Time flew by, and three days had passed since the Bulgarian air raid on Taranto, and the news began to spread in all directions.

The whole world was stunned, and the plane could still be used like this?

This is definitely not a good thing for a naval empire like the British Empire, which means that the deterrent power of the navy will be greatly reduced in the future, and air defense has become a top priority for the British Empire!

Bulgaria can form a strategic bombing group, can't the other powers?

The answer is obvious, it's only a matter of time!

Subsequently, the major powers, led by Britain and Germany, began to form strategic bombing brigades one after another. To some extent, it was also a blow to the sea power advantage of the Entente powers.

It's just that the range of the aircraft in this era is limited, the performance is not up to standard, and it is impossible to effectively hit the target, otherwise the time for the German high seas fleet to break out of the blockade line is not far off!

……

The government of London, at this time George V was holding a high-level meeting. George V didn't have the political skills of his father, Edward VII, to subdue these politicians, but it didn't matter that he could pretend to be an ostrich.

For example, now, he is the one who presides over the meeting, but it is actually the cabinet that makes the decision, and it is from him that the British royal family gradually loses its rights.

The news of the successful Bulgarian air attack on Taranto was undoubtedly a good thing for the Allies, which meant that the Allies had taken the lead in the war situation in the Mediterranean.

But for the Royal Navy, it was a problem, and in addition to encircling the German high seas fleet, they also had to guard against threats from above.

Prime Minister Alquez is now a mixed bag, happy that the war in the Mediterranean is now very beneficial to the Entente, and the original plan to send the Royal Navy to reinforce the Mediterranean theater is no longer needed.

Even the urgency of co-opting the Japanese Navy into the war has now been greatly reduced.

At a time when Germany had not yet launched unrestricted submarine warfare, the Entente's escort mission was not very heavy.

At the same time, he feared that other countries, especially the Germans, would follow Bulgaria's lead. With Germany's industrial strength, it may only take a year and a half to build an air force capable of threatening the Royal Navy!

"What are the specific plans of the Royal Navy regarding the threat of aircraft to warships?" Alques asked with concern

Admiral Churchill frowned, and replied casually: "Regarding the Bulgarian air raid on the Italian Navy, our Admiralty has conducted a detailed analysis and found that in fact, the threat of aircraft to warships is not as great as rumored by the outside world!"

In total, Bulgaria dispatched more than 350 aircraft, which dropped about 300 tons of bombs based on their bomb load, which severely damaged the Italian Navy.

Judging from this information, the main target of their attack was the Italian naval battleships, but the result was to kill many other warships, which had a pitiful low hit rate.

You must know that this time the Italians did not have any preparations, and the Bulgarian Air Force was completely targeted and dropped bombs at an altitude of 100 meters, and there was only this hit rate.

If there is anti-aircraft fire, the Italians will drive the Navy out again, and it is estimated that they will not be able to achieve even a thousandth hit!

As long as we are prepared for air defense, in fact, aircraft are not a high threat to warships, but they are even more threatening to ports and cities! ”

In fact, Churchill's analysis was too one-sided, and in order to keep the air force secret and let other countries relax their vigilance in this regard, the Bulgarian air force never had any actual combat experience. The first time I carried out a bombing mission, the level of performance was naturally not very good.

If there were a new raid on Taranto now, the result could at least be doubled. After all, in the era of underdeveloped science and technology, many things depend on people's experience and feelings, and the personal quality of pilots in this era is also a decisive factor.

The British attack on Taranto during World War II proves this!

The words of Churchill, the Secretary of the Admiralty, made the commander of the Air Force, Trenchard, very dissatisfied. However, in this era, the Air Force really has no right to speak, and he, the "father of the British Air Force", is only a small colonel.

If it weren't for this incident, which involved the Air Force, under normal circumstances, he would not even be qualified to attend a meeting at this level.

Perhaps seeing that Trenchard was about to speak, Prime Minister Alquez deliberately asked, "Mr. Trenchard, what do you think?" ”

Trenchard said with some apprehension: "Now the technology of aircraft manufacturing is developing rapidly, and the strength shown by the Bulgarians this time has shown the importance of the Air Force!"

Since airplanes could be used to bomb naval bases for the Italians, then naturally they could also be used to bomb cities, factories, army positions, pillbox fortresses.

According to the information we have received, this time the Bulgarians also attacked the port facilities in Taranto, such as shore artillery and factories.

With the improvement of aircraft performance, the air force will play an increasingly important role in future wars, and can attack moving targets in addition to fixed targets.

