As time passed, the naval battle outside the port of Taranto became more and more brutal, and the pitted nature of the Italian warships was exposed, and the thin-skinned armor was really not suitable for such a scene, not to mention that they were already injured.

The tide of battle was becoming more and more unfavorable for the Italian navy, and the Count of Abruzzi was in a worse mood, and just now a shell hit the deck of his flagship Giulio Caesar, taking the lives of more than a dozen people, including his lieutenant.

It was almost dawn, Count Abruzzi wanted to defeat the enemy, it was impossible to leave with the main fleet, and in a night's battle the Italian Navy had already sunk two cruisers and three destroyers, but only one warship was sunk by the enemy.

This is not the incompetence of the Italian Navy, the main thing is that their warships are already injured, plus there are more old warships, and the ability to resist strikes is naturally not good!

Don't look at the number of warships on both sides is quite large, in fact, there are not many warships qualified to participate in the decisive battle, it is impossible to send torpedo boats and supply ships as well, right?

Participating in the decisive battle were about 20 warships on the Bulgarian side and nearly 40 warships on the Italian Navy.

The Italians, although they had more ships, did not have an advantage, the Bulgarian side had five dreadnoughts, while the Italian Navy had only three!

Fortunately, they also had four former dreadnoughts, and a large number of old warships, which, by virtue of their numerical superiority, fought hard against the Bulgarian Navy under the cover of night.

If most of their warships were not wounded, it would have been the turn of the Bulgarian Navy to be unlucky.

But there was no ifs on the battlefield, because most of the warships of the Italian Navy were injured, and their own combat effectiveness had not yet been able to exert eight points, so they were naturally at a disadvantage, and Count Abruzzi knew that he could not continue!

Only the three dreadnoughts of the flagship Giulio Caesar, the Cao Durio and the Andrea Doria had to be left, and only by keeping them could the Italian Navy recover in a short time.

In fact, the Kao Durio and Andrea Doria were only completed a few months ahead of schedule under Ferdinand's butterfly effect, otherwise they would still be on the slipway, and they would probably have been finished in this bombardment!

Count Abruch closed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and then said fiercely: "Order all warships with damaged power systems, and warships with a speed of less than 20 knots to drag the enemy and cover the retreat of the whole army!" ”

Obviously, the Count of Abruci is preparing to break his tail to survive, and as for retreating, it is more accurate to say that he is breaking through!

However, the breakthrough is not so simple, the Bulgarian Navy can only participate in the decisive battle of more than 20 warships, but with hundreds of warships, the extra 70 warships must also be useful!

Frigates, torpedo boats, submarine hunters, minelayers, minesweepers, landing ships, military transport ships, navigation supply ships, maintenance and supply ships, hospital ships, lifesaving ships, communication ships, reconnaissance ships, etc.

This series of auxiliary warships, they do not have much combat effectiveness in the decisive battle, but for the navy, they are all the same.

For example, now, the Bulgarian Navy has dropped a lot of torpedoes in the nearby waters, if you want to break through these torpedoes is the biggest obstacle, it is too late to clear the mines, and the only way for the Italians to escape is to gamble on luck!

Count Abruch's order is equivalent to abandoning nearly twenty warships, so naturally he doesn't care about continuing to use these auxiliary warships as cannon fodder!

Then Pert Ivanov suddenly discovered that the torpedo dropped earlier had actually become a sharp weapon to cover the breakthrough of the Italian Navy!

After all, in the face of life and death, the Italian Navy can gamble, and even use auxiliary warships as cannon fodder to open the way in front.

But the Bulgarian Navy is not good, these Italian navies in front of them are desperately trying to create opportunities for the main force, and when these enemies in front of them are solved, it is estimated that the Italians will have run away long ago!

After all, this combat mission is to inflict heavy damage on the Italian Navy, and don't think about it all, unless Count Abruzzi can't think about it, and runs back to the port of Taranto.

By the time the main forces of the Italian navy were retreating, the sky was already beginning to lighten, and Pert Ivanov could only watch the enemy slip out from under his nose.

