January 16, 1941, 1:30 a.m., Mediterranean.
Italian combat fleet, flagship, battleship "Veneto".
The sky full of stars reflected in the sea, and the bright moonlight sprinkled on the giant battleship of more than 40,000 tons, but the battleship itself did not have any lights to shine through, and it vaguely looked like an island breaking the waves in the night.
Inside the bridge, Admiral Kompioni was holding the battle report he had just received, his eyes glazed out.
The battle report is only two short lines: The aircraft carrier "Eagle", the aircraft carrier "Sparrowhawk" and the heavy cruiser "Zara" were sunk The headquarters of the "aircraft carrier fleet" has been transferred to the heavy cruiser "Bora", and the whole fleet is currently retreating to the port of Taranto.
Now that Italy has no aircraft carriers, the corners of Admiral Campioni's mouth twitched, and now it seemed like it was going to be a draw, the British lost one aircraft carrier and two battleships, while the Italians lost all two aircraft carriers If Italy had an aircraft carrier, it would have been a big victory in today's battle, after all, a Nelson-class and another British battleship had been heavily damaged and would have to be repaired for at least a few months, and the landing in Malta was going very well.
In the next 3 months, the British Mediterranean Fleet had at its disposal a maximum of four battleships, none of which could be compared with the "Veneto" class, and Malta, a stronghold that could spy on the Italian fleet, was also lost.
As long as Italy had one aircraft carrier, the fleet would be able to advance along the coast of North Africa, and near the British-occupied Tubruk, which was now a British supply port for attacking Benghazi, the fleet would seek another decisive battle for the fleet.
With 2 "Veneto" class and 4 old battleships that have undergone extensive modifications, the Italian Navy is sure to win the decisive battle of the fleet.
As long as the sea control is won, with or without the help of the Germans, Italy can seize North Africa and then march into the Middle East This is the real revival of the Roman Empire, and the world of the Roman Empire has to be fought by the Romans themselves, and the Germanic people help to fight it, which is the Holy Roman Empire But now both aircraft carriers were sunk, and the air power, with German aircraft as the main force, showed its might, knocking out 2 enemy battleships and 1 aircraft carrier, and shooting down at least 300 aircraft In this case, if the Italians still wanted to continue the war, then there was only one way, and that was to cling to the thighs of the Germans and beg them to send more Fokker Zeros, JU88s, and Panzer Divisions to the Mediterranean theater.
Shore-based aircraft were used instead of carrier-based aircraft to protect the transport lines in Benghazi, Italy, and Tubruke, Italy, while armored forces were used to run them all the way along the coastline of North Africa to Alexandria and the Suez Canal.
In this process, the Italian army, including the navy, could only fight the Germans, and the attack could not defeat a Roman Empire in any way Just when Admiral Campioni felt that the prospect of a great revival of the Roman Empire was slim, hurried footsteps came from behind.
"Admiral, the radar found the target, which is less than 20 kilometers from us, is moving slowly" This news suddenly made the air in the bridge tense, and Admiral Campioni hurriedly asked: "How many ships have eliminated the shelling formation?"
"At present, only 45 ships have been discovered, and from the analysis of radar signals, they did not put out an artillery formation, but moved eastward at a speed of about 5 knots." "45 ships only have a speed of about 5 knots" Admiral Compioni was stunned, "The main force of the British fleet dropped the heavily damaged warships and ran away first" "It should be," said Major General Baroni, frowning, "they should have disbanded the formation." ” "But what about the Nelson-class," said Admiral Campioni, "is it that the British have repaired it?"
It is possible that other ships will be abandoned, but it is impossible for this "Nelson" class battleship to be abandoned.
Because this battleship was the only one in the Mediterranean that Britain could fight against two battleships of the "Veneto" class.
Even if the boat is beaten halfway, as long as it can float on the water, it is a huge threat.
If this ship is lost, unless another Nelson-class or a King George V class is obtained from the mainland, the "Queen Elizabeth" and "Revenge" classes of the British Mediterranean Fleet will have to go around the Italian fleet forever.
"Perhaps a trap," said Rear Admiral Baronny, "the search distance of the seabeat radar is only twenty or thirty kilometers, and the British fleet may be lurking even farther away." ” "Hmph," Admiral Campioni snorted coldly, "this couldn't be better, just in time to knock out a few British battleships tonight."
Order all teams to prepare, launch a charge in 10 minutes, and fire within 10,000 meters of the target."
On the battleship "War Weathiness", Admiral Cunningham was also in a daze with a copy of the war report.
This battle report lists the losses of various squadrons of the British Air Force and Naval Aviation that participated in the battle.
The losses were terrible 298 fighters were shot down or missing, more than 400 were mentioned above, and the British army did not dispatch so much, this is not the most terrible, there are no planes to build, and they can be "leased" from American friends.
What was really terrible was the loss of the crew, since the air battles took place mainly at sea, and some of the fierce battles were fought over the Italian fleet.
Therefore, it is very difficult to rescue the downed pilot, according to statistics, there are now 648 crew members, including pilots, navigators, machine gunners, bombardiers, etc., missing or confirmed dead It also included at least 84 pilots of carrier-based aircraft, and the carrier-based aircraft group that took off from the aircraft carriers Radiance and Ark Royal was completely annihilated, and although it successfully sank two Italian aircraft carriers, the cost was too high.
These are all carrier-based pilots, who are selected from the entire Royal Air Force and Royal Naval Aviation, and then have undergone rigorous training of elite pilots, and it is not so easy to replenish them.
In the previous naval battles of the Azores, the Scharnhorst and the Battle of Calabria, British carrier-based pilots had already suffered heavy losses.
And this time, more than 100 Eagle's carrier-based pilots were lost, and 16 people were lost.
Although the Mediterranean Fleet now has two aircraft carriers, there are only 30 carrier-based aircraft pilots, all of whom are Spitfire fighter pilots "Admiral, radar has detected the enemy fleet," Rear Admiral Krachley suddenly shouted, breaking the breathless depression in the commander of the "war-weary" tower.
Cunningham also perked up.
In the current naval battle, the Mediterranean Fleet has so far lost, the "Sovereign", "Lorraine" and "Eagle" have been sunk, the "Rodney" and "Resolve" have been severely damaged, and so many planes and pilots have been lost.
The superiority in the Mediterranean had actually gone to Germany and Italy, and if it was not possible to repel the pursuing Italian fleet while it was dark now, then the "Rodney" and "Determination" would also be lost.
In this way, the Mediterranean Fleet exchanged four battleships and one aircraft carrier plus more than four hundred aircraft for two aircraft carriers of the Italians.
That's a loss of money "Prepare for battle" Cunningham took a breath, a cold glint in his eyes, "We must teach the Italians a lesson that we will never forget and beat them to death" "Boom" With two dull roars, two flares slowly fell from the sky, emitting dazzling light like two small suns, illuminating a huge battleship on the sea, and in the white light, you can clearly see the two formidable turrets belonging to the battleship's tall mast, and the muzzles of the four black holes are pointing at the sea to the west.
"It's a battleship" The voice of surprise sounded in the command tower of the battleship "Veneto".
The "Revengeance-class" was quickly recognized, and this was a battleship of the "Revengeance" class, although it was at the bottom of the British Royal Navy's battleship forces.
But eight 15-inch guns and a displacement of 30,000 tons make them formidable and formidable weapons.
"Fire" With the order of Admiral Compionny, the six 381 guns in the bow of the battleship "Veneto" let out an angry roar.
Almost at the same time, the main guns of the bow of the other five Italian battleships that were advancing in parallel with the "Veneto" were also fired.
Shells rained down on the "Revenge" class battleship just 10,000 meters away, and only two salves from the bow fired a straddle fire, and a huge column of water rose around the battleship.
"Boom, boom" Suddenly, in the darkness, there was a string of cannon flames, which were fired by the "Revenge"-class battleship.
Then there were several dazzling balls of light, which lit up from the rear of the two "Veneto"-class battleships advancing side by side, enveloping the two huge Italian battleships in a dazzling light.
"It's two Veneto-class, they're the target, ready to fire" About 5000 meters east of the battleship "Resolve" of the "Revenge" class, the British Vice Admiral Somerville shouted loudly in the command tower of his battleship "Rodney".
His non-turn-signal battleship was now facing west on the port side, and its nine 16-inch guns were all aimed at it.
Less than 8,000 meters behind the "Rodney" were four battleships of the "Queen Elizabeth" class that formed a column and sailed quickly to the west This was Cunningham's elaborate trap, using the battleship "Resolve" and several wounded cruiser destroyers to lure the Italian battleships close to open fire, then finding two "Veneto" class ships according to the muzzle flame, and then concentrating their fire on sinking two or one of them By sinking only one "Veneto" class, the Mediterranean Fleet will be able to reverse the current unfavorable situation. t1706231537: