the island and weakening its defenders, and had made preparations to land on the island.
The third stage:
The British army decided to land in San Carlos Harbor on May 21st. Puerto San Carlos was about 80 kilometers from Puerto Argentino, much of which was swampy and difficult to maneuver, and about 40 kilometers from Port Darwin. Argentina only had 40-50 men defending Cape Fanning at the entrance to Port San Carlos
. The area's hydrographic and beachhead conditions are favorable for landing, and the onshore terrain facilitates the establishment and consolidation of landing sites, as well as protection against submarines and Flying Fish missiles.
British landing troops **** organized into two echelons. The amphibious assault echelon consisted of the 3rd Marine Brigade (40th, 42nd, 45th Battalion and supporting units), 2nd and 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, 29th Regiment of Artillery and Scorpion Light
Tanks, anti-aircraft missiles, engineers, logistics and other sub-units, **** about 5,000 people. Its mission was to land in and around the port of San Carlos, and then to attack in the direction of the ports of Argentina and Darwin, respectively.
The follow-on echelon consisted of the 5th Infantry Brigade (3 battalions) and supporting detachments*** of about 4,000 men, whose mission was to wait for an opportunity to land in the original landing area or in a new landing area after the assault echelon had landed and developed its attack in depth, and to capture the island together with the assault echelon***.
At 3:00 a.m. on May 21, the SAS assault echelon landed as the first echelon at Fanning's Point, and with the assistance of the reconnaissance detachment that had landed earlier, eliminated the Arabs' garrison of about 50 men. At 3:30 a.m., the British began naval gunfire
preparations. At 3:40 p.m., two amphibious assault ships and four landing craft made a three-dimensional landing at San Carlos, coming ashore without resistance. The British army seized the weakness of the Arabs' poor night-fighting ability and scrambled to transport people
men and materials, disembarking 2,500 people and transporting 32,000 tons of materials in four hours. And constructed fortifications, organized defense, ready to meet the counterattack of the Arab army. Beginning at 10 a.m., the Arab side has deployed several batches of aircraft *** more than 70
sorties, mainly on the British ships to carry out air strikes, bombing and sinking of the British frigate "zealot", hit and wounded four British ships. However, the Arab side also lost 14 airplanes.
Armenian pilots have received strict training from instructors in the United States, France, Israel and other countries, with high technology, fierce style and strong fighting ability. In the face of British anti-aircraft artillery, missiles and Harrier fighters composed of air defense system, undaunted, not
Fear of sacrifice, the attack are often used to improve the hit rate of low-altitude surprise defense. But the British ultimately held off a counterattack by the Arabs and took control of a 20-square-kilometer beachhead, laying out a steel-plated airstrip for Harriers and helicopters to land and take off from, further consolidating the beachhead.
On May 22nd, the British army took advantage of the inexplicable inactivity of the Arabs to give them a chance to restock their supplies, adjust their deployment, and deploy a company of blowpipe man-portable anti-aircraft missiles specifically designed to counter the Arabs'
low-altitude strikes, which perfected their anti-aircraft firepower system. Many veterans after the war referred to the day as a miracle day, saying, "The British landing would probably have collapsed if the AA had continued to attack, but thank God there was
a day to readjust."
On the second day the Albanians flew nearly 100 more sorties and continued their heavy air attacks, sinking the British frigate HMS Antelope.
May 25th this day is Argentina's national day, the air force to full strength, the whole day about 200 sorties, and achieved the sinking of the "Coventry" destroyer, the "Atlantic Carrier" ro-ro ship, wounded 1 destroyer, 1 frigate The brilliant results.
The British army's misfortune in the great fortune is the "Atlantic Conveyor" transported on the 16 Harrier fighters and a U.S.-made "Chinook" heavy helicopters in the sunken They were flown to shore airfields before being sunk.
Three days, the Argentine air force fought bravely, giving the British a heavy blow, but the performance of the aircraft is not as good as the British, the second can not get the strong support of the army and navy, the third because Argentina has not had a war for more than a hundred years, the poorer preparedness of the low-altitude attack on the bombs dropped by the bombs because of the bomb detonation conditions are set to be thrown by the high altitude, so 40% of the bombs did not explode, so it could not prevent the British landing.
The Argentine Air Force lost as many as 31 planes on May 25th. Argentine forces in Darwin Harbor also sent small groups of troops on the 24th and 25th to conduct reconnaissance raids on British forces in the San Carlos Harbor area, but were repulsed by British artillery fire.
Since the Argentine ground forces did not carry out counter-landing operations, and the aviation counterattacks were mainly against British ships and boats, this enabled the British to land and consolidate the landing site smoothly and complete the preparation of the land attack. In three days,
British troops ashore has reached 5,000 people, beachhead positions expanded to 150 square kilometers, the establishment of supply bases, communication hubs, and in the steel plate airstrip with aluminum runway.
