At 12:30, more than a dozen points of light appeared on the display of the 279 pair of air-to-sea search radars on the battleship "War Wey".
"Flying from the southeast, it should be the Italian G50," Major General Krachley said to Admiral Cunningham immediately after receiving the report, "this is the first attack wave, and there should be two more to follow."
In addition, there is most likely an Italian aircraft carrier to the northwest of us, which will also launch three waves of attacks. ” "There's nothing to worry about, these G50s can't break through the Spitfire's defenses at all."
Canning paused and asked again, "By the way, the German Fokker Zero is still hanging around behind our ass" G50 he is not worried, this kind of aircraft is too short in range, so it is impossible to form a large formation.
An Italian aircraft carrier released 36 to 48 planes for at least 4,050 minutes, and by the time the last one took off at the G50, the first one was running out of fuel.
Therefore, each attack wave is up to 12 planes, and it is impossible to break through the defense of 9 Sea Spitfires.
Even if a few G50s break through the defenses of the Sea Spitfire, there is nothing, the G50 is not a dive bomber, the bomb load is limited, and if only two or three break through, it will not pose much threat to the fleet.
But the German Fokker Zero worried him, because one and a half hours earlier, one Walrus reconnaissance plane sent to monitor the FW200C and Fokker Zero reported that the German plane had changed secondary defenses.
Four new Fokker Zeros and one new FW200C replaced several of the original aircraft.
This indicates that there were more than 4 Fokker Zeros deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean, most likely 1 squadron of 16 aircraft If 16 Fokker Zeros come together, then the trouble will be big.
"Nothing has changed, Admiral," immediately a staff officer replied, "and they just follow from afar." ” "That's good," Cunningham smiled lightly, and said to the chief of staff next to him, Major General Krachley, "if it's just Italians, then there's nothing to worry about, they can't compare with the Germans at all."
If they had half the Germans, no, as long as they had a third of the Germans' ability to fight, we would have been unable to gain a foothold in the Mediterranean. ” "Rudolph, Prince William, Prince William, Doctor, the break is over" Shortly before 1 p.m., Hersman Jr.'
s superior, Second Lieutenant Walter Novotny, burst into the pilots' lounge at the Taranto Naval Airport and yelled at the four men who were playing poker.
"Why, we haven't been back for long," Rudolf Hersman immediately shouted.
"It's an order," Second Lieutenant Novotny shrugged helplessly, "it's an order from the Italian Navy, and we're all in their hands now."
All 12 Fokker Zeros were to be dispatched to hang out over the British fleet to see if they could take out a few Sea Spitfires. ” "What's wrong?"
asked Hersman Jr., as he packed up his playing cards, "Did the Italian G50 get beaten by the Spitfire?"
"It must be so," Ensign Novotny shook his head with a wry smile, "if the Italians had given us those two aircraft carriers of theirs, the war in the Mediterranean would have been over long ago." ” And the S79," nicknamed "Dr.", a pilot who had attended the University of Munich before the war, chimed in, "It was very good bombers, I had seen them trained, they could fly horizontally at low altitudes and low speeds, and they had a great range, and if the Italians had put them to good use, the British Mediterranean Fleet would have been finished." ” "Then let Rudolph make a report," Ensign Novotny smiled at Little Hersman, "your father must be interested in them, huh?"
Rudolf Hersmann shrugged, "God knows what the people up there think, anyway, no one seems to care about the Italian Sea here." ” What he said was a bit absolute, in fact, the Italians were not so careless, at least the Italian Navy was still relatively professional, in fact, the Italian Air Force was not bad, but the Italian Navy and Air Force had been in trouble for 20 years, and there was not much cooperation at all.
As a result, the Italian Navy did not have usable aviation, and the pilots of the Italian Air Force were not trained in anti-ship. 79 has no way to exert its power Just as Hersman Jr. and others were preparing to fly the Fokker Zero into battle, in the Mediterranean Sea about 210 nautical miles east of Sicily, nine G50 fighters of the Italian Royal Navy were chasing 12 gulls that flew over the Italian fleet and were firing fiercely The G50s were left behind by Admiral Kompioni as cover-up planes, without bombs, and the passenger seat was empty.
As a result, the total combat weight was reduced by more than 300 kilograms, so the maximum speed was restored to 450 kilometers per hour, which was 90 kilometers and hours faster than the 360 kilometers and hours of the Great Gull fighter-bomber.
As a result, they were able to show their might, shooting down 5 gulls in less than 10 minutes, and the remaining 7 gulls also dropped their bombs and fled.
