The Port of Taranto is located in southeastern Italy, north of the Gulf of Taranto, and is one of the most important ports in Italy.

On the morning of May 13, in the port of Taranto, all kinds of shore cranes, grab cranes, unloaders, conveyor belts and tugboats were busy, and the whole port showed a hot scene.

The day before, in the conference room of the Italian Royal Navy in the military port of Taranto, when the generals from the German and Italian navies were about to fight for the command of the upcoming big war, Mussolini took Goering and Chen Dao from Rome to the duel.

The negotiations with Turkey were over, and the rest of the work was taken care of by the foreign ministries of the three countries and the general manager of the Solon Group, Remtsma, and Chen Dao and Goering did not waste time remaining in Turkey, but flew back to Rome to wait for an answer from the Turks.

As soon as Chen Daogang, who quietly changed into a German admiral's uniform, appeared, he ended this struggle for power and profit, in which the highest lieutenant general-level general participated.

Mussolini made a special trip to Taranto, firstly to boost morale before the war, and secondly, to be pulled by Chen Dao to give himself a platform.

At the first military conference that Mussolini attended after arriving at the port of Taranto, he announced that German Admiral Heinz von Rosen would be the commander of the German-Italian Combined Fleet, with full responsibility for directing the combined fleet's combat operations in the Black Sea region.

After the command was determined at the meeting, Mussolini encouraged the officers of both sides of the war, and then inspected the preparations for war in the port of Taranto.

One night later, at nine o'clock in the morning of the 13th, in the conference room of the Italian Navy in the port of Taranto, Mussolini convened the second military meeting on time, and Goering participated in the meeting as a representative of the German High Command.

When the crew arrived, Mussolini called the meeting to begin, and Chen Dao got up and walked to the wall opposite Mussolini, picked up the whip, and pointed to the location of the port of Taranto on the oversized European map on the wall.

"At present, we have assembled five fleets in the port of Taranto, namely the 1st Fleet, the 2nd Fleet and the 1st Independent Escort Fleet of the Italian Navy, as well as the 1st Aircraft Carrier Strike Group and the 2nd Aircraft Carrier Strike Group of the German Navy. The First Fleet of the Italian Navy was used as a general reserve, and the other four fleets were the first to participate in the war.

The Second Fleet of the Italian Navy has "Vittorio. Veneto", "Litorio" and "Roma" were three battleships, two heavy cruisers, four light cruisers and twelve destroyers.

The 1st Carrier Strike Group of the German Navy had the aircraft carriers Zeppelin and Strasser, the battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz, as well as six light cruisers and sixteen destroyers.

The German 2nd Aircraft Carrier Strike Group took part in the battle, with one aircraft carrier Secert, the battleship Hindenburg, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, as well as four light cruisers and eight destroyers.

The 1st Independent Escort Fleet consisted of four light cruisers and eight destroyers.

Among them, the 1st Independent Escort Fleet is only responsible for providing security for the transport fleet, and their main enemies are Russian submarines and bombers that may appear in the vicinity of the transport fleet, and do not participate in other battles.

Not counting the escort fleet and the Italian First Fleet, which was in reserve, our combined fleet, which participated in the first operation, had three aircraft carriers, six battleships, three heavy cruisers, fourteen light cruisers and thirty-six destroyers, which was a considerable force, with which victory was a no-brainer for us. ”

Mussolini touched his bald head, and then said: "I believe that with this powerful fleet and your command, the Russian Black Sea Fleet is like a rat stuck in a bellows, with no way out, let alone a way out." It's just, General Rosen, don't you think that in the next combat operations, there will be some fly in the ointment? ”

Chen Dao raised the corner of his left eye and looked at Mussolini with slanted eyes.

"Mr. Prime Minister, please speak up."

"How many forces are there in the Black Sea Fleet of our enemies, the Russians?" Mussolini asked.

"The Black Sea Fleet has one battleship, four cruisers and at least a dozen destroyers, an unknown number of torpedo boats, minelayers and other ships." Chen Dao said.

"If we are wolves, then the Russian Black Sea Fleet is meat, don't you think we are now facing a situation where there are more wolves and less meat?" Mussolini said.

Chen Dao couldn't help but roll his eyes.

Mussolini made a lot of sense, the German-Italian combined fleet had an absolute superiority of 3:0 in aircraft carriers, 6:1 in battleships, 17:4 in cruisers, and 36:12 in destroyers.

Seeing Mussolini's eyes sparkle and eager to show off his vision, Chen Dao asked a question very understandingly.

"Mr. Prime Minister is right, do you have any new instructions for the next battle?"

