Editing Battle of Crete (section)

===Strategy and tactics===
====Operation Mercury====
[[File:Battle of crete.svg|thumb|Map of the German assault on Crete]]
Hitler authorised ''Unternehmen Merkur'' (named after the swift Roman god [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]]) with Directive 28; the forces used were to come from airborne and air units already in the area and units intended for ''Unternehmen Barbarossa'' were to conclude operations before the end of May, ''Barbarossa'' was not to be delayed by the attack on Crete, which had to begin soon or would be cancelled. Planning was rushed and much of ''Unternehmen Merkur'' was improvised, including the use of troops who were not trained for airborne assaults.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}} The Germans planned to capture [[Maleme]], but there was debate over the concentration of forces there and the number to be deployed against other objectives, such as the smaller airfields at Heraklion and Rethymno. The Luftwaffe commander, [[Generaloberst|Colonel General]] Alexander Löhr, and the ''Kriegsmarine'' commander, Admiral [[Karlgeorg Schuster]], wanted more emphasis on Maleme, to achieve overwhelming superiority of force.<ref name="Kavanaugh 2010 38">{{harvnb|Kavanaugh|2010|p=38}}</ref> Student wanted to disperse the paratroops more, to maximise the effect of surprise.<ref name="Kavanaugh 2010 38"/> As the primary objective, Maleme offered several advantages: it was the largest airfield and big enough for heavy transport aircraft, it was close enough to the mainland for air cover from land-based [[Messerschmitt Bf 109]] fighters and it was near the north coast, so seaborne reinforcements could be brought up quickly. A compromise plan by [[Hermann Göring]] was agreed, and in the final draft, Maleme was to be captured first, while not ignoring the other objectives.<ref>{{harvnb|Kavanaugh|2010|p=39}}</ref>

The invasion force was divided into ''Kampfgruppen'' (battlegroups), Centre, West and East, each with a code name following the classical theme established by Mercury; 750 glider-borne troops, 10,000 paratroops, 5,000 airlifted mountain soldiers and 7,000 seaborne troops were allocated to the invasion. The largest proportion of the forces were in Group West. German airborne theory was based on parachuting a small force onto enemy airfields. The force would capture the perimeter and local anti-aircraft guns, allowing a much larger force to land by glider.<ref>{{harvnb|Antill|2005|p=32}}</ref> Freyberg knew this after studying earlier German operations and decided to make the airfields unusable for landing, but was countermanded by the [[Middle East Command]] in Alexandria.<ref name="Vick 1995 pg=27">{{harvnb|Vick|1995|pg=27}}</ref> The staff felt the invasion was doomed now that it had been compromised and may have wanted the airfields intact for the RAF once the invasion was defeated.<ref name="Vick 1995 pg=27"/> The Germans were able to land reinforcements without fully operational airfields. One transport pilot crash-landed on a beach, others landed in fields, discharged their cargo and took off again. With the Germans willing to sacrifice some transport aircraft to win the battle, it is not clear whether a decision to destroy the airfields would have made any difference, particularly given the number of troops delivered by expendable gliders.<ref name="Vick 1995 pg=27"/>

{|class="wikitable"
|-
|+Operation Mercury battle groups<ref name="Kavanaugh 2010 38"/>
|-
!Group name
!Codename
!Commander
!Target
|-
|''Gruppe Mitte'' (Group Centre)
|[[Mars (mythology)|Mars]]
|''Generalmajor'' [[Wilhelm Süssmann]]
|Prison Valley, Chania Souda, Rethymno
|-
|''Gruppe West'' (Group West)
|[[Comet]]
|''Generalmajor'' [[Eugen Meindl]]
|Maleme
|-
|''Gruppe Ost'' (Group East)
|[[Orion (mythology)|Orion]]
|''Oberst'' [[Bruno Bräuer]]
|Heraklion
|}