At this time, the 18 Swordfish torpedo bombers, which were known for their "slowness," were still circling around the Italian fleet, which had already formed an air defense formation, and had not even entered the position of low-altitude penetration "Admiral, our first attack wave has also failed" At 1:35 p.m., Rear Admiral Cratchley, chief of staff of the British Mediterranean Fleet, pinched the battle report he had just received, frowned and said to Cunningham, "Lost 5 gulls and 8 Swordfish, the Italians lost up to 2 G50s, their fleet is intact It seems that both aircraft are outdated and can only be used for sneak attacks." ” Cunningham was also a bit surprised by the result, as he had recently inflicted heavy damage on the French fleet with Swordfish planes, which had performed well in night raids.
I didn't expect it to be so useless in daytime combat.
"Looks like we're going to get ready for a decisive battle with the fleet," Cunning said in a deep voice, "and while they haven't joined forces with the two Veneto-class ships, we have a good chance of fighting the two Earl Cavour." ” He paused and asked again: "Has Vice Admiral Vito's A fleet arrived in Malta?"
"Arrived safely, Admiral."
Rear Admiral Krachley replied, "None of the 12 transport ships have been damaged, and the defence capability of the island of Malta can be greatly enhanced." ” "What about the H-fleet," Cunningham asked, "still north of Algiers."
"Yes."
Rear Admiral Krachley said.
"Let them sail east along the coastline after dark until they can get the Sea Spitfire to take off from the carrier and reach Malta."
"Admiral, you want to let 12 Sea Spitfires of the H Fleet fly to Malta" "Yes," said Cunningham, "today we will definitely defeat the Italians, and then the Germans will intervene, and then their first target will definitely be Malta, so there will be a fierce battle in Malta soon."
When Cunningham gave the order to the H Fleet, the Mediterranean Fleet under his command and Admiral Campioni's Italian fleet were still approaching each other.
By the time the first strike wave was released, the distance between the two fleets was about 100 nautical miles, and by the time the strike waves sent by both sides were head-butted in front of the opponent's direct cover aircraft and air defense nets, the distance between the two sides had been reduced to 40 nautical miles.
At 2:30 p.m., the British and Italian fleets began to adjust their formations almost simultaneously.
Since the A Fleet consisted of 5 light cruisers in Malta at this time, Cunningham first adjusted the strength of the B Fleet and the C Fleet, and then led by his own B Fleet consisting of battle-weary battleships, the battleships Malaya and 10 destroyers, and the C Fleet consisted of 1 battleship, 2 aircraft carriers and 5 destroyers located not far behind the B Fleet.
The two British fleets together had 3 battleships, 1 aircraft carrier and 15 destroyers.
Their opponents were much larger, with 2 battleships, 7 heavy cruisers, 8 light cruisers, and 32 destroyers, and 2 Veneto-class battleships were also approaching at full speed and were expected to be ready for battle at night.
Admiral Kompionny, who had an advantage in numbers, knew that his weakness was that the number of battleships was 1 less, and the firepower and armor were inferior to the opponent. cannons, while 3 British battleships had 24 38115-inch cannons.
At the same time, he also knew that his strength was in the cruisers, he had 7 heavy cruisers and 8 light cruisers, while his opponent did not have one, and the number of destroyer forces was twice as large as that of his opponent.
Thus Admiral Compioni divided his fleet into the Battle Fleet, the First Cruiser, the Second Cruiser, and the Carrier Fleet.
The battle fleet consisted of 2 Earl Cavour-class and 16 destroyers, responsible for attracting opponent fire from the front.
Since the Earl of Cavour and Caesar had increased their speed from 215 to 28 knots after the overhaul, they could use their speed advantage to maneuver around their opponents.
The two cruiser fleets consisted of 3 heavy cruisers, 4 light cruisers and 7 destroyers, and the task of outflanking them was to find an opportunity to attack the British carriers and destroyers, and if only one of the two British aircraft carriers was damaged, there would be a chance to drag the entire British fleet.
Waiting for the arrival of 2 Veneto-class ships, there is a possibility of sinking the British battleship The carrier fleet consisted of one carrier, one heavy cruiser and two destroyers, which were placed at the rear of the fleet, ready to withdraw to Benghazi.
At the same time, under Mussolini's personal supervision, he learned the news of the decisive battle of the fleet this morning, and the Italian Air Force, which had been negative, was forced to move and prepare to send more S79 bombers into battle. t1706231537: