The "buzzing ......" whistle sounded, the waves flew, and the warships with clean lines slowly sailed out of the dock berths, and gradually formed a vast array in the open sea area. The smoke was blown to the top of the mast by the breeze, making the red, white and green crown flag stand out. As far as the eye can see, there are slender and handsome hulls and majestic artillery groups, and at this time, they are simply stationed at sea, and a stirring majesty and magnificence has already swept into the face.

"General Brom, does your navy have such a strong lineup?" The commander of the Italian fleet, Aquino, turned slightly to the side and spoke with a provocative expression. At this point, looking down from the towering open-air bridge where they were standing, they could see the surrounding sea. A total of 4 battleships, 6 heavy cruisers, 8 light cruisers, and 40 destroyers gathered in Taranto, which included more than two-thirds of the main surface ships built since 1925. On paper alone, the Italian Navy is truly strong, and even the United States and Japan, which currently have the world's top two navies, have a hard-to-compete high-speed artillery fleet with their strength!

Jonas glanced lightly at the Italian lieutenant general who had a bad tone, and said calmly: "The German Navy only recovered from the ice five years ago, and the number of ships is naturally not as rich as your army. But we are a team with a deep history and ambition to be ambitious, and our fighting spirit and tenacity will enable us to defeat any opponent. So far, our army has sunk at least twice the tonnage of the British & warships in front of you, and even if the entire Royal Navy is now salvaged and repaired, our army can push them back into the deep sea in a fight! ”

Aquino's face suddenly became extremely ugly. How could he not hear the wit of the other party's words? The young man in front of him had clearly told him that although the German Navy had few ships, the strength of the Italian fleet was not worthy of being taken by Germany at all - the British Royal Navy, which was higher than you, was not hung up by his brother and pumped indiscriminately, and now he didn't even dare to go out? What kind of garbage are you? Aquino gritted his teeth and scraped his stomach, but he couldn't think of a word to fight back, and after a while, he snorted angrily and turned his head to the other side.

According to the strategic agreement reached between Germany and Italy, Italy will send the main force of its fleet to the North Atlantic after the passage of the Strait of Gibraltar is completed, but the Italian navy top brass only wants to take a ride in the Mediterranean and pick peaches, and is completely unwilling to put its fleet in danger to fight the British. The just-concluded shore bombardment operation in Gibraltar is the most direct manifestation of its mentality of avoiding war and protecting one's self: Where is the Atlantic, and what does it have to do with China, Italy?

In the face of the Italian Navy's top brass who was passive and slacking off and delaying for various reasons, Jonas, who had only been put on the table a few days ago, could not bear it anymore and finally released a big move. Jonas knew that Mussolini certainly did not wear the same trousers as his naval leaders: although the former had always been extraordinarily generous with naval expansion, he was now immersed in Hitler's blueprint for a colonial empire in Northeast Africa, and especially needed German recognition and endorsement of his annexation of British overseas territories. Knowing about this event, Jonas immediately took his plight to Berlin, hoping for an official statement of solidarity from the German government and the Foreign Office at the national level.

Jonas had a brilliant blow. Feeling deceived, Hitler immediately sent a solemnly worded telegram to Mussolini, demanding that the anti-Axis saboteurs in the country should immediately sweep away the anti-Axis saboteurs at home: if some men in the Italian navy disregard the overall situation of the alliance for their own selfish interests, Germany would have to renegotiate its previous commitments to Italy.

After receiving this stern accusation, Mussolini, who knew nothing about the small movements of the people under him, was shocked and angry, and his mentality exploded directly.

You know, Mussolini himself wanted to go to war since January of this year and use his sword to create the new Roman Empire of his dreams. However, it was precisely under the repeated persuasion of the military generals that he reluctantly accepted the argument that the timing was insufficient and the troops were not well prepared, and he could only watch Hitler reap one victory after another that made him extremely blushing, while he himself gritted his teeth and endured, and dragged out the official military operation from the beginning of the year to today. Now, Mussolini finally waited for the conclusion of the Three Kingdoms Axis and the opportunity for him to show his skills, but he didn't expect that the navy, which was originally the most prepared, deliberately avoided war and retreated, how could Mussolini endure?

That night, the Palazzo Venetian in Rome resounded with the angry roar of the leader. In the early morning of the next day, the Chief of the General Staff of the Navy, Kavnyari, was immediately informed that he was hospitalized due to illness, and his authority was entrusted to the Deputy Chief of Staff Inigo? Lieutenant General Campioni took the helm. Seeing that the leader was really here this time, the trembling Campioni had to put away all his careful thoughts and began to purge and cooperate with Jonas. Mussolini had clearly warned Campioni that he would change people if he didn't do well, and the commanders of the squadrons behind him had long coveted the throne of the center!

