On the Salzburg, the flagship of the second squadron of the cruiser detachment of the German Mediterranean Fleet, Rear Admiral Su Shun looked at the Ionian Sea in the darkness and frowned. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

The weather was not good tonight, the clouds were thick, the visibility on the Ionian Sea without moonlight was very poor, and the whole fleet was now like a blind man, and whether or not it could find the enemy was completely up to luck. His fleet had been searching in the darkness of night for more than five hours, but still found nothing.

The main fleet under the command of His Excellency Admiral Dyderichs has sunk 1 dreadnought and 4 ex-dreadnoughts, which is certainly a great victory for the Imperial Navy, but the combined Anglo-French fleet still has 1 dreadnought, 10 dreadnoughts, 6 cruisers and 6 destroyers, and if they let them run, then all the previous efforts will probably be in vain.

Night is now an ally of the Anglo-French combined fleet, and there is nothing he can do, which makes Su Shun very irritable. If the combined Anglo-French fleet slipped out from under its nose under the cover of night, then it would be a dereliction of duty! Even if His Excellency Admiral Didrichs would certainly not blame himself, but in the case that the cruiser fleet of the Croats can achieve good results, the cruiser detachment of the German Mediterranean Fleet does not fire a single shot, such a result will be a shame for himself!

But even if the Anglo-French combined fleet is discovered, it is still a difficult task to bite the other side tightly, even if the British 5 former dreadnoughts are left behind, and 2 of them are sunk by the main fleet, then the Anglo-French combined fleet still has 1 dreadnought and 7 former dreadnoughts at this time, and the secondary guns of 8 battleships still pose a considerable threat, plus the escort of cruisers and destroyers, it is still a hard nut to bite.

If it was daytime, Su Shun would be confident that he would find the Anglo-French combined fleet and bite them tightly behind, even if the 2 armored cruisers, 4 light cruisers and 6 destroyers of the Anglo-French combined fleet came to drive him, he would be completely worthless.

The slow Königsberg-class light cruisers in the cruiser detachment of the Mediterranean Fleet all ran to the eastern Mediterranean with nine 260-gun dreadnoughts to serve as bait, and all the cruisers under their command were new light cruisers equipped with twin turrets and with a speed of more than 27 knots. Although the four twin-turret light cruisers built for the Mediterranean Fleet are still being outfitted at the docks of the STT shipyard, and there are only six light cruisers under his command, they are not necessarily inferior to the Croatian cruisers in terms of firepower. With the addition of 1 destroyer and 16 destroyers under his command, he can achieve results no less than those of the Croats!

But now it's night! At night, I found that the distance was close, and it was definitely myself who suffered in a close battle!

No wonder Su Shun was so worried, launching a torpedo assault under the cover of night sounded very good, but in fact, the success rate of such an operation against an entire fleet in World War I was not high. Because the two sides found themselves too close, the destroyers were often covered by a large number of medium-caliber naval guns as soon as they launched a surprise attack, and the success rate of a torpedo assault that launched a haste attack and was attacked by intensive fire was often not high.

In the Battle of Jutland in the original history, at 23:30, the British 4th destroyer fleet found the German fleet with 24 capital ships at a distance of 1,000 meters, and after the two sides revealed their identities to each other, until 0:10 the next day, the 4th destroyer fleet launched three attacks on the German fleet.

The 4th Destroyer Flotilla paid a terrible price for this: the flagship Tipperary lost power, and the fleet commander, Colonel Wintour, was killed; The Goddess of Fate was sunk; The Spitfire destroyer was flattened in a collision with the battleship Nassau, and the Bullock lost the ability to steer and crashed headlong into the Sparrowhawk, and the two ships stuck together and could not move, until the Race, which could not avoid it, slammed into the stern of the Sparrowhawk and separated them, and many destroyers suffered heavy damage.

On the Germans' side, although the battleship's superstructure was damaged by the destroyer's main guns, the torpedo attack only caused the mine boiler compartment of the Rostock light cruiser to flood, the hull tilted, and the biggest losses came from friendly collisions! The former dreadnought USS Posen, which evaded the torpedo, crashed the light cruiser Elbin to the surface of the sea, causing it to sink.

Of course, there are examples of success, but it takes luck and chance. The increased success rate of destroyers launching torpedo assaults at night depends on being able to detect the enemy earlier than the enemy, and advances in torpedo technology allow light ships to attack from a greater distance.

In World War II, the Japanese attached great importance to night lightning strikes by relying on the ultra-long range of oxygen torpedoes and the so-called "cat's eye" (night combat lookout posts) that they conducted special night combat training, while the Americans relied on radar to gain the first opportunity. But even so, there was no real example of a destroyer assaulting an entire main fleet in World War II.

