"No problem, if there are more mines, I can block Venice completely!" Major Stafford said without hesitation. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

"My Seawolf will mine the port in the north of Sicily, and at the same time block the Strait of Messina with mines before leaving." Major Hoffman said.

"Okay, let's fight this first battle!" Scheer is as scrappy as a lion on the verge of battle! The three warships then split into two groups, the King Albert and the Swordfish, and headed for Taranto Bay. And the sea wolf went to the port in the north of Sicily.

"It seems that the Duke's fleet has found the German battleship, but I don't know what the situation is now." An Italian Navy officer looked at the rising sun in the mist and said to his comrades next to him.

"It is said that it was discovered last night, and under normal circumstances, night battles are not held, and now it may have just started. Maybe we can take part in the encirclement of this German warship after we send these transports to their destinations. Another soldier said.

Before the war, the Italians tried their best to gather data from spies, the British, and the French, and the Duke of Abqilu had a general idea of the ship. "It's as indestructible as the hoplites of ancient times, and we lack crossbows that can penetrate this layer of armor, so this battle is bound to be very long, and I have no better way than to suffocate my opponent with a sea of cannonballs and then sink them with torpedoes." So, the duke was ready for long-distance pursuit and interception.

Originally, the Marco Polo armored cruiser, which was responsible for covering the transport fleet, had barely enough speed and good firepower, with 6 6-inch guns, 10 4.7-inch guns and 4-inch side-chord armor, which was higher than Yoshino in terms of combat effectiveness. However, with a displacement of only 4,000 tons, it is really not suitable for facing the 13,000-ton King Albert-class armored cruisers. And because the armor of the weapon is too heavy and the soft performance is somewhat bad, it can only be used to cover the transport fleet.

Escorted by the Marco Polo, four ships carrying 3,000 Italian soldiers, 2,500 horses, more than 60 artillery pieces and 2,500 tons of various supplies sailed out of the port of Taranto and headed for Tripoli. At this time, the sea fog in the distance had not yet dissipated, and the Italian naval officers and sailors enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the rising sun out of the sea.

They were now at ease, and they didn't have to worry about the Prince Albert, because the battleship wasn't supposed to be here, and they didn't have to worry about the assault ship, because the Marco Polo had enough firepower to deal with any second-class cruiser! They even hoped that the raiding ship that did not have long eyes would appear in front of them and send them to their deaths!

"Look, our right! What is that? ”

"Oh my God, it was like he had come out of the sea! Only 3 nautical miles at most! ”

"Oh God, it's a battleship, a battleship! And definitely not ours! ”

When a gust of sea breeze blew away a corner of the sea fog, two huge figures suddenly appeared in front of the Italians, about 7 kilometers apart, neither the Germans nor the Italians found each other at first!

"Immediately open fire. Knock them out! The quickest reaction was the Swordfish, which was lined up at the back, and to the roar of Major Staff, the two gun crews in the bow first tore off the gun jackets covering the gun emplacements and began to turn the muzzles. With an orange fire, the Swordfish fired the first shot of the battle, although this shell fell into the water at a distance of 500 meters from Marco Polo, but it was also the first shot!

"The Swordfish attacked the transport ship behind it, and the Italian battleship was handed over to us!" Scher's order was immediately passed through the flag, and the German fleet quickly disbanded the formation, and the Swordfish in the back rushed towards the Italian convoy like a fierce wolf, while the Prince Albert aimed its guns at the cruiser Marco Polo in the distance!

"Rush up and we'll have a chance! With torpedoes! "The Italian navy is much better than theirs, and the captain of the Marco Polo, Lieutenant Commander Durio, still shows great fighting spirit in the face of overwhelming superiority, although it is of little use.

As a cruiser, the maximum speed is only 17.8 knots, which is not as fast as the opposite Swordfish! Even speed is a disadvantage, so what threat can you pose to opponents like the King Albert? Starting with the first half salvo fired by the armored cruiser King Albert, just 2 minutes later, the fifth salvo managed to hit the Italian cruiser, which was in the midst of a desperate assault.

A shell weighing 227kg plunged headlong into the middle of the cruiser's hull, fell between the two chimneys, and the violent explosion directly overturned the top three gun emplacements, countless shrapnel and flames swept across the entire middle of the hull under the influence of the shock wave, after a storm of flames and steel dispersed, half of the chimney in the rear of the battleship was swept away, and a large amount of smoke could not be discharged from the chimney, and began to spread inside the hull, and some even poured back in, extinguishing several boilers!

At this time, the distance between the two sides was still more than 5,000 meters, and the 6-inch and 4.7-inch guns of the Italians could not play a role at this distance at all. They poured shells in anger, but with the rough fire control system and poor operation, the shells fell far into the water, and did nothing but blow up columns of water and tell people that Italy was fighting back.

In the face of opponents of this level, the Scheer did not entangle with them too much at all, and in just ten minutes, the Prince Albert completed the first kill of his career! 2 salves were fired into the sixth and seventh rounds, and 3 in the eighth volley!

A textbook blow that struck the Italian cruiser all over the body! A dull explosion came from the battleship's hull, the tooth-aching sound of metal twisting and breaking made all Italians lose their fighting spirit, and the entire front of the hull was hit with 4 227kg shells, not only cutting off the entire bow, but also digging two large holes in the hull waterline, in a very short time, the bow of the ship entered more than 600 tons of water, so that the battleship, which was only 4000 tons, had a serious head tilt, and the propellers came out of the water from time to time!

With a loud bang, another cannonball pierced the central power compartment of the Marco Polo, this shell easily penetrated the horizontal armor, and then went all the way down, penetrating the pipeline, flue, and cabin along the way, and then exploded close to the bilge! Under the action of more than ten kilograms of ********, high-speed debris smashed the double bottom of the battleship, and a huge opening appeared in front of the people, and before the remaining survivors could call for help, the raging sea engulfed the entire boiler room!

"This battleship is finished, and we don't even save torpedoes." Scheer said calmly.

The second is more ~~~! Ask for subscription, ask for tips~~~! (To be continued.) )