"At 10:15 the reconnaissance aircraft of the Croatian-Slovenian cruiser found 4 armored cruisers and 8 destroyers at a distance of 40 nautical miles southwest of the Ionian Islands, heading northwest at a speed of 14 knots. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 The INFO ship class is inferred to be Kent class and Harehound class. ”

At the same time, on board the Tyrol, the flagship of the German-Croatian Combined Fleet, Didrichs also received a report from Rear Admiral Pachna, commander of the Croatian-Slovenian cruiser.

"Kent-class armored cruisers?" Diedrichs shouted with joy: "That's not the Mediterranean Fleet!" It's the Strait Fleet! The British are coming! Their main fleet must be somewhere behind this fleet! ”

For his opponent's ship type, Didrichs was already familiar with it when he was the commander of the German Mediterranean Fleet. For this operation, the staff of the German Mediterranean Fleet combined various intelligence to sort out and list the ships of the British and French fleets that might appear one by one. There were not many armored cruisers in the British Royal Mediterranean Fleet, among which the latest Minotaur-class armored cruisers had been transferred to the Indian Ocean to search for Spee's Far East Fleet, and the remaining Monmouth-class only had 3 chimneys, which were very easy to identify.

The Kent class that appears now is definitely not a ship of the Mediterranean Fleet, then it means that the Channel Fleet is dispatched, and the British will not send only 4 armored cruisers across half of the Mediterranean Sea to send them to death, then it means that the main force of the Channel Fleet of the British Royal Navy is nearby! Right somewhere in this Ionian Sea!

"Order Major General Pachner and Major General Su Shun to release all reconnaissance aircraft! Expand your search! Based on discovering the location of the British armored cruiser, search for the main fleet of the British Royal Navy in the southwest! Let Rear Admiral Pachner's fleet and the British come into contact! Hold them down for me! Let Rear Admiral Su Shun cut off the rear of the British ship as quickly as possible! ”

Diedrichs believed that if the main fleet of the British was somewhere in the Ionian Sea, they would inevitably move closer to the armored cruiser after knowing that their armored cruisers had been discovered, because their own enemies would also move closer to this fleet, whose whereabouts had already been exposed.

4 armored cruisers and 8 destroyers, such a fleet is not strong to say strong, but weak is not weak, if once they are entangled, then it is not easy to shake off this tail, and when the main fleet arrives, they can annihilate themselves in one fell swoop. But there is a premise for this, that is, there are only 3 dreadnoughts on their side.

But actually......

Now I don't know what the size of the enemy's main fleet is, and it's not clear whether the fleet can fight a decisive battle, but these 4 armored cruisers must be eaten in their stomachs!

Didrichs thought so, and the corners of his mouth hooked up a sneer: "The whole fleet is speeding up and moving closer to Rear Admiral Pachner!" We're going to annihilate the British's armored cruisers before their main fleet appears! ”

Franz? On the bridge of the King Ferdinand, Rear Admiral Pachner was agitated. As early as the report of the discovery of the British armored cruiser, Rear Admiral Pachner decisively ordered the release of all reconnaissance planes to expand the search area, so as soon as Didrichs's order arrived, the fleet wasted no time at all, and immediately accelerated to 20 knots south to find the British fleet.

On the opposite side is the British Royal Navy, the world's undisputed number one naval power, but so what? Today! The navy of the Kingdom of Croatia and Slovenia, which is still immature in front of the world's old naval powers, will write the glorious first stroke of its blank war history here! The Imperial Navy will finally have a glory that all officers and men can be proud of from this battle!

Pachner, who joined the Austro-Hungarian Navy at the age of 19, was an orthodox naval man who valued tradition and glory very much, and he was always known as the famous admiral Wilhelm, who was also born in Marburg, Styria, Austria (Maribor, Slovenia), and commanded the Royal Austrian Navy to win the Battle of Lissa. Feng? Admiral Tegerhoff is an example.

It is precisely because of this that on August 16, 1914, in the original history, in the face of the French Navy's Mediterranean Fleet with 2 dreadnoughts, 11 former dreadnoughts, 6 armored cruisers, and 36 destroyers, Pachner, who was the Commodore of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, commanded only a 2,500-ton light cruiser Zenta to engage with the French fleet for 20 minutes, and the French fired more than 500 large-caliber shells, and the Zenta sank in the final battle.

Pachner also left a strong mark in the history of the world's navy because of this naval battle with the most disparity in strength between the two warring sides in the world. French Vice Admiral Benemet, after writing about this naval battle in his book "The Naval Battles of 1914-1915", lamented: "I would be very satisfied if such an armored cruiser of our own could hold out for five minutes under worse firepower than this." ”

But now, with the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Navy, where Pachner had served for only two years, fell apart, and although his hometown of Styria joined the German Empire as part of Austria, as a Slovenian, he chose to join the Croatian-Slovenian Navy to continue his naval career.

The navy of the nascent kingdom had no history, no tradition, no glory, and was influenced by the German navy everywhere in the construction of the navy, which made Pachner a little helpless. But in the constant contact with the German Navy, the positive and progressive spirit of the new navy also infected Pachner, who wrote history by himself without history, established tradition by himself without tradition, and created glory by himself without glory!

