In the middle of the night in the harbor of Istanbul, a huge black shadow slowly passes through the not very wide channel.

Its massive body makes people shudder to look at, and this is probably one of the largest war machines ever built by humans, at least for now.

Immediately behind this huge black shadow was another huge black shadow. They pass through the strait in an orderly manner, looking mysterious and powerful.

It is impossible for a fleet of such a size to pass through the strait without letting the Turkish top brass know, and an hour before this fleet passes through the strait, the Turkish top brass gets a notice.

However, even after seeing the truth with their own eyes, Turkey's top brass still couldn't believe what they were seeing......

How many years have they not seen such a large fleet? How many years have passed, and the Black Sea is about to usher in another bloody storm.

It was a large combined fleet, a superfleet consisting of the fleets of Italy, France and Germany.

The first ships to pass through the Turkish Straits were the Italian fleet, with two Cavour-class battleships and two Veneto-class battleships.

Italy dispatched five battleships alone, which shows how determined the Axis navies were to enter the Black Sea this time.

Subsequently, taking advantage of the darkness of night, it was the main force of the Axis fleet, the German Atlantic Fleet, that passed through the Turkish Straits.

In the name of training at sea, Lütjens led his fleet and the Baltic Fleet into the Mediterranean Sea together, and joined the German Mediterranean Fleet commanded by General Lindemann to form the most powerful German combat fleet since the beginning of World War II.

In addition to the Ramirez, which returned to the Kiel military port for refurbishment, the six battleships owned by the German Navy poured out, and three battle cruisers, a total of nine capital ships, entered the Mediterranean under the cover of six aircraft carriers, the Zeppelin, the restored Dreadnought, the Ark Royal, the Radiance and the Elbe, and the Danube.

The six aircraft carriers can only carry about 220 aircraft in total, because two of them can only carry less than 30 aircraft.

But even then, more than 200 carrier-based aircraft of the German Navy, both in quality and quantity, were much stronger than the Soviet Air Force stationed near Sevastopol.

It was precisely because of the escort of 6 aircraft carriers that the German capital ship fleet had the courage to enter the Black Sea in this way.

In the same way, behind the German fleet was the French fleet, and the reason why Vichy France sent its own fleet began with the side of Marshal Darlan.

At the same time that Germany swept through the Soviet Union, the Vichy government in France was also enjoying the dividends of Germany's economic recovery.

The war in Europe seemed to have ended definitively with the surrender of Great Britain, and the entire continent was sharing in the benefits of Germany's victory over the Soviet Union.

For example, the military industry received a lot of benefits from the orders of the German military. Almost all British military enterprises, including the British company Rolls-Royce Engines, were quickly restored after the war.

They are producing artillery shells for the German army, cars for the German army, more and more military supplies for the German army.

France, on the other hand, benefited earlier than the United Kingdom. Even when the British fleet attacked the French fleet, the French top brass owed the Führer a favor.

Then, the French government began to resume production with the help of oil dividends from Libya, plus German military orders and civilian orders, France found that its small life was not bad.

This time, in order to deter Turkey, ensure the absolute safety of the Mediterranean route, and open up the Black Sea line of communication, Germany invited the French fleet to participate.

After a few days of struggle, Petain and Darlan and others all decided that it might be a good choice to join the Axis chariot at this time.

What drove them was not for any other reason, but because they saw that on the map of the Soviet-German battlefield, the German front was really getting closer and closer to the Caucasus.

If Germany had won in the USSR (in the opinion of Petain and Darlan, this was already a matter of nine times out of ten), then the Baku oil fields in the Caucasus would have become the next to be carved up.

Italy has already expressed interest in the cake, and France naturally wants a piece of the pie – whether it is Baku or Libya, they will have to go through the Mediterranean Sea.

If France wants to get this cake, it can only contribute its own strength in the Axis powers! At this time, if you don't make any effort, you won't have much oil and water to fish when you want to contribute.

Europeans also know the difference between icing on the cake and giving charcoal in disguise, and although they don't summarize it so elegantly, they do understand the relationship.

Therefore, France's decision to join the Axis military operations at the beginning of the Black Sea campaign can be regarded as a gesture of the wall.

Darlan and Petain were determined that even if it was to make an example for Britain and the Soviet Union, which had not surrendered, Germany would buy a horse bone and allow France to get a share of the Black Sea interests!

Sure enough, after France showed its sincerity, the German Führer generously gave France one-tenth of the Baku oil field dividends - a gift that made Petain a national hero.

Who has ever seen the good thing that not only two years after the defeat of the war, the country's economy has returned to its pre-war standards, but also expanded its overseas interests?

So, after the last German battleship sailed through the Turkish Straits, the French fleet of battleships followed into the sights of high-ranking Turkish officials.

This time the French Navy really did not laze and joined the queue after the German Navy entered the Mediterranean.

The battleship Richelieu, as the flagship, was personally commanded by the commander-in-chief of the navy Jeanbar, and led the Dunkirk and Strasbourg to make a total of three battleships.

17 battleships! A whole 17 battleships, plus 6 aircraft carriers, 17 cruisers, more than 50 destroyers! Under the horrified gaze of the Turkish garrison, the Turkish straits passed.

"This ...... Do you want to announce this news, inform the Soviet Union and the United States? Swallowing a mouthful of spit, the Turkish officer of the strait garrison asked the politician next to him.

"Do you think it's still useful for us to announce this kind of news now?" The politician stared at the Axis fleet as it swept through the strait in the distance, and replied with fear in his tone.

"I think even if we say it, maybe the other party won't believe it......" The Turkish officer squeezed out an awkward smile, trying to ease the oppressive atmosphere, only to find that the atmosphere became even more oppressive.