The night is now an ally of the enemy, and in this case, Su Shun can only repeatedly ask the lookout post to cheer up, and there is no other way, the second squadron of the cruiser detachment of the German Mediterranean Fleet is cautiously groping forward in the dark.

At this moment, there is a fleet that is also cautiously groping its way forward. Edgar, flagship of the 1st cruiser detachment of the French Navy's Mediterranean Fleet? Inside the bridge of the armored cruiser USS Keene, the commander of the fleet, De? Ramlee De? Major General Juni was also a little apprehensive at this time.

Before entering the Ionian Sea, his own fleet had been located on the south side of the capital ship, so the position of the fleet was somewhat further back when entering the Ionian Sea. After receiving the news that the British armored cruiser fleet had been discovered by reconnaissance planes, they rushed to the northwest to expand the search area, but they did not find the German dreadnoughts, and the main fleet had already exchanged fire with the enemy. When his fleet turned back and rushed to the east, it was dispersed and evacuated by the combined fleet, and the French navy lost valuable concessions. Message from the Dreadnought USS Barr. It all came so fast that Major General Juni was caught off guard.

The combined fleet has been dispersed, and now the only dreadnought of the French Navy, the Corbet, sails alone with Vice Admiral La Perel in the dangerous Ionian Sea, and the escort is only a destroyer, followed by the British's Agamemnon, a towing oil bottle, whose mission is to meet the Colbe, and the French Navy cannot afford to lose the Colbe again.

However, this task is not easy to accomplish. In the light control, even the navigation lights were turned off, and trying to find the Kolbe in the same situation was no different from looking for a needle in a haystack. Turning on any lights in the Ionian Sea, where German ships could appear at any moment, could attract shells, and if you were unlucky enough to crash into a German battleship, you would probably have the same result as the British armored cruisers.

"The shadow of the ship was found 3,500 meters away on the port side!" The sound coming from inside the microphone startled Major General Juni.

"Let the destroyer get closer to 2000 meters and send an identification signal!" After thinking about it for a while, Major General Juni gave a cautious order.

The other party should not have discovered itself yet, but once he sends a signal to ask, then the fleet will be exposed. Let the destroyer get close to the other side and send a signal, so that even if the enemy is on the opposite side, he will not be exposed in the first place. And even if the destroyer is discovered in the process of approaching, whether it is the other party's identification signal or a direct attack, it can let itself judge the identity of the other party.

Rear Admiral Juni's prudence did himself a great favor, and opposite was the light cruiser fleet of the Germans! Two cautious fleets collided exactly in the dark!

The identification signal sent from 2000 meters away startled the Germans, and Rear Admiral Su Shun, who had long been sure that there were no friendly ships nearby, immediately ordered to open fire! When the Salzburg turned on the searchlight and found that there was only a destroyer on the opposite side, Rear Admiral Su Shun not only did not let go, but became even more nervous!

A destroyer was not detected at a distance of 2,200 yards, what if the enemy fired a torpedo? And are there any other destroyers around? Rear Admiral Su Shun immediately ordered all the light cruisers to turn on their searchlights to search for other destroyers around, and the position of the German light cruiser was immediately exposed to the French! And the light of the searchlight made the surroundings even darker at the same time as the surface of the sea, and the Germans did not notice the French fleet just 1500 meters behind the destroyer!

Rear Admiral Juni was overjoyed when he discovered that there were only six German light cruisers on the other side, and although the four armored cruisers under his command were only armed with 194 mm naval guns, they far surpassed the British Kent class in number. 2 Edgars? The Genet class is the latest armored cruiser of the French Navy, with 14 194mm guns and 9 guns in a broadside engagement! Jules? The Mishley and El Nest? The Renan also has 4 194mm guns and 6 164mm guns with broadside fire!

And now the distance is only 3500 meters, and the scene that happened to the British during the day will not be repeated! As long as these 6 German light cruisers can be eaten, then in the case of the total annihilation of the British armored cruiser, the sinking of 3 battleships of the main fleet, and the loss of valuable dreadnoughts by the French Navy, their victory will be a great victory to save the face of the entire Entente!

Agitated, Rear Admiral Juni immediately ordered to turn on the searchlights and open fire on the German light cruisers!

The Salzburg and the French destroyer in Vienna behind it were approaching with fire, and the poor Chasseur was hit by six 150-mm shells before it could react, and immediately collapsed on the surface of the water and lost its ability to sail.

Before the Germans could breathe a sigh of relief, they were blinded by the beam of light of the searchlight, and the French shells smashed their heads and faces! The German fleet was suddenly taken by surprise!