On the eastern side of the Ionian Sea, a Seagull maritime reconnaissance aircraft belonging to the Royal Croatian-Slovenian Navy is flying along the coastline 50 nautical miles off the coast of Greece. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

"I can already see the southernmost tip of the Ionian Islands." Srner, the pilot of the seagull, shouted into his back seat.

"Damn, we're already 50 minutes behind schedule! According to the flight plan, we should now be due south of our fleet! Kalinich, the radioman, took a pencil and marked the charts clipped to the board, and complained: "Can it be any faster?" ”

"No way, our speed is 70 knots now, which is already 10 knots faster than the normal patrol speed, and if we accelerate again, we will not have enough fuel." Srna glanced at the dashboard and gave his partner a frustrated answer.

"Damn it." Kalinic looked down at the charts again: "I hate to be in trouble. ”

"We're not in any trouble, it's the damn catapult that is in trouble, okay, you can't blame us." Srna complained.

Srna and Kalinic were supposed to be in the fleet, together with four other reconnaissance planes in the fleet, each responsible for reconnoitring a sector of waters with an angle of 20 degrees and a radius of 200 kilometers, but their mothership, the flagship of the Croatian-Slovenian Kingdom Navy cruiser fleet Franz? The King Ferdinand's catapult failed.

The fault could not be repaired for a while and a half, and after the problem was reported, the senior officers discussed for a long time whether the flagship should slow down and stop the ship to release the reconnaissance plane, and finally waited for Franz? More than an hour had passed since the King Ferdinand broke away from the formation, slowed down and stopped the ship and used a crane to release Srna and Kalinic's seagulls on the surface of the water and take off.

Although they relied on increasing their flight speed to recover some time, it is clear that God does not seem to want them to rush so smoothly.

"And I have to warn you, there's a big stratocumulus cloud in front of us, what to do?"

"I hate to be out of trouble!" Kalinich exhaled as if deflated: "Lower the altitude, we pass under the clouds." ”

"Then you'll have to slow down." Srna reminded. The seagull is now flying at an altitude of 3,000 meters, and the height of the bottom end of the stratocumulus cloud at sea is about 500 meters.

"The clouds are at least 1 kilometer thick, and we can't see anything from above." Kalinic said to himself: "It's more than 50 minutes later than scheduled anyway, and it's nothing longer late, it's not us who is in trouble anyway, it's the damn catapult." ”

"Listen to you." Srna nudged the joystick, and the seagull glided lightly into the air.

However, as soon as the seagulls had just passed through the clouds, a fleet of sailing fleets suddenly appeared in the field of vision of the two men.

"Two o'clock! 40 nautical miles away! Discover the British fleet! Kalinich shouted: "At least 10 ships!" ”

"Could it be the Greeks? How many large warships do they also have? Srna asked, with some confusion, that this was the Ionian Sea, and that it was normal for the Greek fleet to appear here.

"The number is wrong! There are 4 large battleships there! It can't be Greeks! Kalinich, holding the binoculars, shouted: "Could it be the British Mediterranean fleet?" ”

With 4 warships of more than 10,000 tons, the Italian fleet will not sail here across the entire Ionian Sea, nor can it be the Greek Navy with only 1 dreadnought and 1 armored cruiser, let alone the naval power that any other country on the eastern Mediterranean coast can take, only the British.

Although it was heard that the British Mediterranean fleet had suffered heavy losses due to the attack of the Germans, the emaciated camels were bigger than horses, and now they were the only ones who could come up with a fleet of this size in the Eastern Mediterranean, except for Germany.

"Turn! Fly past them from the side! I'm going to observe the whole fleet! Kalinic shouted: "Get as close as you can!" ”

"Now the height is not in our favor! I have to keep a safe distance! Srna retorted: "I'll cut straight in front of them and see it with your eyes wide open!" ”

Although it is said that in order to avoid enemy anti-aircraft fire, it is best for the reconnaissance plane to pull up the altitude for reconnaissance, and it is convenient for the aerial camera fixed on the side of the fuselage to take pictures when viewed from above, but now it is obvious that it is impossible to climb the height, and Srner decided to grab the T-shaped head of the British, even if the British warship has anti-aircraft firepower, the number of shots that can be fired in the direction of the bow is certainly not much.

"Okay, you fly as close as you can, my handheld camera isn't as sharp as the one on the side of the camera!" Kalinic shouted.

Srna swung his joystick sharply, and the seagull quickly leaned over the fuselage and slashed in the direction of the British fleet, and the distance between the two sides quickly narrowed.

At a distance of 3,000 meters, the British still did not notice the approach of the little seagulls, and all the attention of the lookout posts on the ship was on the distant sea level, but in the telescope of Kalinich, the Royal Navy flag fluttering on the mast was already clearly visible.