Perhaps in the near future, whoever has air supremacy will be able to dominate the world! ”

Obviously, his words surprised everyone, now that the British Empire is dominating the world by sea power, will the air force replace the navy? Everyone's first reaction was: impossible!

However, everyone is a person with status, and it is impossible to pull down his face and argue with Trenchard, just laugh it off.

……

A small episode passed, the British Empire was still full of bullishness in this era, although it did not agree with Trenchard's opinion, but the British Air Force still received financial allocation from the government.

Far away in Berlin, the atmosphere in the German government is not very good. Originally, the Italian navy and the Austro-Hungarian navy joined forces, and even if they were at a disadvantage against the Entente in the Mediterranean, they were not without the strength to fight a war, and the difference in strength between the two sides was not large.

It was even possible to occupy an advantage in some areas, after all, the Entente still had maintenance routes, and with the geographical location of Italy, it was possible to turn the entire Mediterranean Sea into a hunting ground for Allied submarines.

Unless the British send reinforcements, the naval blockade of the Allied Powers under the joint efforts of the Italian and Austrian navies will exist in name only!

But now everything is different, the main forces of the Italian Navy have suffered heavy casualties, and it will be at least two or three years before they want to recover, and by that time the daylilies are cold.

Wilhelm II knew that the Italians could not count on the navy, and could only hope that the Italians would improve their land forces, otherwise the Western Front would only be a one-man show for the Germans.

"Your Majesty, we should also increase our investment in the Air Force, since the Bulgarians can use the Air Force to sneak attack the Italian Navy, we can also follow their example and use the Air Force against the Royal Navy!" Moltke Jr. suggested

Obviously, his words made Wilhelm II's eyes shine, and now it would be a fool's dream to defeat the Royal Navy with the High Seas Fleet, but if the Royal Navy could be inflicted heavy damage in advance, the result would be different in a decisive battle.

……

When countries decided to increase their investment in the Air Force, Bulgaria was not idle. On 11 March, the Bulgarian Marines launched a landing operation against Taranto.

The reason for the delay was mainly to wait for the completion of the aircraft overhaul. The main thing is that Taranto's batteries have not been cleaned up, and Ferdinand has not been so arrogant with warships and shore guns.

Anyway, the Italians did not have air defense facilities, and even if they delayed for a day, they could not do anything. Even if they thought of a way to deal with it, in such a short time, they could not find effective anti-aircraft weapons!

The 1st Division of the Bulgarian Marine Corps, which was in charge of this landing operation, was commanded by Major General Christo Ivanov.

Oh, it seems that the Bulgarian Marine Corps now has only one division, under the jurisdiction of four infantry regiments, an artillery regiment, and a garrison regiment, with a total strength of about 12,600.

The Bulgarian marines, formed only after the Second Balkan War, were only formed for a short time, and this was their first landing operation.

Christo Ivanov took out his binoculars and stared intently at the port of Taranto in front of him, only to see shells flying over the sea and heading straight for the port.

At the same time, the shore artillery of the Italians on the opposite side was also returning fire, and a fierce artillery battle was going on on both sides, at which time the nightmare of the Italians came again.

The Bulgarian air force roared, tongues of fire erupted from the sky, and bombs also fell from the sky, causing a large number of casualties to the Italian defenders in an instant.

There is no way that the shore artillery of this era has the ability to defend against heavenly threats, and Taranto is no exception. Since there is no threat on land, all defenses are directed against the enemy from the sea.

To put it simply, I don't even bother to repair it, or I can't fix it! To defend against the attack of the main artillery of the navy, it is not a simple fortification that can be effective, it is definitely not possible to do without steel plates, even one or two meters of reinforced concrete cannot block a shell!

For the Italians, it is more reliable to use the money to build two more dreadnoughts than to spend a lot of money to build fortresses and pillboxes. Anyway, since the founding of Italy, no one has attacked Taranto!

Then, this time it was a tragedy, the machine guns of the Bulgarian Air Force were able to inflict great casualties on them.

As the minutes passed, the Italians' counterattack became weaker and weaker, and in the end they simply lost fire.

Obviously, the Italians on the other side are not stupid, after such a long time, they also know that the planes in the sky are mainly for bombing shore artillery, and as long as the fire is extinguished, they will naturally not be attacked.

Their innate talent taught them the best way to save their lives - play dead!

The best way to avoid the bombing of the planes was understood by the Italians by mistake!

Seeing that the fire was almost over, Christo Ivanov said solemnly: "Order the first regiment to start landing!" ”

……

Genius one second to remember the address of this site:. Mobile version reading URL: m.