The battle continued, and as the main fleet of the Italian Navy ran away, the remaining warships were immediately killed. Once an ordinary destroyer or cruiser is hit by a 15-inch main gun, it sinks to the bottom of the sea in an instant.

After paying for several auxiliary warships, the Italian Navy finally broke out of the torpedo zone.

Of course, it can't be so smooth, because the size of the auxiliary warships can't be compared with the battleships, and the fact that they can rush out does not mean that the battleships can rush over, at least the Andrei Doria was hit by a cannonball, and the speed slowed down.

The Italian Navy, which finally broke through, was not quite a few in terms of the number of warships, more than sixty, but unfortunately they were basically auxiliary warships, and since they did not participate in the battle, the losses were naturally not large.

In addition to three dreadnoughts, there was a former dreadnought, two cruisers and a destroyer, and the rest were auxiliary warships.

Seeing that the main fleet had gone dozens of nautical miles, the resistance of the Italian Navy was getting weaker and weaker, and many warships raised the white flag and withdrew from the war once they were heavily damaged.

Seeing this, Pert Ivanov decided to negotiate with the enemy, after all, the big fish ran away, and catching a few small fish could at least make up for the losses!

Anyway, this is the practice in Europe, the task has been completed, and there is no chance of victory, then it is acceptable to surrender and save their lives, even after the war, the Italian government will not hold them accountable.

……

I have to say that the Italians are still very experienced in saving their lives, and they are very professional in raising conditions.

As long as Bulgaria agrees to treat the wounded, protect their personal and property safety, and treat them according to their status, they agree to surrender!

For the sake of the face of these warships, Rear Admiral Pert Ivanov readily agreed!

In the end, one old battleship, one former dreadnought, four destroyers, two ironclads were the harvest of this war. No, there are still a few auxiliary warships, which have not run away because they are too old and too slow.

It's a pity that all of these capital warships were seriously injured, and there was even a former dreadnought that was already captured because it was too seriously injured and sank directly with a whine!

To the pity of Pert Ivanov, he had known that the Italians were so easy to talk to, so he would not be so ruthless, and it would be better to negotiate directly with them.

And the Bulgarian Navy also paid a great price, four destroyers, three cruisers were sunk, and two shore defense battleships, two cruisers were seriously damaged, and even more minor injuries, even the dreadnought Constantinople was slightly damaged.

Fortunately, the war took place at night, and the hit rate of both sides was pitiful, otherwise the Italian navy, which was greatly damaged, would probably have to fight with the Bulgarian navy.

After all, it is not so easy to escape during the day, although the Italian dreadnoughts are fast, but unfortunately they are a little slower than the super dreadnoughts, and if they can't escape, they can only die to the end!

Something even more frustrating happened to Major General Pert Ivanlov, who was cleaning up the battlefield when French reinforcements arrived.

As for chasing now? Don't be funny, don't look at the distance between the two sides is only a few dozen nautical miles, but this distance is enough for the Italian Navy to run smoothly to the next naval port.

Even if the French had arrived two or three hours earlier, the Italian Navy would have been doomed this time.

The fast fleet of the French, although it was composed of destroyers and cruisers, would definitely not be able to defeat the battleships, but it was still possible to delay it for a while.

Now, if the Italian navy escapes, it will have to be left to the French themselves.

Anyway, as long as the Italians are not stupid, they will no longer put the naval station in Taranto, and even the coast of Bulgaria will not have an Italian navy for a long time to come!

Seeing the trophies of the Bulgarian Navy, the commander of the French fleet, Rear Admiral Winster, knew that he was late and missed an opportunity, especially after learning about the specific situation, he had the urge to cry.

If he rushes at any cost, he will definitely be able to catch up, and when the time comes, he will cooperate with the Bulgarian Navy to kill the Italian Navy in one fell swoop, then he will be a hero of France!

It's a pity that the duck, which was about to be cooked, actually flew, because he was worried that the high-load driving would damage the power system, he did not drive according to the limit speed, and he did not expect to let go of the main force of the Italian Navy because of this.