Mussolini said with a smile: "Such a large fleet, if it is only to kill the Russian Black Sea Fleet, it is a bit of a waste." After research, I decided that after we occupied the Crimean peninsula, we would simply take advantage of the situation to cross the sea and hit the Taman Peninsula. The main forces of the Russians were at this time concentrated in the area from Leningrad in the north to the line of the Sea of Azov in the south. The Taman Peninsula and the region to the east must be empty of troops, so we will simply open a second battlefield there and give the Russians more blood. At the same time, it can also attract some Russian troops here and reduce the pressure on other battlefields. ”

uh····· This bald head, in order to show off, really spares no effort, and it is really unguardable.

Chen Dao subconsciously wanted to refuse, but when he saw Mussolini and the generals sitting on both sides of the conference table staring at him, everyone's eyes shone with an aggressive light, which was the desire for war, destruction, and merit.

Under the gaze of so many people, Chen Dao suddenly found that rejecting Mussolini's proposal was very unemotionally unintelligent and politically immature.

It's just that if you are led by Mussolini by the nose at a military meeting, it is very unintelligent, and at the same time, it is also a very immature performance in military affairs.

Chen Dao quietly glanced at the map on the wall, swept over several familiar place names on the map, and then said to Mussolini with a smile: "Mr. Prime Minister, I have to say that you are really far-sighted. In fact, in recent days, Marshal Goering and I have been working on this issue as well······"

Goering looked at the serious Chen Dao and thought to himself, have we discussed this issue recently?

However, as an old partner, Goering remained silent very tacitly and continued to listen to Chen Dao's speech.

"The result of my study with Marshal Goering was to upgrade the original plan and carry out a large-scale sweep of the Russian-owned ports on the Black Sea coast, to completely destroy the Russian military power on the Black Sea coast, and to show our great power in front of the Turks. This operation began with the conquest of the Crimean peninsula, the destruction of the Black Sea Fleet as the process, a series of amphibious landing operations in the Black Sea coastal area, and the subsequent deep into the Russian hinterland, for example, the occupation of Krasnodar and the Maikop oil fields and other areas. ”

The participants stared at the map for a while, and Mussolini was the first to say: "I agree, my aim is to carry out a large-scale military operation in the Black Sea region, the larger the better, and the more blood the Russians will shed, the better." As for the details, it's up to you to decide, I just want the results. ”

Looking at the menacing Mussolini, Chen Dao felt in a dilemma, but when he saw the blazing eyes of Mussolini and the generals, he could only stubbornly continue to flicker.

"It's just that we now have a serious problem. In order to log in, you must have the cooperation of the Marine Corps. Three divisions of the German Marine Corps are currently ······ overseas"

Vice Admiral Paradini, commander of the Second Fleet of the Italian Navy, said: "It doesn't matter, we have marines in the Italian Navy. ”

Mussolini then said: "General Rosen, I would like to remind you that the landing operation does not necessarily require marines, and airborne troops can also be used. ”

Hearing Mussolini mention the Airborne Forces, Goering's eyes lit up, and the light of that moment overwhelmed everyone.

"What do I have for the Airborne Forces, is one army enough?"

Seeing the light bursting out of Goering's eyes, Chen Dao felt that the "Black Sea Sweeping Battle" that he had casually flickered out was making great strides towards reality.

"The Airborne Forces and the Marine Corps are only the first units to land, and we will have to transport more troops up in the future, especially with at least one armored division. Just transporting tanks across the sea requires a large number of transport ships, especially heavy carriers needed to deliver tanks. ”

"Those are small problems, you first work out the specific plan of the plan, the problems that may be encountered in the plan, which troops are needed, etc., are clearly written, and we will solve them one by one. We don't have much time, you move as fast as you can, and when the Russians on the Crimean peninsula are eliminated, we will immediately start the follow-up of the Black Sea sweep war, without giving the Russians a chance to react. ”

After Mussolini finished speaking, he waved his right arm fiercely, and it seemed that he had killed a million Russians in an instant.

Stimulated by Mussolini, Goering said: "I think we can send some experimental troops to the Crimea and use the Russians who are already half buried in the grave as live targets, what do you think?" Heinz. ”

You've asked that, can I refuse?

Chen Dao complained in his heart, but he could only say: "Don't worry, I will make a plan within three days." However, let's return to the topic of the meeting and talk about the tasks to be performed by the Combined Fleet in the conquest of the Crimea. ”

*************

PS: Today's state is still not very good.,There's only this chapter.,Three more will start tomorrow.,The first chapter will be sent around two o'clock in the afternoon.。