Today is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! The first shot of this sea battle, which may determine the supremacy of the Eastern Mediterranean, will be fired by the Royal Navy!

As for his opponent, Major General Pachner is not very worried. Although the tonnage of the four Kent-class armored cruisers exceeded that of all the cruisers under his command, they were not a great threat in the eyes of Rear Admiral Pachner.

In the aftermath of the Sitis incident, the performance of the new German armored cruiser threatened the Royal Navy. The "medium" armored cruiser Monmouth class, which was originally intended to be built in large quantities, was already criticized, and many naval officers believed that the chief engineer of naval construction, William Murphy. Sir White was able to design a perfect battleship, but was not good at armored cruisers. Discussions about its improved design never stopped, and the outbreak of events put the construction of a new armored cruiser on the fast track.

Designer Philip Brown, who is known for "installing as many guns as possible". Watts replaces William. After Sir White became the chief engineer of naval construction and presided over the design of the "New Monmouth" type of armored cruisers, the British began to develop the design of armored cruisers in large size and heavy firepower.

In order to counter the 210 mm naval guns of the German armored cruisers, the new armored cruisers chose 234 mm naval guns as the main guns, and the tonnage increased from 9,800 tons to 13,500 tons in the Monmouth class, which is the Kent class.

Rear Admiral Pachner did not know that the Kent class was basically no different from the Duke of Edinburgh class in the original history, but the firepower of only four 234 mm naval guns and five 152 mm naval guns in the broadside engagement was not a big deal in the eyes of Major General Pachner.

Among the 8 light cruisers under his command, the flagship Franz? The King Ferdinand and its sister ship, the Queen Sofia, were both used to replace the old Joseph Franz I-class protective cruisers, which were originally the mainstay of the Kingdom's naval cruisers.

Based on the hull of the German Navy's Karlsruhe-class light cruisers, the class added a twin 150-mm naval gun turret after sacrificing a certain endurance and maintaining the same speed as the previous Maggburg-class. The King Ferdinand-class is currently the most powerful light cruiser in the world. The Germans themselves had only two light cruisers of equal firepower, and they were still training in the Baltic Sea.

The specifications of the two Admiral-class light cruisers of the Admiral Tegerhof class were exactly the same as those of the German Navy's Kolburg-class. The two German-built, self-built Spalato-class light cruisers under the direction of German shipyards are identical to the Königsberg-class of the German Navy. In addition, 1 hussar-class destroyer led ship designed and built on the basis of the German Navy's American Eagle class, and 1 group of 16 destroyers. Rear Admiral Pachner is confident in the strength of his fleet!

"A pillar of smoke was found 30,000 yards away in the direction of 160 degrees, it was a warship!"

At 13:17, Franz? A trembling shout came from the King Ferdinand's mainmast watchtower! The barely perceptible column of smoke at a distance of 30,000 yards proves that the opponent is obviously using high-quality coal, which proves that the opponent is a large warship, and the fleet that appears from the southwest in the distance is the armored cruiser fleet of the British Royal Navy!

"Full speed ahead!" Major General Pachner shouted excitedly: "40 degrees to the right of the approach!" Raise the battle flag! Send a message to the Tyrol that the fleet is about to enter into battle with the British armored cruiser! Send the current position of your fleet as well! ”

The smoke column of the own fleet using oil-fired boilers was lighter, and the British did not necessarily have discovered themselves, Pachner decided to get rid of the slower Spalato class and let the faster 4 light cruisers use the speed advantage to intercept the British and drag the British armored cruisers into the engagement!

"Distance! 28,000 yards! ”

"26,000 yards!"

"24,000 yards! The British fleet is accelerating! "The British finally noticed the plume of smoke that had become thick from full speed, and the Royal Navy fleet, which had been trained and prepared for a long time, immediately began to accelerate!

"22,000 yards!"

"20,000 yards! The British are turning! ”

"Gun emplacements ready! All the personnel obey my orders and start fighting! Pachner smiled coldly, and the British fleet turned violently, which could be seen from the thick column of smoke.

Pachner knew very well what the British were doing, and at this distance both sides were already able to see the opposite masts and judge the type of the other party's ship, and after discovering that there were only four light cruisers on the opposite side, the British became a little fearless.

The speed difference between the two sides is not obvious, so they make a sharp turn into a parallel course to keep their distance. Anyway, the Croatian fleet was nothing more than light cruisers equipped with 150 mm naval guns, which could not be hit accurately or painfully at long distances, while its own 234 mm naval guns could penetrate the light cruisers with one shot. The superiority of high-powered naval guns will teach the Croats an unforgettable lesson in long-range artillery battles. If the Croats wanted to close the distance, they would have the initiative, and the Croats would have to be baptized by the Royal Navy's precision gunnery, and the modest speed would have sunk the Croats before they could get close enough to threaten the armored cruisers.

It's a pity that Pachner is also very confident in the long-range artillery combat capabilities of his fleet!

"16,000 yards!"

"14,000 yards!"

"Slow down to 15 knots! Get ready for a test launch! ”

The turrets of the 4 light cruisers have all been turned to the port side, and the barrels are raised high, just waiting for an order!

"12,000 yards!"

"Start shooting!"

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! ”