Under the impetus of Mussolini's power, the expedition of the Italian Navy was finally on track. The men who had been herded on leave returned quickly, and the ships were being overhauled and replenished – the fleet had been ready for sortie three months earlier, and preparations were now being carried out with great speed.

To the great surprise of Campioni and other Italian generals, Jonas, who had defeated them, did not do it perfectly. On the contrary, he also took the initiative to suggest that Italy was not without opponents in the Mediterranean, and that there was also the Soviet Black Sea Fleet that needed to be contained. Under the Montreux Convention, signed on 20 July 1936, warships of the belligerents were forbidden to pass through the Black Sea straits, but the state of war between the Soviet Union and Finland ended in May 1940, and the former regained its status as a neutral country. To this day, warships flying the Red Star flag go out for a walk from time to time, and every time they enter the Adriatic Sea, it touches Italy's sensitive nerves in the Balkans.

"General Brom, after all, is the son-in-law of our Italians. Although he served in the German Navy, his heart was still for us......"

With a little emotion for Jonas, Campioni quickly made a long list of ships that remained in the Mediterranean. He was so pleased with the result that the young man did not dwell too much, and only competed for a few light ships to approve them all. The battleship Veneto, including the newest one, remained and continued to cruise in the warm waters of the south, demonstrating its power to the surrounding countries. Since the sinking of the German Bismarck, Campioni and other senior Italian generals have regarded the Veneto as the tip of their hearts, saying that they must protect this "pearl of the Italian navy" from the same fate.

However, less than two days later, Campioni and the others couldn't laugh. Because Jonas proposed to him a formal proposal to form a combined German-Italian fleet with a German general as commander. Among them, an important reason for the command to be vested in the German side was that the size of the Italian fleet was not large enough to form an absolute superiority over Germany, and it itself had not been tested in actual combat. A slight translation of this passage is that if the whole family of the Italian navy had come out, then Germany would have thanked the friendship and sincerity of its Italian allies and should have given way generously. But now that you've only contributed part of your strength, I'm sorry, my record is here, and I've made this commander!

At this point, how did Campioni not understand that he was being overshadowed by the youth in front of him? But he racked his brains with several high-level executives, but he couldn't come up with a way to break the game. In wartime, there is no doubt that soldiers are the most important in battle, and winning the war is 100 times more important than any qualifications and background - no one wants to die in vain with a foolish boss, even if they die unfortunately, they must fall on the right path and contribute a valuable value to victory. And in this regard, Germany has an absolute advantage, unless there is an absolute disparity in strength between the two sides, what can it do to fight with the Germans?

It is clear that it is absolutely impossible for the Italian Navy to devote the vast majority of its forces to the Atlantic. Whether it was out of ambition for the Balkans, for the intimidation of Vichy France, or for the capture of Egypt, Italy had to keep a strong fleet in the Mediterranean. If Campioni really wanted to fight Jonas for command, Mussolini killed him with a backhand. But if you don't fight for this command, Italy will send too many ships, no matter how you look at it, they are all enthusiastic and hard-working to help the Germans!

"Hate hamburger petty profiteers, one day you will pay for it!" Although Campioni and other high-ranking naval officials gritted their teeth, they could only swallow this bitter fruit and reluctantly hand over the main force of the fleet. In any case, the list of warships to remain in the Mediterranean was his own, and Campioni had no idea that the Germans would have such a great appetite that they would try to bring a fleet larger than their entire navy under his system.

Now, Jonas is equivalent to the devil in the minds of the Italian navy's top brass, and the favorability that he brushed up on the formation of the air force for the other side half a year ago has directly dropped to a negative number. However, Jonas didn't care at all, he had already assembled an excess number of warships for the next blockade of Britain, and unless the German Navy rented the Japanese supply ship "Asahitto Maru" half a world away, no one could save Britain's fate.

In the early morning of October 3, the main ship group of the Italian army officially set off from the formation of the port of Taranto. According to the plan, they will go to several French ports in the Bay of Biscay to receive supplies, and then plan a new sortie by the German Navy to fight in the North Atlantic. The Italian engineers who were providing maintenance for the ships had arrived at the target port ahead of schedule, along with the corresponding equipment, and they would establish a permanent forward base there.

Germanic Nirvana

Germanic Nirvana