Why Operation C3 would struggle to take Malta

Could the Axis realistically have made Operation C3, the invasion of Malta, work?

It would require too many favourable assumptions about landing losses, naval opposition, and sustained suppression of Malta's defences.

Malta's rocky ground would injure parachutists and reduce the force able to fight after landing. The criticism concerns both optimistic estimates of usable airborne troops and the scheduling of amphibious landings. Malta's 10th Submarine Flotilla would threaten the seaborne assault; the alternate-history account under discussion removes it by assuming heavier bombing forces its withdrawal. That account also redirects German resources away from Rommel toward Malta. Even with those changes, sustained suppression of the island is questioned once substantial numbers of Spitfires have arrived. The objection is that a successful invasion depends on several favourable assumptions holding together.