Now don't talk about military exploits, it's not bad if you don't get labeled incompetent!

However, he reacted quickly, and immediately reported the situation to the French naval forces, and asked them to intercept the Italians, and whether they could stop it or not was left to fate.

For Major General Pert Ivanov, in addition to reporting the success to the country, it was more important to capture the military port of Taranto.

The military port of Taranto at this time is like ~~~ waiting for his ravage!

The military port of Taranto has always been considered the safest place in Italy, it is the seat of the Italian navy, and it is located in the rear, and the enemy is only from the sea.

Now that the navy has run away, and the shore artillery has been heavily damaged by the bombardment of the Bulgarian Air Force, it is simply difficult to prevent the Bulgarian marines from landing.

Now, of course, the Marines are still at the Kofu Island base, waiting for the outcome of the naval battle. Now many warships of the Bulgarian Navy have been injured and need to return home for repairs, so they have to return to the sea ahead of schedule.

At the same time, the number of Italian prisoners in the hands of Rear Admiral Pert Ivanlov had exceeded 6,000 people, for which Rear Admiral Pert Ivanlov specially borrowed three cruisers from the French to help transport the prisoners. When he returned, he had to escort the Bulgarian marines.

Not surprisingly, Major General Winster readily agreed, missing the last opportunity, and this time he said that he couldn't miss anything.

It was not possible to completely annihilate the Italian navy, but it was also very strategically valuable to capture Taranto with the Bulgarians.

This helped to contain the strength of the Italians and could reduce the pressure on the French Army on the front line, which was a bit of a strategic vision, and Major General Winster still had it!

As long as he achieves this step, even if he is not as dazzling as the main force of the Italian Navy, it is enough to prove that he is not incompetent!

Of course, Ferdinand's purpose was certainly not to help the French contain the Italians, otherwise it would not only be Taranto who would have landed now.

The combat effectiveness of the Italian army Ferdinand was still clear, and in history several Austro-Hungarian temporarily formed units that could be regarded as militia regiments, with only a few thousand people holding back their main force for three days, and when the reinforcements finally defeated the Italians.

Obviously, the strength of the Italian Army is not enough to change the pattern on the battlefield on the Western Front!

Historically, after the stalemate on the Western Front, Britain and France still had the strength to launch the Battle of Dardanelles to attack the Ottoman Empire, knowing that their forces were not yet short enough to be crushed by just a straw.

It's a big deal for Britain and France to use the hundreds of thousands of troops they put into the Ottoman Empire against the Italians. In terms of combat effectiveness, this unit has little problem helping the French hold the defensive line.

The reason for attacking Taranto was because it had what Ferdinand wanted. The seriously wounded warships in the harbor, the Italian shipyards, skilled workers, designers were all things that fascinated Ferdinand.

Of course, it is very difficult to get these people to serve Bulgaria. But it doesn't matter, Ferdinand is not in a hurry, he can grind slowly. It's a big deal for the diehards to send them all to the mines for mining, and even if they can't get it, they can't let the enemy get it!

As long as Italy's naval industrial base is destroyed, even if the Italians rise again in the future, they will not be able to continue to compete with Bulgaria for hegemony in the Mediterranean!

However, it is still easier to land on Italian soil, that is, it is a little easier now, and once the Italians react, it will not be so easy.

Ferdinand knew that when launching a foreign war, the combat effectiveness of the Italian army was less than 5 scum, but when it came to the home defense, it could still skyrocket above the passing line.

Of course, Southern Italy and Northern Italy seem to be two different species, and there is still a very obvious gap in combat effectiveness between them.

It just so happened that Taranto was the worst place in the Italian army, which in turn brought convenience to the landing operation of the Bulgarian marines.

……

Winster took the initiative to take on the task of a tentative attack, after all, if he didn't fire a few shots and kill a few Italians, how could he prove his merits to the country?

It would be better to have a warship wounded, so that they would be able to show the French people and parliamentarians the heroism of their navy!

……

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