"The British fleet! 4 armored cruisers! 8 destroyers! In Kalinich's telescope, the four towering chimneys of the four large warships in the fleet clearly identified themselves. But with the exception of the Monmers class, all the armored cruisers of the British were 4 chimneys, which again made it difficult for Kalinich to judge the class of enemy ships.

"They haven't fired at this distance! The Brits didn't notice us! Kalinic excitedly shouted that the German fleet, which has a special air guard post, will not let the reconnaissance planes approach this distance at all during training and has no reaction: "Good opportunity! Fly a little closer! ”

"No problem!" The sluggishness of the British also freed Srner.

The Seagull tilted its fuselage again to adjust its course, approached a distance of 1,000 meters, and then flew horizontally and in the opposite direction of the British.

"2 single-mounted turrets on the side! It's Kent! The side of the British armored cruiser was in full view of Kalinich, and he immediately lowered his binoculars and took his camera to the British fleet.

At this distance, the British finally noticed the uninvited guest. The Royal Navy was not slow to react, and the mournful sirens immediately sounded throughout the fleet, and the well-trained sailors rushed to their positions. Soon, the Vickers 3-pounder guns on the 4 Kent-class armored cruisers rang out.

"They've noticed us! We're leaving! As soon as Srna pulled the lever, the seagull jerked its head and began to climb diagonally, quickly disappearing into the clouds.

"Report, radio signal detected nearby!"

On the bridge of the armored cruiser Berwick, the commander of the Second Cruiser of the British Royal Navy's Channel Fleet, Rear Admiral Trubrich, frowned when he heard the news.

"It should have been sent by the reconnaissance plane just now." Rear Admiral Trubrich stood in front of the chart table and lowered his body to look at the chart and think: "Since the Germans' plane has appeared, and it has also sent out radio signals, it means that their fleet is nearby." ”

"Now the position of the fleet is here." Rear Admiral Trubridge made a mark on the chart with a pencil and said to himself: "The enemy's position is likely to be in our northwest direction, and the distance should not exceed 70 nautical miles." ”

To the northeast, it would be close to the coast of the Balkan Peninsula, and the fleet would not have been so close to land if it was not for a blockade mission. And the British now have very low on-board radio power, and the effective communication range is less than 50 nautical miles, so even if you overestimate the technical level of the Germans, Rear Admiral Trubridge believes that the German fleet will not be more than 100 nautical miles.

Although the communication capabilities of the Seagull reconnaissance aircraft were still underestimated, Rear Admiral Trubridge's inference was correct. Although the enemy's fleet was not German but Croat, the distance between the two sides was only about 70 nautical miles.

"We know that the German fleet is near here." Straightening up, Major General Truebridge still kept his eyes firmly fixed on the chart: "But the Germans also discovered us." And they know where we're going, and there's still a fog before our eyes. How will the Germans react? Will they retreat? ”

"No, it won't!" Nodding his head as if he had given himself firm confidence, Rear Admiral Trubbridge thought categorically: "There are only 4 armored cruisers here, and the 3 dreadnoughts of the Germans can easily tear us to pieces, and they have no reason to retreat!" And we don't have much advantage in speed, they only worry about us retreating and losing the prey that runs to the mouth! Damn, it would be nice to shoot down that reconnaissance plane. ”

His Excellency the Rear Admiral obviously thought too much, although there were as many as 88 Vickers 3-pounder rapid-fire guns in the fleet, and the maximum rate of fire of 25 rounds per minute was indeed very suitable for anti-aircraft, but now it was 1914 after all, not 1918, and the early Mark II type 3-pounder gun was not like the later Mark III type with an 80-degree elevation angle, and there was almost no possibility of a timed fuse and a trigger fuse for air ammunition to directly hit the aircraft. So Srna and Kalinic didn't have to hurry to hide in the clouds and run.

"Send a message to the Agamemnon! German reconnaissance aircraft spotted southeast of the Ionian Islands! Our fleet will speed up its voyage and continue to conduct armed reconnaissance in the northwest direction, and we ask the main fleet to move closer to our fleet as soon as possible! Royal Navy Channel Fleet 2nd Cruiser Trubridge. ”

Armed reconnaissance is to break through the enemy's advance and break through the perimeter of the fleet for reconnaissance. Although it was a reconnaissance, in fact Rear Admiral Trubrich had decided to use his entire fleet as bait to lure the Germans to the bait.

Breaking through the perimeter of the German fleet would have entailed engaging the German fleet, and when the Germans knew that there were only 4 armored cruisers on the opposite side, their dreadnoughts would have clenched like sharks that smelled blood.

Such an action is very dangerous, their armored cruisers only have a speed advantage of 1-2 knots in the face of German dreadnoughts, once they are entangled by the Germans, the entire fleet under their command may be severely damaged, but as long as they can attract the main force of the German fleet and hold them by the nose to let them go south, then the main fleet that arrives will bring a devastating blow to the Germans!

Rear Admiral Trubbridge is confident that Admiral Milne understands his intentions and that his sacrifice will result in a brilliant victory for the Royal Navy!