The British landing force, which had gained a firm foothold, launched an attack on the Arabs on May 27, advancing toward Port Stanley in two directions. The south road, with the 2nd Parachute Battalion as the lead and the 45th Marine Battalion as the backup, attacked from the south along the Southeast Highway, via Port Da
Irving, Gus Green, Fitzroy Bay, and Bluff Cove; and the north road, with 60 SAS crews as the lead, the 3rd Parachute Battalion, and the 4th Marine Battalion as the followers, attacked straight for Stanley, along Douglas and Teal's Bay. Due to the
Army combat ideology conservative, not aggressive, so that the British army's progress is very smooth. The 2nd Battalion of the British Parachute Regiment and its support units, most of them on foot, by helicopters, jeeps and Scorpion tanks, and some of them by motorboats, were moving from the water to Darwin Harbour.
On May 28 the British began an attack on Darwin. The Albanians put up a stubborn resistance, killing Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Jones, commander of the 2nd Battalion of the British Parachute Regiment. The British captured Darwin Harbor on the 29th, and the Gus Green garrison
surrendered. British troops in the capture of Darwin Harbor and Gus Green battle, killed 17 people, killed and wounded 250 people, captured 1,400 people, captured large quantities of ammunition and other military supplies. Afterwards, the attack developed
toward Port Argentina.
Since the British began the land attack, the Arabs repeatedly deployed air force to attack the British ships and the British forces in San Carlos Harbor, Darwin Harbor, Kent Hill, etc. On May 30, the Arabs used the "Flying Fish" missiles to attack the "Invincible" aircraft carrier, which was interfered with by the British laser The missile was jammed by a British laser dazzler and missed. (There is also a claim that the HMS Invincible was wounded at the cost of two Skyhawks being shot down, but the British denied this).
June 8 air attack Fitzroy landed on the 5th Brigade Infantry, killing and wounding more than 180 British troops, sinking the British landing ship "Sir Galahad", and heavily damaged the British frigate and landing ship each one. But that night by the "Queen Elizabeth II" passenger ship transported 3,000 British troops to the island. The British attack was further strengthened by the arrival of 3,000 British troops on the island that night on the passenger ship Queen Elizabeth II.
On May 31st, the North Road British troops arrived at Kent Hill and took up positions, waiting for the South Road British troops. on June 1st, the South Road British troops also arrived at Kent Hill and joined up with the North Road British troops. The British army in the capture of Kent Hill and Chagarin Hill to complete the encirclement of Port Stanley, is not in a hurry to attack, but to adjust the deployment, replenishment of supplies, sent SAS and SBA members around the activities of the battlefield reconnaissance
Field reconnaissance, and soon found that the Arabs to Kent Hill, Chagarin Hill for the first line of defense, to Harrison Hill, Langton Hill, as the second line of defense, to the Wireless Ridge, the desire to fall Hill, Mount William, the line of the Engineer Hill The main defensive position, the Galtieri
defense line, was heavily mined and barricaded between all three lines, leaving only a secret passage protected by artillery fire for liaison.
On June 8, the AAF launched a large number of aircraft in an air attack on the British forces on the beachhead at Shilaf Bay, sinking one landing ship, wounding one frigate and one landing ship. The AAF lost 11 airplanes. But at this time, the AFA has been as strong as the end of no longer be able to prevent the British landing.
This time the British forces on the island has been greatly enhanced, *** there are 8,000 people on the ground, 30 heavy artillery, tanks 20. June 11, after three days of preparation, the British army to "Vulcan" bombers and "Harrier"
-type fighters as well as artillery to carry out the "Vulcan" bombing and "Harrier"
-type fighters, as well as artillery. The only counter-attack was a shore-based AM-39 Flying Fish missile that wounded the destroyer Glamorgan.
After adjusting their deployment and replenishing their ammunition and other supplies, the British began a general attack on Porto Argentino on June 11, and on November 23, British planes, naval guns, and artillery bombarded and shelled the Argentine positions, followed by an attack by ground troops, which captured Two Sisters, Harriet, and Langdon Hills, which are located 15 kilometers away from Porto Argentino, by daybreak on the 12th.
The night of the 13th, the British army again launched an attack, to the 14th at noon has captured the Wireless Ridge, want to fall and William Hill and other places, into the city about 4 kilometers away, the Argentine army to give up their positions, dropping a lot of heavy weapons to retreat to the city.
British troops pursued to the edge of the city of Porto Argentino, Porto Argentino over the white flag. Later in the afternoon, field commanders from both sides met and reached an informal cease-fire agreement, with the Argentine forces (including more than 2,000 men from the Western Isles) ceasing resistance at 2100 hours.
Britain declared to the world that the British Army on the Isle of Man had surrendered at 2100 hours on the 14th. To the end of the war on the island to the British victory and the end of the island's defeat led to the intensification of domestic conflicts in Argentina, President Galtieri and the Navy, Air Force Commander and other senior generals were forced to resign, and the following year, the civilian government came to power after the election, but also the war's main military leaders were sent to the court-martialed trial.
The war killed more than 1,000 people, wounded about 1,300 people, missing hundreds of people, captured more than 11,800 people; the loss of 11 ships (sunk 5, wounded 6), 117 aircraft, costing more than 1 billion U.S. dollars, more than 2 billion U.S. dollars in indirect losses.
British forces killed 255 people (28 within the civilian), 777 wounded, captured more than 210 people, the loss of 16 ships (sunk 6, wounded 10), 34 airplanes, costing more than about $ 1.2 billion.